Tiny House Living One Year Review

It's been almost a year since we moved into the tiny house (me, my husband, and our dog). My friends always say that they love my tiny house and my family keeps asking to come over. Well it still isn't finished and I really have no idea when it will be done. 

Our only income is from photography, mostly weddings and engagements. Business is picking up and I have been very grateful. We were able to buy a car and some much needed photography equipment. Being a full time photographer isn't cheap.

I've been debating about getting a day job or not. Yes it would help pay the bills and maybe purchase some more equipment but at the same time we built the tiny house so we could focus on our business. And if I had a day job it would mean less time spent on our current clients and marketing to attract new clients. 

Any way as far as living in a tiny house, I think it is romanticized. Yes you save money which is great, but it's just not that practical. I really could only see us being here a short time. We knew that this won't be our forever home when we built it. Maybe a single person would be much more comfortable in a tiny house. 

All I can say is, I am dreaming about living in an apartment and eventually buying a traditional home. After living in 160 sq. ft., 800 sq. ft. would feel gigantic. We still want to keep things small and simple. We also don't want to live beyond our means. 

I think everyone hears about tiny houses and is more interested in the novelty of it. Also not a lot of people talk about actual tiny house living. All you see are these beautiful pictures but no one talks about what it's like day in and day out being there. 

I am noticing that a lot of tiny house people are building a bigger house and using their tiny house as a temporary solution. There are very few that live tiny for life. I see it as a stepping stone to our future. It has served it's purpose and now it's time to move on.

Tiny House Update: We Survived Winter and Installed Flooring

Hi everyone! I know I haven't updated in a long time. Well we made it through winter finally. It is starting to get warmer in North Georgia. We had an unusually cold winter for the south. We even had some heavy snow (what we consider heavy) that kept us inside for the entire week. You may have heard about the snow that locked down Atlanta. Well we went through that. My husband and his dad had to abandon their truck and walk through the snow 8 miles to get home (they hitched a ride in a back of a truck they helped push for 3 of it though). 

For the most part we stayed pretty cozy in the tiny house. The only heat source we have is a Delonghi Ceramic Heater. As long as it stayed in the 20s or 30s it worked well. Sometimes we get a little toasty in the loft! But a couple times when it was below zero we stayed up at the in laws house. The cold killed my mint plants outside and my house plants. :(

I have some good news. We finally bought a new car. We got a 2005 Mazda6. We paid for 50% of it in cash and financed the rest with a signature loan from our credit union. The payments are very reasonable. I am so glad we waited and saved our money. We couldn't have done it without the tiny house.

(At my parents house)

Now that it's starting to warm up again we are getting motivated to begin working on the tiny house again. And now that we don't have to save for the car any more, we have a little more spending money. Also I am getting tired of living in an unfinished house. We recently installed flooring.

We got Trafficmaster laminate flooring for only $15 a case (on sale at Home Depot). With the underlayment we have flooring now for just over $100 total. Can't beat that! 

It was relatively easy to install. Anyone could do it. The trickiest part was making sure everything lined up. We had to cut notches out for the wheel wells. The floor looks great all finished. We put down a rug in the kitchen, in front of the door, and under our desk. 

The only downside to laminate is that it isn't very water resistant. Any spills should be cleaned up immediately. The edges can chip easily if you aren't careful while installing. We'll be putting down vinyl tiles in the bathroom since they are waterproof. 

More updates to come soon!

Urine Separator

I've been hesitant to get a urine separator because of the cost, but I finally broke down and ordered one. I am the one that empties the composting receptacle (bucket) into the composting pile. The worst part is the urine. The weight of the liquid makes it heavier and it smells. With two adults, it fills up quickly. We are using peat moss as our cover. 

I think having the urine separator will help tremendously. It may eliminate the smell since the urine will go directly into a container that I can empty separately. And I won't have to empty the bucket as often.

I will keep you updated on how it works out for us. I can't wait for it to get here.

http://www.freerangedesigns.co.uk/reclaimed-wood-furniture/build-your-own-diy-composting-toilet/urine-separator-for-compost-toilet.html

Looking to the future

Hi all! Not much going on as far as tiny house progress. We have been trying to save money for a car so we haven't finished the house. But hopefully it will be all done some time next year.

I am already thinking about the future. I hope that by the time I am 30 (in five years) I will own a more traditional home, but still small (around 1000 sq. ft.). The plan has always been to build the tiny house so we could save money for a down payment.

Many people have built their tiny house knowing they would live there for the rest of their life (or most of it). But everyone has their different reasons. If I knew I would be staying here all my life, I probably would have invested a lot more money into it.

The tiny life has been good to us. Since we don't pay rent or a mortgage, we are able to work full time as wedding photographers. And as our business grows we can put back money for our new home. 

I am looking forward to having different rooms we can go into. Haha!

Declutter kitchen counter - great for any space! http://www.no29design.com/2013/01/the-newly-uncluttered-kitchen-counter.html

Vinegar and lemon oil cleaner: I decided to make some homemade all purpose cleaner. First of all, it is healthier for your home since you aren't using harsh chemicals. And you save money! After looking at some different recipes online, I decided that a combination of vinegar, water, and lemon essential oil would be the best for me. 

Mix in a sprayer bottle:

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

Add 10 drops of your choice of essential oils

You can make this at different amounts as you want. The water and vinegar have a 1:1 ratio. Just remember that only a few drops of the oil goes a long way. 

Vinegar by itself is a great cleaner. "Although vinegar is not registered as a disinfectant with the EPA, it will kill both salmonella and E.coli." You can boost the disinfectant power while adding a pleasant scent with lemon oil. "According to the DIY Network, lemons are a natural disinfectant and stain remover because of their acidity." 

Check out this great article for more information about homemade cleaning products: http://earth911.com/news/2013/04/15/cleaning-vinegar-baking-soda-lemon/

Finally some progress! We got our kitchen cabinet and countertop in. The amazing Andrew Odom of Tiny Revolution gave us the countertop. He had left over wood from his own tiny house. We used Salad Bowl Finish on the countertop. It is food safe once it fully cures. We made the mistake of putting on a coat inside though and it was very smelly (and harmful). So we had to put it in the shop next door to allow it to dry and put on the remaining coats. Read the labels! Haha. 

Our drawers are reclaimed. We just had to cut them to the size we need and paint them. They will be hidden by a door. 

So now we have to: cut the hole for the sink (using a jigsaw), build shelves (for appliances, plates, cups, etc.), and finish the cabinets.

Soon we will start working on bringing a water supply line to the house and finish the bathroom. I would like to have this done by October but as we know, things always take longer than you expect. 

Waring Pro Double Burner Review

As promised I am reviewing the Waring Pro Double Burner. I have been using it for a couple months (almost daily). So far I am impressed with it’s performance. Like most electric burners, it takes a minute or so to warm up. But after that it works pretty well. We generally stay on the low settings to cook all our food. Even the smaller burner can boil water pretty quickly. It’s fairly easy to clean. Though I did get some grease stains on the burner I have yet to get off.

My only issue is that the heat seems a little inconsistent. Like it will start to cool off after a few minutes. But it hasn’t really affected our cooking. Overall, it’s perfect for the tiny house owner, or someone that just needs some extra burners.

http://www.amazon.com/Waring-DB60-Portable-Double-Burner/dp/B000I16B18

Update: to remove stains on iron hot plates, sprinkle baking soda on plates and spray with vinegar. Use a rag to scrub the stains. You can let it soak if you need to first. Works pretty well!