Open house and middle of two projects...

I completely enjoyed the open house yesterday!  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics.  Sorry about that.  It was really good to connect with old and new friends and neighbors.  It seems that there are a few things in the house that people like the most.  First thing most people comment on is how much bigger it seems inside than they thought from looking at the outside.  I think there are three major contributors to that thought: 1) the white kitchen, 2) the high ceiling, and 3) the lack of interior walls.  The second thing many people comment on is the blue tile backsplash in the kitchen.  That happens to be one of my favorite things about the house.  It sets a really relaxing, laid back tone, almost beachy feeling.  

The third thing is the stairs to the loft.  The design is my own with influences from every other tiny house I've ever seen.  The stairs on a pulley adds a tree house feeling that reminds people of when they were a kid, so it lends a very playful spirit to the space.

 I truly love sharing my house with people! The happy, excited, inspired energy everyone brings has seeped into the structure and I can't help but smile every time I walk in the door.  Thank you all!!

This week has been a little busy for me.  I've been studying for a test that could land me a work-from-home part-time job.  The three sections of the test need to be done by this coming Wednesday which seems quite do-able, but I had no idea what to expect.  As of this moment I've passed two sections, each one took me 3-4 hours.  All that to say I didn't get everything finished that I wanted to for the open house.  I was hoping to get the table ready and the lights in the kitchen re-done.  Got part-way finished with both. So here is the progress report:

Table...got the middle section designed and part-way built and my measurements are off by about 3/8 of an inch so next will be to take it apart, re-cut, and put back together.

Kitchen light...the LED strip that I had in the kitchen was bright white LED's and I found the light too harsh for my liking even when they were dimmed, so I got some warm white ones that I think I'll like better.  The other part of the kitchen light re-vamp is that I liked the hula hoop shape/idea, but it looked shabby and a bit tacky to me.  SO, I wrapped the hula hoop in rope and I already like it better.  

Need to put the new lights on and see how that looks.  Then my friend Audry suggested I make a little chandelier out of it by using another smaller hula hoop to give it some depth.  I'm liking that idea, so might need to give it a try.

PS.  The charge controller arrived!!!  Waiting on the batteries and inverter now.  Can hardly stand it!

 

Stairs completed

This week I learned something new!  I learned how to braid rope back into itself to make loops.  It actually isn't difficult once you understand the concept and how to begin.  Here is my progress with the stairs.

First, the rope that will be attached to the stairs.

Here is the one with the eye screws attached to the stairs.

The pulley attached to the ceiling...

The rope and pulley with the upper section of stairs in the down position.  There is a carabiner on the stair-end of the rope so that once the stairs are down, the rope can be disconnected so it isn't in the way.

Bottom stairs in place minus the drawer/first stair.

And when I finally learn how to post a video, I'll have a video of my stair setup posted here too.

Stair progress

My stairs are finally taking shape.  Ever since I began thinking about my tiny house a LONG time ago, I haven't wanted a ladder to access the loft.  A couple of reasons are 1) where would the ladder live when not in use, 2) it is a single purpose object, and 3) don't want to descend a ladder in the middle of the night to use the restroom.  I've paid close attention to loft access in the tiny houses I've looked at and there have only been a few that I really liked and felt were a good use of space.  Generally speaking, ladders are only used to access the loft which means they get used twice a day... once to go down and once to go up.  Unless you are like me and drink too much Wild Zinger tea before bedtime, in which case they are used twice a night as well.  

I decided to use my counter as a landing of sorts and a bookshelf with a drawer as my lower steps to get to the landing.  The drawer will have a lid and double as the first stair. Haven't built that yet, but here is the progress so far.  

This is actually the second stair...

Second and third stairs...drawer will go on the right side on the bottom and be the first stair.

Here they come: the upper part of the stairs, landing (counter) to loft...

Before painting...

During painting...

After painting...

Here they are in place.  There will be a pulley system, which is next on the list, that will pull the bottom of the stairs up to be even with the loft for daytime storage.  I'm hoping that next week's update will show the whole stair system ready for use.

Odds and ends

Odds and ends is quite appropriate for this post because nothing I accomplished this week seems related.  Oh well...

Remember last post I said I was going to have a little marshmallow roast? Well, here it is, fire and moon.  And the marshmallows were roasted to perfection.

So here is project #1.  Fixed the stairs so they don't wobble anymore.  I attached them to the house and put a temporary foundation-ish under them.

Next was that big clean-up I mentioned last week.  Amazing the porch is actually visible!

Next, I attached the weather stripping to the doorjamb. Exciting pic, I know.

And last, but not least I put the trim up on the sleeping loft - a 1x4 with braided rope underneath.  I got the rope idea from a Mexican restaurant in Springdale, UT, just outside of Zion National Park.  Good food too.

Wider view of the trim.

Stairs and a bit o' trim

I've been using a ladder to get into the bungalow until now.  Although sometimes I would just step right up onto the porch.  On days where I was in and out a lot both those methods got a little tiring.  Also, I've had more people showing interest in taking a peek inside.  Some of those people just don't do ladders.  So the stairs made the top of the list this week.  

I must admit I like using the stairs much more than I anticipated. If I build another tiny house, the stairs will be at the top of the list sooner.

Bonus pic...my blueberry bushes decided to share a few berries with us (at least me). So I picked a small handful, sat on the porch of TB and ate them one at a time.  Sorry Mom. That's right, I didn't share.

The other thing that got finished this week is a bit of trim. Here is the gable end in the sleeping loft. The picture isn't very good...sorry. In the pic it looks like there is a big gap between the trim and the wall or ceiling, but there really isn't. 

Perspective picture of the century...I'm standing on the floor under the ceiling fan (blades at the top of the pic), taking the picture toward the sleeping loft. Don't know if anyone but me can see it, but there is new trim down the peak of the ceiling...looks finished in real life. :)  

The trim on the porch side loft. Same issue with gaps in the picture that aren't really there. Shadows do funny things. 

Not feeling like I got very much accomplished this week and my biggest excuse is that it is too hot outside. Such a lame excuse because really it is only too hot for a few hours a day. The rest of the time I'm just being a wimp.  So, feeling like I need to step it up this week. Oh, and my cousin, Tami and her husband Tim are coming to visit this week and I'm SO excited to see them! Maybe I'll start posting a rogue's gallery of people who pass through the Bungalow...probably should have started that before.