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