Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Diedricksen.
Derek “Deek” was the host of the HGTV series “Tiny House Builders” and speaks at 6-8 huge tiny house fan festivals every year all around the US- usually as a keynote speaker (or to open for people like The Property Brothers, the cast of Yard Crashers, etc.)
He builds and designs tiny houses, tree houses, backyard offices, kid’s forts, and more for a living…. (Has since 2008)
His work was the cover features of the NY Times Home and Garden section in the past, and has appeared on the homepage of yahoo.com many times, in the Boston Globe, China Times, and on HGTV, The DIY Network, The History Channel, and The Al Jazeera Network.
He is known as one of the scene originators and longer standing members of the movement
He has written three books on the subject….. And his newest book (Storey Press) titled “Micro Living” comes out in October (available for preorder through amazon.com)
He recently was co-director on the designer for an upcoming feature film/documentary (with a $40,000 budget) called “Think INSIDE The Box”- where he converts a moving truck into a home on wheels with nothing but free and found materials. Release date is slated for early 2019. It has been entirely filmed and the truck has already been touring the US via project partner Alex Eaves.
His website- relaxshacks.com is still updated and gets thousands of readers daily…..
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s a job that takes a TON of work, time, and dedication, but a job that I love, so it doesn’t always feel like “work”. As the old saying goes “You work 80 hours a week so that you don’t have to work 40 for someone else”. It’s pretty darn true. We keep VERY busy and are booked out over a year in advance in most cases, so work has been steady….
Relaxshacks – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We’re one of the first out there, especially in the tiny house field, and we are mainly known for our “think outside the box” designs…. and our incorporation of salvaged materials and vintage goods/decor into our builds….. We started as budget-builders, and pride ourselves on keeping things affordable and simple, yet wild.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Landing an HGTV show was certainly huge for us, although it really didn’t do anything for us in regards to increasing our business- we’re mainly found and known through our YouTube channel/programming. Getting asked to speak at SxSW was pretty huge, as was an early three page cover-feature in the NY Times…..
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.relaxshacks.com
- Email: newenglandrockpress@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derek.diedricksen.small.houses.cabins
Image Credit:
Derek Diedricksen, Dustin Diedricksen
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