Downsizing: The saga continues...

In a previous post I suggested that each of us who wants to downsize ask ourselves, "If my place were to burn down today, could I live without this item?" I thought that if I didn't need it in daily living that it could easily be purged. I have also explained that in our choice to voluntary simplify that we don't want to feel as if we are punishing ourselves. We want some comfort, not simply the bare necessities, so downsizing turned out to be easier said than done.

Selling things was hard for me. I had my own shop tools because I really enjoy creating sculpture by welding and woodworking. These tools have been in storage for awhile because I had found shared space where someone had these tools for me to use. Now, as I sold my tools I felt as if part of my identity was being ripped away. Will I be able to find another place in Seattle where I can rent shop time like I did before the move? I hoped so and had to believe that I will. I reasoned that I will be able to buy tools again if I ever really need them.

Since Jeff was in the build space all day near the end of construction while in California, we moved all of my tools and other odds and ends from my storage unit there. He was very good at talking with people who came to look at the items after I posted them on Craigslist. It was cash only & prices were firm. I probably set the prices lower than they needed to be because we were pressured with a deadline to move to Washington very shortly. I didn't want to have to bring more things with us to sell later. I was also happy to hand over the sales task to Jeff and not to have to deal with it (the psychological discomfort) any longer.

Jeff's only big items was his mission & leather furniture. When I married him he came with a whole apartment full of well made furniture that could be handed down to another generation or two. We have lived in many apartments and houses over the years and his was the type of furniture that when people came into our space for the first time they'd say, "Wow!". It was comfortable, it was beautiful, it was sturdy. Rick was moving to Albuquirky a few weeks before our move to Seattle and he said that he wanted to buy it all. Rick got a really great deal, Jeff was pleased to see his collection stay together and that it went to a friend, and this sale saved us from writing ads, etc.

What we sold: wood/metal shop tools, apartment full of furniture.

The give away was quicker and easier than the sales were (of course). I was short on time but we lived in a large apartment complex so I took a few color pictures, made some flyers and posted them in each of the buildings lobbies early one Saturday. By 5pm all of the items had been removed from my apartment by very happy, nice people. I didn't have to post them on Craigslist or Freecycle or cart them off to Goodwill and I felt as if lightening my load had made me happier as well.

What we gave away: desk, leather computer chair, collection of masks from around the world, plants, quality queen & twin mattresses, lacquered storage chest, lamps, house wares, antique armoire, dining table, file cabinet, shelves, clothes...

Not all things went though.

What we kept: 2 folding leather chairs, 1 wooden chair, tableware and silverware for four, pans, some clothes / shoes... currently we have a large toolbox in our living room with some fabric thrown over it for use as a sofa as well as 3 other boxes of hand tools / building supplies. As construction slows these tools will go into my brother's basement. I also have 4 boxes of fabric that are currently in my mom's house and these will come to our house for storage under a real sofa once I find one that fits our odd requirements (needs to fit in the 22" wide door, needs to be shallow, but can be 7' long). What I'm thinking is 4 to 6 dining chairs attached side by side with some padding on top; a unit that will look like a Swedish settee. I do woodworking, and I can sew, so making something like this (rather than buying something from Ikea) will be easy and is much more appealing to Jeff and me.

What we bought: a really decent mattress, coir floor mats with rubber underneath them for the foyer because it's going to be wet soon and we need a place to drip while we remove our shoes when we arrive home, a small 'side table' with shoe cubbies below to sit on in the foyer while removing our shoes, 2 wire hanging baskets for fruit to free up the counter tops, screws and other stuff to finish building.

Tip: Give yourself more time to get rid of things than you think it will take. You think it will take 6 months? Give yourself a year. I feel as if I could have recovered some of the money I'd spent on the items if I'd sold them instead of given them away, or sold them at higher prices, but I simply felt rushed to sell them so they went for yard sale prices. Avoid the stress of rushing, and avoid the feeling of losing money off the good work of downsizing, by giving yourself lots of time to get comfortable with the process.

Some folks… and the idea of scheduling

Most folks have been very supportive of our choice to downsize and live in a tiny cottage. Some folks have already downsized or are also in the process of doing this, some folks have said “Oh, you’re living my dream!” but would never do this themselves, and some folks (like my dad) think we’re nuts and can’t imagine living in a small space let alone getting rid of most of their stuff. Well, nuts or not we're going to do it.

Jeff is still building full-time an hour and a half north of me but I still have my day job and am now alone at our apartment in the evenings purging/boxing the last of our belongings. Sure, I get to sleep in a real bed while he’s getting bruised by day and sleeping on a hundred year old futon by night, but purging stuff is hard work too.

I recently had to take a week off to spend time with my teenage son while he was hospitalized unexpectedly (this is why I mentioned the IDEA of scheduling time). This was actually a great thing since he’s been waiting for a long time for a liver transplant and it has finally happened. Woohoo!!!! He’s doing extremely well (he was out of the hospital in 6 days!), it all went smoothly, and now he’s back at his dad’s home getting pampered while he recovers for the next 6 weeks. I was worried that he’d get the call to come in because they found a liver donor match while Jeff, Rick and I were towing our tiny cottage through Oregon. I feel very relieved that I was still around to be right there when it happened and to be able to take the week to hang out with him!

Our cabinet maker friend and family will be taking a few much needed days vacation this week so we are running a bit behind in that area now. Life happens... so our 'schedule' has changed. Our move date is now two weeks later than previously planned. This os ok though since Jeff will still have two weeks before he is needed at school after our move. Moving the date back seems to have taken a lot of stress out of the building process (which is a good!).
Well, after my week off of building I wanted to feel like I’d accomplished something in connection with our move/cottage so I started small. I purged the bathroom. It was easy to get rid of the shampoos, etc that we never use. Oh, and the hair dryer for guests… has now left the building.

Linens was easy. One bed and a tiny bathroom only needs so much.

Next was my books. Ugh. I’m still having trouble with this and am at a total of 5 boxes (those paper ream types from the office). I’m down from double that amount but I want to get it down to 2 boxes since that’s all I’ll have room for. I’m still working on this.

Last night was my clothes closet. Much easier than I thought it would be but I’m not done yet. I boxed what I think I will ‘need’ but will still need to get rid of about half of what’s left. I know I won’t wear all of it but how to decide what I will is difficult. I’ll have to do another pass on this.

Tonight I will start to purge papers. I have lots of papers filed (in boxes, in no order whatsoever) but will scan the ones I really need and will shred or toss the rest. Unread magazine articles will go, performance reports from work from 8 years ago will go (uh, why did I bring this home?) but my sketches for artwork will be scanned for further thought (and hopefully action). This paper task will easily take a week and it will sometimes be emotional. It really needs to get done though.

When I need a break from papers I will purge the kitchen. This should be easy. I already have 4 plates, cups and silverware boxed. Getting rid of the crock pot, blender, etc will be very easy. We use them about once a year.

Boxing up the camping/skiing gear will follow that.

Rick just bought all of Jeff’s Mission style furniture, lamps and the leather sofa and chair. (He sent us pictures of his new place in Albaquirky and it all looks great overlooking the sunset!) I’ll freecycle the two mattresses, dining room table, a couple of lamps and the desk. Mark said he wants the file cabinet and shelves, Craigslist will get the antique armoire, then we’re done…

Our 700 sf apartment is fairly empty at this point. Our lease is up on September 1 so this is a very good thing. I look around and it feels freeing to have pared down to this little bit.

My List of 100 Things

I recently saw a list like this on a blog about another couple who are downsizing their possessions too. Jeff and I will be calculating the total square footage available for storage before we move into our cottage but I thought this would be a great exercise to try before that.

Here is my tentative list of things that I'll keep:

jeans
jeans
dressy pants
shirt
shirt
shirt
shirt
shirt
dressy top
dressy top
cowboy boots
workboots
sneakers
dressy shoes
bike/helmet
bike shoes
coat (black leather)
coat (brown suede)
raincoat
fedora
purse
backpack
scarf
gloves
battery powered clock
cup
bowl
plate
silverware
mixing bowl
mixing bowl
manual juicer
manual veg. slicer
decent kitchen knife
spice grinder
antique speckle ware frypan
small wooden box from Jeff
handmade box from Kirk
mp3/headphones
toothbrush
digital camera/charger
cell phone/charger
rechargeable batteries/charger
bath towel
bed pillow
sunglasses
reusable shopping bag
reusable shopping bag
antique telephone
portable victrola
record
record
record
record
record
record
watch
sewing machine
roll of quilting bat
1 box fabric
1 box fabric
1 box fabric
deck of cards/cribbage board
1 toolbox
1 toolbox
book
book
book
book
book
book
book
book
book
book
#75+ undecided so far

Downsizing – How To - Part 3 of 3

What will you need to live comfortably?
We've recently scaled back our energy and water consumption drastically and have noticed that we're still quite comfortable. This practice will be easy to continue in the Tiny Cottage.


We've decided to use propane for heating, cooking and the on-demand hot water heater. For most lighting we'll use a bunch of LED rechargeable battery-powered strips and occasionally a couple of LED Christmas light strings for mood lighting.

We chose a compost toilet which is huge compared to everyday toilet sizes but this unit requires less fiddling with than others we found. We'd rather use this sort of system than to own a black water tank and experience the joys of finding a place to dump it.


Since we can't make water (and no, it doesn't always rain in Seattle) we'll need a garden hose hookup for showers and will use a grey water system to give it safely back to the environment. The installation of rain barrel or two will happen after the move so that we will use less 'grid' water and we already have a very low-flow shower head that has an on/off mechanism to bring with us.

We'll need an extension cord from our host house to give us power for only our tiny frig and the LED Christmas lights. At some point we might go solar but we don't yet know where we'll be parked (if you have any leads for us in/near Seattle then please let us know) so we're not sure that we'll be able to get enough power off of that to be cost effective. We'll figure this out after the move.

Will H. recently gave me a great mandoline (manual veg slicer) so we'll keep that as well as our manual juicer, some utensils, a few dishes, pans, cups and a favorite cutting board. The Champion Juicer stays for a while but will go at some point. I use it often now but haven't yet decided how often I'll use it after the move; they're expensive to replace.

We're looking to downsize, not to live like we're punishing ourselves. Voluntary simplicity can be comfortable. Keep the things you need and use and get rid of the rest.

What goes?

Things we don't use often or at all anymore include a food processor, microwave, crock pot, Foreman grill, toaster, Ronco food dehydrator, rice maker, blender, hand mixer, lots of towels, sheets and clothes along with the before-mentioned tools and most books.

Important papers will be scanned and kept on disk. Antique family photos will be scanned and my brother will get the originals. None of these will be missed.

What brings you happiness?
I'm not a 'recreational shopper' but my teenage son does outgrow his clothes so I do occasionally find myself in a store and sometimes I do get an urge to buy a nifty-new-thingy just because I'm there.


I try to remember that money spent on something that I don’t truly need now, takes away from other areas in my life where it could be more enjoyably used. I love to travel, attend live performances and take classes. Now, before I purchase something, I make much more of an effort to ask if how I’m spending my hard-earned cash will actually make me happy.


Usually, I know that the item-of-interest will only be used for a short time before I get bored with it, it exists but I don't really see it, or it gets stored in a closet. Instead of buying one, can I borrow the nifty-new-thingy from a friend? Can I rent one for a couple of days just for 'the experience'? I remind myself that once its life with me is done that I will spend more time and energy getting rid of it and I know I'll be doing the environment a favor by borrowing or renting rather than buying too.

Have you downsized your possessions or changed your spending habits? How and why?

Downsizing – How To - Part 2 of 3

How much time and energy do you want to spend on your 'things'?

When I buy something, even if it's from a thrift shop, I've spent time looking for it and money to purchase it. I've learned to pay cash instead of using credit so that I'm not paying the hidden cost of interest on it as well. Even if it was free from Freecycle, it cost me time to read the listings and time and money for gasoline to pick it up.

I pay rent to house the item while it lives with me, I also need to pay to move it when I move, some people pay a cleaning person to keep it dusted, buy a security system to make sure that no one steals it, and some of us fall for the idea that if it feels crowded in our home that it's a good idea to pay rent to hide things in a storage facility. (Ug, don't do it!!!)

When does the time and money suck stop when it comes to the things we own?
Certainly not when we want to get rid of it. This requires research to see what can I sell it for, renting a van to move it out of storage so that I can sell it easier, time to write the blurb to put onto Craigslist or Ebay, time to meet with people to see if they are interested in buying it, and on and on.

I definitely plan on buying less in the future.

Downsizing – How To - Part 1 of 3

How am I downsizing my possessions and how can you do this too?

How do you decide what to keep and what to get rid of?
Do you really love the item or are you keeping it because it cost you a lot to buy it, a good friend gave it to you or you'll fit into it again someday when you lose weight? Unless you really love it and use it often, it can go. If you want to keep it because of a memory, then take a picture of it so you'll still 'have it' to remember it by.

How much space do you want to fill?
Although Jeff and I will be moving into a home with a footprint of 8'x20' we are currently renting a 700sf apartment and have rented as large a space as a 2200sf live/work loft. Needless to say we have things to sell off. Those things include furniture that we love and use daily (but won't have space for) as well as items from a storage space that I have had for 4 years and haven't looked into in about 6 months. All of it goes. Craigslist, Ebay, gifting to friends, charity donations. I've done yard sales but won't do them again.

The emotional aspect of downsizing:
The other day I felt very overwhelmed. Jeff was helping me empty my storage unit and I had forgotten how much was in there. As I wheeled the MIG welder to the moving van I smiled remembering the last item that I made with it but then thought, "This will need to be sold. I'm losing part of my identity!"

That's often how we think about many of the items that we buy. For example, we buy a shirt because maybe the 'look' says something about us to others or by wearing it we feel a certain way. We don't usually buy it because it simply covers what society says it should or have decided that it will keep us warm enough in cold weather.

I had to ask myself, "If my place were to burn down today, could I live without this?" I knew that I certainly didn't need it in daily living and so would not replace it. I can now sell it and feel more at peace with the choice.

Downsizing - It's hard. "Just Do It"

It's a fact that I can't take most of what I own with me when we move into our tiny hand-built cottage in August. I want to practice what I have recently read was called 'voluntary simplicity' but sometimes it’s still hard to part with items. Some items have value or meaning to me. They evoke feelings.

Books being one of them. I love books, almost everything is written either in books or on the web and I want to know about everything. How to make shoes, who invented eyeglasses, what makes people laugh; I want to learn all of it. I think it's mom's fault. When we were little she bought my brother and me a book called "Tell Me Why" and another called "Lots More Tell Me Why". The tag line on the books was something like 'answers to hundreds of questions children ask'.

She also used to take us for nature walks which probably started my love for the outdoors. I bought the Foxfire books as well as a bunch by Tom Brown, Jr about urban or wilderness survival as well as animal tracking.

Well, yesterday I did the first pass at my bookshelf and can proudly tell you that 6 boxes were sold to a local book store. Now I have only another 7 boxes to sort through!

How does someone figure out their favorite-of-favorite books that they don't want to part with? The ones that I buy can't be found at the library, even through the Link+ program.

How many boxes of books will be allowed to follow me to the new cottage?

Downsizing – Needs vs Wants

I’ve never been a ‘shopper’ but now I’m reallllly starting to think about any new purchases differently. This project is just starting and already I see changes in my behavior. I wonder:

Do I really need this?

Will it fit in the cottage? And

Will Jeff roll his eyes and sigh when I bring an item home saying,
"Sweetie, really, it followed me home. Can I keep it?"

For example, two months ago I was out and about alone and bought a small 'puzzle table' at about the same time that we were putting the finishing touches on our interior layout. After the purchase I looked online and found that it was made by an artist named David Kawecki in the 90's. I like his chair too but it won't seat both of us and is probably too big to come with us anyway.

Well, I bought the table because I thought it was an ingenious design (it disassembles into 5 pieces and can be stored flat when not in use) and because Jeff loves puzzles. I really thought he'd smile when he saw it.

I do love the table but Jeff did sigh when he saw it, and although he didn't roll his eyes, he definitely didn't smile either. I can deal with the fact that he might not be as enthusiastic about the table as I am but after trying to figure out where in the new floor plan I could 'keep' it, I'm afraid we will have no room for it. It'll have to go.

So now I have decided that until we finish the cottage I will have to start carrying my digital camera in case I see something that I think I might want to buy. I'll learn to take a picture of the item in question instead of buying it so that I can 'possess' it but it won't own me. (This idea will come in handy when Jeff and I travel in the future as I always sneak some nifty looking rocks into my luggage to take home. Never the tiny ones either. Pictures of rocks will be much lighter after a month of travel.)

We have also discussed trying to figure out what items to keep based on the square footage of personal storage space that we each will be allowed. We can use string on the floor to outline the box size then simply assign it a height. How many books, art supplies and clothes will fit in there?

Once we move into the cottage it will be very easy not to buy anything new since there will be no place to put it. The floor plan we have come up with uses healthy 'green building' materials, will be beautiful and will efficiently serve all of our needs and wants in a home.

Monday's post will be
Downsizing - It's sometimes hard but "Just Do It"
.

Downsizing – Part One

I've done it before, this thing called 'downsizing' of my possessions. It was 1998, I was recently divorced and living in SF as a single mom. I couldn't find full-time work in The City but heard through co-workers that there was an opening in their Seattle office.

I was offered the job and it was freeing to get rid of most everything that owned me in anticipation of our move. Freeing was definitely what it felt like when I considered moving.

What size moving van would we need, there were steps to move from so should I hire movers (Delancey Street Movers are amazing!), what size apartment will we need to move to and in what neighborhood to keep it all safe. Those answers would severely limit our choices of livable spaces simply because of what we owned, and trust me, I've never enjoyed limits very much.

Well, I gave away cherished items to friends who had admired them, sold things at a yard sale or gave them to charity. We left California with only the smallest enclosed trailer that held an antique birdseye maple armoire, some clothes, books, toys, 2 bikes and a few basic living items.

If it didn't fit in the trailer then it couldn't come with us.
It's a wonderful feeling that I look forward to again…

If it doesn’t fit into this tiny new cottage, then it won’t come with us.

Media Inquiries – Facts About Our Project

The following information describes our building project. If you have other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. We can reached at "mobilecottage.blogspot at gmail.com"

Why are you building a tiny house to live in?
This tiny cottage began as a project that we thought would be fun to work on together. We have both been interested in architecture since we were very young, have wanted to build our own home ‘someday’ since we were old enough to be out on our own, and are experienced ‘tool people’ so building it ourselves seems easily possible.

What does this project mean to you?
Building this tiny home is a way that we can live our dream of designing and building our own home. We’re building it with VOC free, high quality building materials. It will be very energy efficient with minimal material usage or solid waste going into a landfill. Without a mortgage we will have more freedom and options. This is our solution to help with environmental concerns and sustainability while lowering our living expenses. We purposely chose a cute exterior design so that people wouldn’t mind looking into their backyards and seeing us there.

Won’t it be too small for you two to live in full-time?
We are building a slightly larger version than some of the designs we have seen. Some people think that living in a space this size is impossible but there are many couples (and families) who happily live on boats or are full-time RVers. This type of living situation can work, and maybe because of the current hard economic times, there will be many who never thought it possible but who are now considering simplifying their lives as well as spending less on housing / utilities.

Why do you think it’s important to downsize your possessions?
In this country house sizes continue to grow. Larger houses create more land fill and waste, have larger power consumption needs, require larger lots, and more furniture. If we're buying more things for our bigger houses, then we need more square footage for our stores and bigger parking lots. We wonder why our commutes are so long!
We don't think this trend is sustainable and we want to do our part to help change things. Instead of commuting, we’d rather go hiking, take classes or socialize with friends. Paring way down to the minimum that we need, plus a few items that simply make us smile, and moving into a healthy, small, energy efficient environment is our reaction to all of this. We’d love to get to know our new neighbors and be part of the community and we think our tiny house is a step in that direction.

How do you think this project will change your lives?
We have never lived in a space the size of our tiny cottage for longer than a month but we’re certain that whatever challenges come with living in close quarters, we’ll figure out a solution that will make us both happy. We’ve read a lot about living full-time in small spaces (boats, RV’s) and can’t see any big problems with this that can’t be worked out. We already know that we travel light, enjoy each other’s company, are laid back and are willing to compromise. For a month long overseas trip we took a few years ago, we brought one carry-on each and really had a great time even during long car rides in the very tiny rental car.

What are the facts about your tiny cottage?
* Our tiny cottage exterior measures 8.5’wide and 24’ long (including the length of the trailer tongue).
* We will be using a propane tank for cooking and heating. Other tiny home owners say that heating during the winter even where there is snow costs them less than $10 a month.
* We have a composting toilet so we don't need a sewer hookup. No, it doesn’t smell like the porta potties in the park do. The compost is harvested about 3 to 4 times a year. The final product (thankfully) looks nothing like what goes into making it.
* We will need a garden hose hookup for dishes and showers when we aren’t at the YMCA or UW gym. The hose is an RV hose that can be heated using a tiny amount of electricity during really cold days so it won’t freeze.
* We have few appliances, so an outdoor extension cord from a host house will be fine. Someday we plan to go solar because our electric requirements will be so low.
* Our water from dishes and showers will be recycled (as we'll use only biodegrade soaps) by watering nearby plants so we’d like to have a few containers with vegetables or flowers in front of our cottage or would like to plant a small raised bed garden nearby.
* Building codes? The majority of municipalities have minimum size requirements and other constraints even for ‘accessory buildings’. However, trailers are not fixed structures so they have different legal requirements than local building codes.

What are you looking for?
* A 30 minute or less commute by public transport to the University District.
* We’re not interested in publicity so we’d like to be placed somewhere that the general public won’t be stopping by to peek in the windows out of curiosity or bothering the homeowners that we rent space from by walking uninvited up their private drive to get a better look at our cottage.
* A reasonable monthly rent as we only need a parking space sized area, our utility use will be very minimal, and we’ll be outside of your home so you’ll still have privacy. We bring our own ‘room’ (kitchen/bath/bedroom/living room) but expect to pay about what a room rental costs since we take up as little space. Rooms for rent seem to be running $400+ currently in Seattle near the university. Utilities could be added on top of the basic rent if it’s found that our usage shows on the monthly utility bills.
* Arlene is willing to help with house repairs/remodeling (she'll have a bit of experience in all areas by then) or gardening for an agreed upon number of hours per week in exchange for paying a rent close to the amount suggested above. Maybe someone has an elderly relative who needs help around the house or who could use some extra income? Pet/house sitting while our host travels is an option too as well as daily dog walking.
* Arlene will be looking for work upon relocation to Seattle. She’d like to possibly continue doing CADwork for consulting engineering firms but will also be looking at architectural firms who work on LEED projects. She is currently pursuing LEED certification so work as a consultant for other projects such as this one, for environmental conservation with respects to the building industry, or as someone who deals with recycling building products so they don’t end up as landfill, might also be options. She is also currently working on creating innovative LED light fixture designs.

Have there been any parts of this project that were unexpected?
For such a small project it’s actually effecting our lives in many ways. We’ve learned much more about each other and it’s improved our skills of communication, cooperation and compromise. We’ve also become much more knowledgeable in ecological conservation issues and which sustainable building products are readily available (and affordable) than we thought we’d need to be for this project.

What would you tell others who see your tiny cottage and want to build one too?
If you’re not an experienced builder then do your research ahead of time so your project will go smoother; use the library. We did this and were very happy that we did. Also, realize that no set of plans that you might buy will be set in stone. Because your trailer dimensions will vary, your needs and wants will vary from the designers’, you will need to change the construction plans. We never found a set that was complete so being able to make decisions based on the previous knowledge one has about building (for example, “If I do this, then what else will it effect?”) , and to get things done on the fly, will come in very handy.

Other FAQs

what model hot water heater you installed? Precision Temp RV-500.
It's a tankless, on demand, propane hot water heater.
http://www.precisiontemp.com/pt_rvmd_rv500.html