Building My Own Outdoor Space

A cabin, the things I built for it, and the systems that make it work.

01 — Wooden builds

The cabin, furniture, and a hammock bed.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

FROM TOO MUCH GEAR TO A SECRET BASE

The Cabin

I wanted a secret base of my own. I also had way too much outdoor gear, and every camping trip was starting to feel like a house move. So I thought: why not build a cabin and leave everything there?

“Just build a cabin” turned out to be the complicated part. I had to keep the rain out, stop strong winds from turning it into a giant kite, and anchor the structure firmly into the ground. And with a budget limited to my pocket money, every piece of wood had to earn its place.

Eventually, it became my little base in the woods—and a place my friends wanted to come hang out too.

Watch on YouTube

Double-decker tripod hammock bed

We built a double-decker version. My sister, of course, claimed the top bunk.

Watch build

Watch on YouTube

Wooden bed

Once I had a cabin of my own, sleeping on the ground didn’t make much sense anymore.

Watch build

Watch on YouTube

Outdoor wooden table

Friends started coming to the cabin, so naturally, we needed somewhere to sit, eat, and hang out.

Watch build

02 — Electronic builds

Build videos alongside the diagrams behind them.

FROM NO OUTLET TO OFF-GRID POWER

DIY Solar Power System

When I built the cabin, it was out in the middle of an undeveloped field—no electricity, no facilities, just grass and open space. But once I started spending more time there, I wanted lights, a fan, and a way to charge my devices. Running a power line all the way out there wasn’t realistic. Sunshine, on the other hand, was easy to find.

So I decided to make my own power. I bought a solar panel, charge controller, batteries, and an inverter, figured out how everything needed to work together, and wired the system myself. After some testing, the cabin had electricity of its own.

DIY Solar Power System video thumbnail — Watch build video

FROM FRESH FOOD TO COLD STORAGE

DIY Mini-Fridge

Once I could spend the night at the cabin, I ran into a new problem: food. Anything fresh I brought with me was fine for the first day, but by the next day, not so much. If I wanted to stay longer, I needed a fridge.

Buying a regular fridge for a little cabin in the middle of nowhere didn’t make much sense. Besides, I already had electricity from my solar system—so why not try building one myself? I got a thermoelectric cooling module, heat sinks, fans, and an insulated box, then figured out how to put everything together and keep the hot side hot and the cold side cold.

It worked. Not perfectly—but well enough to make me start wondering how I could make it colder.

VIDEO

To be added

DIY cooling cup

Project notes to be added.

Video not yet uploaded

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