Instagram Q & A

Hi Friends, thank you so much for taking time to send questions our way! Here's a few questions we got the other night, if you have more questions feel free to ask us anytime. We love sharing our home, and can't wait to have people over again when this is all over.

How did you downsize?

It took multiple rounds of serious pairing down to get a place where we felt we were at a good starting point for move in day. Then a few more rounds of pairing down after we moved in in as well. We broke it down by identifying the absolute essentials which went in the house first, then we added in our favorite things after that. I (Maddy) still have a bit more to get rid of, but it’s getting easier with time to know what I need and what I don’t.

Where do you put all your stuff like hobbies?

We are currently parked at Alec’s parent’s property where we have access to a shed (the light blue shed in the photo below), which they are so generous to share their beautiful property with us. The shed is right next to the house which makes storing our outdoor gear and Alec’s work tools very easy to access! We have a lot of outdoor hobbies that require a lot of gear such as climbing, skiing/snowboarding, snow shoeing, and camping. Having these things in the house would easily make the space cluttered. We’re very thankful to have the shed here, but we know this is something we’ll need to address when we relocate someday.

We’ve talked about renting a storage unit when moving time comes but that’s not financially ideal since the goal of the house is so lessen expenses. The other day we came across a photo of another tiny house that added a small locked skis/bike closet we could build onto the outside the house which seems like the best solution for gear whenever we do relocate.

What company did you decide to go through to purchase the tiny home and why did you choose them?

We had been looking around online at different builders, and now they are a lot of companies out there building tiny homes which is awesome! So many options of builders also made it kind of hard on us as we didn’t know exactly what we wanted or needed yet. We stayed in a few tiny house rentals to figure out what we liked and didn’t like in those homes, and gave us some real-life experience. I always recommend people to go stay in some rentals as a starting point.

After staying in a few tiny houses, we went to a tiny home show that included about 10 builders where we toured quite a few tiny houses for ideas. While at that show we met Lou and Nick from Tiny Mountain Houses who showed us their Mt Bachelor floor model. That Mt Bachelor model house ticked all of our boxes of wants and needs. What really stood out to us was the huge windows on this model, natural light which really make the space feel bigger. We continued searching online but kept coming back to the Mt Bachelor because the windows and floor plan seemed like everything we wanted for functionality and style. We knew they were the builder for us because of that house model tour, and they were quick and helpful to make the house everything we needed and wanted within our budget.

Did we design or customize our floor plan or choose from options/customize?

We worked with the builder, Tiny Mountain Houses to customize our tiny home based off an existing model the Mt Bachelor. Once we picked this floor plan, we were able to make changes to fit our specific needs that we wanted i.e. stairs, big windows, and the maximum storage we could fit.

How many people can you fit in your loft?

Our sleeping loft is quite spacious, we’ve got a queen bed and Lolo’s bed. The lounge loft is a bit smaller, but we’ve had a 4-person game night comfortably up there! I think 4 is the max to be in the lounge loft though otherwise it’d be a bit too cozy. The loft with our bed is probably the biggest space we have in the house!

Tour please?

We will be filming a tour video once the stay at home orders are lifted in our state so we can both be in the video. We honestly can’t do it without being next to each other because we are THE most awkward humans in front of a camera you’ll ever see! Plus, we want our girl Connie (shout out to Tales Films) to work her video magic, which would be much better than anything we’d create. Maybe we’ll make a super awkward walk through, but we haven’t reached that point of quarantine yet…ask us again in two weeks maybe we’ll get bored enough. For now we have the builders tour which is awesome, and they going great detail! But we also can't wait to show everyone how we've set up our home soon!

Mt.Bachelor (Staircase and custom snack bar)

Dishwasher or nah?

HECK YEAH! We have a small dishwasher, which was one of our must haves in our house. It pretty much has the capacity of two meals worth of dishes, so it is run once to sometimes twice times a day. We both have lived in a house without a dishwasher for a few years, and it SUCKS! We will forever have a dishwasher unless we decide to live primitively someday. We have all the essential appliances such as a big sink, dishwasher, microwave and oven. We’re also set up for a washer dyer, but we currently use our parents washer/dryer on the property. If we move, we would definitely install a washer, but we're saving that expense for another time when we do need it.

How easy is it to haul?

The trailer is pretty straightforward to haul however it was a tight squeeze to get the house down the driveway and into place on our pad we built. When it was delivered it took two and a half hours to get the house close to where we wanted it, we will probably hire someone to move it for us again because we’ve got a difficult driveway here. Our house is capable of moving (like a park model RV), but it isn’t suggested to move on a weekly basis like a regular travel RV is.

What are some must haves when looking to get a tiny house?

One of the things that was a must have for us to move into a tiny home was to have lots of storage. Really as much storage as possible! We also wanted to have a kitchen that would allow us to cook meals together without being too cramped, having the oven and sink facing opposite sides allows us to both help cook at the same time without being too much in each other’s way. Sometimes when we are cooking or cleaning, we have to ask each other to move to get to a certain cabinet, but in small spaces there is always some sort of shifting that must happen. The other thing I would suggest is to make sure your flex space, for living room space can fit your lifestyle well. In our living room we can have 5 people before it's too cramped, and that's perfect for us because we like smaller groups anyway. If you intend to host more than that for dinner parties or game nights it might be worth it to look into a bigger trailer. Also outdoor space to be able to extend your living space is a game changer (if possible where you are parked). When looking for places to park I highly recommend finding space for even a chair or two outside of the house. Since quarantine began we have added a small deck, a fire pit and some cute cozy lights to make a comfortable outdoor space (again if you have the space and ability for patio space). Having the outdoor area for us has been such a nice way to get out of the house and unwind, especially near a cracking campfire! We owe all the thanks, and gratitude to our parents for having the best property to live on.

Insight as to whether to build one or just buy one?

If you have the skills and knowledge to build a tiny home this would be the most cost-efficient build- no question about that. However, if this is the road that you want to go down you must be realistic with how long its going to take and plan accordingly. You wouldn’t want to be trying to seal in the house in the dead of winter in the PNW, which would add more time to your build while you wait for the house to dry out (which was the main issue we face living in rainy Washington, and ultimately led us to looking at builders instead of the DIY route). Time factor was the main reason we searched for a builders because we wanted our own space as soon as possible being newly married, and trying to escape crazy rent. A benefit of having the tiny home built was you get a second set of eyes and minds to bounce ideas off of when planning the house. With our builder we fine-tuned the design of the house together, and the builders would make small recommendations. One example was the darker stain on the stair risers instead of painting them white because they would be constantly getting scuffed by our feet and shoes. We found our builder to be so helpful, and they really listened to our desires and made sure we got exactly what we wanted.

If you could build your tiny home differently to suit your needs, what would you change?

If we could change one thing it would be a less steep staircase so our pupper could go up and down safely without our help. Without layout of the house the only way to do so would’ve been to get a longer trailer which financially wasn’t in the cards with all the other upgrades we wanted and felt most were essential (such as the storage upgrades).

The other thing we would do is heated floors, what a luxury that would be!!! The floors get SO COLD in the trailer in the winter, so much so that we went and bought slipper the first week of having the house. We recently learned about RV skirts which should help us next winter to keep drafts out from under the trailer.

What’s the bathroom/plumbing situation?

Listen up here, we’re about to get real personal…For the bathroom situation we felt a 300 gallon blackwater tank was the best option for us right now. We went back and forth with the idea of the composting toilet but settled with the tank. If we move we would probably swap our toilet out for composting but for now the tank works. We have a honey bucket service come clean the tank when we need it, which is one of our monthly expenses. That being said we try to save as much water and room in the tank as possible, “If it’s yellow let it mellow, brown flush it down” is our mantra. Unless we have guests over then everyone please flush ha! The bathroom can be tight if we’re both trying to brush our teeth at the same time, but we have a big shower so that pays off!

Can you have people over for dinner or games? If not, how do you feel about that?

We can absolutely host guests comfortably just in small numbers. Before COVID we had friends over often on weekends. We’ve had a game night where 4 of us hung out in our smaller second loft, and also have had 3 guests over to hang (5 of us total in the house). Our living room got really tight when there was 5 of us, but we have a good-sized couch that fits 3 to 4 people and brought our bar chairs into the living room to make it work comfortably. Our couch also turns into bed, so we can have people stay overnight with us too! We may not have a traditional dining room or living room to spread out, but we don’t really need that at this time of our life. We all sit cozy on the couch or at our bar top and make the space and share meals and laughter together that way.

Thank you again for taking the time to read, we are sending love to you and your families-stay healthy!!