Our tiny house was no longer tiny. As we looked over the plans, we realized this was not going to be as easy as we thought. The bottom floor had grown by a couple hundred heated square feet. This was because of that stupid staircase. All we wanted was a library ladder! In order to get the staircase in the house, we had to move one of the bathrooms. This added six feet to the length of the house and the stairs added two feet to the width of the house. The first floor of Plan A had a total of 836 HSF. Take a look and you can see what changed from the original plan to Plan A. PIcture taken from http://tinyhousetalk.com/woman-downsizes-to-tiny-cottage/ And here it is...what you have all been waiting for- the house plan! The bottom floor I was actually pretty pleased with. I knew it would grow because I added some necessities to the master bedroom like an extra bath and a bigger closet. At 836 HSF, we were ok with this. I made a few changes and have been pleased with this floor. The upstairs, however... In Plan A, the second floor was around 300 HSF or so. The issue is we wanted the lofts to have a ceiling height so they didn't really count towards the total square feet of the house. Most people who live in tiny houses have lofts, but since the lofts are usually short in height they don't have to include them in the total square footage. Our second floor had full size bedrooms with walk in closets. And because they have to both use the staircase, we also had to include a catwalk from loft to loft. Mr. Square Foot chose to put it running over the center of the great room/ kitchen/ dining area. No. Just no. The total HSF in this plan was a little over 1100. 1100 HSF is not tiny at all. Small, yes. Tiny, no. Soooooo, I made several changes, pinned several hundred pictures on Pinterest, and traveled back to Ruston to have a heart to heart with Mr. Foot. I haven't told you this, but Mr. Foot has this glare that he gives me as he glances over his glasses. This look says to me, "Woman, you have lost your mind." If I had a dollar for each of those looks I could pay for my house. No joke. So, during my heart to heart, I learned that the ceilings upstairs can't be lowered. Why you ask?!?! BECAUSE OF THAT STAIRCASE!!! We have to have the ceiling height to be able to walk up the stairs that we have to have. At this point, I just gave up. I told him to do away with the attic space and closets and give the kids more room. If it was all going to count as HSF anyway, I might as well give my kids some space. So he did. And it looks SO much better. Here is Plan B. On the first floor, I reconfigured the bathroom in the front so it opened to the foyer instead of the dining area. Bathroom smells can ruin ones appetite. We want none of that. I also moved a few things in the kitchen. The main difference is the catwalk is not over the center of the room!!! And the second floor... Upstairs, I took the walls away from the rooms and made them actual lofts. We also moved the catwalk to the side so it will go over the kitchen cabinets. To do this, we added a shed dormer off the side of the house. As you walk along the catwalk, it will be all windows. I am so excited about this!!! Of course, I got the glare when I asked to add the dormer. The glare's meaning has now changed from, "Woman, you have lost your mind." to "Woman, do you know how much that cost?!?" (Insert eye roll.- I hope I am just eye rolling in my head and not in real life. I am sorry, Mr. Foot, if I am eye rolling you all the time. You see, I use that emoji so much that it might have transferred to real life.)
So, the only issue now was the roof line. I did not want flat roofs in the the lofts. I wanted the roof to match the A line of the roof outside. Since Mr. Foot speaks in "code" and I speak in "normal" I decided to meet with the builder to see what his suggestions were for the roof. He agreed to call Mr. Foot and speak with him about what I had in my mind. (connection note: Leslie, who referred me to Mr. Foot, is married to Forrest, who is a builder. We have been talking with him and hope we can use him to build our house.) Forrest, the builder, is bilingual. He speaks code and normal so he spoke with Mr. Foot and accompanied me on my most recent meeting to hopefully finalize the main floor plan. When we arrived, Mr. Foot already had the plan reprinted with the roof line changed. (Because we made changes to that copy, I do not have pictures of the revised roofline and second floor.) I knew I added more HSF by extending the lofts to the edges of the walls. I was past the point of caring. We had to have stairs so the upstairs will count in the total HSF, which is up to around 1300. (eye roll again) So our tiny house isn't tiny after all. But it is going to be small and beautiful. I already bought the tiny truth domain, so even though the tiny truth is a lie, it is what it is. Oh, and the ceiling in the great room is 24 feet tall. What the heck. A tall and skinny house. It fits perfectly. I am anxiously awaiting the final plans that include what the exterior of the house will look like! Until then...
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2/4/2017 10:32:56 pm
Who knew I had an almost tiny house (1145 sq ft) but only because we inherited. BTW most people don't move into tiny houses with 3 children. Of course you need a little extra footage! ~Elle
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I am Chamie, wife to Matt; mom to Callan (14), Cooper (11), and Archives
September 2017
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