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Tiny House Part 19: Final Kitchen Tour

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

And today we reach the end of the kitchen tour, which is pretty much the final part of the house tour, though I will have more things to share. First up, the second built in!

I love how deep they were able to make this cabinet. As you can see, the top shelf is perfect for the two rectangle baskets. As I explained in a previous post, they’re woven rope and are 15x10x10. Because they are flexible and I have my mixing bowls in the one on the right, they’re not decorator rectangles, but they are definitely functional! The basket on the left houses my to-go containers. I’ve made no bones about the fact that I don’t cook, but I do occasionally buy frozen family-sized meals that I can cook in the microwave. Then I freeze leftovers for taking to the office to save money on eating out.

Ah, the rainbow baskets!

MINTWOOD Design 3-Pack Storage Baskets for Shelves, Playroom and Classroom Storage Basket, Book Basket, Decorative Storage Cube Bins, Woven Closet Organizers, Nursery Baskets, Rainbow

Study the picture again and you’ll see how they used more of the teak countertop to set me up with a microwave shelf. As you can see, they notched the teak to give me space for my fridge. They did this because I needed as many inches as I could possibly get in my closet! Maybe I’ll show you the closet later, but it still has way too much room for improvement.

There is plenty of room on the shelf in front of the microwave, however! And, as I mentioned before, the dryer serves me well as additional counter space.

And now, look at my adorable fridge! Yes, this vintage-style treasure is one of the delights of my life.

We found it at Sam’s Club, but believe it or not you can actually get it on Amazon and it comes in six colors! I chose white because I wanted it to match my washer and dryer, and because white works with pretty much everything, but you can also get it in black, a retro blue, creame, pink, and red. I’m not showing you the inside of mine, but here’s a screen shot from the Amazon ad.

It’s the iio 7 Cu Ft Bottom Freezer Retro Refrigerator, Small, with Mini Fridge for Bedroom, 3 Glass replacement Shelves, LED Light,1 Crisper, 2 Drawers, and I chose to take a screen shot of the blue one so you could glimpse the color that would have been my second choice. It stands 57″ high and 21.5″ wide and is very energy efficient. Also, as you can see, the fridge shelves are totally adjustable.

My decorator friend says she’s going to build me some kind of base that we can put under it to raise it up a little bit. It really doesn’t bother me, but she insists someone as tall as me shouldn’t have to bend over so much to reach the freezer. What I’ve not told her is that I usually just scoot over there in my desk chair if I’m going to be doing much in the freezer at all. Just one more advantage of tiny house living!

Ah, and the basket on top of the fridge is something I picked up randomly at T.J. Maxx. I keep my bread products in it: bread loaves, bagels, crackers, tortillas…that sort of thing.

Thank you for visiting my tiny house!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Tiny House Part 17: Kitchen Counter

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

As I’ve mentioned before, at first glance you’d think I have no counter space at all, but if you saw the larger photo of my kitchen area you know the washing machine butts right up against the kitchen counter and it serves me well as extra counter space. So does the dryer, which we’ll get to in another post. So here you go.

Major things first, my sink is huge and I’m so glad. I’d had concerns that I’d be stuck with something small. I should have known better; I’ve said more than once that they tried really hard to make this place as good as they possibly could for me. They weren’t going to let me down and not only gave me a great sink but a fabulous faucet. Second, isn’t this teak countertop amazing? It’s absolutely beautiful and allowed them to bring in a variety of raw woods elsewhere in the kitchen. Seeing them work on all of that was a revelation; wood has gotten so expensive!

They found the countertop at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and it’s a great example of the bargains you can find there. People assume these stores are filled with things that have been pulled out of demolished houses, and there is that, but there are also pallets of factory overstocks and other brand new items. This particular countertop was long enough that they used part of it here and part to build my microwave shelf, which you’ll see soon, and will still be able to make my sis a beautiful, large cutting board.

So, on the counter, left to right…

Fiberwise, by Melaleuca. Not anything you’re probably interested in, but when you hit menopause fiber becomes especially important as it helps with things like cholesterol. (Remember that TIA I had a while back? Right.)

Now, on the sink? That, my friends, is a stainless steel, Roll Up Dish Drying Rack and it is the bomb. I have it rolled out for the benefit of this picture, but I can roll or fold it up as much or as little as I like, or even roll it and store it. I’ve also discovered that if I fold it up in three layers it will hold my lightweight plate as it dries (otherwise the tall thing flops sideways). If you have a small kitchen, this thing is a great! It’s another of those items that I saw and thought, “Hm…” and have been very glad I purchased.

Two other things about the sink. I don’t use bar soaps much, if at all, but was given some soap samples recently. That little, cream-colored block you see in the sink stopper that sits by the Dawn? It’s one of those samples and I discovered that sink stoppers make great small-soap holders. The blue spray bottle is Dawn Powerwash and I cannot recommend it enough. It’s what I usually use to wash my hands, works great as a clothing pre-treat (especially with oil or grease) and of course is fantastic for dishes. It seems like it would be a waste of money, but I find that a bottle lasts a very long time; you just have to avoid the temptation to spray ridiculous amounts.

Dawn Powerwash Spray Starter Kit, Platinum Dish Soap, Fresh Scent, 1 Starter Kit + 1 Dawn Powerwash Refill, 16 Fl Oz (Pack of 2)

There are only two other things on the counter that I’ll link to. The trivet in the lower right corner of the photo was a gift and I use it constantly since I don’t risk putting anything hot on those wood counters. The plate on the plate rack is primarily decoration since the plate isn’t microwave safe. One day I’ll find a microwave safe plate I actually like and replace it.

The ZeroWater 6-Cup 5-Stage Water Filter Pitcher has been a fixture in my life for years. I don’t like our city water at all, and it’s best to filter minerals out of the water before using an electric kettle, so this stays on the counter permanently. If I drank my water cold, I would of course keep it in the fridge, but I’m one of those strange people who, while I can drink cold water, am just as happy drinking it at room temp.

And last you see one of my HoShip Silicone Spoon Rests. They’re food grade silicone spoon rests that are lovely, dishwasher safe, and store in a very small area. Highly recommended!

I hope you’re having a great day!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Tiny House Part 16: Built In

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

One of the big things about tiny houses is using every inch of space you can. In this case, because my apartment was going inside an existing metal building (a well insulated metal building), they were able to take advantage of a few deep and wide breaks in the framing to make me some built-ins. This one, as you can see in the photo, is at the end of my long shelf. Yes, the shelf runs right up to it, but I don’t care. Again, space is important!

So, the top shelf is kind of a hiding spot for glass measuring cups and that sort of thing; you can barely see them in the back behind the yellow cup I don’t use much. It is a nice tea cup, but I like the infuser on the blue cup from last week just a little better. The other big thing on that shelf is another of my favorite purchases.

I like toast. I like toaster pastries. I like (ok, love) bagels with cream cheese. So yes, I really like my toaster! It’s the iSiLER 2 Slice Toaster. It has extra wide slots for my bagels, multiple darkness adjustments, a cancel button, and an easy-to-clean tray. It also has a place on bottom to wrap your cord for storage, which is awesome for me since I don’t keep it out all the time. And it’s only 9.5 inches long by 5.3 inches wide by 7 inches tall – so it fits!

The second shelf holds sugar in a Kerr jar, a couple of books and a painted pineapple for decoration, and two glasses I got at the dollar store because they were pretty. “Pretty” is also what prompted me to buy the flatware you see in the glass jars on the bottom shelf, and “pretty” is why they’re displayed the way they are. They’re the Kitiok rainbow flatware set and I did buy them off Amazon. Unfortunately, they’re not available anymore and I’m not going to risk linking to a set I’ve not seen for myself. 

But if you like color like I do, you may want to look around and find a set that’s similar. I’ve had these for quite a while and they still make me smile every time I pull one out.

And then there’s just the crock with the larger utensils I hardly ever use. The odds are good most of them, like so many other unneeded items, will end up walking to my sister’s kitchen. For a while there, she just looked up and laughed every time I stepped in the back door to drop things on her kitchen island that I’d finally admitted I’ll never use (or could borrow them from her if I needed them).

Short and sweet this week!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Tiny House Part 12: The Shower

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

Seriously? She’s going to tell us about her shower?

Yes. Yes, I am. I am going to tell you about my shower because it was such a big part of the design challenge.

We were so tight on space that I assured them I would be fine with the smallest shower stall they make. I think that was 32xs32? Fortunately for me, when they were shopping, she stepped inside that tiny one and realized even she couldn’t hack anything so small longterm, and I’m taller than she is. Instead, they got me a 36×36 and I have been grateful ever since. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind a little more space. This is sufficient; it works great in fact. I just can’t imagine going any smaller. So, if you’re building, consider what you realistically need. Yes, we sacrificed a few inches in the main room, but it was more than worth the investment!

They installed an instantaneous water heater in the “attic” above my bath, and it provides plenty of hot water. Oh, and they got me a rainhead. I’ve never had one before and this one, especially since it’s adjustable, is amazing.

The shower curtain is from Amazon. I hunted forever, or so it felt, until I found just the right design to keep me in remembrance of our cruises. This is actually a 60″ curtain (Technically it should have been 48.”) because when I looked at the smaller version it seemed that they had distorted the picture to make it fit. I had originally planned to have this one cut down, but instead I just folded some of the fabric and doubled up on a couple of the hooks. That lets it spread out so I can see it, with the extra fabric not too very noticeable off to the side. (And yes, I got in a hurry taking this photo so it’s not hanging properly on the right side.)

I will include a link to this curtain, just in case anyone wants it, but I warn you that you must have a sense of humor to appreciate it. Near the bottom there are some definite misprints. Mostly it’s a couple of fish that are missing pieces of their bodies, but then there is this.

It’s close to the bottom, so as far as I know no one else has ever even noticed it, but every time I see this bear peeking at me above a wall of water I chuckle. My sense of humor is just quirky enough that I didn’t even consider returning the curtain; I keep it as a sort of trophy of silliness.

Finally, I offer these two photos to share my personal bathroom hack. Moving from a full-size bath to a shower stall left me with extra shower curtain hooks, and I discovered that they are a tremendous help. The hook on the shower head holds my bath brush and scrubby without taking up anywhere near as much space as the shower caddy I’d brought with me from the other house. The two hooks I keep on my shower rod (I actually store them both where the right one is) are ideal for hanging wet swimsuits or other things that need to drip dry. I have thanked myself many times for not tossing the “extra” hooks when I was purging.

And that’s it for the bath!
Yeele Fish Shower Curtains Blue Ocean Under The Sea Shower Curtain

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C