Things aren’t going well for our poor oak tree. Bugs have moved in and seem to be winning the war. Seems like it needs to be cut down … ? The last photo gives an idea of how close Mr. Oak is to the cabin. I guess the good news is I’ll have firewood for…

I could use a mattress pad. And better pillows. These things don’t show up in photographs, though.             

Finally!

A friend and I were recently lamenting time, and how much time even the simplest things can take. Certain tasks these days … so much quicker. Sending a message to a friend, obviously. Buying some Clorox Anywhere online and getting it shipped to me in two days (which reminds me, I need to do that,…

One tiny house advantage is that it doesn’t take much to decorate a room. Add a few details and you’re done. The bathroom ended up with a vintage-marine theme. I hope it’s not too cheesy. Some bathroom details …              

A lot of people* ask me, “What’s it REALLY like living in a tiny house? Is it as delightful as it looks on Pinterest? Can it really be practical?” Imagine this. You drive over to the tiny house on a December night. It’s snowing. It’s dark. You somehow unlock the door via touch. You stumble…

So … the tiny house doesn’t really look all that great from the outside. It looks like what is probably was … a garage. An aluminum-sided, peachish-pinkish, garage.    Needless to say, this isn’t quite as romantic as, say, a cedar-shake … One option would certainly be to rip off all the siding and hope for…

A tiny house in the woods calls for a tiny stove. But oh … which one? The first decision one faces is between wood and natural gas (or propane, I suppose). Wood, of course, much more romantic. Gas, far more practical. At first I was leaning toward this Hampton gas stove. It has low clearances,…

The tiny house is build on a slab … a large piece of concrete poured directly on the ground. If you have any experience with a house on a slab in Michigan, you will quickly realize that the floor is very, very cold all winter. Miserably cold. The house came with two flooring surfaces on…

The bathroom in the tiny house can best be described as “functional.” Its best feature, the swing-in window, was marred by water stains from condensation that gathered during the winter months. Over the first killer winter of 2012/2013, we noticed that the drywall around the window was damp. But where was the water coming from?…