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Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts: And Whatever the Heck Else We Could Squeeze in Here Paperback – February 1, 2012
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This Old House meets Wayne’s World in this zany guide to designing and building tiny homes
Derek Diedricksen has always had a love for small, modest houses ever since his father gave him the book Tiny Tiny Houses by Lester Walker for his tenth birthday. Combining his artistic abilities, wild imagination, and his passion for small houses, he self-published Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts, and Whatever the Heck Else we could Squeeze in Here in 2009. This book is a collection of Diedricksen’s creative/imaginative sketches for building small houses, shacks, cottages, and forts.
The sketches are accompanied with hand-written commentary, both instructive and comical. Derek’s main purpose is to get your creative juices flowing and encourage you to get off the couch and use your hands. Believing that specific building plans squash creativity, he avoids too many detailed instructions, giving you the chance to put your own creative spin on your very own small abode (even if it is just in your imagination).
- Print length104 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLyons Press
- Publication dateFebruary 1, 2012
- Dimensions8 x 0.5 x 11 inches
- ISBN-100762771461
- ISBN-13978-0762771462
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"For ingenuity, thrift, and charm, Mr. Diedricksen’s tiny structures are hard to beat.”
—New York Times
Praise for Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts "Using salvaged materials and power tools, Diedricksen creates cozy living spaces filled with artistic touches that you would never expect to see in an average trailer or treehouse. He’ll create colorful patterns of blue and green glass circles on a wall by sawing wine bottles in half. He’s been known to incorporate pickle jars into his designs. That round window that looks like a portal on a ship? That used to be the window on a front-loading washing machine. It's Mad Magazine, meets This Old House." --Emily Sweeney, The Boston Globe
"If you like little houses as much as I do, then your friends probably think you're weird. The images and ideas in Deek's book are not only great porn for tiny house freaks like us, but they also serve to show your friends that there is someone out there whose fascination with the subject is even more perverse than yours." --Jay Shafer, Tiny Tumbleweed House Company
"Humble Homes... is great book, I really enjoyed it, and its packed with information much like the old Whole Earth Catalog." --Lester Walker (Author of Tiny Houses, and American Shelter)
“I was so wowed by this book. It's awesome. The information is practical and raw, and very unpretentious. The overall feel is so honest and authentic.” --Gregory Paul Johnson- President of The National Small House Society and Resourcesforlife.com
“Think: Wayne’s World-meets-‘This Old House’- in book form.” --Jon Kalish- NPR/National Public Radio D.I.Y. Host
“Deek brings the element of fun to the tiny house movement. He's obviously having a great time with his life, and his easily accessible drawings will inspire many a reader -- who would otherwise not have done so -- to pick up a hammer and saw and build a treehouse, a fort, a shack, or a solar shower, and realize "Hey, I can do that!" --Lloyd Kahn- Editor of Shelter Publications, and author of Shelter, HomeWork, and Builders of the Pacific Coast
"Amazing. This is a must have book for those that appreciate extreme (and wacky) simple solutions! Crammed full of what flows from Derek’s wild imagination, Humble Homes is part comic book, notebook, and alternative living encyclopedia all in one. Hand written and illustrated, virtually every page is crammed full of black and white drawings and notes that describe a vast array of ideas and solutions for simple living." --Michael Janzen- Tinyhousedesign.com
"I would not be surprised if Humble Homes were to become a mini classic of its own within the surprisingly well-organized, and recently more and more in the spotlight, world of "tiny house" enthusiasts. The book reads like a demented Boy Scout's fantasy notebook of plans, and some of the designs are downright cuh-razy, but all in all, there's a lot here to get your own creative juices going. To sum up, the book is a lot of fun, and whets my appetite for future episodes of Diedricksen's “Tiny Yellow House” video series—I can't wait to see more of his off the wall designs come to life! --Katherine Sharpe, Readymade Magazine
"Derek’s book is a far cry from anything conventional. Deek aims to inspire with his ideas, ideas that may well earn his book a place in tiny house history. What he ends up doing is reconstructing the mind into accepting what constitutes shelter. Deek’s book is important not so much because it is another entertaining zine produced by an overly creative young person, but because he is both fed by a movement and contributing a large chunk to it with his mind bending, Houdini like acts of radically small, home-built shelters. --Amanda Kovattana- of Déjà Vu Construction (CA)
“Humble Homes…” explores the possibilities of the small home ~ and is the single craziest, most unique book I have ever seen. It’s like MacGyver and Bob Villa sat down to make a graphic novel but made a catalog for Building 19 instead….all illustrated in a wonderful and crazy style." --Gene Higgins, The Worcester Pulse Magazine
“Humble Homes… is a hoot, an education, and an inspiration, crammed with Diedricksen’s designs. The book is obsessively illustrated with wacky cartoon or designs drawings, and is brimming with Yankee ingenuity, junkyard philosophy, and plenty of eye-rolling yucks. The funky energy of Humble Homes… reminds me a lot of Lloyd Kahns “Shelter” books, Malcolm Wells solar architecture books, and other homemade home books from The Whole Earth Catalog." --Gareth Branwyn, Make Magazine
"Simply put, if you are the type of person who walks by a pile of curbside junk and thinks “I could make something out of that” - then THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! Derek Diedricksen has put together a comprehensive collection of rather compelling building alternatives, combining his own building experiences with his creative imagination and excellent pen and ink drawing. Even if you never pick up a hammer, Humble Homes is a hugely fascinating journey from beginning to end." --David and Jeanie Stiles, authors of Cabins: A Guide to Building Your Own Nature Retreat and Sheds – The-Do-It-Yourself Guide
“Brilliant! I want to write a book like this. But I can't. Derek is my new best friend and he doesn't even know me. He will though, by God. He will...” --Peter Nelson,
Founder of The Treehouse Workshop Inc. and Author of Treehouses of The World
"For me, each page of Humble Homes... is a m...
About the Author
Derek (“Deek”) Diedricksen was born and raised in Madison, Connecticut, and is a graduate of Northeastern University. After graduating from college he was a DJ at CBS radio station 104.1 WBCN in Boston. His comic strip, Slugs, not Hugs, has appeared in The Weekly Dig and Soundcheck Magazine.
Product details
- Publisher : Lyons Press; 13541st edition (February 1, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 104 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0762771461
- ISBN-13 : 978-0762771462
- Item Weight : 0.882 ounces
- Dimensions : 8 x 0.5 x 11 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,318,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #432 in Small Homes & Cottages
- #649 in Carpentry
- #2,425 in Home Design & Construction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2016
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I really enjoyed every page, and have made notes, dogeared pages for structures I want to use to help me design my own Tiny Home. I also suggest not taking it or yourself too seriously while reading. Feel like a kid reading that issue of the Silver Surfer that you love the best. Dream and then figure out a way to build it. He uses as much recycled/reclaimed materials that he can. Wine bottle windows? Very pretty. Rain catchment, solar showers, tin can uses and wicked cool tree houses to boot. Deek did, and seems like he's having a great time. I really think he tries to focus on the idea of have fun...be creative,reuse, be safe and relax.
I enjoyed it very much. Maybe because I have a similar sense of humor, but I really think that it's a good time.
This book is great for those who are looking to design (on a dime?) outdoor structures, particularly using salvage, upcycled/recycled or low-cost materials such as wood pallets, water jugs, wine bottles, etc. Everything from a writing or art shed to a kids' play areas, from an actual fulltime tiny house to a vacation trailer. This is not the HOW TO guide to carpentry or building construction, merely an overview on the different types of structures you can make for a certain purpose and what types of materials you can use to cut costs or improve the functionality of the space.
What is different about this book?
This book at first glance looks like a collection of black and white doodles in a comic book style presentation with usually one outdoor structure per page. i feel like this is both good and bad. I grew up reading comic books so I felt like it was an unusual but familiar way to present the material but I can see it being very busy to some who are not used to this kind of format or who need things outlined using tedious mind-numbing bureaucratic order. I feel like by not sticking to the usual book format the author's personality and creative ideas come across more easily and I got a better feel for how each structure might be used and I was able to take something away from each individual design. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and this book has a lot of detail in an easy to digest package.
The only thing I would have wanted added would be more tips and designs applicable to actually 24/7 living in a tiny house or off grid.
Top reviews from other countries



Text to jumbled and wacky for the layman!


Neben vielen Skizzen und Ideen findet man in diesem DIY-Buch auch einige Hintergrundinformationen zu der Idee, kleine Häuser zu bauen. Doch nicht nur Unterkünfte werden vorgestellt, auch Outdoor-Duschen und Toiletten kommen zur Sprache.
Eines sucht man in diesem Buch jedoch vergebens: detaillierte Baupläne. Davon distanziert sich der Autor allerdings gleich auf den ersten Seiten, denn dieses Buch soll lediglich anregen, nicht anleiten.
Und genau das gelingt den liebevollen Skizzen sehr gut. Das Buch inspiriert jedoch nicht nur, etwas zu bauen, sondern auch, darüber nachzudenken, ob man tatsächlich auf 200 qm leben muss, wenn ein kleines Häuschen mit 50 qm auch ausreicht.
Einen Nachteil gibt es für alle deutschen Bürger: Die Bauvorschriften sind hier in Deutschland wesentlich strenger und darum mag nicht jede Idee tatsächlich umsetzbar sein - aber mit ein paar kleinen Änderungen sicherlich machbar.
Einen Stern Abzug gibt es lediglich für die manchmal schwer zu entziffernde Handschrift. Im Großen und Ganzen kann man die Texte sehr gut lesen, aber hin und wieder fällt es einem doch schwer.
Empfehlenswert ist es für alle kreativen Köpfe, die ein wenig bauen möchten, ausgediente Dinge nicht wegschmeißen wollen und nach Inspirationen suchen - und natürlich für alle, die Englisch verstehen.