It had to be small, warm, and welcoming. It had to be rustic and charming. It had to be off-grid friendly and work with our solar system. It had to be mobile so if I move I can take it with me.

And it had to be cheap. Wait… bad choice of terms. Well within the limited budget I had for such a project. There, that sounds better.

A year later, it is all that—and so much more.

But let’s go back to the beginning. Life in a 700 square foot, one bedroom, one bathroom cabin that I share with my husband and three dogs doesn’t leave much for room space hogging writerly things like books (so many books!), desk, files, printers, and the big one: privacy.

I am not one of those writers who functions well in coffee shops or on subways. To be honest, I’ve never been on a subway in my life so I’m guessing here, but I know my best writing comes when I’m surrounded by the sounds of nature. A trickling stream, birds, wind in the trees. The noise of a radio, TV, or people pulls me out of that creative sweet spot when I’m in the zone.

The goal was a private place to write and unless I wanted to sequester myself in the cabin bathroom (which, face it, can only be private for so long) we had to look elsewhere. The combination of limited budget and limited time meant doing it ourselves, but with a head start. I have long been enamored with the tiny house movement, and the idea of a tiny writing studio on wheels was perfect.

Last winter we bought a used trailer and ordered a shed shell from a local company. And my tiny studio project had begun.