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

tiny house field trip

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Day 3: Interiors, Another Tiny Field Trip, Site Maps & Graph Paper

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We started Day 3 of Yestermorrow's Tiny House Design-Build with my presentation about tiny house interior design considerations with dozens of tiny house photos I've collected over the past couple years, including John's Tiny House Truck, Brittany's Bayside Bungalow, Chris & Malissa's Tiny Tack House, Gina's Sweet Pea, and many more. We've created a shared inspiration folder for the class so that everyone can add their favorite interior design ideas. (See more photos in the Day 3 Slideshow.)

 

Then we headed down the road on another tiny field trip to see a guest cabin on the bend of the Mad River. The setting for this little house is spectacular, especially during foliage season. Like most little houses, this one uses a few tricks to maximize the space, including a retrofitted attic ladder to access the loft and glass blocks to borrow light from the bedroom for the bathroom.

The afternoon was devoted to free time so that everyone could catch their breath. A group of us headed to the nearby village of Waitsfield for maple creamies and maple-bacon donuts, which we ate next to the river and covered bridge. We're loving these gorgeous October days!

After supper everyone gathered in the studio to spend a few hours working on site plans and layouts. In the Less is More class Dave Cain shared a trick for exploring scale in a little house by cutting out graph paper blocks and rearranging the spaces until it works, so I passed this tip along and several students gave it a try. Of course, others sketched, made models, or poured over inspiring books, too. It's amazing to see how the ideas have already evolved from the first day. I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with by the end of two weeks!