Tiny House Week Part 2: Clayton's Room

Building on yesterday's back story on taking a leap of faith and building our own house, I want to stress that we did it because of stress.  We needed to change our lives and dismiss the idea that we were "suppose" to live a certain way and instead forge our own path to make our lives better in spite of all the obstacles we had been given.  Life with Clayton was too complicated for both of us to work.  And one income was too stressful for the life we were living.  The stress of everything had become overwhelming to both of us.  So I started making very deliberate efforts to eliminate stress everywhere it wasn't absolutely necessary.  I then developed ways for us to divide and conquer as best we could.
I rock at being Clayton's advocate and medical manager; so naturally, that became my role and allowed George to stress less over that.  I also manage our finances, which means George can do his thing and go to work everyday and not have to worry so much about crunching the numbers.  I predominantly carry those burdens for us and that allows George to focus on what he needs to focus on which is being our provider.  And to ensure he would be the best provider possible, we agreed he would finish his degree.  Which again helps me stress less because my husband will have his degree which will give him a leg up in addition to the many skills he already has.  And all of that allows me to worry less about our potential for economic stability.  Then building this house and living with our new monthly mortgage meant we had more money for prescriptions and copays for Clayton and I was able to again, stress less about finances.  So we divided and conquered the inevitable stresses and eliminated nonessential stresses; that I'll talk about in another post next week.
Ultimately we just focused our energy on eliminating stress and learning to manage our lives in a healthier way.  Having a special needs child makes you worry even more then normal about your health and we knew that we would never be able to sustain any level of decent health under the pressure we were under.  Stress wreaks havoc on the body and we have stress enough for an entire army.  Hands down, what we have done so far are the best things we have ever done and I am so grateful we were able to learn these lessons now and change our life accordingly now rather than later.

Anyhow, that is the thinking and motivation behind the plan for the house we built and the small additions that will come.  So on to the good stuff. 

While I'm sure no one was interested in my closet, I think a number of people have been curious about Clayton's room.  Probably more so since I revealed how small it was yesterday.  So here you go:

The view from the master.

Storage is the big issue in such a small space.  That said, finding storage that worked best for Clayton took some doing.  He makes a mess of everything.  I mean everything.  You cannot keep a room tidy with him.  I'm not just talking about his things, but your things too!  It definitely takes effort and lots of trial and error to figure out what will help him to keep things tidy.  Originally I hoped the basket on his shelf would work and even made cute little labels for him...fail.  So I tried a few other things and I finally found that one huge toy box in the living room was the ticket.  I still sort things into his baskets, but when it comes to getting him to clean up, one centrally located place for everything was the ticket.  As far as storage in general in a small space goes, we make the most of the space in his room and are still improving it as needed.  His bed has a built in dresser on this side and room for open storage behind the drawers.  The efficiency of the bed has been what makes the small space work.

A more recent addition from cleaning out our closet was an unused shoe storage hanger that I used to add vertical storage for his "bay-bees".  The best part is that he loves it too!  Usage of vertical space is really one of the main themes in our home. You can also see our unpainted doors and unfinished trim work in these pics.  Eventually we will replace all the stock trim on door frames.  Probably a ways off though.

His personal Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Storage on the side of bed under his little "bar".

I know the pictures aren't the greatest since they are iPhone pictures, but that's how I roll. So...oh and I took them in natural lighting so you can see his room gets plenty of light in spite of being small.  He loves it.  For whatever reason, small clubhouse like spaces are his jam.

Sources:

Wooden airplane- Thrifted from kids resale
"Bay-Bee" door hanger- Walmart
White book ledges- George built years ago
Book basket- The Rachael Basket from World Market

Labeled baskets- Target
Green shelving unit- Mine from when I was a kid
Rug- Estate sale
Bed- Amazon
Hanging house- Belonged to my mom
Mickey mirror- Belonged to my nephew
Nightlight- Restoration Hardware
Bedding- Tommy Hilfiger, Ikea, Pottery Barn Kids
American Flag art- My mom purchased at a charity auction

Unless we need to add more vertical storage, I don't see us doing anything else to his room.  It is only temporary after all.  More of our house reveal tomorrow and at some point I'll reveal our future plan for the (small) house addition as well.  Keep checking back!

Tiny House Week Part 1

(My house thinks it's tiny so please don't burst its bubble)

I have no medical updates for you until at least next week, so I thought I would make this week about our house.  How we built it, our budget, interior pics, how we've learned to organize in a small house, future plans and why I don't want a bigger house...ever.

Let me start with a little background.  Clayton got cancer, his back got worse and his kidney issues were ongoing.  George and I realized I needed to stay home with Clayton full time.  This meant we were down to one income and the life we had pictured that most of our peers were living just wasn't going to work for us.  So I got inspired and got creative.  I decided we were going to build a house for $50,000 on family property.  Everyone laughed.  But we did.  We did 95% or more of the work ourselves with help from friends and family.  

You can even see my mom in this picture helping us to raise our first wall.

And in the end we built a house we designed specifically for our needs for under $60,000.  We financed $53,000 and got a credit card for a few extra thousand to do a few things we had not initially planned on.  We went over budget for a few reasons: 1) we paid a father son company to hang and finish our drywall 2) we had my plans drawn up by an architect to ensure we were getting foundation right due to sloping property (this step was not required by the county) 3) we bought countertops instead of DIYing them.  Those three things account for every penny that was spent over my original $50,000 budget.  

We have now been in the house for two and a half years. In that time we have completed a few projects on the house but still have lots to go.  When we designed and built the house, we had planned on adding on in a certain area down the road.  Since being here, I have really embraced the idea of living tiny.  As is, our house isn't technically tiny, but it is small...especially by today's standards.  George still wants to go with our original add on addition which would give us a final total of about 1400 sq ft, but I want to keep our footprint as small as possible.  Currently our house is 1000 sq ft...and I LOVE it.  So for now we are still brainstorming a long term solution that meets all of our needs.

Why do I love a small house?

-Less outside maintenance

-Less inside maintenance

-Forces you to clean out and prioritize

-Forces you to organize in order to make the most of every space

-More affordable to build

-Manageable to DIY

-Low utilities costs (bad electric bill for us is $133)

-I want for my family and myself to explore the world around us and not be bogged down by a large mortgage and large house full of responsibility.  A small house allows for this.

So for us what was designed out of necessity became a huge blessing.  During the planning process, there were larger plans and two story plans and lots of others; for cost reasons though we had to narrow our plan down to a point at which we agreed there was little doubt that we could do it within our budget.  Of course, we could have gotten a traditional bank loan and built something more substantial, but bank loan or not, my goal was never to have a substantial house.  My goal was always to build a house we will have paid off in a short amount of time, to build a house that allowed us to live more comfortably on one income and to build a house that allowed us to have more income for Clayton's expenses since we knew it was unrealistic to rely on fundraisers forever.  That said, a small/tiny house was never in my plan either and not something I would have chosen had it not been necessary.  BUT now, I love living small and will NEVER live any other way.

Inspiration Pictures

After two and a half years I can say I feel like we accomplished our goal.  We have no real complaints about our house or its design.  It has been perfect for our needs with Clayton specifically.  We have been able to pay off the credit card debt accumulated from building.  We will have our house paid off in seven years maximum.  We have been able to continue working on home improvement/completion projects on a pay-as-you go basis. And most importantly life on one income while accumulating Clayton's medical bills got a little less financially stressful.  So here is to life goals and striving for a debt free life!

Toddler Rachel giving her best woot woot!

I thought I would start with the room everyone is most excited about...our closet!  Please note my sarcasm.  Really, I'm starting with it because it finally got some love yesterday after nearly two and a half years.  We literally have not had a clothes rod all that time.  We had two rolling clothes hangers a friend passed on after their renovation to their own home.  Having a proper hanging rod is SUCH a breath of fresh air.  I just want to go sit in my nice clean organized closet and admire it.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our modest master bedroom has a bathroom off of it and two "closets".  The original long-term plan was that we would have two very large his and her closets that would be the storage for the whole house beyond just clothes (think hobby supplies, golf clubs, etc.).  The short-term plan was that we would share a closet for now and the closet with a window would be Clayton's temporary room.  Note that these "closets" are 7x9. I felt this would be sufficient for Clayton for now since his old room was just slightly larger at 10x10.  And this set up was best for all of us. With Clayton's little room right off of ours, he can see us when he goes to sleep and we can easily hear him through the night (listening for respiratory issues).  This has been ideal for all three of us.  And as George just said last night, in spite of Clayton's room being small it is set up in a way that makes it feel larger...or at least like it isn't lacking anything.  While our current set up is still a short-term plan, it has been exactly what we needed now.  And it has also been great in allowing us to modify our long-term plan; which as of now, keeps the one closet a closet forever and Clayton's current room will be modified into the space of the eventual small addition we will do.  Very small addition still couple years out.

Back to the forever closet...

When we moved in it was quick.  Like we got the certificate of occupancy and bam, we were in.  There was still LOTS left to do.  Including the closet.  You'll see in the pictures that the closet is about half primed and a quarter painted because that's as far as I got before we moved in.  So for the longest time it looked like this...

These two pictures are after I started cleaning it out Sunday.

Along with the laundry room, it was the catch all space for everything.  Between that, Clayton liking to take toys in there to play and George's hunting stuff everywhere, I rarely ventured in.  I mostly used a chair in the bedroom to throw my clothes over or stack them on.  No joke.

Why am I showing pictures of my messy closet?  Because this is real life and we are real folks.  We have real messes and real unfinished projects and we are really uninterested in pretending our lives are more than the work in progress they are. No mom (or dad) should ever feel shamed into having to feel like her house needs to be perfect or she's failing if it's not.  This is not Better Homes and Gardens, lights-camera-action, this is real life.

And here is the real life mess cleaning out the closet made.

Thanks to a long day Sunday I now have a closet that brings me peace.  I know some of you will think that statement is crazy while others will completely get it.  Now I just have to keep George organized.  And keep Clayton out of there...which is already proving to be a challenge...

We can now check clothes rod and baseboards off the closet list.  We still have the following to work on:

-Add shelves around top.

-Paint walls

-Paint big dresser

-Permanent ladder leading to what will eventually be a climate controlled storage loft. 

And then the closet will be done!  So here are the progress pictures where things stand today:

I know...nothing special or impressive and sparkly.  But it's a progress picture...and a closet.  I'll post pictures of the final product when we get there; those might have a little more wow.  And to answer the question some might be wondering...is that the only rod we will have?  Is it enough?  Yes. If that one rod is ever not enough then we need to get rid of clothes.  So thats all for today.  That gives the back story and gets the most boring room out of the way.  Tomorrow I'll start showing you the good stuff.

Back In The Saddle and Belated Medical Monday

Sorry I've been so absent.  We have honestly been overwhelmed with family stuff lately and getting George settled into his last semester.  Beyond those two things, I've been a bit of a zombie.  I literally did not even realize how long it had been since posting.  Here are some snippets of what we've been up to along with a belated Medical Monday update at the bottom.  I promise to be back regularly again with things like:

• Clayton lessons and family problems
• Clayton 101
• Clayton's November procedure
• The complete rundown of how we built our house for cheap along with interior pics.
• Explanation of my antique booth and what the proceeds are for.
• What happen to The GCCCF
• Some of my favorite Etsy finds
• My weight journey and underlying medical issue
• The answer of if more babies are in our future
• How and why we are unplugging our lives more and more and how it's helping

...and a lot more I've just not gotten to before.

So stay tuned and keep coming back!  In the mean time, here is a little bit of our last few weeks:

When we moved in our house, we had lots of projects to finish in the house.  This included adding a few more cabinets in the kitchen as well as later finishing them out with trim, etc.  So we made what feels like a HUGE update by adding a cabinet above the fridge which previously looked like this:

Except not clean.  Top of fridge stayed piled with stuff.

And now we have this...only with cabinet doors now...

I also went through all my saved receipts and updated my spreadsheet to find out just how much we have spent on our house so far.  I'll post on that soon and start showing some pictures of just where that money has gotten us by finally showing some inside pictures.

I've also been adding a lot to the antique booth.  I haven't posted a ton on this, but will come back and do that soon too.

Oh, and in one last recent house update, we have been adding some base boards.  This one gets a great big FINALLY!  I could have lived without them, though yes they look great aesthetically.  But truth be told, there has been a learning curve for us moving to our little house in the woods.  Lots of which are oak trees.  Guess who loves oak trees?  Roaches.  Eek.  Well, when we moved in there was a lot of sealing we never finished; caulking around pipe holes, baseboards, etc.  We have never never had a problem with roaches before and I know its because we are surrounded by trees and we have to now work harder to seal up entry points, spray and such.  Don't get me wrong there was no infestation just more than I felt was normal.  In our previous houses we might see a roach a month, maybe.  While we didn't see them during the winter months here, we were seeing too many this summer.  Blah. Not cool.  We had to do something immediately.  Living in the woods roaches are just a whole different kind of battle.  My parents have horror stories about some of their sheds in the back of their property.  And you do not want to open our chicken coop at night.  It will freak. you. out.  So in come the baseboards blocking some of the little buggers entry points.

Before Baseboards

After baseboards

And I am happy to report we are already seeing a difference!  We sealed around pipes under cabinets, installed most of the baseboards, sprayed organic spray and even sealed places like where cables come through the walls and thank the Lord, not one roach since. So something we did blocked the nasty buggers thankfully.  Woot, woot!  Like I said...learning curve.

We've also been doing lots of cleaning out because our parents keep sending us home with stuff they've cleaned out and we didn't need another dang thing to begin with.  So I have been working towards cleaning out everything I hadn't already gotten to...like Clayton's medical supply drawers.  Yes, he had two whole drawers of just medical supplies.  Catheters, port access kits, sterile urine bags, medical tape, needles, inhalers, etc.  Fun times.

So medical update for Clayton:

We have been told they are trying to arrange a procedure in Orlando for Clayton's complicated stent replacement in November maybe.  We are waiting to hear specifics.  Other than that, we do have some upcoming cancer scans and I'll let you know as soon as we get those done.

Other then that we have had another blood sugar issue with Clayton so I think we need to see a doctor about that now.

:(