Belly up: 25 outdoor bar ideas for every garden — built-in stone, tiki, pergola, fold-down and budget DIY bars, plus the finishing touches that make them host well.
ToGaze covers tiny houses and off-grid living across 27 sections — the homes, the designs, the off-grid systems, the rules and the money behind them. Every section is a live feed; start with the ideas, then follow the daily coverage.
Small homes, thoughtfully designed.
Life beyond the grid — power, water, food and freedom.
From first sketch to moving in — and paying for it.
Guides, answers and tools for the tiny life.
ToGaze covers tiny houses and off-grid living — small-home ideas and designs, floor plans, off-grid power and water, building codes, costs, communities and DIY — across 27 sections.
New ideas are published regularly, and the homepage always shows the latest first.
It depends on size, build and location. Our cost guide, How Much Does a Tiny House Cost?, and the Costs & Budget section break it down.
Rules vary by place. Start with Building Codes and the State Guides for the rules where you plan to live.
Yes — thousands do. Living Off Grid and Off Grid Homes cover power, water, food and the homes built for it.
Follow ToGaze on Pinterest (@TinyHouseDesigns) for daily tiny-house ideas.
Permeable rock pavers for driveways and patios: PICP, open-grid, stone and stabilized gravel over an 8–12″ open-graded reservoir base — 70–100% of rain infiltrates on-site, at $8–20/sq ft...
How to build a gravel path with rock borders that stays put: route it on the desire line, excavate 4–6 inches, compact 2–3 inches of road base over...
DIY log slicing for crack-free wood cookies: pick a fresh 4–12-inch hardwood log, cut 1–2-inch slices square, seal both faces within hours, dry stickered for 2–6 months, relief-cut...
Fallen log landscaping in full: nurse logs that sprout seedlings, snags for woodpeckers, hugelkultur beds — and the wild 20% every garden needs.
Japanese zen rock garden in full: triad stone groups buried one-third deep, angular gravel raked in lines and waves — stillness you re-make weekly.
Rock garden ideas for slopes that hold: grade bands from under 15% to over 30%, 3–6 ft terraces with 12–24-inch dry-stack risers founded on undisturbed soil, 1–2% cross-slope...
Xeriscaping with rocks and native plants, by the numbers: a 50–75% cut in outdoor water use, 3–4 inches of rock mulch over a woven barrier, 70%+ native planting...
Build a rustic log cabin bench in one afternoon: a 5–6 ft half-log seat from a 12–18″ log, ripped by chainsaw in 15–30 minutes, set 17–19″ high on...