So the rumours are true, Johan and I have taken on yet another project, a Tiny Home, super exciting stuff around here. The dream of building our own tiny home was born long before either of us met, so we felt like theres no time like the present. The idea of having a home of our own and ability to take it with us should we ever move was really intriguing to us, the idea of less ‘stuff’ and more time felt good, and the connection to our resources felt even better. Being able to power the tiny home with solar power, heat it with wood heat, plumb it with rain water collection and have use of a composting toilet are some really big things we’ve taken into consideration. After checking out many tiny homes over the years and having some favourites we decided to meld a couple designs together and add our own flare to it. We went with “The Tiny project” (http://tiny-project.com) plans, but going with the “tiny tack house” (http://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/tiny-tack-house/) overall layout. We got to work with researching trailers and the long search of craiglist for a flat deck trailer. The day finally came when we scored a nice 18ft trailer deck at a great price and so “Tiny is huge” was born! We ordered supplies and the rest was history, or so to say!
We started on the trailer deck, getting it prepped, coated, painted and ready for the subfloor. Even had Brian weld on a foot extension at the back and 9 inches on either side of the deck to add more room for floor space, because we all know how much that extra foot will add to a small space. Johan got to work on the subfloor, as I had to work in the city that day, but I came home to what would be the base of this tiny home..
The following day we started early and got to planing and building our first wall. Now we all know and hear stories of the trails and errors couples make when delving into building or home reno projects, how some end in arguments or worse, divorce. I never really took much from them thinking Johan and I have rarely even had heated conversations, let alone ever fought. I figured with our solid communication we’d get through whatever rough patches this project wanted to throw at us, and so with testing fate, to say we learned a lot would be an understatement, but I’d say we’re both all the more humble for it. In hind sight I find I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things and Johans more about time management, getting the job done and moving forward. We butted heads on more than one occasion that first week, but we learned alot about one another and how we work together in life and relationship, how I can be very stubborn and how he will just move on giving up what he wants in order to move forward. Which on both sides didn’t feel right, so I learned how to compromise and he learned how to stand his ground, we learned how to listen to one another, how to clearly communicate what each of us had in mind for the day and how to move forward in unison on the project together. If I could say what helped us most in that hard first week together it would be starting the day off communicating what both of us had in mind for the day, what needed and wanted to get done and how we were going to tackle the day together. When we found ourselves in disagreement we’d take a step back, take a breath and talk about our needs and how to move forward. In a nutshell: Clear communication. All in all I truly think if you want to try building together with anyone whether they be friend, partner or family member starting small and keeping the line of communication open is key.
And on that note, please stay tuned for more updated photos of the Tiny Is Huge project along the way, but here’s some in the meantime:
