When we bought our house five years ago we didn't set out looking for a "tiny house" or even a small home for that matter. We wanted to find a house we could customize to our liking without needing landlord approval to paint a wall. We wanted a nice fenced yard for our children to enjoy, we wanted to plant a garden, kick a ball around; to sink in some roots. At the same time, we didn't want to take on a mortgage payment that would put pressure on our finances, so we knew there was a certain price range we needed to stay inside. After months of searching, we had toured more "fixer-uppers" than I could count, and had been in many less-than ideal neighborhoods. One afternoon our real estate agent (and friend) called to tell us she was hosting an open house for a co-worker of hers and that we really needed to come see this house. We were looking for a three bedroom, two bathroom house with at least 1,500 to 1,800 square feet and when we arrived (in a hurry!) to this open house we found ourselves walking into a three bedroom, one bathroom home with only 1,000 square feet of space. What the house lacked in square footage though it made up for in many other ways. The entire home had been recently renovated with new flooring, craftsman doors, a brand new kitchen and bath, a new roof, etc. The yard was also the biggest, most level yard out of every house we had viewed thus far, with the bonus of a small creek running just beyond the fence line.
We sat in our car parked alongside the curb that afternoon staring over at the little house wondering if it would be right for our family. At that time we had a three year old, a one year old, and a new baby on the way. Surely this home would be big enough for the two of us and our three little-ones?! And so we placed an offer on the house that same evening and shortly there-after became home owners for the very first time. What we realized after moving into our little home and living in the house day in and day out for a few years was that actually two adults and three busy young boys is quite a lot for a little 1,000 square foot house to accommodate! It's a breeze to share one bathroom when all of your kids wear diapers! But try sharing one toilet between three very young, youngesters with minimal bladder control (not to mention the two increasingly impatient adult occupants waiting in the wings.) Needless to say our circumstances have lead to the creation of some very strange household rules, such as a bathroom triage system.
Something else that has developed over the years is the feeling of someone on top of you/under foot AT. ALL. TIMES. This is a combination of two different factors: the first being the boys have steadily increased in size and mass during this period - creating more "body" in the same small space, the second being they are children and therefore they are constantly following me around. ;-) When you combine this with the massive energy three little boys create - you have a loud, busy, little house! Here in Western Oregon, when the weather is nice I can solve this chaos quickly by opening the back door and giving the kids the (affectionate) boot! ;-) But as you might imagine, the weather is only "nice" here about three months out of the year. As a result, much of my time is spent weighing the pros and cons of muddy floors and mountains of laundry against brief moments of sanity and solitude. (Sanity usually wins.)
So at this point you are probably reading this and thinking to yourself, "So....buy a bigger house!" If only it was that simple! You see, we are in love with our location, our neighborhood, and our kids' school! We have an almost ideal piece of land as the last little house on a dead end street and we only share a property line with ONE neighbor! There is a green space to one side of our lot, a creek to one side, and a ball field to another. The feeling of privacy is fantastic, and the ball field holds limitless potential! Over the years we have come to know many of our neighbors and they are such great people! They are the kinds of neighbors who won't just lend you a tool for your home improvement project, but actually come over and help you finish the job! They are people you would trust to watch your children, and people who will keep an eye on your house for you if you head out of town. You couldn't hope to find a friendlier street! As the icing on the cake, we are in the boundaries of an amazing elementary school! Our kids benefit from some of the most inspiring, enthusiastic teachers I have met under the leadership of a truly remarkable principal. Everyone in this school is so dedicated, approachable, and invested in the children, it is a wonderful community to be a part of! If we were to attempt to move we would have an extremely hard time finding a home with as great of neighbors and as nice of location as the one we currently own while staying within our school's boundaries! (and there is just no way we would move anywhere outside of those lines!)
Okay - what's the solution then? Well, if we have decided to stay put (and we have) then the next step is to take a hard look at our house through a new lens and see what kinds of improvements we can make to increase the livability. As I began reaching out to the internet for clever ideas about creating more multi-purpose spaces I started to notice how trendy "tiny homes" have become, especially in our area. These houses are so well laid-out that perusing the different design company websites has provided me with numerous ideas for space-savvy renovations we could do here at home. However, probably the most interesting thing I discovered was that some of these "tiny homes" are actually (slightly) LARGER than my own house! So at the end of the day I have determined that we are actually accidentally trendy and we should view our experience here in our own "tiny home" as an adventure in small footprint living and with goal in mind, we will begin our little renovations :)
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