Snow Day Catch Up

It's been three weeks since my last post, My Tiny House Starts with a Window, but it feels like it's been ages. What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been! And, as is my way when I'm life switches from full to busy, I've written more posts than I've posted. Fortunately, Laura Klement has already posted about three of the big events in her post Tiny Chairs, Houses, and a Mixer, which leaves me to write about other exciting events from the past few weeks.

And what a perfect day to do it. Today is a snow day! The Snowpocalypse has gone so far as to drop several inches of snow here in Portland, OR of all places. So I have the perfect excuse to snuggle up on my window seat with hot cocoa and catch up on Little Life posts.

Two weeks ago I began working as the Living Building Challenge Assistant for the Breathe Building. I'll be doing material research and tracking as this community wellness center pursues the world's most rigorous green building standard. I'm looking forward to being part of the challenge.

Speaking of material research, the week I started up with the Breathe Building I also made a trip to Cotton Cloud to investigate options for my bi-fold mattress and I began researching my tiny appliance options in earnest. I've enjoyed swapping notes with Ben Campbell of Ben Builds a Tiny House. (It's amazing how much appliance options have changed since I first began exploring them four years ago!)

Last weekend I co-taught a Tiny House Basics Workshop with Dee Williams and Joan Grimm of Portland Alternative Dwellings (PAD). The workshop drew 22 people who are exploring everything they need to consider as they decide whether or not to create a tiny home of their own. It was fun to have them explore Sweet Pea through interactive activities. And, of course, I enjoyed talking with them about everything from applicable building, zoning, and RV regulations to electrical systems and community building. Their tiny house dreams were contagious and I can't wait to see the tiny homes they create! (I'm especially eager to watch Jeannie's house plans evolve since she's basing her wee abode on Baba Yaga's! Hopefully she'll keep me posted and I can keep you updated, too!)

Finally, Niche Consulting LLC now has a logo, thanks to my incredibly talented friend Jeanne McMenemy of Calligraphica - who was able to extract the idea from my brain and put it to paper - only better than I imagined!

Meanwhile, I've continued working on the ADU Case Studies Project and TinyHomes.com is now set up with daily contributors. Watch for catch-up posts over the next couple days!

December Tiny House Mixer at ADX

On Thursday night more than thirty people filled the loading dock at ADX for the December Tiny House Mixer. There was a great November Tiny House Mixer which I cross-posted about on TinyHomes.com.

This Mixer was the debut of what I can only imagine will be an incredible partnership between ADX and Portland Alternative Dwellings. PAD is committed to educating, inspiring, and empowering people to create tiny homes of their own. ADX is a collective workspace for builders, makers, and tinkers. I think PAD and ADX go together like butter cookies and apple cider. Yummy!

It's awesome that PAD's upcoming Tiny House Basics Workshops, Tiny Chair Workshops, and Tiny House Mixers will be hosted at ADX. There is already one PAD Grad, the intrepid Ben Campbell, who has claimed a tiny house building spot at ADX and he’s well on his way to a wee home of his own. You can follow along (or better yet, help him build) by checking out Ben Builds a Tiny House.

At the Mixer, Joan Grimm welcomed the crowd and shared information about PAD’s newest products and services, including a holiday sale on plan sets, a series of winter and spring workshops (including Tiny House Basics in February and March and a Tiny Chair Workshop in January and February), and PAD’s new Consulting Partners program. Then Dee Williams gave a teaser for her soon-to-be-released book The Big Tiny and reminded everyone to explore our world with curiosity and wonder.

Then I invited up a series of guest speakers who had 2 minutes to share their 2 cents. Nathan Miller of All-Ways Electric and Ian Bruner of Bruner Plumbing offered information about their tiny house services. Then Karin Parramore described building her wee home, Serenity. Ben Campbell talked about his experience building his vardo at ADX and Whitney Johnson talked about her project to facilitate insurance options for tiny home owners. (If you’re a tiny homeowner, please take her survey!) Four of my students from the 2013 Tiny House Design-Build class at Yestermorrow attended the December Mixer from as far away as Boston. We think that's quorum - or at least a reunion!

After the mini-speeches Ben offered a tour of his tiny house in the ADX parking lot. Then there was much mixing and mingling next to the snack spread. There was talk about tiny parking spots available and discussion about which on-demand propane heaters are the best. Many tiny housers also swapped tales of frozen hose woe (Portland had an unusual cold snap this year which left most tiny house folks hauling water for a whole week!) It was, as always, fabulous to see so many connections being made and I'm already looking forward to the January Tiny House Mixer at ADX. Please register so you can join the fun!

November Tiny House Mixer Draws A Crowd

Forty-four people crowded around tables into the back room at the Lucky Labrador Brewing Company in SE Portland on Saturday evening so we could mix and mingle with other tiny house enthusiasts. Portland Alternative Dwellings hosted the Tiny House Mixer at the end of Day 1 of the November Tiny House Basics Workshop. We're working on booking a bigger venue for the December Tiny House Mixer! To hear about the next event, like the PAD Tiny Houses facebook page.

The Mixer started out with a welcome from Joan Grimm and Dee Williams of PAD, followed by a short program in which eight people had 2 minutes to share their tiny house story. Nathan Miller of All Ways Electric talked about electrical considerations, Derin Williams of Shelter Wise shared info about the tiny houses on wheels he's built, and Deb Delman and Kol Peterson gave an update on Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel (and coupons for tiny house enthusiasts to use for a staycation! Thanks Kol and Deb!) Then Tony talked about lessons learned since he began building his tiny house three months ago (he encouraged us to heed the warning about the spontaneous combustion potential of oily rags!), Ben described how his design evolved once he started Ben Builds a Tiny House at ADX in September, and Audrey and Tomas of Trying on Tiny shared their lessons learned from living in a tiny house for a year. There were a few good-of-the order announcements about new projects and available materials. If anyone knows of a good parking spot for Lynda and her tiny house, please contact her by email or phone (503-623-7898)!

Afterwards, people got acquainted by sharing their tiny house inspirations and design ideas. It was a treat to meet so many fascinating people, including Todd who's having his tiny house built by Abel Zimmerman of Zyl Vardos this spring and Chris of Builder by Bike whose tiny house I just happened upon a few days ago.

The tiny house community is growing by leaps and bounds and it's so exciting to be part of it. See you at the December Tiny House Mixer! Day and location TBA. Stay tuned!