With the interior work just around the tiny bend, my abstract ideas need to harden like concrete.
For instance, there will be the eight-foot-long desk but we’ve not yet decided on the materials. There will be walls, but will they be planked or smooth? And the floors, will they be wood of a lighter or darker tone? These are just a few of the questions tapping on my brain when I’m all tapped out.
Pinterest is usually my go-to when searching for new ideas. But last week, while facing a stash of multi-layered eye candy otherwise known as magazines, I spotted two letters⏤Ti⏤peeking out from the left side of a Dwell Magazine. Could it be? Why yes, yes it could:
I rescued the latest issue of Tiny Homes magazine and later turned the pages one by one, hoping to gather ideas into my concrete bucket. Some corners received the coveted fold-over while others were pleasantly ignored.
Here are some of my favorite fold-overs for various reasons:
Any time I spot a tiny desk in front of a window, I take note. It seems like many are bar height, maybe because it doubles as a table for those who live in their tiny abode.
These window boxes make the colorful Rainbow Row-inspired siding pop. Let’s just say there may be a patch of pink flowers peering in my windows down the road.
I learned there’s a tiny house community only minutes from my house (now I know of two!) Yeah, that Greenville.
A garden, be it veggies or flowers, doesn’t require a lot of space to be productive. One day, Lord willing, there will be a garden filled with hollyhocks, foxgloves, and other vintage flowers framing the tiny house. But first, a long strand of free weekends await, something we’ve not enjoyed for over a year. (For more tiny garden ideas, visit my Pinterest boards!)
And finally, sometimes it’s not so much about finding what you want to put in your space, but what you don’t want…like, say, these antler rails. Make it stop.
When the interior work begins, watch for specific questions on Instagram. I look forward to your feedback!
But for now, just for fun…what’s your favorite magazine? Do tell!
{Leave a comment to have your name included in a Starbucks giveaway. Enjoy a cup of coffee while dog-earing your own pages!}
Thank you for spending time at the Tiny House on the Hill today.
But I knew waiting was part of the deal when we set out to build our pocket-sized paradise on the hill. We are weekend warriors, after all. But it was the month of May that put me to the test.
So, why the wait?
First, God opened the floodgates last month. Then, my week-long writer’s conference quickly followed, and finally we needed to wait on the tax refund check to help with the window purchases.
While all the windows are energy-efficient due to the books and papers to be stored in my creative space, there are two favorite components which will be vintage: the front window and door. See what you think!
First, the window (minus the wreath), which will sit to the left of the front door. We’re trying to decide if we want to paint it white to match the others. But I love the patina on this window so I’m leaning toward keeping my one black window. Thoughts, anyone?
And then, there’s the front door. I love the larger-than-normal four panes in this old find. Once again, the patina tugs at this old soul but I’m not sure I want a multi-colored front porch. (The Underground Salvage Store in Brevard, NC for the win!)
Here’s the thing.
We would’ve preferred to continue working on the tiny house but instead, we had to wait. And yet, it was the wait that freed us to discover our vintage treasures.
As I type, I await a phone call. Thankfully, it’s not a medical issue⏤and yet, it is an issue, to say the least. I can’t see how something good could come out of this situation if it goes south, but God is meticulously grand at this sort of thing. So, I bow the knee…and trust.
I suppose you could say I continue to find treasures in the wait.
But these treasures aren’t constructed of wood or glass. Instead, they are truths, gathered from hard lessons that are undergirded in hope.
“…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2,3
What treasure(s) have you discovered during a waiting period in your life?
As we begin building our tiny house, I’m learning that one of the first things that must be determined is the foundation.
There are options, after all. If you want to travel with your tiny house, you’d opt for a trailer. If you want the option to move it at some point in the future, it would most likely be built on blocks or some other propped up way. And if you’re serious about staying where you live, you might cement that sucker to the ground.
Although we don’t have any plans to move in the future, we chose to use cement blocks for a couple of reasons. One is the flexibility to move it and secondly, it is much more cost efficient than a concrete pad.
So, a couple of Saturdays ago, Brian and I trekked our way up the hill to determine where the tiny house would go. We took into consideration three things:
The view from my desk
How we could avoid blocking the pool view
How to allow sufficient room for a future picket fence {framing old-timey flowers!}
It’s times like these when I’m reminded how blessed I am to be married to an engineer. While he was spouting out mathematical equations in an effort to get the corners square, I was sipping coffee thinking how much easier it would be to line things up by eye. I guess you could say the tiny house falls under that blessing as well.
If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed a red element in every tiny image. In the photo above, I wrapped the measurements in red in hopes of making it easier to visualize the perimeter of the house (9′ x 16′ + 4′ for the front porch.)
Determining the placement of the house, nailing down stakes, tying strings, leveling, and measuring took several hours but it’s worth the time. If the foundation is off, everything else will be as well.
The next to-do was not nearly as much fun, especially for the hubster. He dug down into the southern red clay a few inches around each block, added gravel and stacked flat solid concrete blocks as close to the level string as possible. I enjoyed hauling off the dirt in the wheelbarrow. It reminded me of days when I spent a lot of time working in the yard. And my back reminded me the following morning why I need more exercise.
Finally, the leveling is done. What made this Saturday workday so special was having my dad come over to help. Can you believe he’s 76? Growing up, we enjoyed doing a lot of projects together. We planted tomatoes and peppers in the backyard greenhouse, cared for an organic garden (before organic was cool), and fished on red banks of clay. I’m thankful the memories continue to build as we work on the tiny house together.
Dad gave me a firm foundation for life and now I see how this also ties into the building of my #lilredwritinghouse.
Structural integrity is required for life and tiny houses alike. Without it, there will be little to show for it in the end.
Thank you for joining me on this journey! If you’re not following me on Instagram, I’d love to meet you there @cathysbaker. And if you missed the backstory post to this tiny journey, you can read it here. Once a month, I also create a newsletter that includes a column called Tiny Tidbits. In it, I share behind-the-scenes tidbits that aren’t told anywhere else. Receive your copy by simply adding your email address in the sidebar slot on my blog. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Is there something in particular about the journey you’d like to know or see? I’d love to read your comments!
Cathy Baker
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