The making of “A tiny A-frame” (Part 1 of 2)

To me, tiny houses are fascinating with their ability to fit most necessities in small spaces, while utilizing transformer furniture or other clever storage possibilities. I love browsing through Pinterest, clipping ideas under the “Future Tiny Home” folder, or discovering new Youtube channels dedicated to these small wonders. Tiny houses are a big business these days with people selling their plans, their construction skills, or offering turn-key all-inclusive domiciles to willing customers. One of these talented individuals is Derek “Deek” Diedricksen, who is a blogger, former HGTV host, an author, a builder/designer/artist, and probably a handful of other titles, making him a very cool dude in my book!

My hubby and I came across one of Deek’s creations this spring while browsing tiny shacks online. This particular A-frame was so adorably tiny, yet multi-functional that it made us pause and take notice. Unlike other designs, it had a transformation element which increased its square footage and gave it an undeniable character. The convenience of having the ability to purchase building plans, motivated us to do just that during this summer’s vacation. So with just over three weeks left of vacation, we got to work.

The floor was assembled inside our barn on a leveled concrete. Very quickly it gave us the idea of just how small it’s going to be – just 80 square feet!

IMG_5279-e1503436235297-768×1024

IMG_5268-1024×768

allaponomareva-768-2-660×462

Building A-frame platform

IMG_5269-1024×768

IMG_5278-1024×768

Luckily, we borrowed my father-in-law’s tractor, otherwise, I doubt our Tercel Wagon could have carried the base over.

allaponomareva-768

A-frame platform is ready for its final position

With the spot chosen, we started erecting walls and framing in the windows. We ended up upcycling two small windows from my sister-in-law’s trailer and building a door ourselves.

allaponomareva-768-6

Bulding A-frame door from old boards

allaponomareva-768-5

allaponomareva-768-4

IMG_5282-1024×768

IMG_5297-e1503436791173-768×1024

IMG_5298-e1503436756492-768×1024

allaponomareva-1024-4

Building the A-frame

Having just built a door for our other Tiny Cabin – The Shanty, hubby knew exactly what he was doing, even down to the door handle (the wood was recycled from an old deck and was already beautifully aged, while the door handle used to be a shed antler).

We contemplated as to what to do for the siding and settled on tongue and groove boards, painted and stained to give them that “aged” look. It ended up looking like camouflage and now the A-frame is even harder to spot among all the evergreen trees.

allaponomareva-1024-7

Painting A-frame’s Outer Walls

allaponomareva-768-7

Painting tongue and groove boards

Once the siding went up, it started to shape into something very special.

allaponomareva-1024-3

allaponomareva-1024-5

Building the A-frame

allaponomareva-1024-15

The two beds were also a part of the building plan and required some custom mattresses and covers. We settled on a 4-inch mattress topper, cut in half and outfitted with bright outdoor material. My previous experience making pillows from scratch came in handy, but making fitted sheets is harder than it sounds.

Update: We have since settled on just regular single sheets, which easily come on and off.

allaponomareva-768-8

Sewing

The beauty of building something yourself is the ability to experiment and play with the materials at hand. Wood is never wasted on our property and some aged log in the corner turned into a beautiful countertop in a matter of a few hours.

allaponomareva-1024

Creating live edge counter tops

allaponomareva-1024-16

Creating live edge countertops

Chainsaw skills also don’t get wasted when you are in need of a funky staircase. Love how it turned out! It has also become one of our guests’ favorite features.

Last, but not least, the movable wall turned see-through, completing the goal of seeing stars while lying down in bed.

allaponomareva-1024-10

Putting up A-frame’s translucent wall

allaponomareva-1024-8

allaponomareva-1024-9

allaponomareva-1024-13

From start to finish this project took about 3 weeks to complete, recycling and upcycling as much as we could. In total, this A-frame cost us about $700, a much smaller amount than the one built here. That’s the beauty of reusing materials and building small, it’s inexpensive, quick and so much fun!

Update: We’ve had a lot of fun and success renting out this funky A-frame that we’ve even become Airbnb’s Ambassadors. We would love to help you set up your own listing, answer any questions, and get you on your way to your own side hustle success. If we can do it, anyone can do it!

Use this link to get $65 Airbnb credit and get you started