The accidental minimalist
Simply by virtue of limited space and capacity, minimalist living is inherently necessary for the tiny house life, making tiny living and minimalist living synonymous terms as far as I am concerned. I didn't start out planning to be a minimalist, I just needed an affordable place to live. You quickly realize you must think differently when going from living in a 3/2/2 with a full finished basement to 250 square feet total living space. So, that's how I became an accidental minimalist.
Living in a tiny space can be a challenge, even for the most organized of persons. I have always been an organizer. Rethinking space and place is hard-wired in me. Whether at work or home, I am forever rethinking and reevaluating how to do things better, how to rearrange things, make the best use of space, condense a process, reorganize anything and everything that touches my world. I cannot stand clutter. When my surroundings are cluttered, I feel irritable and scattered. I am happiest when things are in their rightful place, clean, and organized. Even someone as organized as this, can find the tiny living life a bit of a challenge.
My tiny living plan was as well thought out as possible, for a rookie tiny house dweller. My husband and I looked at countless ideas in tiny house floor plans. What I mostly discovered was what I did not want. Not one plan jumped out at me, screaming “this is it!” So, we decided that we could design our own, taking into account a few ideas we had found. The rest was our own creative thinking and really evaluating what I wanted and needed. From the very beginning of designing our tiny floor plan, I was intense about creating practical storage space, yet also creating an open and spacious feeling. I wanted it to feel cozy and comfortable but also not cramped and cluttered; a fairly tall order for such a modest space.
I love a good challenge and my husband is always open to my ideas and suggestions. He is no stranger to my requests from photos in a magazine or catalog. That’s what we do. I find a picture and bring it to him asking if he can build this or that. The tiny house was no different. My one major requirement for the tiny house plan was that the bathroom MUST feel like a real bathroom. I did not want it to feel like a cramped RV bathroom with barely enough room to move, where you bump your knees on the walls or vanity. I needed a comfortable space for a dressing area that would accommodate all the normal functions of a bathroom. Off the grid designs were of no interest to me for this particular tiny house…no composting toilet for me. I wanted all the comforts of my normal home.
There was one other absolute must. Climbing a ladder to the sleeping loft was not appealing to me. I had to have stairs. After discussing all the possibilities for the very best use of our space and keeping the open feeling we decided to build the staircase over one fender well and the kitchen base cabinets over the opposite fender well. This created a galley style kitchen with room under the stairs for a toaster oven, microwave, and coffee pot. There is also a nice section for additional storage. I kept it open and use baskets for storage. This allows for changing the area at a later time. The staircase plan also allows the counters to be free of clutter and more useful for work space.
Installing the base cabinets above a fender well meant the cabinets needed to be custom designed. It’s a good thing I happen to be married to a master woodworker who can build anything. Otherwise, my custom ordered farmhouse style beadboard cabinets would have blown my budget. These tiny cabinets are BIG on storage space, built with deep slide out drawers in the base unit and tall upper wall cabinets with adjustable shelves. We decided that the footprint of an oven was a waste of space and not necessary. My toaster oven bakes anything I could ever want. I have baked everything from muffins to meatloaf and it is fantastic. I purchased a portable, single burner, induction cooktop with a set of cookware and I can bring this out on the counter top when I need it. Otherwise, it is neatly tucked inside a drawer. I also have an electric skillet, which I use constantly. With the addition of a crockpot, I consider my tiny kitchen complete. These are the essential items for tiny cooking. In my next tiny living blog, I will share more about some of the products I love using in my tiny life adventure.
