Plan and let live.

We've reached a terrifying phase of planning! It's the part where you're standing right on the edge of a cliff. You're about to pass the point of no-return, but you haven't quite passed it yet. I think for me that point of no-return will actually come when we have the trailer. 

At this phase of the process we have plans coming out of our ears. There are building plans, life plans, budgets and so on. Most recently however there are moving plans. We have been very lucky to find some wonderful folks here in Kelowna who are going to let us rent their suite and build in their yard. It's true! I didn't know people this awesome existed either but they're real! Now that we have a building site and a moving date the plans are really rolling along. 

Now comes packing and moving plans. Plans to buy a second vehicle because I won't be able to walk to work after the move. Plans to speak with the bank. Plans to officially put the order in for the trailer. Plans for producing more in depth building plans. 

I've made timelines, over and over. Chris and I are working on household and building budgets. Chris can attest, I'm trying to plan this sucker down to the last nail. And I'm painfully aware of the futility. He shakes his head and lets me scribble down dates and numbers like I can control things that way and make it a seamless easy process by worrying a lot in advance. In reality I'm aware that the worry will really come much later when I'm trying to get the walls up, or some other building related endeavor that I can't even fathom at this point. 

It's dawning on me, a little more every day that I can't control the whole process. I'm working on letting go and embracing that. Seriously, Chris. I am. 

We have one more month until we hopefully push ourselves over that cliff. Cross your fingers for us. 

Clearly I need to work on my relaxation.
Below are some of my favourite tiny home ways to relax. 

Built in hot tub!

From www.treehugger.com 

Rooftop patio!

from www.tinyhouseliving.com 

Tiny reading nook!

from pinterest.

Little Projects Build a Bigger Project

I haven't posted in awhile, but if you check out our Facebook page you can see that doesn't mean we've been idle.
Some decor decisions have been made and our theme seems to be: repurposed. We've been breaking pallets apart to build a pallet wall. I love the texture. That everything is different and weathered! Plus free is great. So far the only real downside has been that we're doing it outside in -10 degree weather. You can tell in the pictures, many,  many layers have been required.

We've also been collecting rail spikes and repurposing them. Don't panic, no trains are at risk! The trains no longer come through here and CN is pulling up the tracks. We just pick up what gets left behind. Chris has been making them into knobs for our cupboards.  He also started making bottle openers with them and it's turned into kind of a side business.

We're very excited about the progress we've made. And with the holidays coming up we hope the new year will lead to some big decisions.

Happy holidays!

Scrounging

A lot of people have pointed out to us that we can live in a small amount of space without much effort. It's called a motor home. While that's true, and we will be living in about the same space as a motor home, we really feel there are some significant differences. First off, the products used in a lot of motor homes have a lot of chemical and off-gassing issues that we will avoid by building our own. Secondly, have you seen how much those things cost!? I don't know if you've caught on yet, but expenses are a big deal in our world. We think we can build our own tiny home for about a third of the cost of buying a motor home. On top of that, we get the experience of building and creating a unique home that is just ours. 

Unfortunately, these last two points often work against each other. When we talk about creating something that's our own, it can easily become creating something perfect. In my dream world we have butcher block counters and stainless steel appliances. There are fancy shower heads and lighting fixtures. It's totally gorgeous in my head. However, when we started to price things out it didn't take long to realize we had to find a different way to build and furnish a home.

The dream is great, but here in reality, I just worked out a deal with my boss to get scrap cupboards that are being ripped out of a staff room that's being reno'd. They're those white ones with the little strip of wood that were in everyone's house growing up. You know the ones: 

In situations like this I've actually started to see Pinterest as an enemy. There's a lot of beautiful and unrealistic things out there and I find I can't get too caught up in what the house could be. There is a lot that we would like the house to be but ultimately no matter what materials we use, no matter the fit and finish, it'll be something we made and we'll be proud of it.

I'm finding the scrounging really rewarding though. We plan to get things on the cheap and start saving money. We can always go back and refinish things once it's more financially feasible. We also love to find new uses for old items. All of our garden planters are made from old pallets.

Below are some pictures of refinished and re-purposed items. Not all tiny home friendly, but still fantastic ;)

from www.recycleart.org

from www.apartmenttherapy.com 

from www.dwell.com

Who wants my stuff?

Our recent trailer hunting trip to Alberta brought home for us how real this tiny home experience is. We're looking at putting a deposit down on a trailer that I fell in love with in Grande Prairie, but looking at it made me come home and look at all of our stuff.

I've spent 26 years accumulating things. And now I have to stop that. It's such a scary thought! Storage will be at a premium in our small space so I have already started making lists of what has to go. It's a big list that ranges from things like bookshelves to kitchen knives.

We don't see the tiny home as out forever home, we see it as a great option to live the lifestyle we want while we are able. There's a bigger house with kids in it in our future plans, and while we think we can handle each other in 25 feet of space, we're just not prepared to do it with a couple of kids as well. Many people do, and they are amazing! But we have other plans. This resulted in two lists, one for storage and one for sale. I'm a book hoarder, so my lovely books will be put into storage until we have a bigger home again along with stuff like seasonal clothing and bicycles that will be useful but not all the time.

We will be posting a lot of what we have to get rid of on the Facebook page so if you're in the Okanagan region be sure to check it out! I'll also probably do a bigger post about it later to show what's got to go.

In the spirit of downsizing, here are some pictures of storage solutions other tiny homer's have come up with. Enjoy!

I've never been keen on Murphy beds so this is a fantastic storage idea! Our goal in the tiny home is for everything to have a dual purpose. From http://www.tinyhousewebsites.com/tiny-house-storage-ideas/

I love this. Deep cupboard are annoying in a regular house, this makes them way more functional for a small space. From http://www.ikeadecoration.com

Stairs can make dead space. This ensures every nook and cranny is in use. From https://www.godownsize.com

Trailer Hunting

We're a province over in big ol Berta visiting family so we figured where better to trailer hunt! 

The hunt is on for a flat deck gooseneck between 24-26 feet. Chris and I still differ on what the base should be though. He'd love to get an old RV that we can tear down and use for parts. It would come with a lot of great items we can use and cost less, the trade off is the extra time and work, I also worry about how nice the previous owner was to the trailer. I'm more partial to a new trailer. I like knowing that we're the first ones to have it and it will be good quality. It lets us get straight to the building, but it definitely will cost us more. 

We're following up leads for both options and I have to say we've been so thrilled with the response out here. I think Albertans really understand the concept of a tiny house that lets you have more land and get outdoors more. If you're in the Grande Prairie region we have to recommend Foster's Covered Wagons. Brandy was so helpful and so excited to hear about the tiny home idea, we want to deal with her just for her enthusiasm for what we're doing! Another huge thank you to Eden at Woody's RV World. She understood our idea and the fact that we don't want an RV and she let us know that there is a place RV's go to die in Edmonton called Murphy's RV. 

We still have some research to do and we're waiting for some price quotes to come in but the trip has been a great way to get our heads around the trailer part of the process. We plan to get the trailer figured out by Spring next year so we'll keep you up to date on the details!

Making a Plan

So, turns out to build a house you need a plan. Specifically a floor plan. You'd think when you're working with a space that can only be 7.5' wide and 25' long it would be fairly easy; but turns out our first attempt was by no means the last. We had lofts, then no lofts, stair wells that became ladders that disappeared all together, kitchen's that jumped from one end to the other and a roof that was pitched, to flat and finally sloped.

Below is a picture of where we ultimately ended up. It's just a hand drawn sketch for now. We haven't included the gooseneck portion, we've only gotten as far as the bathroom, kitchen and main living area. Part of the reason the bedroom has been left out is because I'm waiting to see if we can actually find a gooseneck. If not another change will happen and we'll be back to a loft. The design ended up this way largely so that all of the water is as close together as we can manage it. Since we're building it ourselves we want to keep it as simple as we can.

We're planning to fit a lot into that tiny space. I love baths and we think that we can make a tub fit. We're planning to inset the tub down a foot in the hopes that we can mount the sink overtop in the same area. This might fly in the face of that simple comment I just made.... We'll see. Chris is an amazing cook, and I enjoy baking, so an oven is a must for us. It will be quite a small one, but as long as I can make pies I'm happy. We're also planning to put in a washer/dryer combo to make the most of the space.

I'm sure the plan will evolve a lot more as we continue but it's definitely a starting place!

Chris and Margie's Tiny Home Adventures Begin

Welcome to the first post about our tiny home adventure. We're hoping to use this blog to document our experience of building a tiny home, but mainly to develop a network of support and help. This is a huge undertaking and we're not entirely sure what we're in for! 

We began by writing a letter asking for support, you can read it below. We hope that this letter will be something we can take to businesses and community members to explain what we're doing, and hopefully minimize the blank stares and shaking of heads many tiny home owners encounter.

We hope you enjoy following the process, we so appreciate all the support we've already got in coming up with this plan and we're so excited for the rest of it!


The letter:

Our ask:
We are hoping that you may be able to help out a young couple who are trying to build their own tiny home. Maybe you have building materials that you don’t have a use for, land that you could let us build on (we’ll pay rent!), appliances you have no use for, or a skill and knowledge that will ease the building process. We would be thrilled with any assistance you could provide. We’re seeking a network that will help this process along.

Our offer:

We will pick-up and take away anything we could use that you don’t want hanging around anymore. For the right items we will pay cash, we’re also willing to barter our time if you need some manual labour.

The why:
After much looking, we found there’s not much available for young people starting out in Kelowna. Realizing the housing market was beyond us, we started researching tiny homes and immediately were addicted to the idea. This outreach is the start of how we hope to get our pint sized dream home.

The needs:
Trailer - We’re hoping to find a gooseneck trailer that’s 26 feet on the main deck, no beavertail. We’ll take away an old RV with a good base to salvage parts or the trailer.
Space - We need to find a compound or field, even a driveway, where someone is willing to let us spend 6 months building our home, we’ll pay rent or be labourers!
Windows & doors - Any size or shape will do. We’ll happily cart away what’s not being used.
Tools & materials- The following list of tools are pretty essential for home building, and pretty expensive to purchase. We’re hoping someone may be willing to rent us the use of some of the following, for which we will of course provide a deposit. The list: framing nailer, generator, impact driver, 2.5" construction screws, 2x? lumber, tyvek/house wrap, outlets & boxes, switches, insulation, PVC pipes and fittings, aluminum flashing, 16 gauge wire, deep cycle batteries, siding, cabinets, appliances.
Expertise - We don’t have any. Just kidding, kind of. If you have a skill or insight that might help the process; if the tiny home project seems interesting to you, we’d love to hear from you and even have you come out and see what we’re doing (once we get going).
Exposure - If you can’t help, someone you know may be able to. Please keep us in mind and let others know about what we’re doing if you think their help might be a good fit.

Thanks for your time reading the letter. If what we’re doing sounds like something you could help with please reach us at tinyhomebigdream@gmail.com we also have a facebook page: www.facebook.com/tinyhomebigdream
If you’re looking for more info on the tiny home movement a great resource is www.tinyhousetalk.com

Sincerely,
Chris Nichol & Margie Davis