Ask HN: Anyone built a tiny house by yourself? How was it like?

I haven't but a close friend did. It was a cool project (built from shipping container). It took about 9 months before they moved back into an apartment. The biggest complaint was, lack of space and feeling confined. The exact words were "felt like prison".

I think everyone's experience will be different and everyone can adapt, but there are side effects for those of us that are already homebodies, spending large amounts of time in a small space.

I would encourage you to rent an RV and try to live in for a month or two, or rent a tiny home for the same period of time.

Another factor is costs, as they're not as cheap as you may think.

I'm about to embark on building a tiny house this summer. We have done a lot of planning and a lot of learning so far (this is our first major building project).

The more I think about the space, the more I realize how minimalist I will have to be. I have been pairing down my possessions over the last couple of years already. But I think I will have to take my minimalism to another level in order to not feel too confined in our new small space.

As another response mentioned, costs will add up surprisingly fast. We were surprised when we got our plans and started adding up the costs of building supplies. We've pivoted a little bit and will be sourcing a lot of materials free/used from our community.

I helped build a yurt with a group of friends. It was definitely a fun build, and has withstood the seasons fairly well. The owners use a propane heater which seems to work just fine afaik, but I've never visited it in the winter to know for sure. Every spring has required a certain amount of maintenance, but apparently not to an onerous degree.

I don't actually have any normal pictures of it, but here is an "artistic" rendition: https://imgur.com/gallery/i6lZgBu