Nate Murphy helps Harriet build a van conversion in just 7 days. Nate is a climber and built his van so he could travel and climb more. On his website Nate provides a ton of info on DIY van conversions.
In this video he works with Harriet to build out her van and shows all the steps. If your considering a van build this can give you a glimpse of the process. Photo credit Nate Murphy.
The following is a guest post by Jayme & John from Gnomad Home.
Hey there, we’re Jayme and John from Gnomad Home! We’ve been living and traveling in our 1996 Chevy Express high top conversion van since April of 2017. Joining us in our adventures are Nymeria (3) and Delilah (7), our four-legged companions. We joke that our dogs are the reason we built the van in the first place – we wanted to give them more than a backyard to run around in and dog walks on more than just pavement.
Before we moved into our van we were living the typical 9-5 lifestyle with a two-story house in the suburbs, struggling financially and squeezing in travel whenever allotted vacation time would allow. We talked about doing “one last hurrah” before we had kids, and then a friend introduced us to ‘#vanlife’ (we didn’t even use Instagram at the time). We immediately knew this was the path for us.
We quickly began transitioning our lives. We found our van in middle-of-nowhere Illinois and bought it for $1,500 cash, brought it home, gutted it, and began building. At the same time, we sold all of our belongings, built our online businesses, and rented out our house. We made about $10,000 from selling everything, which helped us in the first few months of our adventures. This past September was the first month our income from our online business surpassed our expenses. Now, it’s our main source of income and it continues to grow. Since then we’ve also sold our house, so we are officially committed to this lifestyle!
Below is an interior shot of the gutted van.
Below is an interior shot of what it looks like now.
Our van has three solar panels mounted on the roof, and a portable one we can plug in and prop up if we’re parked in the shade, or if we need additional power in overcast weather. We have two deep-cycle AGM batteries under the bed that run our ARB refrigerator, LED lighting that is recessed into the ceiling and hooked up to dimmer switches, multiple USB charging stations throughout the van, a Fan-Tastic Vent fan, and a 1000-watt inverter.
We can carry 20 gallons of water – 14 gallons inside our kitchenette in a stainless steel container. Our water tank is attached to a foot pump, which we cannot recommend enough! It helps control the exact amount of water you need so there’s very little waste, and you have both of your hands free for washing dishes. The water then drains into a PVC contraption we mounted underneath the van that gives us the option to either carry our grey water with us or drain it onto the ground below.
Our stove is a two-burner denatured alcohol stove from Dometic that we absolutely love, and since it is denatured alcohol there is no risk of damaging chemicals leaking, and zero-risk of of explosion.
Our couch pulls out to a queen-sized bed, which is a must for two humans and two dogs. Above the bed is our closet storage, and above the cab is our ‘pantry’ of dry goods. Music is very important to us, so we built our bed high enough to fit multiple instruments underneath. We travel with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, cajon (which doubles as a spare seat inside the van), djembe, and fun smaller knick-knacks like shakers and foot tambourines.
We’re glad to have met you all and thanks for checking out our home! If you’re interested in building your own rolling home, be sure to check out our blog gnomadhome.com. It’s JAM-PACKED with FREE information to help guide you through your own tiny home building process. Safe and happy travels to you all!
See more on the Gnomad Home Instagram.
Tom at Tiny Home Builders explains what to look for in a used tiny house. Tom’s been on the tiny house bandwagon for years and has some good tips in the article. In a nutshell he suggests:
Some other things to think about:
Read the full article about What to Look for in a Used Tiny Home. Photos are tiny houses currently available for sale at Tiny House Marketplace.
Since 2013 Kent Griswold has been publishing the Tiny House Magazine – allowing dozens of voices in the tiny house community to be heard. They’ve brought many wonderful stories to life and shared so many stunning images.
To celebrate the 4th of July, Kent is offering 20% off subscriptions to this downloadable online magazine.
Already a subscriber? Give it as a gift to friends and family. It’s a great deal and yet another way to give something more than a boring necktie or a gift card to the local box store. Learn more about Tiny House Magazine and how to get the discount now.
I recently had the opportunity to join Ethan Waldman from The Tiny House on his new podcast. We covered a lot in our 46 minute talk. The questions he asked me were:
To hear the full conversation you can listen to the podcast here: www.thetinyhouse.net/michael/
Want to spend the night in a tiny house? Here’s a tiny house in Woodridge, New York in the Catskills. It’s 7×18 and nestled in the forest. It’s also a part of a 12-acre fiber farm, so your neighbors are angora rabbits, goats, sheep, and chickens.
The house can sleep up to three guests. It has an open floor plan with a sleeping loft and a day bed. There is also a table with seating for two and a small desk.
Learn more about this Tiny House Rental
Do you have a tiny house? Proud of what you’ve created? You should enter the 2018 Tiny House of the Year Competition.
Tiny House of the Year is a friendly competition between folks with tiny houses (homes under 500 square feet). It’s free to enter and while there are no cash prizes winners will receive a tiny 3D printed trophy. This year the trophies will be made in metal.
To enter, tiny home owners simply write-up their tiny house story and post photos and videos. Entries will be accepted through October 31, 2018.
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Starting on November 1, 2018, the public will be able to vote on their favorite tiny homes and tiny home features. Voting will end on December 17, 2018 and winners will be selected for Tiny House of the Year in 5 categories. The 5 categories are:
The overall winner will be crowned Best Tiny House and honored as the overall winner of the competition. Winners in each category will also receive a Unique Tiny Trophy designed by tiny house designer, Michael Janzen.
Pictured here is the 2016 Winner, Ms. Gypsy Soul’s Urban Chic & Fabulous Tiny House.
Meet Pete & Taylor – vanlife nomads and explorers. They blog at alwaystheroad.com and have even written a 100+ page ebook on how to build a van conversion. Now they’ve embarked on building their second van.
A little thing happened while they were in school, they skipped class and hit the trail for nine months to backpack Southeast Asia. That rip did the trick – they were hooked on the nomadic lifestyle.
They have a lot of learning to share, with the van build and with living on the road. If this lifestyle speaks, sings, or shouts to you head on over to alwaystheroad.com and follow them on instagram at @alwaystheroad for the latest photos.
That there is Sedona, Arizona near Oak Creek Crossing. I know that without them even having to say because I went to high school just down the road from there. Beautiful place Sedona.
Oh and this is Snoop. He’s a 90-pound lapdog who snores when he’s awake, crushes you while cuddling, and has not one vicious bone in his body. He loves the #vanlife too. Woof!
Photo credit to Pete & Taylor.
Bryce Langston visits Paul and Annett in Australia in a remote spot near Byron Bay. Their tiny house is totally off-grid but is like a case study or showcase of a variety of off-grid technologies including:
Before the tiny house they lived in Sydney in an apartment, but they wanted to had a strong desire to live off-grid in a rural area. Inspired by Bryce’s videos online, they decided to build their own 8 meter (~26′) long tiny house.
In Australia the total maximum weight of the house is limited to 4.5 tonnes (~9,900 pounds), so they used all lightweight materials like steel for the home’s framing. It gives the house a slightly industrial look. The exterior is cypress and cedar. Pine is used for the windows and doors. The interior is lightweight plywood.
Through frugal choices and by doing a lot of the work themselves they kept the cost down. The total cost with all the high-tech off-grid features was just 65,000 Australian (~$50,000 USD).
To read more visit Living Big In A Tiny House. For more videos like this follow Living Big In A Tiny House on YouTube. Images are screenshots from the video by Living Big In A Tiny House including the selfie made by Paul and Annett. Also be sure to visit Paul and Annett’s website Living Tiny and Green.
Below & Above: The exterior of their tiny home where you can see most of the off-grid technologies. The tiny greenhouse looking thing is the biogas generator.
Below: A view inside their tiny home.
Imagine Your Tiny House