Sunshine for Bike to PSU Challenge Kick Off

Last May Day it was pouring as the Bike to PSU Challenge kicked off. This was disappointing since I was committed to Biking Rain or Shine. Others weren't so brave and my bike was the only one in the racks for a good portion of the morning. This year the challenge started out with glorious weather and I had trouble finding a bike parking spot.

During the month of May I'll be logging my miles on Portland State University's snazzy Bike to PSU Challenge website. Last year I was on a team of 10 and we helped hold each other accountable to riding every day at least one way. Unfortunately, it was a drizzly spring so I didn't stick to my 14-mile round trip commute consistently. I took transit on 4 super soggy days. Nevertheless, as I described in my post 1 Tiny House & 4 Bicycles, I did manage to commute nearly 300 miles by bike in May 2012!

This year my commute is much shorter. I'm only 2.5 miles from campus instead of 7. But I'm also much more likely to ride consistently because the distance is shorter and because in the past year I've upgraded my tires and added fenders and better lights to my commuter bike. This past week I also replaced my old U-lock which drove me crazy with a new one which uses a combination lock instead of a key. One less thing to keep track of! (But it doesn't count as one less thing for My 200 Things Challenge since I actually consider my bike lock as well as it's key part of my bike. If that doesn't make sense to you, check out my logic in My Things Challenge: Who's Counting Anyway?)

This year there are 271 riders on 79 teams logging their mileage. So this month stay tuned for photos of Portland by bike. Cheers to bike rides and sunny days!

Spring Cleaning the Yurt

Friday was a lovely day and I found myself unfurling after being hunkered down for the winter. The yurt was feeling pretty stuffy and musty so it was nice to open the skylight and get more fresh air flowing through. Even though knew it would be better for both me and the structure to ventilate it well, I’d been keeping the skylight closed because it had been so darn cold out. With my busy schedule this winter I never took the time to develop a good ventilation strategy. It seemed that if I kept the skylight cracked while I was gone during the day at class or work all my hot air went through the roof (literally) and it took too long to get the place warmed up again. So I would crack it on warmer days or when I was going to be home for a few hours.

With all the fresh air and sunlight streaming through the skylight, I felt inspired to do my spring cleaning. I hauled my table and chairs outside so I would have enough room to play rubix cube with my furniture. With some help I was able to move my dresser, bed, and kitchen cupboard and remove the rugs that covered the yurt floor. The rugs had provided a barrier between my cold feet and the cold floor, but they’d also become mildewy.

When I rearranged my furniture I discovered that there were a few spots where the mold had grown back where the wall meets the floor. Back in November I’d discovered that I was having Mold & Moisture Trouble and I’d cleaned it up with vinegar and water. I thought I’d taken care of the problem, so it took me a while to realize that the sinus trouble I’ve experienced the past couple months might be related to my indoor air quality. It turns out that although vinegar is a long-time home remedy, it isn’t the most effective mold killer since it doesn’t kill all types of mold. So I decided to step it up. I purchased a spray bottle (gotta add that to My 200 Things List!) and a little bottle of tea tree oil and headed home to do some mold remediation. I removed the insulation I’d placed over my windows on the inside, rolled up the flaps that cover the windows from the outside, and removed the clear window covers. Then I opened the skylight to get the fresh air moving. I filled the spray bottle with a mix of tea tree oil and water and then sprayed the perimeter of the yurt.

Now my house smells fresh and clean and I think I’ll breathe a little easier. I know this weather is a tease and that we have several weeks of cool days ahead of us, so I’m going to put the clear window coverings back on the windows as soon as the yurt is aired out, but it will be really nice to have the additional light and views from having the windows open again. Hooray for springtime!

First Ever Tiny House Fair at Yestermorrow in June

When I talked to Elaine yesterday I learned that the first ever Tiny House Fair is almost sold out! If you want to secure a spot, register immediately on the Yestermorrow website.

The Tiny House Fair will be hosted by Yestermorrow Design-Build School in Waitsfield, Vermont June 14-16, 2013. Elaine, who lives in a tiny house and participated in a women’s building course at Yestermorrow, created the Tiny House Community website because she recognized that tiny houses would be even more wonderful together. She decided the next step was to get key players in the tiny house world together, too. So she encouraged Yestermorrow to host the first ever Tiny House Fair and she’s been helping to coordinate it ever since.

I’m delighted that I’ll be presenting at this year’s tiny house fair, along with fellow west coasters Dee Williams of Portland Alternative Dwellings, Tammy Strobel & Logan Smith of Rowdy Kittens, and Able Zimmerman of Zyl Vardos. I’ll also have the opportunity to get to know folks I’ve been wanting to meet for years: Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed and Four Lights, Derek "Deek" Diedrickson of Relax Shacks, and Alex Pino of Tiny House Talk. Together we’ll be covering everything from tiny house design tricks to zoning code and legal considerations.

Join us if you’re able! It’s going to be epic.

How Tiny is Too Tiny?

A friend recently shared a link to Grist article entitled "There is such thing as a too-tiny house, and this is what it looks like." The Grist article fed from a PetaPixel article by Michael Zhang which showed bird's eye images of Hong Kong cubical apartments. The photo shoot was commissioned by the Society for Community Organization to draw attention to cramped living conditions in Hong Kong, which was rated as the most livable city in the world by the Economist last year.

I imagine my friend sent this link along with the single word "Thoughts?" because he was curious about the reaction of an enthusiastic tiny house dweller. Over the past year and a half I’ve downsized from an 832 square foot 2-bedroom house to a 121 square foot tiny house on wheels to a 113 “round foot” yurt. (Check out Oh, the Joys of Homeownership, Tiny Home Improvement, and Home, Sweet Yurt to learn about these places.) These days I feel like I’ve found my limits in terms of both actual size and amenities. I’m currently designing my own tiny vardo on wheels, which will probably be right around 100 square feet. Yet I have all sorts of ideas to make this wee space comfortable and highly functional, even though it will likely be even smaller than my current abode.

I am well aware that people in big cities throughout the world – and particularly in Asia and Europe – live in apartments that would raise the eyebrows of most Americans. Tiny housers like me often look to these little spaces around the world for inspiration. (I'm especially fond of Christian Schallert's Lego Apartment, a Transformer Apartment in Hong Kong, and, of course, Graham Hill's Life Edited Apartment.) However, in some cases people live in spaces that are uncomfortably cramped. The spaces profiled in the PetaPixel article seem uncomfortably cramped to me. Rather than being efficient, these spaces feel claustrophobic. This crowding feeling is definitely exacerbated by too many people sharing a small space. I’ve even heard of situations in which people have to resort to sleeping in shifts! I think a living space is too small when it restricts rather than liberates people’s activities and lifestyle.

What do you think? What would be too tiny for you? Have you ever tested your limits with tiny-ness?

I Still Don't Leave Home Without It!

When I first moved to Portland a friend introduced me to her system of keeping track of all the essential things one needs when walking out the door. I wrote about it in Don't Leave Home Without It. For more than a year this system worked well for me.

However, last December I lost my pod when it fell out of my coat pocket when I was biking up a hill. (Of course, at the time, I had no idea where I'd lost it. One moment I was paying for brunch with a friend and ten blocks later I was locked out of my yurt!)

It was horribly distressing to lose all my essentials in one fail swoop. I had to get a new key from my landlord, cancel my debit card and REI credit card (after I'd finally memorized the numbers!), and replace my brand new business card holder. Fortunately, I was able to put it into perspective when I realized that in more than I year I hadn't lost these things. In the past I would have misplaced these items separately multiple times in the same timeframe!

I thought my beloved pod was gone for good - and I was just about to go through the bother of getting a new driver's license - but exactly two weeks after I lost my pod a local coffee shop called me to say they had it. From the looks of it, it had been run over by a bus, but some kind soul had turned it in. My bus tickets were missing and my chapstick was smashed all over everything, but everything else was still in it. Even the cash! (See photo above.)

I used a different little pouch as a temporary stopgap measure, but I missed having a pretty pod. So today I stopped into an import store with a hunch I'd find what I was looking for. And there it was, my brand new pod. Ta da! Here's to many more months of keeping good track of the essentials.

The Minimalist's New Clothes

This weekend I spent a couple hours scouring some of Portland’s very best thrift stores for additions to my minimalist wardrobe. I prefer buying clothes second-hand and Portland is a great place to do it. As I tried things on I asked myself these simple questions:

• 

  Does it look great on me? (Does it fit me properly? Is the color right for me? Does the style suit me?)

• Is it comfy? (Does it move with me? I’m well past the point where I’d wear something uncomfortable just because it’s cute. If I’m not comfortable I won’t carry myself well and that’s the most important part of looking presentable!)
• What’s the fabric content? (I’m a big fan of natural fibers that breathe well – like silk, wool, and modal – so I’m purging the cotton from my winter wardrobe.)
• Is it versatile? (Can it be combined with at least two other items in my wardrobe? I don’t like having “outfits” as much as I like having a mix-and-match options.)

Of course, sometimes it’s easier to say yes than to say no. So if I really get stuck on whether or not I should buy something I ask myself instead: What’s wrong with this? If I can pinpoint anything at all I probably shouldn’t buy the item. Usually I don’t. But my heart still gets veto power. I suppose I could also ask one of my little sisters their opinion since they’re very fashionable. I’m sure they think I’m a hopeless case. But over the years I’ve developed my own style that blends practical, classy pieces with earthy, elfin accents. I think it suits me for now. And my beautiful and beautiful sisters are free to be as stylish as they darn well please. I’ll continue to admire them along with all their other adoring fans!

I ended up buying six items. I spent about $60. That’s not bad considering that I snagged two cozy wool sweaters, two stylish blouses, and a cute skirt, which are all suitable for work, school, or weekends. I also acquired a smashing little black dress. (How could I resist?! Now I just need a great excuse to wear it… C’mon Portland, give me an event that’s not casual Friday!)

These six items have joined the other 31 items in my wardrobe, so I now have 37 clothing items and 8 pairs of shoes. It seems my clothes are approximately a quarter of my possessions these days. And I’m okay with that. I could get away with less, I’m sure. Sometimes, I consider paring my wardrobe down to just a 10-Item Capsule Wardrobe like my hero Francine Jay. I certainly do when I’m traveling and Packing Lightly vs. Packing Densely. But I like the variety when I'm home. For now my wardrobe is minimalist enough.

Want to know what’s on my list? Check out My 203 Things List. (More about My Things Challenge.)

So I’m now at 203 things. And I’ve been racking my brains about how am I going to get back down to 200! I’m still Strategizing Digitizing and Getting All My Docs In a Row. That will help me drop two items since I currently have two tubs of paperwork. Eventually I’d like to digitize my old journals. That would help me drop another item.

I’ll keep thinking about what I can purge as I go about My 200 Things Challenge. But at the moment, I’m feeling okay with the number 203. After all, the point is to raise my own awareness about my possessions and the role they’re playing in my life.

Taking Stock Without Stocking Up

One of the things I could really relate with as I read The 100 Thing Challenge book (on my Kindle, of course!) was the chapter about how we often own many different items that serve similar purposes because none of the items is just right. As I was Inventorying & Packing Up my things because I was Downsizing from a Tiny House to a Tinier House, I got rid of several items that weren’t quite right, hoping to eventually replace them with things that were just right. I’ve done a bit of that replacing but I’ve also realized that some of the things weren’t actually necessary. It seems that sometimes promising myself that I can replace it lets me part with something that I really didn’t need.

After doing a New Years’ Re-Inventory I realized that I wanted to do some clothes shopping. But I also knew that I was 14 items over on My 200 Things Challenge. In addition, over the past month I was gifted a travel spice kit by my aunt the gourmet cook, two beautiful hand-painted tiny bowls from my 10 year old cousin, a hand-printed Old School Stationers letterpress calendar, and a flax seed pillow which is My New Favorite Thing. I also bought myself a pair of cozy slippers to deal with the fact that my floors are chilly when the temps drop below freezing, even after Weatherizing the Yurt. (REI had exactly one pair of the slippers I wanted - they just so happened to be my size and on clearance. My lucky day!)

So today I decided to do a little CPR (categorizing, purging, and reorganizing) on my stuff. Here’s what happened:

taking the not so big life digital

• I realized that I prefer having photos cycle through on my desktop to having photo frames sitting around the house, so I was able to part with a couple of my decorations.
• I checked the Kindle store to see if any of my books were available electronically. I decided to go for a digital version of The Not So Big Life since it’s mostly text and very few pictures. I’ll pass my copy along to some tiny house friends and they can pass it on from there. I decided not to digitize Sarah Suzanka’s Home by Design even though it is available in a digital format because I love the pictures!
• I noticed that I hadn’t worn my slacks very much this winter so I’ve decided to put them into purgatory. If I don’t feel like digging them back out I might not keep them!
• I put the white board that has been living on my fridge into purgatory, too, since I usually keep my grocery list in my phone. But I didn’t get rid of it since it’s nice to have a white board when sharing a house and I hope to share a home with someone beloved again someday.
• I purged my two sweatshirts since I rarely wear them. I ditched two pairs of shoes that were never quite right for me. I decided to replace a couple skirts and a sweater that didn’t suit me with something I liked better. (See The Minimalist’s New Clothes for more about my clothes shopping guidelines.)

I also took a critical look at some things I don’t use much. I suppose I could go down to one cutting board, but it’s nice to have two when cooking with a friend. I don’t use my travel mug often since I’m not a coffee drinker, but sometimes it’s awfully nice being able to bring hot tea or cocoa with me. I don’t use my yoga mat at home since I do yoga at the gym at the university and they supply mats there, but I’d like to have it for when I’m done with school in a few months. I don’t swim very often, but having a swimsuit and goggles still seems like a good idea. So after all this I got myself down to 197 Things. I decided that was good enough. I headed out to find The Minimalist’s New Clothes.

My New Favorite Thing

Glad I spent the weekend before last Weatherizing the Yurt. Yesterday it snowed a bit here in Portland. It was, of course, Portland-style snow: pretty little flakes that melt the second they hit the ground, no intention of sticking around. Portland snow is a little pathetic, but really charming. I enjoyed walking through it to the streetcar stop on my way to lunch at Nicholas, one of my favorite Portland restaurants. Nicholas is a Lebanese restaurant that serves spectacular food and I was glad to share a meal there with some dear family friends. They brought me a flax seed pillow as a gift and it is my new favorite thing.

Although I’m being careful not to adopt new things haphazardly because I’m a smidge over on My Things Challenge, this one is a great addition to my possessions. I plan to take an hour in the next couple of weeks to review My 200 Things List and pick which things to let go.

Anyhow, last night I heated up my flax seed pillow in the microwave for the first time and brought it to bed with me. As much as I’ve tried to convince Raffi to crawl down to the foot of my bed to be my foot warmer he won’t do it. He prefers to sleep in my arms with his head on the pillow, too. He thinks he’s a people and I haven’t corrected him. So I put my warm flax seed pillow under my down comforter at the foot of my bed and snuggled my feet underneath. It warmed them right up.

I've just gotten home from dinner with a friend and my flax seed pillow is heating my feet as I type. It’s so nice to have toasty warm feet as I drift off to sleep!

New Year’s Re-Inventory

Although I've done a pretty good job Maintaining the Little Life, a new year is upon us and it seems like a good time to check in on My 200 Things Challenge. I’ve re-inventoried my possessions and I currently have 214 things. You can see My 214 Things List here. So I’ve slipped a little. Oops! Like so many other people, I’ve done a little acquiring over the winter months!

By the way, I was impressed with myself for having less than 200 things on My 198 Things List when I moved into my Home, Sweet Yurt in September. But I realized as I was re-inventorying this week that since I did my inventory before moving into the yurt, I wasn’t counting the things I’d be living with that were not yet in my possession. I’m renting the yurt partially furnished with a bedframe, a table and two chairs, and a nightstand. Two water jugs, a one-burner cooktop, and a mini-fridge also came as part of the deal. I also forgot to count my power tools since they were still at the jobsite of My Summer Dream Job. So I when I compared today’s inventory to My 198 Things List, it seems like I’ve acquired 16 new things in the past few months, but about half them I just hadn’t yet counted. I wasn’t deliberately cheating. I just wasn’t taking into account the things that weren’t right there in front of me.

Knowing I had a smidge of wiggle room, I gave myself the okay to purchase a few things. One of my first acquisitions was My Kitchen Cupboard. Shortly after that I got myself a 700-watt microwave, which is smaller and less likely to trip my electrical circuit than the big one that moved here with me. When it started getting cool in October I bought myself another Envi Heater since I really liked living with one in the tiny house last year. I also got myself a Smart Klean laundry ball as I described in I Love my Laundromat even though it was one more thing and according to the rules I made for My 200 Things Challenge I wouldn’t have had to count laundry soap. I also got a dehumidifier to help in Managing Mildew & Moisture. And since I’m now living with rugs again after years of hardwood floors, I got myself a vacuum cleaner. It’s the Bucket Head, which fits onto the top of a 5 gallon bucket. It seemed like a very practical way to go since the bucket can be used for all sorts of other things, too. Yay multi-functionalism!

Most of those were very practical household items, but thanks to Portland’s amazing free boxes I’ve also acquired a few new clothing items. Speaking of clothes, one of the things I noticed as I swapped out my summer wardrobe for my fall wardrobe and then my fall wardrobe for my winter wardrobe is that I have more warm-weather clothes these days. When I tucked away some things away for winter (such as my short-sleeve shirts, capris, sandals, and my hammock) and got out my winter wardrobe (hello, felted wool hat, fuzzy scarves, and cozy gloves!) I realized it might be time for The Minimalist’s New Clothes.

But at the same time, I do really want to get back down to 200 things. I plan to take time over an upcoming weekend for Taking Stock without Stocking Up. I'll also be Getting All My Docs in a Row. I’d like to have a smidge of wiggle room because I do actually have a couple things on my wish list. Top of the list right now are a pair of cozy slippers. These floors are chilly on cold days!

Maintaining the Little Life

In September I marked A Year of Little Living by Downsizing from a Tiny House to a Tinier House. When I moved into a 113 square foot yurt I embarked upon My 200 Things Challenge. I've continued to learn a lot about simple living through these adventures. So now as 2012 winds down, I figured it's time to reevaluate.

As I moved my belongings out of the tiny house into My Summer Garden Cottage and then into my Home, Sweet Yurt, I had an opportunity to critically evaluate my possessions. When I began the process of downsizing a year and a half ago so that I could move into a tiny house on wheels, I was very intentional about choosing which possessions I would bring with me and what activities I would do. I knew I'd be busy studying for my Masters of Urban and Regional Planning, so I figured I'd need my very small collection of design reference books, my office supplies, and my laptop computer. I knew I wouldn't have as much time to cook or as much space to host dinner parties, but a well-stocked kitchen was important to me, even in a tiny house. And, of course, my clothes and bedding would be essential. Special things I brought along included my craft supplies, decorations, and scrapbooks. I rented out my two-bedroom bungalow in Walla Walla partially furnished and stored four boxes in a friend's basement.

I’ve never enjoyed shopping much so I didn’t have to give that up when I moved into a tiny house. But I do have a hard time turning down a good deal (especially free!) so this year I’ve had to be more intentional about not letting anything into my life that I don’t either know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. As I’ve thought about my consumption patterns I realize that I usually pick household items that I enjoy using. Good tools – like an impact driver that fits well in my small hands and flatware that has nice balance – make the task more enjoyable (and eating and building are pretty great anyhow!) So I insist upon comfy shoes and cozy coats... and delicious healthy food for that matter. Focusing on high quality things, whether durable or consumable, seems to really increase my quality of life, and that's invaluable. Some household things I consider essentials (such as sharp knives, a warm blanket, a comfy mattress). Others household things – like a set of candleholders and a pretty wooden salad bowl – aren’t necessities, but I think they make my house my home.

I haven’t acquired much over the past year. It helped that there simply wasn’t much room to store new things. My acquisitions were mostly things to support my Little Life: a drinking water quality hose, a Kill-A-Watt electricity meter, an Envi Heater, a utility bike with a rack for grocery-getting, and a speedier road bike for longer distances. I've been gifted a few things this past year, too, and fortunately most people have been very conscientious in their gifting. The items have been very special things that are worth counting, including some air plants (these are so cool!) and a my kitchen chicken (a clay sculpture, courtesy of my talented 10 year old cousin Baeven). Thanks to grad school I also seem to have collected more paperwork, too, but I’ll be Getting All My Docs in a Row sometime soon. So all things considered I've done pretty well at maintaining a Little Life.

In the next couple days I'll do a New Year's Re-Inventory to see where I stand with My 200 Things Challenge. Stay tuned for the update!