A Post Full of Pictures!

It’s almost May and with the reality of the build getting closer, I’m feeling inspired!

Today I finished my tiny house inspiration board after going through my bookmarks and choosing some of my favourite pictures of tiny houses. Here it is:

Some of the featured houses are the Tiny Tack House, Tiny House Giant Journey, Tiny Refuge, La Maison, the house I visited in Quebec near my grandparents’, a Wishbone tiny house, Brittany’s tiny house for rent, and Macy Miller’s house.

Another inspiration piece I have up on my walls is this picture my sister drew for me, of me sitting in my future window seat:

I also wanted to share some of the first things I ever made out of wood. I took tech. ed. (technology education) in junior high. One of our projects was to build this little shelf, which now hangs in my dad’s garage:

It’s even stained!

At the end of the year, we got to choose our own thing to make, and I, unsure in my wood working skills, made 6 simple plaques, one each for myself, my sister, my mum, my dad, and my best friend and boyfriend at the time. I don’t have pictures of the last two, but they’re all the same shape with personalized words on them.

Guess whose this is…

A shortened motivation quote for my mum.

For my sis, who I get along pretty well with.

And mine. It does hang straight, I just purposely left it crooked.

Not too shabby for 15 year old me.

And lastly, here’s something I bought the other day for my future home:

It’s a chime, made from purple-dyed agate slices. My house will have purple trim, so it will match 🙂 In my steps list PowerPoint, I mentioned inspiration pieces that you can collect before you build. They don’t have to be practical, they can just be beautiful.

What inspires your tiny house dream?

P.S. I’m sorry for the low-quality pictures; I’m no professional photographer. I like to take a quick photo just so you get the picture 😛 Build pictures will be better out in the sunlight.

It’s the Little Things

I just want to share a few of the neat things I’m planning for my tiny house.

Toe-kick storage: There will be shallow drawers underneath my lower kitchen cabinets that slide out; for storing paper, office supplies, cookie sheets, small tools, and maybe some files.

Kitchen cabinet notes: I’ll attach cork boards/whiteboards inside the upper kitchen cabinets for notes, grocery lists, to-do lists, meal ideas, conversion charts, and more.

Rounded shelves for glasses: I’m thinking about little shelves that would be attached to the upper cabinets on both sides of the kitchen window. It might end up being too much for the small space, but I like the idea of displaying pretty glasses.

Tiny shelves: I was considering my current kitchen today and how much of it I don’t use, and I thought of a space saver. Instead of having only one shelf in the middle of the cabinets, I want to add one more just a few inches above or below the main one. I’ll be able to store bottles (like spices) on their sides and have a place for cutting boards without taking up an entire cabinet.

A hanging rod in the kitchen: Something I’m thinking about is having a metal rod across the back splash that I can hang utensils and small containers for cutlery on, to keep things off the counter.

A desk above my head: Above the window seat I plan to install a shelf about six inches below the loft. It will hold my computer (and there will be an outlet back there to charge it), a notepad, and other papers you’d put in your desk.

Floorboard storage: Instead of baskets or shelves by the sides of the bed in the loft, I want to make storage underneath the flooring. The storage will be between the beams below that hold up the loft. I can’t put any storage in the floor of the main floor or in the walls anywhere because I need every bit of insulation.

Hidden electrics: I plan to hide my electrical panel in the main room, behind either a hinged whiteboard/cork board or a hinged painting.

A towel ring: I posted a while ago about a towel hook versus a towel rod for my teeny bathroom. Recently, I saw a picture on Pinterest with a towel ring instead. That’s perfect for me, because I don’t like hooks but I can’t be bothered to hang up my towel neatly on a rod.

Magnets in the bathroom: I’ve done this already in my current bathroom. I glued magnets to the inside of the medicine cabinet to keep track of nail clippers and tweezers.

Foot-activated taps: To save water, I want to have a foot pedal in the kitchen and bathroom that controls the sink taps. That way you’re not wasting water letting it run while you’re washing dishes, soaping up your hands, or brushing your teeth. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult!

A pause button for the shower: Another water saver I’ve heard of, you can use the pause feature while you’re soaping up your hair.

And those are just a few of the many interesting things I plan to create! Stay tuned!

Steps List: Phase Two

Take a look at phase two of the steps list I’m in the process of writing:

Phase 2

Beyond this, I don’t have a lot of details from experience because I haven’t made it that far yet. I plan to make a skeleton steps list and fill in the details as I build.

Let me know in the comments if you have anything to add!

WHC: Week 21

IT’S DONE!

Just kidding, I still need to stain, sand, and seal it. But I took my end table home tonight!

I went into the club today and one of the instructors was finally there. He helped me do the math to get my drawer front to line up.

It took me an hour and a half to:

– do the measurements to line up my drawer front

– counter-sink six holes into the back of the front of my drawer

– try to put my drawer knob on

– find out that the screw was too long, even though my drawer front isn’t as thin as my door

– grind the screw down (I used the grinder all by myself!)

– attach the knob

– drill a very shallow hole in my drawer for the head of the screw for the knob to fit into (I used the drill press!)

Then I attached my drawer front. It was noticeably crooked. I adjusted it. Still crooked. 3rd try: “Is that crooked the other way now?” Nope, it was perfect. Going by eye can be deceiving.

Then I took my drawer out and marked my top to have a 3/4″ overhang on three sides. With the end table upside down, I screwed the top on. Finally, the instructor helped me put the back on using brads and a brad nailer (that was a bit scary).

It weighs 22 pounds and it took 6 months, approximately 55 hours (so far), and 23 trips to the club:

TA-DA!

La-dee-da-da 🙂

WHC: Week 20

After sleeping in a little, I went to wood hobby club today. I keep hoping each time I go that I’ll finally get to take it home, but nope. It’s still not finished after 4 hours at the club. The time goes by quickly though.

Today I attached the drawer slides to the inside of the end table. The drawer did end up tight at the back, but that means it won’t slide out while I’m carrying it, and it also means you can’t slam it, so it worked out.

I also attached the pieces that I’ll screw down my top with. I did one piece, then realized there wasn’t enough room even for the teeny tiny screwdriver to screw up into the piece. I took it off, screwed the screws almost all the way into my pre-drilled, counter-sunk holes, then screwed it into place on the end table and did the same with the other side.

The two pieces along the inside of the end table are screwed into the project from the side, then there are three screws on each side ready to be screwed into the top.

One of the club guys who has helped me before gave me enough 1/4″ plywood for the back of my end table, so I cut that to size, but didn’t attach it.

I did, however, attach my door! The opening for my door is actually a little wider at the top, which means when you line up the hinges, the door ends up noticeably crooked. To fix that, with help, I added a couple of thin pieces of wood (shims) between the top hinge and my project, which straightened my door perfectly.

The shims are pretty much invisible after I chiseled off the excess around the hinge.

Before I put on my door though, I added the knob for it. I had to pre-drill a hole because the screw that came with the knob is thick and has no point. Then when I tried to put the knob on, I realized that because my door ended up so thin, the screw was too long. The guys at the club used a grinder to make the screw shorter.

One for my door, one for my drawer.

My door has a knob! And hinges! And it’s straight!

Now I just have to attach my drawer front and add its knob (that I already drilled a hole for), screw down the top, and tack on the back! The wood hobby club was closed this past Tuesday, which I why I went in today, but hopefully it will be open this Tuesday. With a few more hours at the club, I’ll be able to take my project home, just in time for my 19th birthday!

Today’s progress.