Last week, I equipped myself with masks, Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer as I set off for Illinois to visit our tiny house under construction. While the drive was long, seeing the house and finally meeting Jason And Cheli Lundmark, owners of Hawk Tiny Homes, was worth it! At this stage in the build the inside has been framed out, windows are in and the house has been wrapped. Next up will be siding and roof plus all the fun stuff going inside!

​Jason and Cheli walked me through every inch of the house and helped me brainstorm innovative solutions to some of the obstacles two adults, one “threenager” and two big dogs might run into in a tiny home. For example, I thought stairs would be the best solution up to Evie’s loft, but after they were framed out it was clear that they were not going to work. Now we have a hybrid slanted ladder-staircase for her that allows maximum storage underneath while still being safe for little legs. This is just ONE instance of how these people have helped partner with us in the design process and create innovative solutions.

​Building this tiny house has caused me to truly pay attention to how we live. For instance, do we end up in one room more than another? How do we store items in the bathroom? Which of the dogs prefers to have their own space? Which dog has no idea what personal space is? All of the answers to these types of questions help you shape the functionality in the tiny house and when you have 425 square feet, EVERY inch matters.
 
In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be closing on our big house and moving into an “in-between” house. Wish us luck and, if you really want to be nice, you can bring me some merlot- I will need it!

Hey all you cool cats and kittens,
 
We’ve taken some big strides in going tiny and I wanted to keep you updated. Since I last wrote, our big house is UNDER CONTRACT (woot woot), framing is underway at the tiny house and we are proactively downsizing.
 
As promised, here are some pictures to show just how much we are getting rid of in this process (and this isn’t even close to all of it)!

​As Jordan and I were sorting through pieces, I was amazed at how many times one of us said “When did we get this?” or “I forgot I had this!” I was also surprised at how great it felt to put something in the purge pile. It’s not all been easy though.
 
Our clothes have been a source of stress, as we know we’ll be going from 12 feet of hanging space to 5 feet. As two professionals, we each have our work clothes (and I might have a blazer addiction that I refuse to part with) as well as our everyday clothes. I was extremely excited to have found a little gadget (product link HERE) that helped relieve some of the stress by increasing storage with minimal space! It has freed up so much space while allowing me to keep much more than I would have been able to originally. I’ve also downsized from a large 9 cube dresser to a small 32-inch cubby dresser, PROGRESS!

Another wake-up call for us was taping out the size of our new sleeping loft. The blue on the walls in the pic below are how tall the ceiling is going to be and the inner blue rectangle represents our queen-sized bed. Mentally, we knew the loft would be this size but taping it out made it REAL. I would recommend anyone considering going tiny to tape out their living and sleeping areas when planning. I had thought I’d get a lot more into the loft space but no dice. At the end of the day that’s kind of the point.  :-) 

Hi all! I wanted to provide a quick update and pictures on our tiny house build. We are working with a fantastic building company, Hawk Tiny Homes to build our dream tiny house. I had the pleasure of getting to see one of their builds when I went to visit our future tiny community and they do great work. Plus, they’ve been extremely patient with me as I try to shove as much efficiency and storage into a tiny space as possible. I did forewarn them…
 
Our tiny house will be on an 8 X 32 foot trailer (pic below to shock you into reality). It will have two sleeping lofts and a main floor bedroom. Every inch in a tiny house matters so Hawk Tiny Homes has been getting creative with us to maximize the space. This includes custom built stairs that will also house storage, toe-kick drawers (that unused space at the bottom of your kitchen cabinets), a fold down table, a fold down prep space and a built in dog crate under a loft ladder. We’re pretty much getting the Swiss Army knives of Tiny Homes and I’m so friggin’ excited to see it come to life!
 
At this point, everything is on track—the trailer has been finished and the first of the building supplies arrived today. Our house (the big one) just went under contract to sell and the tiny house is slated to finish end of July. I know this is unconventional and we’ve gotten plenty of looks when we tell people what we’re doing but I THANK EACH OF YOU for your support as we walk out our own unique adventure.