This past month has brought along with it some interesting feelings. A few friends of ours have purchased homes. Not tiny homes, but “normal” homes. We’ve helped some move (by bike) and have witnessed the start of their home-owner journeys. All of it makes me question our choices. Are we doing the right thing by living this way? Should we buy a “traditional” home?

I thought, we can buy a small-ish house with a large yard to park the tiny house. We could then live in the tiny house and rent out the main house. This way we could have renters pay the mortgage and we could continue with our lives. One couple I met last weekend is doing just that. They purchased a reasonably priced home with enough room in the back yard to build/park a tiny home. Their goals are to pay off debt so they can live more comfortably.

I love this idea…but wait? Wasn’t the point of us having a tiny home to skip the mortgage part? And we’ve only lived in the tiny home for 6 months! What is it about having something that makes you want something else? What is that desire for the “next step”? Where is contentment? Crazy human nature…I felt pressured by the low mortgage rates, and even went so far as to seek out real estate agent contacts.

I think it is expected that we would question our decision, because it’s different. It’s not “the norm”. My bank teller remarked, “Oh you live in a tiny home? Like 800 sq.ft.?” Um, no. More like 180 sqft. If that. I’d like to keep in mind why we’re choosing to live tiny, and keep in check that it’s the right decision for us. I don’t want to just do something because that’s what we’re already doing. I want to be intentional. I also don’t want to compare what we have to what others have; some have it worse and some have it better. That’s how it will always be.

So while all these thoughts have been going on, Tomas and I also decided to join friends to climb Mt. St. Helens next month. We’ve been training by going on hikes in the Columbia River Gorge and Washington Park. We’ve also been camping with the 55th Cascadia Scouts and it’s on these trips that we reconnect with the real reasons we decided to try on the tiny home. So we can adventure. We want to make our inside life smaller, so we can make our outside life larger.

The whole point of this was to try something different. That doesn’t mean it’s better or easier. It’s impossible to know how it will feel until you’re in it. There’s vulnerability, fear, and doubt but also excitement, triumphs, understanding, and experience. It’s interesting to me how I have to reiterate to myself my goals for doing this. It’s easy to get sidetracked and stuck in the comfortable ways of doing things.

We’ve been not so lucky to have so many challenges and repairs needed for our house right from the start, but that has also reminded us why we did this. Larger houses come with larger responsibilities, more maintenance, and greater financial drains. This leads to a dependence on certain jobs with a certain amount of income. I’d like to try other options. I’d like to get off the hamster wheel and hike, travel, and explore this great world of ours.

Some challenges we’ve faced this month:

• We’re STILL working on getting registration completed. We’re having to rely on the builder to fullfill their obligations…
• We found mold in the closet. Tomas is still decommissioning the overbuilt closet, and found untreated wood with mold. Either there’s not enough ventilation, or lack of a vapor barrier…either way, we have to find the resources to fix it.
• We had an uninvited guest the other night. Thank goodness Tomas came home in time to save me. We’ve determined it to be a Callobius severus, not harmful to humans or pets, but very intimidating…

• The floors and walls still lack adequate sealant…this is a huge project that has been looming over our heads. It’s also weather and time-dependent. We need drier/warmer weather and more free time to spend on fixing the house. Both have been lacking.
• Here’s a cool thing Tomas “MacGyvered” for our house; he used a bike tube for a greywater hose:

Add that to the 101 uses for bike tubes.

We’ve decided we want to focus on living our lives and fit the house needs in where we can. After all, it’s just a place where we live. Maybe some day we’ll buy another house, large or small…but for now we’re staying put and finding gratitude for all that we have:

each other
amazing friends
an orange fluffy companion who warms our feet at night
our health
our bikes
an awesome town to live, hike, and adventure in
an amazing landlord and great new land-mates
garden space!
a spot for our house
(to name a few)

XO

Audrey

We moved!…Approximately 30 ft.

Since we moved in back in November, we have wanted to re-position our house to a better location on the property but the weather wouldn’t cooperate. We needed the ground to dry out enough so that we could get traction for the powermover and wheels of the trailer. Our house was positioned on a loose sand and gravel driveway that makes it extremely difficult to get enough traction to move the tiny house. This past week has finally been warm and dry and we toyed with the idea of trying to move the house again.

After the disappointment from our first attempt, we were scared we’d have a repeat failed occurrence. At least I was. But we decided we may as well give it another shot. We cried out for help from our friends and arranged to have them over (bribing with cold beverages and snacks). One friend brought along an air compressor to check the tire pressure since we thought that might help the move go smoother. The pressure wasn’t too low; the lowest tire was 50PSI (max 65PSI).

Last week I rented out the Powermover to Derin from Shelterwise who successfully maneuvered a tiny house built by a PAD workshop. He suggested we use spikes (long/6”nails) to nail down a large piece of plywood to the ground to give the powermover greater traction. This idea, combined with pavers under the house tires, 7 of our friends brainstorming and pushing, Tomas driving the powermover resulted in a triumphant move.

What a great way to celebrate our 6 months of living in the tiny house!!

Here’s a low quality (my apologies) video of a small portion the move:

All in all it took about 3 hours.

We’re eternally grateful for our friends.

XOXO

This weekend Tomas and I were off on a backpacking adventure with a new all-inclusive and all-around awesome group of people and kids, the 55th Cascadia Scouts of Portland…so while we were gone, we had guests! A friend of mine from Eugene and his girly were in town and needed a place to crash for the night, so we offered up our tiny house! He asked what they should know about staying in the tiny house.

My instructions:

Things to know about staying in the tiny house:

• The doorknob locks are finicky.
• To pee: both men and women have to sit down and the urine should go into the two holes in the front. Open the hatch after peeing, then toss toilet paper inside.
• To poo: open the hatch (the lever on the left side if you’re sitting on the toilet) and go. cover poo with the shredded paper stuff that’s in the can to the left of the toilet (there’s a scooper in there). There’s also baby wipes on the tub edge. Throw toilet paper and baby wipes down the hatch.
• Remember, when opening the hatch, always say, “bomb’s away”
• To shower: towels are in the closet in the “great room” on the top shelf, left hand corner. Turn on the water full blast (turn counterclockwise) to activate the hot water. There’s not really much temperature control, but it shouldn’t be too bad. Be sure to turn on the fan to ventilate the steam. Switches are on the wall above the toilet to the left.
• Kitchen sink: To get hot water, turn on the water faucet to the left full blast. Again, not much temperature control.
• Stove: if you want to use the stove, it’s critical to: turn on the vent on the microwave (there’s a “vent” button), that way the gas fumes are vented.
• Feel free to help yourself to any food in the fridge or cupboards. Poke around as much as you like.
• Internet- the network connection is…
• Heat: You probably won’t need it, but there’s one on the wall that heats up the loft, and another on the floor that heats the lower area. If you use the heaters, only run one at a time. (Don’t run the microwave and heater at the same time).
• Benjamin: probably best to ignore as much as possible. I left out a lot of food and water for him. Hopefully he’ll go outside to use the bathroom, he’s been mostly doing that, with the occasional 2 am poo or puke. Hopefully he’ll be a good kitty for you, but you know how he is. :\
• Hope it goes well!
• P.S., feel free to open/close any/all windows as needed.

Their response to the stay:

We hope to have more guests in the future while we are off adventuring.

Cheers -

Audrey

We’re well into our 5th month of living in the tiny house. This past month I’ve been busy with work, school, the flu, gardening, a malfunctioning laptop, and trying to register the tiny house (I’ll write more on that later). I thought for this post I’d explain a little bit about why we decided to try on this tiny house lifestyle.

To begin, I’ll be honest. I think I had an idealist view of what how our tiny house story would go. I imagined a 5-star build, a smooth move-in, and a perfectly crafted well-designed structure. Our experience with the builder slammed me back into reality and brought home the point that this is real life, it’s not a fairy tale. Life can be messy. Even the tiny life. It can bring great wonders too and that’s what we’re hoping to gain from our choice to live as we do.

I wasn’t so naive to think that the tiny house would instantly make us happier, wealthier,  and content. Living in a smaller space doesn’t necessarily fix problems. In fact, it could enhance some things like personality quirks or habits. I didn’t think that all of a sudden, living in a smaller structure, my cat Benjamin would start behaving. He is still the same persnickety kitty and Tomas and I are the same people we are before we moved in (though I may be more humbled now). I think we’ve also become wiser about the purchase and placement of a structure like this. We’ve gained valuable life lessons. The experience has been challenging and has pushed our boundaries and beliefs which is a fine way to live if you ask me.

Not that I have everything figured out, but I like to think life is about puzzle pieces and balance. Finding the pieces that make you a whole person, and also balancing the things you have to do with the things you want to do. The tiny house is one way for us to budget our time and finances. We’re hoping it’ll give us more of both as we have less management of possessions, house chores, and bills.

As there are no guarantees in life, the tiny house is also a gamble. It’s not for certain that we’ll automatically have more free time and money, but we’ve made this choice in the hopes that it will bring us closer to our goals in life. For Tomas it’s to do more bike touring and for me it’s a way to consider other career opportunities that may pay less, but that I might find more rewarding.

From the past five months, I can see that reaching those goals will still take some time and patience (and savings). We still have a lot of choices to make before we can set off and travel the world. In the mean time, I’ve been able to more easily afford a power mover, school tuition, and cat dental bills and that makes me happy.

So, what did we learn this past month?

• Don’t try to caulk a tub when the weather is in the 30s. Tomas had to re-re-caulk the tub. But it’s looking good and functioning much better now!
• Mother nature felt we needed another curve ball so she sent us ants! It got warm enough outside that the ants got happy and went exploring, but it hasn’t been a major issue and we’ve pretty much got that under control (for now).
• Tomas got a small desk and chair! He “re-modeled” our bench to make a work-space so that he can be more comfortable working on a laptop at home.
• I don’t know if I’ve mentioned, but in five months of depending on one 120V outlet for all our power needs we have only managed to trip the breaker once. And that’s because the washer, dryer, heater, and other various mechanisms were running at the same time. Pretty good, I think.
• Registration is turning out to be a major process for us. (more on that later)
• I’m obsessed with gardening. But it’s therapeutic and very rewarding! (so far)

XO

Audrey

We’re nearing our 4th month in the tiny house! So far we’ve settled into tiny living pretty well; frequently I forget that our lifestyle is “different” until someone else reminds me. Currently, we are anxiously awaiting our consult with Derin Williams from Urbanest to put polishing touches on our home!

What does our house look like today? Here’s some pictures!

What we would have had built differently

With the caveat that home design is a very personal and unique process, and that sometimes limited income forces some decisions, I’ll explain some of the things that we would change or have had built differently if we could.

• Obviously, we would have had the closet built differently. As we have described before, the closet was a disaster upon delivery. Unable to access the full space, Tomas used his handyman skills to saw the sucker apart and make it more usable.

• One of the ‘lessons learned’ through this process included the location of the entry doors. Standard doors on typical RVs are on the passenger side, ours were built on the driver’s side. Unaware of this when we started this process, it would have been great to have that knowledge for simplicity purposes if by last resort we end up living at an RV park someday. Having the doors on the passenger side or on an end (or both) would be preferred.

• After using the kitchen for a few months, I’d consider swapping out the stove for a stainless steel 3-burner top and use a toaster oven instead for baking. This might eliminate the GIANT microwave factor that I’m not so keen on.

•  I’ll eventually swap out the fridge for stainless steel. I wanted light colors to make the small spaces seem less so.

• We would prefer not to have the 20ft distance from our gas tanks to our water heater and stove. It seems to complicate the gas system by adding the longer gas line under the house. This was arranged as such because of the type of trailer we have with the heavier of the house needing to be over the double axles in the back.

• We would have designed our kitchen differently if we had known the water heater would have to be outside. Originally the corner of the “L” shape was to hold the water heater. It wasn’t until very late in the build process that this was a known factor, so we have a blank space in this corner. Not ideal in tiny spaces.

• Standard-size cabinets were installed in our tiny home and they take up a lot of space. It would be great if they could have been smaller/custom built. This also resulted in a large/wide countertop. I love the stainless steel countertop, but would prefer the entire set-up to be narrower.

• While the reading nook bench continues to be a popular hang-out in the tiny house, I would love to see a design that folds out to be a wider “daybed” configuration.

• We ran out of budget for the indoor lap pool, the third story loft, and the velociraptor stable. Seriously though, with unlimited income we would have had a metal roof, and local Oregon sheep wool for insulation (no kidding) instead of pink fiberglass, and Tomas would have a stainless steel bathtub/wall with glorious cedar trim all around.

A few of these preferences we have learned from living in the house.  And again, some of the things we would change others wouldn’t. And still others may change different things. Perception and personal preference (the 3 Ps?) are a huge part of home design.

It’s also been important for us to realize no home is perfect and there will always be some project or other that is in need. Something can always be modified or improved, a desire that seems to be innate human nature. At this point, we’re thankful we have a warm, dry space to call our own in a town we love and we’re excited to do what we can to make the space more our own.

A quick note on the things we’re glad we had built: the raised gables that give us a higher ceiling (this equals more headroom in the loft), the added loft storage, the shelves above the nook, the less steep ladder, the drop-kick drawers, and the reading nook/bench. Also, we’ve learned we feel comfortable living in the 8X20 space and are glad we didn’t go with anything smaller or larger…in fact, it seems really spacious to me.