Resources
We haven’t entered into these plans and ideas blindly. We have researched home design, building techniques, home efficiency standards, etc for YEARS. So this particular page will change as we add more over time, but we wanted to list out other websites, videos, books that have been helpful to us. Maybe this will help you if you ever do anything this crazy.
Websites:
- Younghouselove– Mega DIYers who are now renovating their 5th house. Huge in the blogging world- including their own lighting line, podcast, books, etc.
- Newlywoodwards– another DIY owner-builder home near us in Illinois
- Farmhousefromscratch– another DIY owner-builder
- Little Bus on the Prairie– not on the prairie if I recall correctly, but lived in a bus (w/ CHILDREN) while building a house on their property
- LiveLoveDIY– a lovely DIY/decorator, doesn’t post much lately
- McMansion Hell– A hilarious and totally honest review of modern housing and building fads
- Build Your Own House– this is one of the sites that convinced us we can do this foolish/fun adventure
- Build a House Yourself– another one to show what’s possible when you do any of the work yourself
Books:
- The Not-so-Big House by Sarah Susanka
- Creating the Not so Big House by Sarah Susanka
- Home by Design by Sarah Susanka (sense a trend here?)
- The Patterns of Home by Max Jacobson
- What Not to Build by Sandra Edelman
- The Well-Built House by James Locke
- The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify by Francine Jay
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Podcasts:
- Younghouselove has a Podcast– John and Sherry are my favorites.
- Get it Right by Undercover Architect– Found out about this pretty late in February 2018, but SOOOOO useful. She’s an architect in Australia, which means I get lulled by her voice, but so much good advice.