Keeping the Spice in Your Tiny House

Literally.

Really, this is a problem or could be a problem if we don't figure it out.

I like to use a lot of different spices in my cooking and baking and I buy them in bulk.  During the transition of the last year most of my spices were packed away in a rubbermaid tub and lack of easy access prevented me from using them.  When I began unpacking them I realized we may have a problem here.

They take up half my counter space!!

Speaking of counter space, I love what my husband did to give me more of it!  First, he put up the shelves that have been down since we Varethaned; my tupperware is now on the walls NOT on the counter. 

Then he brought in the counter top that had come with the house and reorganized the fridge and freezer to make it all work.  This is a temporary solution since we plan to put our range where the toaster over is but I'm so much happier working in a kitchen with counter space!

This expanse of space must have encouraged me to unpack my spices.  Silly me.  

Now I have hardly any counter space again!  

But, Oh, did the curried chicken breast and rice taste good!

I really don't want to downsize my spices to much (I'm already downsizing from 20oz jars to 15oz and keeping the smaller sizes of the spices I don't use as often).

So, here's the plan.  

A very specifically made spice rack made to fit on the wall in between these windows 

and made to fit each of my spices 

OR a rack made to fit in the beams on the ceiling.

If they're on the wall they're going to stick out from the wall a good 6 inches because they will have to lie flat on shelves.  If they're in between the beams, I'm not sure of how convenient it will be to get them down or how much of the ceiling space they would have to take up.

There's also the option of having some on the wall and some on the ceiling.

Not sure what we're going to do yet.

The problem of my spices has yet to be solved.

My husband is busy planning and preparing to create a sitting area so the spices will be hanging out on the counter for the time being, unless I think of a better temporary place for them!

Lost in the Tiny House

I've accomplished the unlikely: I have lost something in the Tiny House.

I have looked and looked and looked some more and it is NO WHERE to be found!

I have two necklaces I treasure.  They were gifts from my husband and they are really special to me.  When we moved I put them in my wallet zipper pouch where they stayed for months while we transitioned here and there.  One of them I took out and began wearing, especially once we were "settled" into the Tiny House, but I would always put it in a separate place from my other necklaces.

This summer when we started moving everything around again I didn't want to lose my necklace.  I also didn't want to put it in my wallet again.  I figured that if my wallet was stolen I would never get the necklace back.  I thought of a safe place to put the necklace and stored it there.

Exactly.

The location of THERE, the "safe" place for my necklace, has COMPLETELY slipped my mind.  I looked through every possible location my brain even hinted at remembering and I still can't find the necklace.

Honestly, I was so desperate I thought maybe I stored it in a tupperware container with food.  I quickly told myself how ridiculous the idea was; I wasn't crazy when I stored it, I'm just crazy trying to remember where I stored it.

It's got to be here somewhere; there just aren't very many places in this house for a necklace to be stored!

I'll probably find it in 20 years.  Don't worry though, I'll be sure to post when I find it!

Storage Stairs are BACK!

And they're better than EVER!!

My husband sanded them until they were soft and smooth.

He stained them 4 different colors.

Then triple coated them with Varethane.

I'm REALLY happy to have a place to hang my coats

and store my shoes again!  Not to mention, this looks SO MUCH NICER than the ladder and mess we've had in it's place since we started Varethaning the inside of the house!

This, This is Why I Live In a Tiny House

Vacuuming and more vacuuming...hours and hours of vacuuming...my life wasting away as I move the vacuum back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

Then there's sweeping, sweeping, sweeping and more sweeping.  Our old house had hardwood and laminate flooring throughout and I NEVER seemed to be caught up on the sweeping.  I was often faced with two choices: embrace the dirty floor or give up my life to sweeping.  I often lost the battle and decided I'd embrace the dirt...not that I liked the dirt because no, I did not, but I did like doing other things with my life besides sweeping!

Cleaning was/is a major factor in why I live in a tiny house.  I vacuumed and swept my entire floor in 15 minutes yesterday.  My house is clean right now and I love it!

Big plans for traveling was/is another VERY motivating factor in why I agreed to (and continue to) live in a tiny house.  Neither my husband or I work in professions that provide much more than we need.  Going on trips AND having a mortgage just wasn't possible.  

Now, big plans are not only possible they are happening!  

Our first adventure landed us on the beautiful island of Maui.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but one note first: There are pros and cons to living in a tiny house; vacationing is certainly a pro!

One other little side note: I really had no idea this color blue occurred quite naturally in nature.  

It was breathtaking.

There you have it friends...in a little nutshell of pictures is the reason why I live in a tiny house!  

Aloha!