Plywood and wood slats

This has been a particularly good week for the tiny house. I found some high end plywood online via craigslist and made a connection with a carpenter. It will be perfect to use for cabinets. The man's name was George and he also has interest in building a tiny house. We shared information on the workshops we attended and are keeping in touch for more supplies as well as updating each other on information. Thank you George!

Saturday I found free some slat wood flooring. I am planning on using it to make the counter tops. A friend lent us his truck. We got the flooring loaded up and transported it to the house. Thank you DT!
Matt and I spent a few hours this Sunday pulling all the nails from the slats of wood. I have them now bundled nicely, organized in the garage.

 

Its the small things

I have the tiny house on the brain and since my husband was out of town playing Men's Roller Derby, I took the time to search out some items. I found quite a few delightful additions to the tiny house. Although I am mostly a Craigslist type of girl, it didn't keep Ikea from slipping into the picture. Here is the bounty list from this weekend:

• A wall mount ikea table Norbo (craigslist)

• A heavy duty expandable two sided bathroom mirror (goodwill)

• Wall storage Fintorp (Ikea discount area)

And the weekend would not be complete without a healthy dose of Internet cruising for ideas on tiny houses. I found two gems:

• Halley's House: She has a knack for tiny house problems, and their solutions.
  

• How to make your Tiny House Safe: This has good all around advice.

oh my what have you been up to?

Ok, so it has been a while since my last posting, and oh so much has happened. We live in the north west,  Portland to be exact, and well it rains here. Finally spring has come and we can emerge from our wet cocoons to enjoy life in the sun. Since it has warmed up and the sun is out, we took the opportunity to take the nails out of all that reclaimed oak flooring. Yes, it is now stacked and organized in the garage with the sink and the front door. 
And what else have you been doing, you may ask. Well we took a stay-cation and stayed in a Tiny house in Portland. It was a dream vacation for us. We got to try out all the bells and whistles in this little gem, and took down a list of things we liked and didn't like.  We ate out, had some quality talking time, and relaxed. It was the best vacation.

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Photo by Christopher Tack

Tiny house workshop

So since I last wrote I have had many adventures. I purchased a front door with hardware, a door jam, and key to the dead bolt included. I obtained two double paned windows and had a large contribution given to the tiny house fund by means of my parents.  If that were not enough I found that Portland Alternative Dwellings (PAD) is have a tiny house workshop at the end of February. I promptly signed up and am counting the days.

sick and slow

   It is that time of year where everyone is sick. I have just gotten over three weeks of illness resulting in a week of high fever and a trip to the doctor's office where he told me to rest.  With the help of some strong prescribed cough syrup, I spent practically five days in bed, emerging a little worse for wear, but recovering.

   Now I am on the hunt again for great finds for the tiny house, and I think I have decided on a Japanese soaking tub, as the tub/shower combo for the house.  It is the perfect way to have the ability to soak if you want to, albeit sitting up, but also can be the shower floor. I think it's a great solution to the bathroom conundrum of "how to fit a tub in a tiny house".

Craigslist

   Tonight as most nights, I trolled one of the internet's best spot for free junk...Craigslist. I found a man that was giving away 20 pieces of wood paneling. When my husband came home, we jumped in the car to make our way to tonight's treasure. After arriving, we were greeted by the house's owner, Brian. He escorted us to the back of the house, where he had all the paneling laying against the house. There were two other Craigslist-ers there, a couple, taking all the scrap metal they could fit in their truck. Scrap metal must be pretty profitable since I see trucks all over town, filled to the brim, with large amounts of metal objects.
As Matt examined the paneling, we chatted with Brian about what we were looking for and how we intended on using it. After a short time, Matt came to the conclusion that the wood was too thin for our purposes. We continued to talk with Brian. He described the history of the house and all the work he was doing on it. He took interest in our cause and told us he might have something we could use. He led us to the garage were there sat a solid wood shelf box with three square nooks. It was a perfect size for a tiny house and good quality. We thanked him for the shelf and loaded it into our small car.  Another winning day!

One night in a tiny house

  
    Last night I slept in a tiny house. This one in fact. Here is a gallery of photos. It was lovely albeit tiny, measuring 8' X 14'. It had all the comforts of home, running water, electricity, a shower, bathroom, kitchen, sleeping area, and a reading nook.  I stayed at the tiny house by invite of Diana, a close friend, and she introduced me to the owner. We quickly spouted off questions about the house's construction, amenities, and the lifestyle. She graciously answered all our questions, then left us to inhabit the dwelling, which she calls home.
    I found the tiny house to be a oasis of solitude. We talked the night away over topics and triscuits. We fantasizing what it would be like to live in our own tiny house, what we would like to have built in each of ours and what it would take to achieve such a task.  We conversed through, the attributes of stainless steel vs recycled old wood, necessity of tub vs shower, and pondered where would you put all your important papers. Our banter continued as we headed to the loft to sleep under the stars, sharing the bed with a handsome orange tabby.  The loft was the cat's domain and he begrudgingly let us sleep there. After the last word was said and sleepiness took hold, the wind began to rock the tiny cabin with a gentle sway. This was unnerving at first then I relaxed into a soothing rocking carrying me off to sleep.
    In the morning, we woke up assessing the gray dreary Portland morning through the loft's skylight. Time to get up, time to gather our things, and time for coffee. As we sipped our steamy cups, we looked out the reading nook window, and day dreamed.  I pondered the beginning of this tiny house journey and how last night solidified my resolve in the end result...someday there would be a Tiny Casa I could call my own.