0:00 This Wasn't The Plan 0:26 Why We Bought This Land 0:50 It Started With A Cargo Trailer 1:19 Could We Build Our Own Cabin 2:45 It Started As A Camp 3:50 Will The Roof Hold Up 5:05 Look At That View 7:15 It Feels Like Home 9:00 What Comes Next
This tiny cabin build from start to finish documents how a simple weekend camp slowly became home. Built by hand in southern Tennessee, this off-grid inspired cabin reflects simple living, intentional design, and learning how little is enough.
How Little Is Enough? | Our Tiny Cabin Build – Start To Finish
When we bought this small piece of land in southern Tennessee, we didn’t plan to build a home.
We thought we were buying a place to visit — somewhere quiet we could escape to on the weekends. A place to sit by a creek, cook a simple meal, and let the noise of everyday life fall away for a while before heading back to “real life.”
At the time, that felt like enough.
The land sits about ten miles from a small town, tucked into a stand of oak and gum trees, with a spring-fed creek running nearby. From the first visit, it felt calm in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’ve felt it yourself. There were no restrictions, no HOA, no expectations about what this place needed to become. Just land, water, trees, and time.
This video tells the story of how that simple weekend idea slowly turned into something more.
Before we ever bought this property, we spent six months traveling out west living in a cargo trailer we converted ourselves. That experience quietly changed us. Living in such a small space forces you to confront what you actually need — and what you don’t. It teaches you that comfort doesn’t come from having more, but from choosing intentionally.
We didn’t realize it at the time, but that way of living became the blueprint for everything that followed.
When we bought the land, our first build wasn’t a cabin at all. It was a small outdoor kitchen. Just enough to cook, sit, and listen to the creek. That single structure changed how we used the property. We stayed longer. We slowed down. The outdoors became the center of our days.
Next came a small 8×8 shed — nothing fancy, just a place to sleep. For a while, that worked. But the more time we spent here, the more we realized something important: the best moments weren’t inside any structure. They were by the creek, under the trees, with no schedule and nowhere else we needed to be.
About a year after buying the land, we asked a question we hadn’t planned on asking: What if this wasn’t just a camp?
That question is where this build begins.
This video documents our tiny cabin build from start to finish — from the very first hole dug for the foundation beams to the finished, furnished cabin you see today. We built it ourselves, slowly and intentionally, learning as we went. We made mistakes. We changed plans. We worked around weather, time, and real life.
We didn’t want bigger. We didn’t want complicated. We wanted something that fit the land instead of fighting it.
More than anything, we wanted a place that felt honest.
Somewhere during the build, time started to feel different. Days stretched out. The pressure to rush disappeared. This cabin stopped feeling like a project and started feeling like a place. A place to think. A place to breathe. A place to remember that “enough” looks different for everyone.
There was even a moment when we almost stopped building.
Not because the work was too hard — but because finishing meant admitting something to ourselves. That we were choosing a slower, simpler life. That we were ready to put roots down, even if those roots were small.
This video isn’t a step-by-step tutorial or a list of materials. It’s a story. A record of how a simple idea evolved over time, shaped by experience, place, and a willingness to listen to what felt right instead of what was expected.
If you’re dreaming about building a tiny cabin, living off-grid, or simplifying your life — we hope this video encourages you to start smaller than you think you need, and stay longer than you planned.
Sometimes the biggest changes don’t come from bold decisions. They come from quiet ones.
Thank you for taking the time to watch, and for sitting by the creek with us.
