Update 3.24.13

Macy M6 comments6491 views

I am actually still alive and I finally had a weekend to work!  It felt good!  I just have a few more things on my to-do list until my house is done, that is:

  • Millwork
  • Tile (shower and floor)
  • Siding (a lot of it is ready to go, just waiting for nice, warm weather to put it up)

This weekend I checked most of one of those things off the list, the millwork.  I finished designing (Friday, while at Lowe’s to buy the material) and built out the main units of all the millwork pieces including the bathroom sink cabinet, the kitchen and the dresser/living storage.  I still have the drawers to build, which will take a bit of time as well as the cabinet doors and shelves to put in but the meat of the cabinets is done.  I have to cut openings around some of the plumbing and make sure I can get them all placed (I do have one tricky spot to work through, you can see below in the pictures.  The goal was to get this done though so I can move to the next part which is tiling.  Hopefully through the week I can get these cabinets all placed so that I can tile next weekend possibly.

Since I haven’t been able to update for a while I want to mention that Christopher and Merete’s movie debut was amazing, I was so lucky to be able to make it down to Austin for that.  It was great to see them again as well as amazing to see their movie debut!  It had wonderful attendance and a great deal of interested people, they were also able to get an actual tiny house down there for an open house, it was pretty cool to get to walk trough another persons tiny house!

Also, there was an article that mentioned me in an Oregon paper last week (you can see it here), I just wanted to briefly clear up some of those pieces mentioned, so the wrong idea isn’t conveyed.  I am grateful for all of you who found my site through this article but I feel like I need to clarify because most of it just isn’t true.  First, this project is not born out of debt or stress of any kind, I am one of the only debt free people that I know of at the moment.   Second, I am not yet a registered architect, I am trained (masters degree) in architecture but I have 6 more tests to take before I get to call myself an architect.  Third, I am not and have not been jobless, if anything I am over employed hence the slow forward motion with this project.  I did however just step down from a position with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in order to have more time to complete this project of mine.  Fourth, while I was divorced, it’s been something like 6-7 years and that has absolutely zero bearing on this project.  I did however have a foreclosure which spurred this project of mine in a way…  I don’t want to be nit-picky but I just want to clarify, for those who found me via that article, this is not a tragic story nor born out of tragedy.   I hope it can be inspiring to people but I hope it is for the right reasons.  The media seems to want to sensationalize stories and mine seems to be getting out of hand… This project is about educating myself, it’s about minimizing my impact on the planet, its about self-sufficiency and ‘doing’.   All that being said, I am so happy to hear from those of you who have found me via stories like that one, thank you for making contact!

And with that, here are some pictures of my progress this weekend:

 

6 Comments

  1. I don’t know you Macy, but as a casual reader of your blog I have to say… that headline and single paragraph don’t sound at all like you! Someone needed to read a little more – or talk to you – before spinning your story off in such an inaccurate direction.

    Back to your house! I love your bathroom sink – the way it’s positioned next to your shower sidewall is perfect. It’s sleek and modern and just right for your house!

  2. The news…it has evolved into opinions and variety hour, so hard to take seriously…news should be ‘just the facts’ everything else is opinion and should be labeled as such. All other media formats have gone beyond moral with sensationalizing to attract interest, i hold them all responsible for the alarmist nation we have become.
    I watch Tiny House builders and their progress mining ideas and pictures to incorporate in my plans for a tiny home…i now have enough ideas that it would require me to build ten, but i can’t do that…just one will strain my resources!
    I think you’re doing great! The design is good, the looks are great, the house coming along very nicely. The broken bones are a part of the home’s story now, it adds character to you both!
    From reading some of your posts it would seem you plan to outgrow your home at some stage in life and have a family, i say this isn’t quite so. Build a second unit and ‘dock’ the two so they become one much larger home. My plans include two units joined by a covered deck to create an outdoor room between them, using negative space to add livable square footage.
    Having a family, but not a mortgage would make life even sweeter…
    Best wishes!

    1. Hahaha! I hear you totally, once you get started the ideas just keep coming and in such a small area you have to just pick one way or another sometimes! Thank you so much for your kind words, you have a very good point for expanding. I have intentionally designed my house now to be able to enclose the porch and be able to have a completely separate 5’x8′ room off the kitchen that could make a good baby room until they start growing up and requiring more area. I think adding another ‘pod’ on makes a lot of sense! Thanks so much for the comment!

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