ADU, Travel, Community
Lina Menard
Maui, Hawaii

After A Week Long Send Off, My Round the World Trip kicked off with eight days in Maui visiting my sister Sarah who has split her time between Hawaii and Alaska for many years. What an epic way to start this adventure! There was mist falling when my sister greeted me at the Kahului airport on Maui a week ago, so she teased me about bringing the rain from the mainland. We headed straight for Paia where she presented me with a young coconut and a lei, accompanied by the chant for the gifting-of-a-lei.

Maui, Hawaii
Tiny House, Travel, Planning
Lina Menard
Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla

A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.

Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla
Minimalism, Workshop
Lina Menard
Downsizing Tune Up

As I packed up recently in preparation to travel cross country in my Honda Fit, I did some downsizing… It was harder than it had been during my last couple of moves because this time I had more stuff. I’d been living in a bigger space…My apartment was a studio, but it was still about 6 times bigger than the Lucky Penny! I talked with several people about the experience and a handful of them said “oh my goodness, I need to do more of that!” So I’ve decided to offer a 6-week Downsizing Tune Up…

Downsizing Tune Up

TinyHomes-com

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So Much Blogging - Just Not Here!

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Dearly Beloved Readers, I have actually been blogging recently. And prolifically, I might add. But obviously not here. And I don't necessarily have much to show for it just yet. But there's so much good stuff to come. (I've been prepping for my tiny house build, too, so things are going to get even more exciting around here very soon!)

I have an alibi. (I've been at AccessoryDwellings.org and TinyHomes.com)

And a motive. (I'm helping other people tell their small living stories.)

So please let me explain...

I've been writing ADU Case Studies

Since December I've been Coordinating the ADU Case Studies Project, which means I've had the opportunity to interview the owners of granny flats, backyard cottages, and garage apartments to learn about their inspirations, challenges, and triumphs. Each of these homeowners has created a second home of 800 square feet or less on their property. I've now had the pleasure of working with more than 30 homeowners to help them tell their ADU story. I've learned a great deal about the impacts of regulations, incentives, and design guidelines. And I've heard some really wonderful stories about how ADUs have provided flexibility for the sandwich generation and increased the supply of affordable infill housing. At this point we've published nine ADU Case Studies on AccessoryDwellings.org, there's one ready to go live on Friday, and there are many more in the queue. Here are the ones that are already live:

You can subscribe to receive the posts in your email inbox or you can just check back each week on Friday. If you ever miss me and my writing, you know where to find me!

TinyHomes.com stories

Meanwhile, I've also been helping 31 Voices for the Tiny House Movement get settled into their role as regular contributors to TinyHomes.com. TinyHomes provides a venue for tiny house designers, dwellers, builders, and enthusiasts to share their love of tiny homes. February was our first month with daily posts. (We've got a couple openings for regular contributors so if you'd like to claim one, please let me know!) Another exciting update is that we are now accepting profiles. You can create a Personal Profile to shout your love of tiny houses loud and proud. And since tiny homes have plenty of character (and often their own names, like Sweet Pea and Bayside Bungalow) you can also create a Tiny Home Profile to show off your tree house, studio apartment, backyard cottage, etc.