[More interior photos of our recent progress at bottom of the post]

Today we transition from tiny house builders to tiny house dwellers. Today our lease for our 665 square foot apartment expires at midnight and we officially move into our 204 square foot tiny house on wheels and the process does not look like how we envisioned it when we started this journey in November of 2014. But then again, our past has not been without unique transitions, and they have never been ‘easy’ because of our love of the spaces we have lived in and the chaotic timelines and travel goals that often accompany these transitional periods.

In 2008, Samantha and I completed our undergraduate degrees from our respective universities and made a big leap to start living together in Buffalo, NY.  We submitted our security deposit and began renting (more like reserving) the apartment on July 1^st while we simultaneously drove through Iowa on our way to a lifelong dream trip around the United States in our tiny Honda Civic. For 29 days we slept in the car and in a tent in parking lots and camp grounds seeing incredible things that we only knew about through pictures growing up while covering 10,000 miles, 25 states, and 13 national parks. We returned back to Buffalo, seasoned small space counterparts and confident in our compatibility.

In fall of 2012, we combined the planning and execution of our wedding, the resignation of our jobs, physical interviews for new employment on the other side of the country and preparation for a 6 week trip Patagonia with mental preparation to leave everything that we knew and loved in Buffalo.  We rushed to move all of our belongings into my parent’s basement 30 minutes away and erase any trace of our 4 year occupation of an apartment that we loved while trying to not forget any crucial items before getting on a flight the following morning.

For 6 weeks of winter 2012 (Summer in the southern Hemisphere) we lived out of backpacks, covering much of the distance on foot and also borrowing transport from cars, buses, and container ships as we covered over 16,000 miles on our way from San Carlos DE Bariloche, Argentina to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the Americas. We elevated our ability to cope with and embrace the unknown, as we tried to find a place to lay our head each night and our upcoming move to the west coast with no place to live lay in the back of our minds.

Our homecoming to Buffalo was short lived and our time was mostly spent saying a few more goodbyes and loading up the 16’ box truck with our things from my parent’s basement before leaving at dawn the next morning on the three day cross country trip. I drove; Samantha scoured craigslist for places to live. Options seemed slim until I heard excitement in her voice somewhere around Chicago, Illinois.  The next day I drove as Samantha made phone calls and got us on the waiting list for the apartment which had just been promised to another, pending approval. At this point I felt pretty good about my foresight to place our mattress on TOP of everything in the back of the box truck and it seemed like that decision might pay off if we had to spend a couple days apartment searching in our new city of Yakima, WA.  As we approached Spokane Washington, we learned that the previous renters fell through, our application was approved and the apartment was ours if we were interested. We committed site-unseen and signed the 1 year lease upon our arrival.

We really grew to love this little apartment, its great location and the little city it resides in. Similar to our past experiences, it is a bitter sweet experience to remove the character we have added to a space that we have lived in for so long. To move out, cover up and paint over the touches that made a house, OUR home. By the end of today this space will show no memory of us.

But with the end of our tenure in this rental space comes the beginning of our story in our PERFECT space. A space that we are proud of, that we own outright, that we co-designed and co-built with our bare hands. A space that has a memory in every detail and that will support and encourage the things we love to do. Our new home still shows many traces of construction debris and missing pieces, trim, storage doors, etc. SHED still resides inside the large barn we have built it in and will remain there for another week or so while we simultaneously live in it and finish working on it and take care of some logistics pertaining to our next location to live. We will have electricity, heat, propane, but we will not have water. I guess we are camping in luxury for the time being? 🙂

In the last 14 months we have DESIGNED AND BUILT our own home while making time to fulfill our urge to wander[LOVE] & Explore. It has been amazing, unique and invigorating experience, and something tells me that this is just beginning.

Robert & Samantha- [Day 1, Official tiny house dwellers.]

SHEDsistence

Ceiling trim! We are leaving a 1/4″ reveal between the top of the trim and the ceiling to create a shadow line in an attempt to camoflage any ceiling plane inconsistences

Ceiling trim! We are leaving a 1/4″ reveal between the top of the trim and the ceiling to create a shadow line in an attempt to camoflage any ceiling plane inconsistences

Our IKEA kitchen drawers & doors were built with a little help from our friends!

Our IKEA kitchen drawers & doors were built with a little help from our friends!

Our IKEA kitchen drawers & doors were built with a little help from our friends!

Our IKEA kitchen drawers & doors were built with a little help from our friends!

Sink cabinet doors (before spacing & leveling)

Island drawer storage

Island drawer handle

Under stair storage progress

The stairs are getting their finish coat on.

….and we have started building out the under stair storage

….and we have started building out the under stair storage

….and we have started building out the under stair storage

Installing the steel plate stair toe’s to protect the leading edge of our mitered plywood.

Installing the steel plate stair toe’s to protect the leading edge of our mitered plywood.

Installing the steel plate stair toe’s to protect the leading edge of our mitered plywood.

Installing the steel plate stair toe’s to protect the leading edge of our mitered plywood.

Installing the steel plate stair toe’s to protect the leading edge of our mitered plywood.

Samantha conducted the inaugural stair climb and was stoked in the head height and ease of use!

Samantha conducted the inaugural stair climb and was stoked in the head height and ease of use.

The under stair storage is coming along. the larger cavities will be our clothes storage, the small narrow cavities will be some kitchen storage (wine? glasses? etc…) and the large cavity behind the sheet of plywood faces the kitchen and will be infilled with shelving for kitchen storage.

Stair storage shelves are being built (and used already!)

The under stair storage is coming along. The larger cavities on the left will be our clothes storage, the small narrow cavities will be some kitchen storage (wine? glasses? etc…) and the large cavity to the right faces the kitchen and will be infilled with shelving for kitchen storage.

Under stair kitchen storage with the addition of functional art.

The day had come to stop procrastinating and cut the giant 40 square inch hole through our kitchen wall so we could install our range exhaust hood…

The day had come to stop procrastinating and cut the giant 40 square inch hole through our kitchen wall so we could install our range exhaust hood…

The day had come to stop procrastinating and cut the giant 40 square inch hole through our kitchen wall so we could install our range exhaust hood…

The day had come to stop procrastinating and cut the giant 40 square inch hole through our kitchen wall so we could install our range exhaust hood…

Two speed (up to)180 CFM range hood exhaust fan

Turns out our double loft beam detail is a nifty place to hide tape lighting. This hidden illumination sheds light onto our kitchen sink and the two flanking 12″ counter spaces.

Turns out our double loft beam detail is a nifty place to hide tape lighting. This hidden illumination sheds light onto our kitchen sink and the two flanking 12″ counter spaces.

Turns out our double loft beam detail is a nifty place to hide tape lighting. This hidden illumination sheds light onto our kitchen sink and the two flanking 12″ counter spaces.

Kitchen Love.

During installation we dropped the range hood down closer to the stove so we do not have to be staring at the underside and to ensure proper exhaust. In return we gained a little storage above! In less than two weeks, THIS adorable little 20″ wide set up will be pumping out delicious and creative meals for the foreseeable future.

N beam lighting and range hood are installed!

The final wall is framed!

The access between the living space and the gear room has officially been severed and our composting toilet has been dry fit in place.

Painting the bathroom toilet alcove

Painting the bathroom toilet alcove

Robert built these nesting modular boxes at our university in 2012 in preparation for our move to the West coast. It feels good to be able to re purpose them as our bathroom shelving (after a fresh finish coat)

We reused some nesting modular boxes that robert built a few years back as our bathroom shelving!

We reused some nesting modular boxes that robert built a few years back as our bathroom shelving!

We reused some nesting modular boxes that robert built a few years back as our bathroom shelving!

Painting the shower ceiling

We reused some nesting modular boxes that robert built a few years back as our bathroom shelving!

Samantha is prepping the last remaining pieces of our ship lap walnut for a unique application on the bathroom ceiling!

The angle iron “track” is in place and ready to be infilled with walnut.

Installing the last of the walnut on the bathroom ceiling

Installing the last of the walnut on the bathroom ceiling

The walnut continues the bathroom sink alcove material pallet onto the ceiling.

The walnut continues the bathroom sink alcove material pallet onto the ceiling.

The walnut continues the bathroom sink alcove material pallet onto the ceiling.

The walnut continues the bathroom sink alcove material pallet onto the ceiling.

The walnut continues the bathroom sink alcove material pallet onto the ceiling.

The walnut continues the bathroom sink alcove material pallet onto the ceiling.

The walnut continues the bathroom sink alcove material pallet onto the ceiling.

This is our peninsula counter and it is about to be wrapped in 1″ birch plywood.

This is our peninsula counter and it is about to be wrapped in 1″ birch plywood.

This is our peninsula counter and it is about to be wrapped in 1″ birch plywood.

Peninsula counter top

Peninsula counter top

Peninsula counter top

Our counter that houses our sink also wraps upward to meet the ceiling!

Sink installation.

1″ birch plywood wrapped peninsula counter + storage

1″ birch plywood wrapped peninsula counter + storage

1″ birch plywood wrapped peninsula counter + storage

1″ birch plywood wrapped peninsula counter + storage

Kitchen Love.

Magnetic knife holder above the peninsula counter.

Magnetic knife holder above the peninsula counter.

Kitchen Love.

Kitchen Love.

Kitchen Love.

Kitchen Love.

Two speed (up to)180 CFM range hood exhaust fan

IN beam lighting and range hood are installed!

We removed the protective cardboard and the loft floor has been exposed for the first time since installation months ago!

We removed the protective cardboard and the loft floor has been exposed for the first time since installation months ago!

IKEA’s 7″ thick mattress comes in a nice little package.

The mattress is in place and “puffing up” for the next 72 hours!

The mattress is in place and “puffing up” for the next 72 hours!

6 days until move in!

1 week before the official move in!

6 days untill move in!

Entry master controls. wireless (radio frequency) dimmer control of main light, kitchen light, loft light and exterior light upon entry.

We have very few pieces of art but they are important to us, tell a story from way back when (we won them in a mountain ops mission scavenger hunt!) and express who we are and what we love to do.

custom laser cut mahogany snowboard mounts

custom laser cut mahogany snowboard mounts

We had left over plywood after making the counter tops, and we wanted stools for the peninsula counter and a coffee table for the couch. With a little glue, a couple miter cuts and a few more dominos we are now able to present the one piece of movable furniture in SHED; let’s call this little guy ‘drifter.’ Drifter can be a proper counter seat for two at the peninsula, can be rotated sideways and squeezed in lengthwise between the couch and the counter to be out of the way, another seat against the wall or an arm rest/side table for the couch OR pulled over in front of the couch for a tiny meal for two or laptop work surface for 1 while still leaving enough space to wall around it. We are happy to have drifter floating around our space!

We had left over plywood after making the counter tops, and we wanted stools for the peninsula counter and a coffee table for the couch. With a little glue, a couple miter cuts and a few more dominos we are now able to present the one piece of movable furniture in SHED; let’s call this little guy ‘drifter.’ Drifter can be a proper counter seat for two at the peninsula, can be rotated sideways and squeezed in lengthwise between the couch and the counter to be out of the way, another seat against the wall or an arm rest/side table for the couch OR pulled over in front of the couch for a tiny meal for two or laptop work surface for 1 while still leaving enough space to wall around it. We are happy to have drifter floating around our space!

Shower update

High Sierra 1.5 GPM low flor shower head

Shower Valve

Shower Valve

Finally tackling the shower alcove tile project

Finally tackling the shower alcove tile project

Finally tackling the shower alcove tile project

Finally tackling the shower alcove tile project

Finally tackling the shower alcove tile project

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.

Walnut+aluminum+porcelain=A pretty fancy place to put our shampoo.