You wake up in the morning and peer out your window to the sight of a beautiful forest in the distance. You can feel the warmth of the sun coming in the window and hitting your rested body. You hear a light breeze rustle the trees as birds chirp quietly.

This is a reality almost anyone would love, even if for only a few days a month. The challenge is, it can be expensive to have that kind of luxury regularly, and we often don’t make time for it. But not anymore! The movement towards slowing down in our modern society, taking time to enjoy life and relax is picking up steam -and for good reason!

Perhaps it’s due to the high rates of burn out, or maybe the fact that regardless of what people are getting materially, they are not feeling fulfilled, and instead are moving back to simplicity in terms of what we experience.

More time to rest, more time connecting with nature, more time reflecting and having fun. Less hustle and bustle and partying. Less thinking about work all the time and chasing the material desires we’ve been taught are what we want. That’s right, people are realizing that what they want is often not even their own ideas or desires.

But all of this can be done without losing any of the modern amenities we love, and that’s the best part.

Tiny Home or Vacation Home?

When it comes to the tiny house movement, the question that comes up so often is: “is it practical to live in homes like this all the time? Year round?” I think this entirely depends on your lifestyle.

Check out this story of a family of 3 who live in a tiny house. They share all the learned and how they feel about their decision.

As the husband Tom stated during the interview:

“I have a suspicion that this is actually the blueprint, and there is something, when people get to it, everybody would want to live this way, but it might be a really long journey for some folks to get to that knowing.” – Tom Nicholson

How to Build your Own Cabin

The video below goes into detail about how you can build your own cabin either on your property now or one you might get in an ideal location for you. You can also get the plans for this cabin very inexpensively from the man who designed them over at www.simplesolarhomesteading.com (Scroll down to find them.)

This cabin is 14×14 with a full loft and approximately 400 square feet of living space. Downstairs you will find a kitchen, bathroom, dining and living area to fit all your needs. You can design your finishes however you like.

The upstairs features a large bedroom and an office. Incredibly, this home features enough room for 6 people to sleep comfortably.

Thinking of this brings me back to a time when I was living in a 650 square foot condo, and I loved the simplicity of it. But to be honest, it wasn’t all good! Sometimes I wanted more space, or to be able to work in a different area than where I hung out. Sometimes you want privacy from others in your living space.

What I didn’t like about my condo experience was also about being in the sky and off the ground. I also had neighbours all around me and I could hear them often. What interests me about this home is I could achieve the things I loved about a smaller space while removing the downsides I experienced in that condo setup.

Power & Appliances

Need power? The power system includes 580 watts solar electric and 400 watts wind power which can power a 12 volt fridge, lights, water pump, TV’s, laptop and many gadgets. Your heat source can be propane or wood stove. The toilet is a solar assisted composting toilet.

The best part is, the cabin is designed for year round use and is fully insulated for cold climates. This design has actually been put to the test in a number of areas around the world to prove its ability to handle the elements. Cabins built in Canada, Mexico and Alaska all saw great results.

You Can Do It!

Whether it’s a weekend home you are looking for, a starter home for a small family or whether you are ready to get off the grid and do something completely different, this cabin can do the trick and for a small price tag.

Want to make the cabin bigger? No problem! It’s designed to handle additions on the 3 sides of the cabin should you decide down the road you want more space. The entire cabin can be built for under $2000 using new materials but this doesn’t include the price of windows and doors. Nonetheless, the price would still be less than $4000 all said and done.