This week I’m talking Tiny Houses with Michelle Boyle – the designer, builder, and host of a tiny house village in Oregon,

There’s not much you can’t rent as accommodation today. An article in House Beautiful.com has 10 of the most unique Airbnb rentals from around the world. From a bamboo house in Bali at $65 per night – think living out your inner Eat, Pray, Love fantasy, to a sheep wagon in Wyoming. Yes, this is a restored 1920s sheep wagon complete with wood-burning stove and a full-sized bed ($125 per night), to a treehouse in downtown Atlanta complete with antique furnishings, a balcony, hammock, and string lights ….for $375 per night.

There’s Airstreams, yurts, old planes….in fact, anything that can be converted into space with a bed – a composting toilet, and some means of cooking either inside or out can make the grade.

Then there are tiny houses.

The Tiny Life.com website puts it simply:

“The trend toward tiny houses has become a social movement. People are choosing to downsize the space they live in, simplify, and live with less. People are embracing the tiny life philosophy and the freedom that accompanies the tiny house lifestyle. The tiny house movement is about more than simply living in a small space (although, a small house is certainly part of it).”

Today’s guest, Michelle Boyle embodies the trend towards this kind of simplistic living. Michelle designs build and rents out her tiny houses near Portland, Oregon. And while the typical small or tiny house definition is a home with square footage is between 100 and 400 square feet,  one of Michelle’s creations is only 48 sq ft – and it achieved close to full occupancy this past summer at $71 per night.

Michelle tells her story of how what started out as a necessity turned into a passion. So much so, she’s built what she calls her Tiny Village on a disused Christmas tree plantation, where she also lives…in her tiny house.

Michelle shares:

• Her back story of down-sizing
• How she found the perfect property to build a tiny village
• The essential elements of a tiny house
• Why the houses are all on wheels
• The composting toilet dilemma
• Why unique listings do so well on Airbnb
• What happens now she’s run out of electricity
• The next step – teardrop rentals

Of course, there is a specialist site for anyone looking to buy a ready-made tiny house and Mike follows up by recommending Tiny House Listings.com

Links to sites mentioned in this episode:

House Beautiful – Unique Airbnb Rentals

Oregon Tear Drop Rentals

Tiny House Festival – Australia

Michelle on Youtube (one to watch)

My Tiny Empty Nest

My Tiny Perch

My Tiny Birdhouse

My Tiny Hideout

Tiny Empty Nest Facebook Page

My Tiny Houses – Instagram

This week’s recommended book is Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

‍by Ann Handley.

‍

The book is in 6 parts and covers most aspects of writing for online content including grammar, story rules, publishing tips, marketing tasks and has a reference list of sources.

This isn’t the definitive book on writing, or grammar, or publishing – rather it offers useful guideposts on the path towards better writing..

My favorite quote from the book is:

“Start with empathy, continue with utility, improve with analysis, optimize with love”

This is an invaluable reference book when you are writing listings or creating content.