0:00

I had never

0:00

studied architecture or design

0:03

or anything like that at all.

0:03

Even the whole physics of the

0:06

house, I'm surprised that it

0:06

works because I literally just

0:11

made it up.

0:14

Welcome to the

0:14

Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast The

0:17

show where you learn how to

0:17

plan, build and live the tiny

0:20

lifestyle. I'm your host, Ethan

0:20

Waldman, and this is episode 254

0:24

With Carina Gibson. Carina is a

0:24

multidisciplinary artist who

0:30

started building her first tiny

0:30

house in 2019 with absolutely no

0:34

experience. The tiny house she

0:34

created is beautiful, and has a

0:39

really clean, modern design. She

0:39

enjoyed building her first tiny

0:43

house so much that she actually

0:43

has built a second one. Both

0:47

tiny houses were built with lots

0:47

of repurposed materials, and

0:51

done for very low price tags.

0:51

Carina's online profiles are

0:57

called Dirtbag Minimal. And in

0:57

the conversation, we talk about

1:01

what she means by dirt bag

1:01

minimal and how minimalism and

1:06

simplicity informs her building

1:06

techniques or designs and her

1:11

way of life. I hope you stick

1:11

around.

1:15

Hey, it's Ethan. I'm a tiny

1:15

house author, speaker and

1:18

teacher. And I'm the host of the

1:18

Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast.

1:22

I've been making the show for

1:22

free for the past five years.

1:25

But one thing that you might not

1:25

have known about me is that I

1:27

love coffee. If anything I've

1:27

written or produced has helped

1:31

you on your tiny house journey

1:31

and you're looking for a way to

1:34

say thanks a coffee is a great

1:34

way to do so. Head over to

1:38

thetinyhouse.net/coffee to buy

1:38

me a cup. I really appreciate

1:42

your generosity and kindness.

1:42

The Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast

1:46

will always be free. And I bring

1:46

you a fresh new episode every

1:49

Friday morning. If you are able

1:49

to chip in I really appreciate

1:53

it. Again that website is

1:53

thetinyhouse.net/coffee. All

1:57

right, let's jump into this

1:57

week's interview.

2:29

Right, I am here with Carina

2:29

Gibson. Carina is a

2:32

multidisciplinary artist with a

2:32

main focus on building and

2:36

creating sustainable structures.

2:36

She started building her first

2:40

tiny house in 2019 with no

2:40

experience but a passion for

2:43

learning and creating. She is

2:43

devoted to living more minimally

2:47

and mindfully and hopes this

2:47

speaks through her art as well

2:50

as lifestyle aiming to promote

2:50

environmental activism through

2:53

her creations. She is half

2:53

Finnish and half American and

2:56

pulls from both backgrounds in

2:56

her designs and life. Carina

3:00

Gibson, welcome to the show.

3:02

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

3:04

Yeah, you're very

3:04

welcome. So tell me, take take

3:07

us back to 2019. And, you know,

3:07

help us get inside your head,

3:11

like what were you thinking? Why

3:11

did you decide to build a tiny

3:14

house?

3:16

Well, I have

3:16

always been interested in

3:21

building and construction, I

3:21

guess it's always sort of

3:25

fascinated me and I had been

3:25

living in Chicago for the past,

3:29

like 10 years. So I didn't have

3:29

the space or capabilities to

3:33

actually get a bunch of tools

3:33

and build things. And I came to

3:39

visit my hometown in North

3:39

Carolina and I suddenly just

3:44

sort of decided. This idea had

3:44

been cooking in my brain and I

3:49

just decided to jump on it. And

3:49

the idea for the tiny house came

3:56

basically from, you know, living

3:56

in a city and, or living

4:00

anywhere really paying rent, and

4:00

just sort of seeing what goes

4:03

into that. And I kept imagining

4:03

a different lifestyle where I

4:08

could have a space that I've

4:08

already created and paid for

4:13

and, and really into DIY and,

4:13

and all of that. So it kind of

4:19

all just came together.

4:20

Nice.

4:22

I'm a pretty

4:22

creative person. So I do think

4:25

outside the box. And I think

4:25

that was important in sort of

4:28

visualizing what I wanted to do.

4:28

And yeah, I just really wanted

4:35

to be in control of my housing.

4:35

And that, that feeling that that

4:43

safety of knowing that this is

4:43

mine, I created this and I

4:49

didn't have the funds for a

4:49

house and I didn't want to buy a

4:52

house.

4:53

Yeah.

4:53

And it just tied

4:53

in with the whole aspect of

4:58

environmentalism, of minimalism,

4:58

tying into you know, less,

5:04

purchases, all all of that go

5:04

together, all that stuff. And

5:09

it, building a tiny house

5:09

allowed me to use my creativity

5:14

and just experiment. I love

5:14

experimenting and just jumping

5:20

in headfirst. I mean, I could go

5:20

on and on about why I started,

5:23

but I guess that that would be

5:23

it in a nutshell.

5:26

Nice. So how, how

5:26

long did your build take?

5:30

Took me two years.

5:32

Okay.

5:33

And that was, I

5:33

was also working and traveling.

5:36

You know?

5:37

You worked on it like when you could.

5:40

Yeah, definitely.

5:40

And then when I had stretches of

5:42

time, I would do a lot at once.

5:42

But I burned out quickly on

5:47

doing those 10 hour days. I

5:47

can't really do that.

5:51

Yeah. Yeah.

5:51

Construction is, it requires a

5:55

certain level of energy that I

5:55

don't have for full time

5:59

construction, either.

6:02

Yeah, it's

6:02

tiring. Yeah.

6:04

Yeah. So tell us

6:04

about the house like, you know,

6:08

kind of give us the stats, like

6:08

how big is it? Any special

6:12

features? And I'm curious to

6:12

just hear about how, you know,

6:15

how you express your creativity

6:15

through the construction

6:19

process? Like, you know, are

6:19

there parts of the house that

6:22

you kind of feel like you got to

6:22

really, you know, do something

6:26

different or express something?

6:29

I think all of

6:29

it, mostly, because I'll just

6:33

start by answering that last

6:33

question, but...

6:36

Yeah.

6:38

I had never

6:38

studied architecture or design

6:41

or anything like that at all. So

6:41

I didn't even or engineering so

6:45

that even the whole physics of

6:45

the house, I'm surprised that it

6:49

works, because I literally just

6:49

made it up. I was just like, I

6:54

think that I describe. You know,

6:54

we all have strong suits and

6:59

weak points. I have many

6:59

weaknesses. But I do think that

7:02

one of my strong points is

7:02

spatial awareness. So like, for

7:06

my day job I do flower

7:06

arranging, sculptures and stuff.

7:11

So I've always had this ability

7:11

to kind of imagine space. And so

7:16

therefore, I think I was able to

7:16

draw out a design just kind of

7:21

by thinking, "Okay, well like,

7:21

like, how much space here? How

7:25

do I want this to function?" So

7:25

just just that kind of a

7:30

thinking process, and really not

7:30

any research. I mean, of course,

7:35

there was research, but not

7:35

spatially. Like I saw a ton of

7:39

designs online, and I didn't

7:39

like any of them, like,

7:43

Yeah,

7:44

buy a blueprint.

7:44

And of course, I was like, No,

7:48

until someone tells you to do

7:48

something, I'll do the opposite.

7:58

But the tiny house is 10 feet

7:58

wide by 24 feet long. But I

8:05

decided to go wide as well. That

8:05

took a lot of research just

8:08

because I've been in eight and a

8:08

half. And it was like I get

8:13

claustrophobic easily. So like

8:13

I'm someone that loves why big

8:16

spaces. So yeah, to make a tiny

8:16

house to create that feeling. I

8:22

was like, I need to figure this

8:22

out. So I went wider. And of

8:28

course you need permits for

8:28

taking you on the road, but I

8:32

haven't really had to take it on

8:32

the road. So that's not an issue

8:36

yet. So I thought there you go.

8:38

Yeah.

8:38

Not the biggest

8:38

deal. And also, I created gabled

8:47

roof. Yeah, and part of it has a

8:47

loft above the kitchen in the

8:53

bathroom there's loft, but above

8:53

the bedroom and above the living

8:57

room, there's no loft and people

8:57

would consider that wasted space

9:00

but for me again, the feeling

9:00

the spatial awareness all that

9:06

like feeling like you have space

9:06

is so important and the idea of

9:10

minimalism is like I don't want

9:10

tons of storage space

9:13

everywhere. I don't want to have

9:13

a lot of stuff the less places

9:16

you have. For me space is more

9:16

of course the tiny house did get

9:22

cluttered because stuff gets

9:22

bought and I'm sure I'm not

9:27

above anyone else I am no monk.

9:27

So I think that like I put the

9:34

that the wideness let me put the

9:34

bathroom and the kitchen side by

9:39

side and the bedroom had to be

9:39

on the downstairs because I

9:41

didn't want a loft bedroom which

9:41

a lot of people were doing again

9:45

his face so yeah, I feel like

9:45

there's a lot of individual

9:50

aspects about it. That being one

9:50

also in terms of my building

9:54

style. It's completely

9:54

completely like artists, like I

10:02

had all my walls up, and I had

10:02

no idea what the roof was gonna

10:06

look like.

10:06

Wow.

10:07

Yeah, most people

10:07

like I was like, well, now the

10:10

walls are up and I need to

10:10

decide the roof style.

10:14

Yeah.

10:14

And I took a few

10:14

days and I was like what am I?

10:17

What? Like, and then suddenly I

10:17

was like, okay, yeah gabled

10:21

roof, even though I didn't want

10:21

it because I didn't want it to

10:24

look. So typically how see,

10:24

yeah, I wanted a little more

10:28

modern. But I was able to pull

10:28

it off in a way that I wanted

10:32

to. And space. So anyway, space

10:32

wise it works. So that's how I

10:37

work, I just, I don't plan

10:37

really work step by step,

10:42

whatever's in front of me. And

10:42

so it's not necessarily the best

10:50

way to work, but it's just who I

10:50

am. So I think that that's kind

10:57

of why I wanted to start my

10:57

YouTube channel was because I

11:01

see so many builders, so many

11:01

people in the construction

11:06

building world that seem to me

11:06

to be more type a more

11:11

organized, planning everything

11:11

step by step. And of course,

11:14

that's really important for many

11:14

reasons. But I didn't let that

11:20

stop me from creating, building

11:20

a house. And it led me by the

11:25

end of the build, I realized

11:25

that I was not really

11:28

identifying that much as like, a

11:28

builder, but more as an artist

11:32

than the fact that building a

11:32

house can be art. And we don't

11:35

see it that way. And you think

11:35

you have to approach it in this

11:39

certain way. But you can just do

11:39

it in a crazy, unorganized way.

11:44

As long as you have some

11:44

planning. And I think that that

11:48

was a message I really wanted to

11:48

get out to people like you don't

11:51

nice have to have your shit

11:51

together.

11:54

Yeah, there's

11:54

like a certain order to things

11:56

that like, you know, the, the

11:56

plumbing has to go into the

11:59

walls before you close them up,

11:59

you know, or the the insulation

12:03

has to go into the walls before

12:03

you put the walls on. But then

12:07

there's a lot of, of freedom and

12:07

ability to be playful and

12:12

iterative, in how you design and

12:12

build. I mean, I did a podcast

12:17

with a friend who's a designer,

12:17

and we kind of did like a debate

12:21

versus design, build and build

12:21

design. Because you can kind of

12:25

do it both ways. There's,

12:25

there's, you know, arguments to

12:28

be made that you should plan the

12:28

whole thing out, and like have

12:32

it all on paper and then build

12:32

it, maybe that's a little more

12:34

efficient. But then on the flip

12:34

side, when you work the way that

12:38

you did, there's the opportunity

12:38

to really see how the space

12:41

feels as you put it together and

12:41

then decide, okay, I'm doing a

12:44

gabled roof, for example.

12:46

Yeah, and that

12:46

there's so much truth to that,

12:49

because you are able to feel it,

12:49

feel it out. And I do that with

12:52

everything. But even the fact

12:52

that like, even though it is

12:56

more efficient to plan it all

12:56

out at once, and do that, like I

13:00

try, like this was me trying

13:00

like I was doing my best effort

13:05

and planning is planning. Yeah,

13:05

and it just can't just can't.

13:10

Like it would just fall through

13:10

and then I would just be doing

13:14

things step by step. So of

13:14

course, there's obviously you

13:17

need to do some things like you

13:17

need to put your T shirt on

13:21

before you put your coat on.

13:21

Like there's little things. But

13:25

beyond that, yeah, you can be

13:25

more creative than you think.

13:29

And like I switched my design

13:29

like halfway through a lot and I

13:32

thought I was gonna do tile and

13:32

well not a lot but like space

13:37

show I'll be like, I'll be like

13:37

up the wall should I wrote down

13:40

on my notes that the wall should

13:40

start at 42 inches and then when

13:44

I get into this space, I'm like,

13:44

No, it should start at 38.

13:49

Rewrite! You know?

13:50

Yeah, yeah.

13:50

Interesting. Tell me about how

13:54

you approached like the windows.

13:54

Did you, did you salvage

13:58

windows? Did you kind of decide

13:58

on a package of windows and then

14:02

design around them? Nice.

14:03

And then designed

14:03

around that.

14:03

Because I was working on a

14:03

budget, I found I learned that

14:08

the best way is to salvage

14:08

windows. So I went to a habitat

14:09

Nice. resale store yeah sure if you

14:13

have that you have those but

14:18

yeah, I bought all my windows

14:18

and no all my windows to six windows.

14:18

I had enough like

14:18

like pre thought yeah, to know

14:34

that I should find the

14:34

dimensions you know before I

14:38

drew it so of course it does

14:38

take a little bit but.

14:42

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the

14:42

there's a beautiful you know,

14:47

French door glass entry door.

14:47

Was that also a salvage or did

14:53

you have to buy that one knew? That was a combination of both.

14:55

I call that the disaster door.

14:59

You because I really wanted that

14:59

look of, and I don't like

15:05

lattice work at all. So it was

15:05

really, because I like very

15:08

clean modern lines. So Lowe's

15:08

was selling these, they sold

15:13

doors like that, but they were

15:13

over $1,000. And then I found

15:17

doors, the French doors that had

15:17

this lattice work on them, like,

15:22

discounted because they had been

15:22

dented for like $2. So I was

15:26

like, Great, I'm just going to

15:26

cut off the lattice work. So

15:31

turns out the lattice work was

15:31

some type of plastic. So then I

15:35

was like, well just unscrew

15:35

these and put something else on.

15:39

So I got so I really learned how

15:39

they make doors, because then I

15:43

unscrew that, like outside, I

15:43

did this and then the glass fell

15:47

out. And then like all these

15:47

pine needles got stuck on the

15:50

glass. So then I had to get

15:50

glass back and said, Screw it.

15:53

And then I had to figure out how

15:53

to cut all the latticework off

15:58

with is it a road? It's the type

15:58

of I can't remember the name of

16:01

the tool. But it's like you're

16:01

able to cut sort of

16:06

perpendicular to your body and

16:08

Oscillating.

16:09

Oscillating.

16:09

Yeah. So I was doing that. And I

16:12

don't know, I probably made like

16:12

50 cuts. And I don't understand

16:16

how I didn't cut the glass not

16:16

once. And then I had to like get

16:20

pieces of wood. It was just I

16:20

could go on and on about that as

16:25

well. It was and then had to

16:25

paint it. It was just like,

16:28

Well, now, when that was done, I

16:28

was like, that was a moment

16:33

where you're like, yeah, you

16:33

definitely paid for it.

16:37

It sounds like a

16:37

labor of love.

16:40

Yeah. So you just

16:40

learn all along, like now I know

16:44

a lot about outdoors work in

16:44

terms of the how much they cost

16:50

and what it means. Yeah, you

16:50

just learn. Learn all the time.

16:54

Yeah.

16:55

What was your

16:55

your total budget for the build?

16:58

You know, I

16:58

haven't calculated that. Because

17:00

again, I just started to keep

17:00

track of the receipts, but I

17:07

just never calculated it fully.

17:07

And what was happening is I was

17:11

paying as I went, yeah, just

17:11

with what I had in my bank

17:14

account, but I can give you a

17:14

rough estimate, especially with

17:18

my big purchases. Like I can

17:18

tell you that. I bought my

17:22

trailer bed new from tiny home

17:22

builders.

17:28

Okay.

17:28

And it was $6700

17:28

delivered to me which right now

17:34

that price is over twice as

17:34

much.

17:38

Yeah, it's the

17:38

cost of trailers has gone up a

17:40

lot.

17:41

So I just I built

17:41

it right before lumber prices

17:45

went up. So I built it right at

17:45

the perfect time.

17:49

Yep.

17:50

Yeah. Then of

17:50

course, my, you know, stove was

17:53

$1200 or more and no, yeah, so

17:53

it windows and door, everything

18:00

was probably $1000. But then all

18:00

the wood, like, I'm guessing

18:04

around $20k? Probably a little

18:04

more.

18:08

That's awesome.

18:09

I mean, yeah,

18:09

just right around $20k.

18:11

It's a beautiful

18:11

space too, like it doesn't.

18:16

It's, that's a fraction of the

18:16

cost of many of the tiny houses

18:19

that I care about and talk to

18:19

people about and it certainly

18:23

doesn't look like it's a

18:23

fraction of the cost.

18:26

Well, thank you.

18:26

That's really good to hear.

18:29

Yeah, especially for my first

18:29

try.

18:31

Yeah, I mean, I

18:31

also really like that modern,

18:34

like you use a lot of plywood

18:34

and just finished the plywood.

18:39

And I tend to really like that

18:39

it's kind of a nice modern look.

18:42

And then you you balance that

18:42

with with painted white walls.

18:46

So you get like the wood and the

18:46

painted white walls as a

18:49

contrast to one another.

18:51

That's a really

18:51

typical sort of Scandinavia

18:55

thing.

18:55

Scandinavian, yeah.

18:56

Yeah, lots of

18:56

white. Lots of light wood. And

19:00

so that aesthetic just is in me

19:00

and feels calming to me.

19:07

Yeah, I agree. I

19:07

actually did. I built mine in

19:11

Vermont, and we have a lot of

19:11

like pine and cedar here. And I

19:16

don't like how pine will yellow

19:16

over time. So I actually did, I

19:19

pickled my wood. So you combine

19:19

like white latex paint with

19:23

clear stain. And you can paint

19:23

that on. You can you can mix it

19:28

however you want. You can make

19:28

it you can make it more opaque

19:31

or less opaque and it just kind

19:31

of makes the wood kind of that

19:34

pale white look. You can still

19:34

see some of the woods through it

19:37

and then it stays that color

19:37

rather than yellowing over time.

19:41

That's really nice.

19:43

Yeah, so you've

19:43

decided to build a second tiny

19:48

house?

19:49

Yep, I built the second Tiny House

19:51

Wow you didn't

19:51

learn from the first one not to

19:54

Now just know

19:54

when I ended my first one like

19:54

do it? when I felt like I was done. I

19:58

was like, not doing that and

20:01

don't do that again. Then less

20:01

than a year later. I, I don't I

20:07

was like, I have seasonal work.

20:07

So I work, like falls in spring

20:13

summers because I do floral

20:13

design. So yeah, it was

20:16

wintertime it was December and

20:16

so I can't sit still. So then I

20:20

was looking on Craigslist, just

20:20

for fun looking at trailers, not

20:24

planning anything like I did

20:24

not. But then I saw a deal on a

20:28

trailer. And then that was it. I

20:28

was like, Well, I have to get

20:32

it. And so then I got it. And

20:32

everyone's like, why am I what

20:36

do you do with that? I said, I

20:36

have no idea. But I had to get

20:40

it. And so then with that

20:40

trailer, I created a vision and

20:43

because it was a 19 - and I'm

20:43

about to post actually, on my

20:48

YouTube channel, I just finished

20:48

editing my video for my build

20:51

from start to finish.

20:52

Oh, great! Okay.

20:53

And I just sort

20:53

of designed it based on on what

21:00

I had. And so yeah, it was a

21:00

1972 camper trailer that had

21:04

been sort of flattened or like

21:04

taking everything taken off in

21:07

the metal was leftover.

21:09

Okay.

21:09

So you had to be

21:09

- I kept researching online to

21:12

see how much weight do those

21:12

typically hold. And it was a

21:15

little bit hard to get a number

21:15

but I was like, I don't really

21:18

want to go over a certain

21:18

amount. I think I was looking

21:22

around three or 4000 pounds. So

21:22

I just made up a new design

21:30

again out of my head and used

21:30

super lightweight materials. I

21:35

used 2x3s instead of 2x4s for

21:35

studs. I used, you know, I

21:41

totally made up, it's not to

21:41

code, but it's kind of to code.

21:45

Yeah.

21:45

And I used like

21:45

Styrofoam insulation because

21:48

it's lighter. And I just used a

21:48

lot of stuff that I had

21:50

leftover. I found the windows.

21:50

And it's different because

21:54

there's no bathroom. There's no

21:54

plumbing there is electric, but

21:57

it's more like a like a tiny

21:57

house studio because it's a one

22:01

room. Yeah, it's 7.5 feet by 17.

22:05

Yeah, that's, I'm really happy for how that worked out.

22:06

Okay.

22:06

So it's

22:06

versatile.

22:11

Yeah.

22:12

And I just built

22:12

it for fun. And that one cost

22:16

less than $5000 to build.

22:19

Full, full build?

22:19

Wow.

22:22

Yeah.

22:23

And how long did that second one take you?

22:26

I went really

22:26

fast for a while, like in two

22:28

months, it was dried in. And

22:28

then I took a pretty big long

22:33

break for work. And then it took

22:33

me the fall to finish it again.

22:37

But it's done. So in less than a

22:37

year consolidated. Like, five or

22:43

six months.

22:45

Nice. And what do

22:45

you plan to use that one for?

22:48

So I had no idea

22:48

what I was going to do. And then

22:52

I fell in love with it. Because

22:52

I thought I was gonna sell it.

22:54

And I'm actually renting it as a

22:54

studio space to someone who

22:58

lives around the corner.

22:59

Oh, nice. That's awesome.

23:01

Yeah, I will definitely by the

23:01

Yeah. time this goes live, I think

23:09

your tour will have gone up. And

23:13

we'll include a tour of that one

23:13

as well on the show notes page

23:17

for the episode. Awesome.

23:20

Yeah. Do you, do

23:20

you have more more builds in

23:23

your future?

23:25

I do. But I don't

23:25

know where, when and how.

23:30

Okay.

23:31

Building and

23:31

design is something that I love

23:36

deeply, but it's kind of like I

23:36

let it come to me. And I'm

23:43

hoping to do something overseas

23:43

like eventually building

23:49

something more permanent but

23:49

small and to continue to

23:53

research and understand small

23:53

living spreading the message

23:58

about that and researching more

23:58

into different ways that people

24:04

build and different cultures.

24:06

Yeah.

24:07

And yeah, just

24:07

keep learning and connecting

24:11

more with art and and then

24:11

spending some time absorbing

24:19

different things before I go

24:19

into building again, but

24:24

definitely I I just love

24:24

building.

24:28

What would be

24:28

your advice to to a new builder,

24:30

you know, someone in your

24:30

situation back in 2019 who who

24:34

has never built before, but

24:34

wants to take it on?

24:38

You absolutely

24:38

can do it. It requires patience.

24:43

Stick with it and keep going.

24:48

I like it.

24:50

And also I would

24:50

probably say just one step at a

24:54

time. Like if you start to think

24:54

about the full picture like if I

24:58

had known how much work it would

24:58

have gone taken to take to build

25:04

my first tiny house that yeah,

25:04

it would feel a lot more

25:07

daunting. So it's so much better

25:07

when you don't look at the big

25:11

picture. You just like, let me I

25:11

just need to get the windows in.

25:16

Yep.

25:17

You know, just,

25:17

it's just step by step. And I

25:19

think that's just good advice

25:19

for life in general, because

25:23

life will keep throwing things

25:23

at you.

25:26

Yeah, when you...

25:26

I felt the same way about my

25:30

build. And also like, you know,

25:30

I did mine in 2012 to 2013. So

25:35

it was so long ago that I, you

25:35

know, I barely remember how much

25:38

work it was at this point. You

25:38

know, you just look at the

25:40

finished house, and you're like,

25:40

oh, yeah, this wasn't that hard.

25:43

Like, I could do it again. But

25:43

while you're in it, it feels

25:47

like, it might never end like

25:47

you....

25:50

Oh, it feels like

25:50

completely. You're like, I don't

25:53

I don't know how many times I

25:53

said that. I just was like, I'm

25:57

never gonna finish this. Like I

25:57

kept saying that all the time.

26:01

Yeah.

26:03

Yeah, you just have to focus on like, one project at a time. And just keep

26:05

getting them done. And then

26:09

before you know it, you've got a

26:09

house.

26:12

Yeah, that's how it worked.

26:14

Yeah, yeah. So

26:14

your, your channel is called

26:20

Dirtbag Minimal.

26:22

Yeah.

26:23

Tell, tell us

26:23

about about the name. What

26:25

inspired it?

26:27

Well, I my

26:27

connotation with dirt bag is a

26:31

little bit different than I

26:31

think it also has sort of an a

26:35

negative connotation in terms of

26:35

like a sleazy person, but the

26:40

way that I know dirt bag is more

26:40

with the, with sort of, I think,

26:47

correct me if I'm wrong, but I

26:47

feel like it's the, the climbing

26:53

sort of world that it's a person

26:53

that can just, like literally be

27:02

dirty and not, not need a lot

27:02

of, yeah, things are luxury to,

27:10

to be okay, or to be happy.

27:11

Yeah.

27:12

And, and I feel

27:12

like out of my friends and out

27:16

of people, people that I know,

27:16

like, I'm the most sort of like,

27:21

gritty, like, I sleep in airport

27:21

floors. And, like, I prefer to

27:27

be outside and like, I'll pee

27:27

anywhere, you know, and I'll,

27:32

you know, I won't wash my hair

27:32

if I'm like traveling. And I

27:37

like don't use that kind of a

27:37

dirt bag. Like I love to eat

27:41

just like carrot sticks and like

27:41

rotisserie chicken out of a bag.

27:46

And that's like a perfect

27:46

dinner. Like, yeah, I don't like

27:49

fancy dinner places don't do

27:49

anything for me. Like I much

27:53

prefer, you know, eating with my

27:53

foods out of the back of a

27:56

truck. So that's kind of how I

27:56

see how I see dirtbag.

28:01

Nice. I like

28:01

that.

28:04

Yeah.

28:06

And then I

28:06

checked out some of the videos

28:10

on the channel and I like it

28:10

because it's like, there's tiny

28:14

house content, but there's also

28:14

you know, kind of, you're

28:19

talking about your kind of

28:19

worldview and and your

28:22

philosophy on minimalism and

28:22

living is there a video that

28:27

maybe there's a video that

28:27

you're that you're particularly

28:29

proud of that you want to tell

28:29

tell the listeners about?

28:33

Gosh, I don't

28:33

know if there's one particular

28:37

video that I'm proud of. I do

28:37

have to say that I am proud that

28:47

I'm sticking to just making

28:47

videos that are true to me. I'm

28:54

not being flashy, or like,

28:54

because there's so many people

28:58

that do amazing videos and like

28:58

really great editing and really

29:02

expensive cameras and have the

29:02

gear and know how to use editing

29:06

programs. And I'm just, I'm not

29:06

a perfectionist. I'm the

29:10

opposite. So I just kind of

29:10

wanted to get stuff out there

29:14

and I can talk about Tiny House

29:14

stuff and environmentalism and

29:18

minimalism and world politics

29:18

forever. So I I decided that I

29:26

didn't really care what people

29:26

were gonna say to me, I just

29:32

wanted to provide this view that

29:32

I haven't really seen yet, like

29:37

this honest sort of view of

29:37

like, I don't really know what

29:42

I'm doing and what I'm doing it

29:42

and here are my thoughts and

29:47

this video. Isn't that amazing?

29:47

But I think that it's honest.

29:52

Nice. I like

29:52

that. I think that there's

29:56

there's a lot of value in in

29:56

providing that honesty and not

29:59

trying to do it, not trying to

29:59

hide a lack of depth behind like

30:04

fancy production techniques.

30:07

Yeah. And also

30:07

like, you can, I can watch a lot

30:12

of those videos and get down on

30:12

myself because those videos are

30:16

maybe quote unquote better than

30:16

mine, but at some point is like

30:19

you have this that has to stop

30:19

like, yeah, right, yeah, just

30:23

continuously compare and I'm

30:23

gonna offer something that other

30:28

people can't. Is that just how

30:28

we're all unique? And if I think

30:33

my point was I'm gonna put this

30:33

out there and whoever this

30:36

speaks to great and whoever it

30:36

doesn't that's fine. I just

30:41

rather, you know, find some

30:41

people that it really do.

30:47

Nice. So you

30:47

mentioned before we started

30:51

chatting that that you're in

30:51

Finland now. And you you go back

30:56

and forth. So I'm curious, you

30:56

know, what do you do with your

31:00

tiny house when when you're

31:00

away? Is it? Are you able to

31:03

kind of shut it down and close

31:03

it up? Or do people stay there?

31:07

How does that all work?

31:09

I'm actually I'm

31:09

renting it right now.

31:11

Nice.

31:12

So I am actually

31:12

in Finland for a year. And I'm

31:21

able to rent it out both of them

31:21

actually. Which because I know

31:25

people there. And that's a

31:25

little bit nerve wracking. It

31:29

was really hard to do that your

31:29

baby. It's my baby. That's how I

31:38

felt. And I was like, oh my god,

31:38

how am I ever going to do this?

31:41

This is my baby like, but then

31:41

you just learn to trust? Yeah,

31:49

yeah. So yeah.

31:52

And what? What's

31:52

your parking situation? Do you?

31:55

Did you buy land? Do you rent

31:55

land? Like how? Where did you

31:59

find to park it?

32:02

That like

32:02

friends, you know, find there's

32:05

like enough land out there that

32:05

you can find the right people

32:09

and nice your tiny house sort of

32:09

hidden? So I know that's a

32:13

really hard one for a lot of

32:13

people. And honestly, my only

32:17

answer to those people is just

32:17

like, find somebody who you can

32:20

put your tiny house out there,

32:20

you know, and hide it. They're

32:25

out there.

32:26

Yeah. Awesome.

32:26

Well, one thing that I like to

32:31

ask all my guests is, you know,

32:31

what are two or three resources.

32:36

These could be books or YouTube

32:36

channels, or people or really

32:41

anything that in that have

32:41

inspired you or helped you along

32:45

along your journey that you'd

32:45

like to share with our

32:48

listeners?

32:50

It's hard to

32:50

really pinpoint one, one thing.

32:55

Okay.

32:57

I will say that I

32:57

was sort of inspired by

33:05

Japanese, like, apartments,

33:05

Japanese design, because in

33:10

Tokyo, you know, they have like

33:10

super, super minuscules

33:14

apartments. And the way they

33:14

build things is super compact.

33:18

Yep.

33:19

Because the space

33:19

is lacking. And so I felt like

33:22

when I saw a lot of tiny houses

33:22

online, they were like, trying

33:26

to make a big American house

33:26

small. So they have this big

33:29

couch and TV. And I was like,

33:29

that's silly. If you have a

33:33

small space, you have to

33:33

reimagine the space. So I got a

33:37

lot of insight by looking

33:37

through photos of how Japanese

33:41

people have designed the sort of

33:41

more like module more like

33:48

reimagining space. Yeah. Rather

33:48

than just trying to make this

33:53

stuff of big house into a small

33:53

space. That was really helpful.

33:59

Yeah, I like that. And I can see that in your, you know, in your tiny

34:00

house, that kind of that center

34:04

block. It feels like a module in

34:04

a way like you've got the

34:07

kitchen and the bathroom. And

34:07

then like, you circulate around

34:11

it.

34:12

Yeah, exactly.

34:12

And so I mean, I feel like mine

34:15

is still pretty healthy. So I

34:15

want to get more experimental in

34:19

the future.

34:21

Okay.

34:23

But like I think

34:23

having that low, like I don't

34:27

have furniture really,

34:27

everything's kind of built in

34:30

and I think that comes from the,

34:30

the Japanese aesthetic. And then

34:35

I guess the other thing I would

34:35

tell you listeners is YouTube,

34:40

like whenever I was like, How do

34:40

I you know, attach this

34:45

hurricane tie the right place or

34:45

like, how do I this you just,

34:50

you just can learn so much just

34:50

by typing into YouTube, and I

34:54

hadn't really ever really used

34:54

YouTube before I started

34:58

building a tiny house. I didn't

34:58

think He was for me. I was like,

35:01

it's just to watch silly stupid

35:01

videos. Like that's not what I'm

35:05

interested in. And then I was

35:05

like, Oh my gosh, you can learn

35:08

so much. And now I'm like,

35:08

looking up you know Spanish

35:12

language and all these different

35:12

kinds of things and like you can

35:16

learn so much for free. This is

35:16

amazing.

35:19

Yeah, it's true.

35:19

Nice. Well, Carina Gibson, thank

35:23

you so much for being a guest on

35:23

the show. I really enjoyed our

35:26

conversation.

35:28

Yes, I really

35:28

enjoyed it. Thank you so much.

35:32

Thank you so much

35:32

to Carina Gibson for being a

35:35

guest on the show today. You can

35:35

find the show notes including

35:39

photos of Carina's beautiful

35:39

Tiny House builds, a complete

35:42

transcript of the episode, and

35:42

links to Dirtbag Minimal over at

35:47

thetinyhouse.net/254. Again,

35:47

that's thetinyhouse.net/254.

35:50

I produce the Tiny House

35:50

Lifestyle Podcast every week and

35:55

put it out for free because I

35:55

want to help you and others like

36:01

you along on your tiny house

36:01

journeys. If anything I've

36:05

written or produced has helped

36:05

you on your tiny house journey,

36:11

and you're looking for a way to

36:11

say thanks, a coffee is a great

36:16

way to do so. Head over to

36:16

thetinyhouse.net/coffee to chip

36:21

in and buy me a cup. I'd really

36:21

appreciate it. Again, that's thetinyhouse.net/coffee.

36:22

Well, that's all for this week.

36:22

I'm your host Ethan Waldman, and

36:25

I'll be back next week with

36:25

another episode of the Tiny

36:28

House Lifestyle Podcast.