How To Build Your Own Cabin from a Tiny House

With her father's guidance and lessons learned during their labor of love, the author's tiny home grew as her family's needs did.

By Kitty Hall-Thurnheer
Updated on October 4, 2022
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by Kitty Hall-Thurnheer
The author’s “tiny house” grew from 384 square feet to 1,600 square feet over decades of adjustments.

A tiny home doesn’t have to stay tiny. Learn about the updates this author made to her own tiny house, addition after addition, as she shows how to build your own cabin from a tiny house.

My tiny house construction began during a particularly bad week when I was 28 and suddenly found myself single after a brief marriage. It was more a distraction than a plan; I was simply miserable, and my mother insisted we start the cabin I had talked about building. She dragged out some 2x6s from my father’s inventory and pounded them together. When my father came home, he made a few suggestions, and for the following year, he worked with me every Sunday, sharing everything he could about building. It’s a wonderful thing to have your father all to yourself every Sunday. We measured and sawed and nailed; we took breaks to eat cookies; we listened to “A Prairie Home Companion” — all this while we built my future home.

Now, 29 years later, I’ve lived almost half my life in a tiny house expansion that started out as a 384-square-foot home and, after four additions, is now 1,600 square feet. One thing is certain: There will be changes in life regarding a person’s needs, capabilities, income, and pets — all of which will require an adjustment.

tiny house being hauled down a field behind a tractor

From this perspective, I realize a tiny house doesn’t have to remain tiny. It can grow as your needs grow and as your income increases. Avoiding a mortgage with a slow tiny house expansion can help you cut your home expenses by more than half. Having a long-term plan can also help you avoid costly mistakes. I avoided the mortgage, but I could’ve used a long-term plan. I didn’t know anything about tiny house construction at the beginning of this journey, but I paid attention. I’m grateful for the lessons from that adventure, though many decisions cost me later.

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