In the news!

Tinybuild.net and earthartbuild got a great bump from McKenzie Homan in her April Helena Vigilante article.  Homan interviewed Orndoff in his tiny kitchen.  Read the full story here:

http://helenavigilante.com/archives/12328

Folding kitchen peninsula

The kitchen is small, and so must be well designed.  One feature is the peninsula.  This is the heart of the kitchen, where there are seats, where we eat, with a cutting board top and a pull-out cutting board below.

However, sometimes more space is nice in the Kitchen.  So we built the peninsula on hinges, with a removable post at the far side.  Just lift up, remove post, and guide the peninsula toward the floor.  During the building process I had a temporary post without securing tabs, and I inadvertently broke a beloved mug.  All genius ideas can be implemented poorly!

Design principles:

Examples of the principles we use to make our houses:

• accommodate two adults living in a tiny space.  
• Provide a fun domicile for very cheap.  
• Look great.  
• Feel homey and wonderful.  
• Push our limits a little.  
• Not cause you to go into debt.  
• Kick you outside and onto hikes, rafting trips, skiing trips, outdoor sports, dance events, concerts, and other fun a lot.  
• Be able to host as many as six people for an indoor party.  
• Be able to host as many as 15 people for an outdoor party.  
• Let in light.  
• Be energy efficient.  
• Not be too hard to build.
• Be easy to clean and organize.  
• Be fun to build.  
• Be fun to live in.  
• Promote love, laughter, connection, joy, ease of accomplishing, and a healthy life.

Design principles of the little house:

Buried in snow, this little box features a lot.

This house was designed to:

• Accommodate two adults living in a tiny space.
• Provide a fun domicile for very cheap.
• Look great.
• Feel homey and wonderful.
• Push our limits a little.
• Not cause us to go into debt.
• Kick us outside and onto hikes, rafting trips, skiing trips, outdoor sports, dance events, concerts, and other fun a lot.
• Be able to host as many as six people for an indoor party.
• Be able to host as many as 15 people for an outdoor party.
• Let in light.
• Be energy efficient.
• Not be too hard to build.
• Be easy to clean and organize.
• Be fun to build.
• Be fun to live in.
• Promote love, laughter, connection, joy, ease of accomplishing, and a healthy life.

 

 

 

Tiny house features–Draining Dish Storage

So most kitchens in America are set up to do dishes like this:

sink –> dish drainer on countertop –> dishes put away somewhere else.

That’s a lot of countertop space used up!  And, while the dishes are drying, they’re not put away, so it’s more work.

Always eschewing extra work, Laura and I came up with the:

“Over-sink draining dish rack,”

it’s patented, uber-cool, and german engineered (just kidding).

You put the dishes once they’re washed.  Automatic drying, and only 1 step from washed to put away.

Tiny House–Posting Flood Warning!

Hi subscribers!

I’m in love.

With a house.  That I built.  Humble?  No.  Small?  Nifty?  Cozy?  Crazy?  Yes.

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Thank you for following EarthArtBuild.  It has been a source of a lot of good feelings in my life these past few years.  As my philosophies on building have evolved, so has the website.  Laura and I just entered the “finished” phase for our first house–I’ve moved into it, the interior is generally complete, and pretty much every system is up and running.

This post is to warn you of what’s to come: a number of different blog posts.  I have identified 29 features that combine to make this house what it is, and I’m going to do short posts on each of these features.  That means that if you’re subscribed, EarthArtBuild might get a little annoying here real soon.  Sorry.  Feel free to unsubscribe, I won’t mind.

I hope these features can be (if still annoying) maybe an inspiration to others starting off on your own tiny journeys.  Thank you!

Moved in!

Sky just moved into the tiny house.

Official name:            Little Lion

Current location:      Helena MT

Current status:         Moved in, buried under feet of snow, water system nearly done.

Here are some teaser pics, more to come soon!

Bed, closet, window, and loft (barely visible). What more does a sleeper need?

how many books does one tiny house need? How many elephants?

What the bedroom view is, if you aren’t looking out the windows.

With all the snow, I’m afraid my batteries might be running toward low. had to scrape snow off the panels.

The covered porch helps make it feel more like a home. Some snow still sneaks in despite the roof.

lots of snow. Bike is pretty useless, but the ski sled just went to the library and back. woo hoo!

ShedMontana Launched!

So natural building hasn’t turned out to be super profitable.  Yet.  Hmm.  I think it’s because most people are a little scared of it, and the experimental nature of building with straw and clay and sand and log rounds is a little scary.  Also a challenge (doable!) to adapt to the cold Montana climate.

Also, as a service, natural building does not quickly and easily solve people’s needs.  What do people need?  Food, clothing, shelter, love. Affection, warmth, water, emotional health.  Success, fun, mobility, storage.  Ahh, storage.  I’ve got so little of it.  Maybe I should build an outside closet on my porch.  Probably I should.  Maybe I should build a shed.  My parents need a shed.  All of Catan Enterprises‘s properties have sheds.  Do I need a shed?

“Do I need a shed?”  I think a lot of us who are addicted to things (see last post) are thinking this same thing.  Maybe if I start a shed company, I can get some business, and help tweak people’s thinking toward smaller living and better stuff management along the way.

So Matt and I decided to launch ShedMontana, a new business (and website!) dedicated to helping us get some cool buildings built, which people need to store their extra junk.  Right now, ShedMontana is just like any other shed company, but in a few weeks we’re launching our Virtual Shed Designer, in which you can pre-design and price your shed online, without talling anybody.  Advance.

The 52 things challenge

Today I bought my 53rd and 54th “things” of the “year.”  They were hard to resist: stretchy but stylish Columbia pants, and a merino wool sweater/jacket, both gently used and way less than 50% of retail.

The “things” game started in a simple way: in preparation for moving into the Little Lion, Laura and I were going to drop from 700 square feet each, to 90 square feet each.  So accumulating stuff seemed like a really bad idea.  So we started a challenge: only buy 1 thing each per week, for a year.  We started the challenge on March 21, 2013, and today is January 17.  So I’ve just now broken over my goal, and I still have three months to go.

So how hard is it to limit yourself to 52 things in a year?  It doesn’t seem like it should be that hard.  It depends on how you count.  52 durable things might be easy to avoid, but when you count every gift, every envelope, every bottle of windshield washer fluid, every cube of toilet paper, every pen, every toothbrush, every roll of floss. . . . it adds up quickly

Here is the story of Lina, a woman limited herself to 200 things total in her life.  That’s impressive!  And, as I move into the Little Lion in the next few weeks, perhaps I’ll be keeping track.

The results are in!  Laura Arvidson is the winner, with 62 things purchased from March 21 2013, to March 21, 2o14.  Sky lost in a big way, purchasing a total of 71 things.  He owes Laura $90.

Tiny House Electrical System Video

So I went through and explained our electrical system and how it works in a video.  Not well enough that you could build one for yourself, but enough to get the gist. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXqFMvmZ3tE