You've heard for years about McMansions and supersizing. Now, I would like you to be open to the thought of just having what is actually a "need" (not a want, or a desire). Look at that list you made of your "Have To's". Is everything on your list a need? Do you really need that extra bed for company? How often will it be used? Is it worth giving up the space for something only used occasionally? Do you really need 15 pair of shoes? When was the last time you wore all of them? You only have 2 feet! Shoes take up valuable real-estate. What about the 20 pair of jeans? I am betting you have your favorite 3 pair that you wear all the time and the rest hang in the closet. I do agree that if you still dress for a job you will need to accommodate for more clothes but even work clothes can be paired down the the items you love and fit you well. I was surprised just how many clothes I didn't wear that still took up space in my closet. Newly built storage shed matching my tiny house. And you men with your electronic gadgets! You need to minimize as well. A 60" TV will not work in your tiny house. I have seen pictures of one tiny house with a drop down screen but when the screen was down no one could move, as it blocked the kitchen and bathroom. Same goes for tools. I have built a small shed to house the tools I need on a frequent basis. The rest had to go. You could also use a deck box to house some items that can be stored outside. Inside of shed with plastic shelving for organization. Now that you have reassessed your list of "Have To's" you can start to think about your floor plan and how much space needs to be allocated to each function. Here are a few dimensions that appear to be a standard for a typical "tiny house". Street legal (in most states) is 8'6" wide, 13'6" tall and up to 40' long. If you build over the wheel wells you can keep the 8'6" width but you will have to give up on some height and the overhang from the roof. If you go to something 30-40' long you end up with a skinny mobile home. If you are willing to give up the wheels you can go wider and build a stationary home on a foundation or perhaps a "park model" which requires a special permit and driver to move. For this conversation we are sticking with the typical 8'6" wide x 13'6" tall and customary 16-24' length. This will give you an finished interior space of 6'10" wide x 19'6" long (for a 20 trailer). Your next project should be to sketch out several floor plans with your "Have To's" in mind. Remember a typical hallway is 4' (mine is about 3'). Typical depth of a kitchen counter 25 1/2", my closet is 25" (at least 18" to accommodate hangers). One of my first floor plan drawings. I reworked this many times before the final draft. Now take some blue painters tape and tape out the parameters of your "tiny house". Hopefully, you can do this within your current location, say in the living room or bedroom. To simulate walls, use 2 of the rooms existing walls as 2 walls of your "tiny house" and perhaps furniture or cardboard for the other 2 walls. Just using tape on the floor does not stop your eye from thinking you have more space. Tape out where your door opening is and the swing of the door. I have a 28" door in the Ynez which is larger than most "tiny houses". I wanted to make sure that if I needed to get my washer out or bring a comfy chair in, it would fit through the door. Tape off where you want your windows (don't forget to include 3-4" of trim). Windows are important for light and the feeling of open space. I have 12 and it is nice and bright inside! Ok, now the fixed items. Tape off the kitchen counter, the shower and toilet, the walls for bathroom and closet. It's getting tight isn't it? Live with this house fort for a few days and see if you want to make changes to your floor plan. I lived with mine for several months moving pieces around to get just the right configuration. Because I wanted to leave the living area open as much as possible I choose not to have any built-ins. This allows me to change furniture as my needs change. If I am working on a project that needs a table then the table is put up. If I am having people over I will bring in the chairs from the porch. By not having built-ins I have more versatility. Say I have the flu and don't want to climb the ladder. I can sleep on the bench or put up a mattress on the floor. If I need something more long term I could bring in a single bed or cot and remove what is currently there. Remember normal chairs and sofas are quite deep. Measure or place these furniture pieces in your house fort to see if they will be too large and inhibit walking through your tiny house. Less is more with a tiny house. Try to leave open space. Open legs on a bench or chair will give the illusion of more space. Chunky or bulky furniture will make it feel claustrophobic. Multi-functional items work the best. A ottoman that stores the extra sheets, a bench that stores folded clothes and blanket. The chair and table that fold and can be stored elsewhere. My mother's old refinished cedar chest. Open cedar chest filled with clothes, jewelry & blankets. Small ottoman foot stool & room heater. Open ottoman filled with sheets & blanket. Apothecary chest refurbished for storage. All food storage for me, my dog & bird. Next time, let's talk about lofts or no lofts, porches and utility areas. I would love to hear your comments or questions.
This home is so gorgeous, I simply must share it as I wrap up a week's worth of posts on decor8! It's definitely moody, inviting, warm and very stylish for sure. Owned by Tracie Ellis of the brand, AURA , her country home in Victoria’s Kyneton, Australia, is a real stunner. Especially if you're
These are the top small-space Scandinavian design rules we learned from cool homes in Stockholm.
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Today we are happy to welcome Elizabeth Morrow to the blog to share her home with us! "Our home is a little, two-story, 920 square foot craftsman home in the heart of Tacoma, Washington. Before we bought our current home, we were renting a tiny 450 square foot house which became way too cramped…
Happy Monday! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. I celebrated a friend's birthday, bakes some cookies, went for a drive with Chris, and w...
It's the kind of day that I don't want to get out of bed. I could lounge around the house catching up on my magazine reading in front of a...
Last week we showed you the top ten (so far) kitchens in our Small Cool Kitchens contest. This week, here are are 10 more that are zooming up the charts! These hot new entries have a lot going for them.We have been so impressed by the love and care evidenced in each entry — from a postage stamp-sized rental kitchen in New York City, to a truly gorgeous remodeled space in California. Take a peek at these inspiring little kitchens and see if you want to add any to your favorites.
Oh, my dears, I am so very excited! Today's home tour is one that I love, and I am so honored to be able to share it with you. We're peeking into the home of Samantha Martin-Evans and her seven-year-old...
Banged-up leather couch...check. Flea market painting...check. Vintage light fixture...check.
Rustic décor is so “in” right now. Whether you live in the country or your home is in the city, you can still have beautiful rustic décor and you can do it all yourself.
We first spotted the kitchen from this lovely home here and just knew the rest would be good. So we begged and threw a few pretty pleases out there and oh did Melissa Jill Photography deliver. It's a ...
I have had many Canadians visit my blog over the past 2 years! It has been such a thrill and honour to feature the fabulous talent our vast country holds. Many bloggers and designers that I have featured have seen their careers and blogs take off (not because of my blog but because of their sheer talent) I figured a little update on some previous guests would be just the ticket - aren't you dying to know if anyone has had their home published? Been elevated to stardom? Switched careers? I am! One blogger whose life and blog has simply blossomed is Shannon Acheson from AKA Design since my my original interview. Shannon and her husband, Dean sold their home and purchase another one last year. Slowly they are re-doing their current home using the same ingenuity and imagination that they used for their previous home, one that had been featured on many blogs and on the Steven and Chris show too! Not only does Shannon author the ever-so-successful AKA Design blog but she has recently started Blogger Homes and Blogger Resources, two fabulous blogs that are first and foremost for bloggers! Even my living room has been featured on Blogger Homes! Shannon shared a few photos with us to see the direction their new home is taking. Clearly they are mixing their previous rustic aesthetic but with a new mix of modern too. Their new master bedroom, love the moody inky dark walls. Their former summer living room. A chalkboard wall in their new house. I love it!!! If we end up staying in this house, I think I will paint a chalkboard wall in my kitchen too! Shannon, give us a quick update as to how life has changed since your feature here on hodge:podge well over a year ago? First of all thanks for having us back again! We’re so happy to be here. This past year has been very full for us. We worked with a couple of brands we love for the first time – The Home Depot and Bouclair. We had some magazine features and were interviewed on a podcast for the first time. Our family also sold our little 70 year old bungalow and moved into a slightly larger 40 year old backsplit and we’re LOVING the extra space and all the projects this newer house brings. We’re currently renovating the kitchen on a budget which includes painting cabinets and installing a stainless steel countertop designed by my hubby, Dean. Not only do you blog on (AKA) Design, but you have developed two other blogs, Blogger Homes and Blogger Resources. Tell us a bit about each website and why you decided to create both? Both of the new sites have been percolating in my brain for well over a year. I originally wanted to make Blogger Homes into a book, way back when I first scribbled down notes for the idea. But then (I think it was in the fall) the amazing Jennifer of Rambling Renovators announced her book Blogger Style and I put my idea on hold. This January it hit me that I could still do something with my desire to see blogger’s homes all in one place. So I created Blogger Homes with the same sort of idea as Beckie Farrant’s KnockOff Décor. Submissions are categorized by blog, by room and by style and are easily searchable. Now Blogger Homes exists to make it easy for blog readers to search for and be inspired by all of the beautiful blogger-created rooms and spaces online. It also exists to drive traffic to home and lifestyle bloggers whose homes are featured on the site. Blogger Resources also started as some notes jotted down on a scrap of paper – go figure. I kept thinking that there are SO many fabulous resources out there for bloggers to learn and develop, but sometimes searching for them falls to the bottom of our never-ending to-do lists. Originally I was going to just add a page to AKA Design, but I wanted to think bigger and yet simpler. So Blogger Resources was born to help bloggers find all the brilliant people (much more brilliant than I!) and blogging resources they need to grow their blogs and reach their full blogging potential. Blogger Resources is categorized by type of resource (ebook, course, conference, etc.) and by topic (monetization, photography, marketing, etc.). I really hope to help other bloggers to reach their goals with both of the new sites. What are you looking for in Blogger Homes? Can anyone submit a space? Blogger Homes accepts submissions from anyone who has a blog and has created and decorated their own home’s rooms and spaces. It’s not really for professional designers or decorators because there are other sites for that. We have featured almost all rooms that have been submitted save for a few. The only real reason for us turning down submissions is poor photography or incomplete information on the online form. We would love to see even more bloggers submit spaces! How has blogging changed your life? Are you earning an income? And do you have any “secrets” or tips you are willing to share as to how you got to where you are? Blogging is a hobby and a business for me. I don’t have a design business or anything else than I’m trying to grow with my blogs – the BLOGS are the business. In Canada we are still behind the U.S. for income and working with brands. But as more bloggers focus on being entrepreneurs and learning the business parts of blogging, the faster we catch up. I have been earning a few hundred dollars a month for the last year or so. However I have recently changed some things and expect that amount to increase. I have so much further that I want to go that I hardly feel qualified to give advice on getting “there”. I have recently connected with a few bloggers on a level I haven’t before and from what I hear that “tribe” mentality is what really helps to grow a blog. What is next for you and your blog? Where do you hope to go from here? I hope to grow all three blogs into large recognizable brands in North America. AKA Design will be where people will continue to find beautiful crafts, frugal decorating ideas and fun DIY projects that we’ve made for our own house - in the hopes that they will be inspired to create the look and feel they want for their homes. Blogger Homes will be where people will go to find their favorite bloggers new spaces and where bloggers link their house tours so they can get more eyes on their own blogs. Blogger Resources will be a hub for bloggers looking for ways to take their blogs to the next level – whatever that is for them. I want to inspire people – be it with design or inspiration or information. I just want to inspire people!
