Reddit reviews Mongolian Cloud Houses: How to Make a Yurt and Live Comfortably

When I was constructing my yurt, I found this book to be helpful. IIRC, that guy used a lot of free/harvested wood/parts -- so his was super cheap, but I wanted something more durable for being moved very frequently & stored compactly.

Changes I'd make in my next yurt:

• rivets instead of bolts on the lattice - my nuts keep falling off
  
• spend the extra for canvass, it looks way nicer than vinyl tarp
  
• lighter weight door, something in door-frame to "catch" the edges of lattice so they don't impinge on the door opening
  
• 2 doors - my roommates got a back door on their yurt & it's been useful more often than not
  
• build lighting into roof-ring, as we often set up just before dark - so it'd be nice to have lights up before we even finish pitching the yurt.
  
   
  
  What sort of yurt are you thinking? Is this where you're going to live? A temporary accommodation while building a more permanent house? Something for camping/events?
  
  How big do you want it?
  
  What's your budget? Experience with woodwork/sewing?

A lurker here...

Might I recommend the book "Mongolian Cloud Houses" for ideas for this? It's about living in a Yurt, but you could take good lessons from it on how to live in a cabin.

http://www.amazon.com/Mongolian-Cloud-Houses-Make-Comfortably/dp/0936070390

I own a copy, and it put me pretty far into building a yurt, before I wound up with an apartment. By pretty far, I mean literally that I only had to finish the roof and wall materials, the compression ring, and cut out the poly-carbonate sheet, then I was done.

It's a good design for a cabin, too, if you can pull it off. A sun dome would provide perfect lighting in winter(Or, alternatively, an old fashioned dome that can be pushed up for a stovepipe to work, would work fine too). It also has good methods on jury rigging furniture, arranging furniture and belongings, and how to ensure you're going to stay warm.