tiny house tips and tricks
It occurs to me that living the last quarter century in a house that has less than 500 square feet, and only 325 as listed by real estate means I'm living in a tiny house. During these years I've developed a number of ways to fit my life into this tiny space and cope with the cluttering and keep it liveable.
The first thing I ever did was rip a hole in the wall that divided the main floor. There was the kitchen, and there was the living room. I put shelving in the upper half of the main wall, leaving the studs intact and putting wooden shelves into them. This kept the wall strong while opening it up to light and air. I used them to store pickle jars of dry goods, spices, teas, and some knick knacks.
Over the years shelving and paintings have battled over territory and there is at least one set of shelves using a painting hung from ceiling hooks as a cupboard door. I've learned that items on open shelves really must be as uniform as possible, and made of as large shapes as possible. Like file boxes rather than dvds and books and records, for instance. Or pickle jars rather than manufacturer packaging.
The basement technically had two bedrooms. Both were musty and dark and a bit on the dank side. I opened the wall in the smaller one so it was an extension off the hall, then installed a pipe across the short end to hang my clothes. I've stuffed it with dressers and have a walk-in closet. the other bedroom was needed for my tools and workshop space, so I slept in the living room. At first I had a lovely solution, a bed in a box! The box was around the size you'd expect to use to ship a grand piano, and it had book shelves along the long side. A trap door to the inside allowed access to the bed and the ceiling was just the right height for sitting with your legs crossed. Above I put a low round corner section of a sofa which lost it's legs. Eventually I tore a hole in the ceiling above the stairs and created a clean insulated space in the attic with a window in place of the original exterior access panel. There's a ladder we put up from the stairs to the loft and that's where I sleep now. I used the materials from the box to build the low walls up there, and most of them are built using only insulation, vapour barrier, and carpet. The saggy carpet ceiling is very close but it seems like an overly large and low tent.
Another solution, when we discovered that our sleep behaviours were incompatible, was to build a cabinet bed. Now this thing is genius, it really is. There's a box about the size of a side board, it's just under the tv. The front is covered with a curtain of apholstery fabric and under that is a folded up futon! The frame is made of 1x2 on 2x4 supports and it's hinged so the first 18" is fixed on the "floor" of the box, then hinges up and a flap at the top hangs back down. So you pull the flap out and let the upper hinge carefully down, then pull out and unfold the futon stuffed behind. Bam, bed.
another solution is we don't use a couch, we use a loveseat. A reclining one, so it's nice and comfy. What's more, we put it on wheels! We just removed the small legs it came with and made new bolt holes for strong casters from the hardware store. I can't imagine living without wheels on it, it's so handy. We put it in front of the fish tank, under which is a trunk for more storage, and use the tv, or spin it around to face the tank and just enjoy the fish. We move it back and forth to access the trunk storage or rearrange the living room at need. A file cabinet on wheels and a vinyl floor complete the effect, allowing me to use the cabinet as an end table and move everything around freely. The area rugs get in my way a bit but that's okay.
We just replaced our water heater with an electric tankless. We couldn't use gas because it requires a fresh air intake vent and our old chimney just can't fit that system. What's more, walls are so short on this house that we couldn't find a wall that allows a gas vent by code. Everything has an opening or walk or deck on it!
So we went with electric, and we're going to start now on investing in solar power equipment. When the day comes to build a proper tiny house on wheels we'll be able to use a lot of the things we have now to cut our costs.
There's probably other solutions I take for granted, like the pantry under the stairs, or stowing the little front load washer under the condo-sized central vac. Hey, central vac is a solution. It's cheaper than an equal quality canister system and you don't have to haul it out of it's storage, just it's hose and heads! In a tiny house you need only minimal installation and possibly no pipes or jacks. We put in one jack on the main floor and between that and the machine in the bathroom I can get not only my whole house, loft included, but even out front to my smart car through an open window! Of course I have to drive up on the lawn a bit closer...
Exterior space is vital. If you don't go out all the time you need to get out all the time! People who spend their time at restaurants, friends, work, and entertainment venues or sports don't need a yard, but for those of us who get home-stuck, it matters! We've got a luxuriously sized lot, 1.5 lots wide and quite long with an alley. So there's an old garage, my fancy costco gazebo, and a couple of garden sheds. Plus my smart car gets her own vinyl shelter under the spruces out front. There's even a small deck on the front of the house with a bistro set for coffee. In winter only the enclosed spaces are used but well into cold the gazebo, with curtains drawn and a propane patio heater, continues to offer respite. At the moment I've got an inflatable hot tub but as this can't compete with our winters I'll deflate it and use the space to stow my winter bike and extra snow shovels. Snow can get pretty thick out here, and it doesn't melt much over winter.
So that's how two people and a menagerie of pets have lived in a tiny space.
Oh, and we keep downsizing our gadgets :-)
The first thing I ever did was rip a hole in the wall that divided the main floor. There was the kitchen, and there was the living room. I put shelving in the upper half of the main wall, leaving the studs intact and putting wooden shelves into them. This kept the wall strong while opening it up to light and air. I used them to store pickle jars of dry goods, spices, teas, and some knick knacks.
Over the years shelving and paintings have battled over territory and there is at least one set of shelves using a painting hung from ceiling hooks as a cupboard door. I've learned that items on open shelves really must be as uniform as possible, and made of as large shapes as possible. Like file boxes rather than dvds and books and records, for instance. Or pickle jars rather than manufacturer packaging.
The basement technically had two bedrooms. Both were musty and dark and a bit on the dank side. I opened the wall in the smaller one so it was an extension off the hall, then installed a pipe across the short end to hang my clothes. I've stuffed it with dressers and have a walk-in closet. the other bedroom was needed for my tools and workshop space, so I slept in the living room. At first I had a lovely solution, a bed in a box! The box was around the size you'd expect to use to ship a grand piano, and it had book shelves along the long side. A trap door to the inside allowed access to the bed and the ceiling was just the right height for sitting with your legs crossed. Above I put a low round corner section of a sofa which lost it's legs. Eventually I tore a hole in the ceiling above the stairs and created a clean insulated space in the attic with a window in place of the original exterior access panel. There's a ladder we put up from the stairs to the loft and that's where I sleep now. I used the materials from the box to build the low walls up there, and most of them are built using only insulation, vapour barrier, and carpet. The saggy carpet ceiling is very close but it seems like an overly large and low tent.
Another solution, when we discovered that our sleep behaviours were incompatible, was to build a cabinet bed. Now this thing is genius, it really is. There's a box about the size of a side board, it's just under the tv. The front is covered with a curtain of apholstery fabric and under that is a folded up futon! The frame is made of 1x2 on 2x4 supports and it's hinged so the first 18" is fixed on the "floor" of the box, then hinges up and a flap at the top hangs back down. So you pull the flap out and let the upper hinge carefully down, then pull out and unfold the futon stuffed behind. Bam, bed.
another solution is we don't use a couch, we use a loveseat. A reclining one, so it's nice and comfy. What's more, we put it on wheels! We just removed the small legs it came with and made new bolt holes for strong casters from the hardware store. I can't imagine living without wheels on it, it's so handy. We put it in front of the fish tank, under which is a trunk for more storage, and use the tv, or spin it around to face the tank and just enjoy the fish. We move it back and forth to access the trunk storage or rearrange the living room at need. A file cabinet on wheels and a vinyl floor complete the effect, allowing me to use the cabinet as an end table and move everything around freely. The area rugs get in my way a bit but that's okay.
We just replaced our water heater with an electric tankless. We couldn't use gas because it requires a fresh air intake vent and our old chimney just can't fit that system. What's more, walls are so short on this house that we couldn't find a wall that allows a gas vent by code. Everything has an opening or walk or deck on it!
So we went with electric, and we're going to start now on investing in solar power equipment. When the day comes to build a proper tiny house on wheels we'll be able to use a lot of the things we have now to cut our costs.
There's probably other solutions I take for granted, like the pantry under the stairs, or stowing the little front load washer under the condo-sized central vac. Hey, central vac is a solution. It's cheaper than an equal quality canister system and you don't have to haul it out of it's storage, just it's hose and heads! In a tiny house you need only minimal installation and possibly no pipes or jacks. We put in one jack on the main floor and between that and the machine in the bathroom I can get not only my whole house, loft included, but even out front to my smart car through an open window! Of course I have to drive up on the lawn a bit closer...
Exterior space is vital. If you don't go out all the time you need to get out all the time! People who spend their time at restaurants, friends, work, and entertainment venues or sports don't need a yard, but for those of us who get home-stuck, it matters! We've got a luxuriously sized lot, 1.5 lots wide and quite long with an alley. So there's an old garage, my fancy costco gazebo, and a couple of garden sheds. Plus my smart car gets her own vinyl shelter under the spruces out front. There's even a small deck on the front of the house with a bistro set for coffee. In winter only the enclosed spaces are used but well into cold the gazebo, with curtains drawn and a propane patio heater, continues to offer respite. At the moment I've got an inflatable hot tub but as this can't compete with our winters I'll deflate it and use the space to stow my winter bike and extra snow shovels. Snow can get pretty thick out here, and it doesn't melt much over winter.
So that's how two people and a menagerie of pets have lived in a tiny space.
Oh, and we keep downsizing our gadgets :-)