lowes 2 story shed/barn

[logboy]

Just in the news:  http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/21/living/small-homes-irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

"Hari and Karl Berzins decided to build a tiny home for their family in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains to free themselves of the financial burden of owning a large home.  They knew that moving two children, a dog and a cat into a 168-square foot space would be a challenge, though it would also eliminate the need for a mortgage and cut their utility costs. But they didn't expect it to completely change their lives, Hari Berzins said."

[Satamax]

168sqft for two adults, two kids and a dog, even if the dog lives outside all the time, that's small!

[tyb525]

We really don't need as much space as we're accustomed to, you know it is human nature to expand into whatever space is available, or make do with what little space is available. If we never knew 3000 square foot homes I doubt we'd miss them

[Hilltop366]

I think it is a great idea just got to get started and be determined to finish.

Most of my 1 bedroom apartments are in the 500 - 700 sq/ft size some people think they are too small but once they are in there they are very comfortable and seem to stay, the big key is not to put too much furniture in it so it does not seem cramped.

As far as size and shape goes I will offer things to consider, rectangle shaped buildings are easier to divide in to areas and you can physically get one thing farther from another vs square shaped where you get more square footage per foot of wall. Stairs and landings take up a lot of space on both floors, if the gained floor space is not very large it would be easier to add to the length of the building on the first floor. Second floors greatly increase the labour and time it takes to build and maintain a house.

Reusing building materials is a great way to reduce cost, If reusing windows and doors it is nice to have them before you build in order to be able to get the framing size right, perhaps the best source of low or no cost materials is the natural materials on your lot rocks and trees.