Tiny House Living in a 3,000 sq ft Home

Thing Two has a pretty bad sore throat. This morning, I was making her some tea with honey and brought her a paper towel to put her tea bag on when she's finished with it.
"Hey! I have small dishes I bought just for that purpose! I wonder which box they are in?"

For the past two years we have been living between two states. The bulk of my time has been spent in Missouri living with my parents on their farm where we are building our barn house. Chris has been mostly living and working in California, where he stayed with his folks in their two bedroom apartment. The girls (Thing One and Thing Two) are homeschooled and have been able to split their time between the two states.

Chris and I are fascinated by the tiny house movement. The minimalist lifestyle, low cost of living, and low environmental impact are fantastic. We considered tiny house living. Then Chris, who is 6'6" and pretty much the definition of big AND tall, spent two years living in a tiny apartment. He discovered he's not a tiny guy. Plus, we have stuff. So, no tiny house for us.


We designed our house, The Big Red Barn, based on some floor plans we saw online, only bigger. If we were going to build this home, we wanted it to be comfortable for many years to come. So ceilings were raised to 10' downstairs and 9' upstairs. Doorways were all widened to 36 inches. The garage was added, along with a shop, and an above ground tornado shelter big enough to house cots and emergency supplies.

We are building debt free which means we don't have a mortgage and are paying cash as we go. In addition, we are doing as much of the work ourselves as possible. So although we have been working on the house for over a year, it's nowhere near completion. Click here to watch our house being built week by week.

In our Big Red Barn house, we have a 530' sq area over the garage that was designated for storage, with hopes of turning it into an efficiency apartment at some later date. We are tired of sharing space. We are ready to be living in our own home. And so we turned that storage space into a little apartment and worked on the upstairs bathroom enough to make it functional.



While it's not true tiny house living, it does feel like it. It's a cozy little space where our family can be together. I do admit though, sometimes the walk to the bathroom at night through the uninsulated part of the house is a bit cold.

"I wonder which box _____ is in" is a frequently heard phrase around here. It's usually followed by, "Are you sure we kept that when we moved?" We are looking forward to making a lot of progress on the house this year, and getting into the rest of our boxes. I think when we finally start unpacking for real, two things will happen. One is that it will feel like Christmas. I've got things I love that I've forgotten I even have, such as the tiny plates on which to put one's teabag. The second is that I am going to scrutinize every item coming out of a box. Do we actually love or need that item? If we've lived without it for two years is it actually necessary to keep it?

In the meantime I am content because my family is finally all together in one state.

What would your dream house look like? Are you a tiny house person or would you rather live large?

Hitch up your wagon!

Before I moved to Missouri, this was how I envisioned homesteading:

When Chris and I decided to leave the Los Angeles area, and move to the country, we had this crazy idea that we would like to support our family by growing and raising most of our own food, and by running agriculture based businesses from our own farm. This idea was inspired by friends of my cousin, whom we had never met, who left SoCal and moved to Colorado and are doing something similar. In so doing, we would be leading a more organic life, with close ties to our food and land, while providing quality produce and products for our consumers.

Turns out, it's a thing. And it has a name:

Homesteading.

The modern day homestead, sometimes called a farmstead, doesn't start out on a wagon at the sound of a gunshot. It starts when one decides to become more self-sufficient, and takes action towards that end. In our case, homesteading is a process. We are not attempting to go completely off grid from day one. While we will have our own well and septic system, we will rely on electricity from the power company at first. We will gradually build our orchard, kitchen garden, market garden, and increase our animal stock.

Our goal is to make fewer trips to town for supplies and to be able to depend on our own resources.

As we build zone by zone, we will keep you updated on the progress of our little homestead. It's an interesting journey from city life to country life. We are transforming the way we think about everything we consume as we try to live more simply. 

Have you made any decisions to become more self sufficient, simplify your life, or have a healthier lifestyle? What changes have you made? What challenges have you faced along the way? What would you like to know more about as we document our progress?

Organic Ideas

In our move from the city to the farm we are completely changing our lives around. And as we do so, we have been taking the opportunity to decide what is really important to us. What are our values? What is essential? What is extra? 

  

How do we want to shape our home and our businesses? 

I'm sure these values will change as we grow. Most of them are very different than the list I would have made five years ago, and that list is different than the one from ten or fifteen years ago. But it's where we are now. 

Here (in no particular order except for the first one) are some of the things that will govern our decisions in the next several months:

Biblical Principles

We are followers of Jesus. First and foremost we will strive to live life the way God wants. We will incorporate principles of stewardship, honesty, integrity, reliability, respectability, and kindness (and many others) in everything we do. We decide things after prayer and study. We make mistakes and we forgive one another. This guides everything we do. 

Buying Local

When possible we prefer to patronize small businesses. We recognize the hard work and immense effort required to run your own business. We want to see our friends and neighbors be successful, so we will be a part of that as much as possible. 

Building Community Relationships

We want to know our neighbors. We are part of a church here, and when we move we will join a church there. We look people in the eyes. We listen. We will learn your stories and be honored that you share them with us. We will partner with local businesses. 

Authenticity

Y'all know me. I not only share my successes, I also tell you about my mommy fail moments, my goofy side, and some of my disappointments. We are real people on an exciting adventure. We will share with you our attempts to try new things. We'll let you know what works and what doesn't. We truly care about our friends and family, and as we start businesses we desire to be authentic with our customers as well. 

Barter

We believe in trade. Cash is just paper. Credit and ATM cards are even less than paper. They're just promises of transfers between banks. But do they actually send a physical dollar over for every electronic transaction? I doubt it. Money has no intrinsic value. Don't get me wrong. I'll take your money. But "barter is better". Want something we have? Make an offer for trade.

Family 

Part of the reason for this move is to be nearer my parents, and also to provide a better family life for ourselves and our daughters. If we start an endeavor and it impacts our family negatively, we'll make changes. We will look for ways to support families in our sphere of influence. We will treat our customers and community as extended family. 

Gratitude 

We are thankful. We have been given so much. We are thankful for each and every customer. We can not adequately express the gratitude we feel for our family and friends who are cheering us on and encouraging us, but we will try. Thank you. We love y'all.  

Giving Back

I like purchasing from companies that do good for others. TOMS is one example. For every pair of shoes purchased, a pair is given to a child somewhere in the world. There are others; Burt's Bees gives money to non-profit start ups. I want Not A Farm Girl to be that kind of company. I recognize how extremely blessed I am. I want to now bless others and make the world a better place than I found it. I haven't worked out all the details, but to start with I am going to donate a percentage of Not A Farm Girl products (lotions, soaps, shampoo, etc.) to shelters for women and girls. I have other ideas for future service projects after we move, more about that as we go.

Organic

Most people associate organic with food. However, there are several definitions in the dictionary, and one definition from Dictionary.com is: organic - simple and healthful and close to nature.

That's what we're about as a family and that's what Not A Farm Girl will strive to be as a business.