The Tumbleweed DIY Book of Backyard Sheds and Tiny Houses: Build your own guest cottage, writing studio, home office, craft workshop, or personal retreat

I purchased this book after reading the very mixed reviews on Amazon, and now see the validity of many of the reviewers' points.I've been following the Small House movement for many years - and drawing my own plans for decades, so I'd say I'm a devotee, but not yet committed. I have purchased Jay's previous books, so I was ready for this as a second step to help me see the work involved in building my "dream home." It looks overwhelming to me as a person with some limitations, but it certainly laid out the scope of the project (at least the building's shell, not the interior).The one great shortcoming of the book is the lack of interior shots. If there are so many ways to finish the interior of the tiny house, well then, let's see it! Perhaps the author feels this is ground that has already been covered, but I'm sure from the comments here, and the endless stream of decorating and design books, that there is a real hunger to know how these tiny homes are being used.The designs that are included all reflect a gorgeous Craftsman/Bungalow style, with bold details and expressive color. Superior craftsmanship is evident in many shots, and the siting of the small home is exquisite in many cases. While the book does have a bit of a patchwork feel to it, Jay Shafer continues to expand his vision of the Tiny House as lifestyle and design.

I love tumbleweed houses, and I bought this book to get a better idea of the interiors and how to build shelves and closets in small spaces. This book is first and foremost an advertisements for tumbleweed homes. It gives a lot of very basic layouts for the houses and then tells you to purchase the plans from the website.The parts that did contain DIY information looked to be taken straight form a generic source. None of the DIY pages had people working on tumbleweed houses. Instead you will get some illustrated how to pages of people working on large structures. I was very disappointed by this. In one DIY page it shows you the proper way to cut down a tree... WHY!?Overall I think they were stretching to get enough content for this book. I was hoping to get a lot of nice how to info on tumbleweeds, but I ended up getting a few pages of useless DIY. For the same money I could have bought a more comprehensive how to book form Home Depot.

The book is well done; lovely photos, plans, on-ground or on-wheels. Cute, well designed...great if you think you can live in a reeeeeaaaalllly tiny space. Of course as a writing studio or wee guest cottage they could work nicely. The best I can see for my own use, would to make one as a colorful Gypsy Wagon on wheels, something I've always dreamed about. But for housing, I want to see more "cottage" sized plans in the 600-900 square feet range. Would be great to build a village of such homes for those who want to live more simply and with smaller cost-of-living/maintainence. We would put them all on basements for warmth and storage and place for furnace and heat-on-demand water heater.

If you crave a simpler lifestyle and rebel against mega houses, this book is for you. Even if you have this book as a "dream book" it is worth the purchase. We own a small rural lot and cannot afford, septic, well etc, but can afford to place a tiny house such as those featured in the book, on the lot to enjoy recreationally. My only disappointment is the free plans offered in the book were not accessible.

This is the kind of book to keep close for those moment when you need to get away from the reality of everyday life. An escape to dream to, and escape made just for you!...and maybe a best friend or two.This is not only dreamers book but has the directions, information and inspiration to be used to build that little dream house. The instructions are clear and it even encludes the writers lore.I am planning on my little house to go up next spring!Dream on, and then Build!

Much of this book was a how-to-do-carpentry guide. I was looking for tips on tiny houses and what I got was a nicely bound super nice book however 1/2 looked like diagrams and wall--framing how-to from a bunch of old Sunset Magazine yard and graden books I have on the shelves. Just don't expect too much. Limited use to me as a person converting basements on hillside houses and detatched garages into apartments. This may be a good book for younger book buyers or inexperienced framers and the photos are nice......just don't expect too much.

I was hoping to have more of a variety of homes, but instead this book contains some very detailed plans for a handful of homes that can be modified to fit your needs. A good book for anyone interested in tiny homes.

I would actually liked to have seen more interior shots with a little furniture so I could kind of gauge the size of the room better, but the book is very helpful and had a freebie plan in with it.

Excellent

It's just one kind of construction. Ok, it's Jay Shafer style. And no more. If you need new ideas for a shed, maybe this is not enought.

You know the "idiot's guide to ..." series. Frankly, I don't think home building - or even shed building - is something that idiots should be doing. Even those who wouldn't call themselves idiots shouldn't be doing it on the basis of the half-baked advice in this book. The instructions are too simplistic and lacking in detail for me to trust them for anything that I will be making any investment in.That's the second half of the book.. the first half is almost literally just a catalogue of the pre-fabs that Tumbleweed sell. The only part of any interest (the floor plans) are unlabelled so in reality they are actually quite useless.Don't bother buying this.

Das dünne Buch ist für Laien gemacht - step by step. Es macht Lust sofort anzufangen. Sehr viele Detail-Ideen, obwohl das vorgeschlagene Design nicht jedermanns Sache ist. Es verschafft einen guten Überblick auf was man sich da einlässt. Sehr Praktisch.

Ich hatte gehofft, ein paar Tipps zum Haus(aus)bau und Hinweise zur Platzeinteilung zu bekommen.Leider ist dieses Buch nur zum Stöbern gut. Es kommt über Kurz oder Lang in den Bücherschrank.