Well friends, as of this past Saturday I am officially a t!ny h0use dweller! I really started moving early last week, putting a few boxes in my truck every time I came out to the barn, so by Saturday pretty much the only stuff left to move was the bed and the dogs.

Our bed is ginormous, a California King, and although we knew it would fit in the bedroom since we had measured multiple times, I was still a little worried that it would be obtrusive or ridiculous or make it hard to navigate through the house and/or bedroom. And while the bed IS huge and semi-ridiculous (and takes up pretty much the whole room) it works just fine in there, and there’s sufficient space to maneuver past and around it. I’m definitely glad we went for this model and did a back entrance/back porch… if we didn’t have that the bedroom would definitely feel like a cave and the house would feel a lot smaller. With it though, you just kind of flow through the bedroom onto the back porch. It feels so much bigger that way.

Once we got the bed unloaded and in place, we finally put up the very first thing we ever purchased for this house. Well… the first thing that SO purchased. He got me this black horsehead door knocker for my birthday in 2019, when we were first starting down this road, and I have to say I think it looks pretty bitchin’ on the black door.

I also discovered fairly quickly that some of our stuff (that I hadn’t even given a second thought to) just isn’t t!ny h0use sized. Like our giant crockpot. It took up like half of a cabinet, and cabinet space is very precious here. So I sent that one back to the other house with SO (since he’s staying behind for a few months to get our other house ready to rent) and bought a new, smaller crockpot. It fits much better, it was worth spending $20 on a new crockpot to save the space. The old one will get donated when SO moves out here.

Unpacking boxes and putting things in cabinets was the beginning of the learning curve. I’ve watched and read enough by now to have seen a lot of tips about maximizing storage, and about going vertically with things whenever possible to make the most of the space you have. I had already gotten little wire shelves and stacking baskets to go in the cabinets, and made use of them in the bathroom and kitchen and pantry. Everything fits pretty well, with a couple cabinets to spare. Granted, I only brought a small portion of our dishes and kitchen stuff with us, so while everything fits great now, we’re definitely gonna have to make a lot of cuts when SO moves over too. I already warned him.

I also got my stuff set up in the closet. I took the smaller part of the L-shaped shelves and rods, because I actually have fewer clothes than SO does. Especially after my massacre when I went through a few weeks ago and got rid of at least half of my clothes. I thought I was down to very little, but everything juuuust fits in my smaller part of the closet (with my sock and underwear drawer on the floor on SO’s side – it’s one of those stacking drawers so I figured his could go on top of mine). So… I guess “very little” is the right amount. I do have one bin slid under the bed with my show breeches and summer clothes, but none of it had to be relegated to the loft, so we’ll call that a win. I did spread my stuff out a bit in the closet for now since I can, and I stashed the dog food bin in the closet too (once they’re through this current bag I’m getting them different bin that will fit better elsewhere), so maybe I’m cheating a little but whatever.

Saturday night was officially my first night in the new house, and I learned some things. First of all – the incinerating toilet is pretty darn cool. It was running while I was sitting out on the back porch, meaning the vent fan was about 10′ away from where I was sitting, and aside from a few minutes of a slight burning paper smell when it first started the burn cycle, it was odor-free. I’m pretty impressed with it so far. I also learned, the second I turned out all the lights to go to bed, just how many freakin LED displays there are in this house and ALL OF THEM felt like they were shining directly into my face. I’m a very light sleeper and the displays from the fridge, oven, and microwave were just too much. Note to self – have to sleep with the bedroom door closed. Also the little reading light which I hooked onto my headboard to serve as a lamp has an LED dot on it’s control buttons too. As does the smoke detector right above my pillow. As does the mini split in the bedroom. Fucks sake. That first night was like a game of find-and-cover-or-figure-out-how-to-turn-off-the-LED. I’ve got it all mastered now though.

The rain showerhead is also amazing – definitely the right choice – and our water pressure is great. Also really really digging my big deep kitchen sink. Another thing that was totally worth the upgrade. I remain deeply in love with the back porch and have spent a lot of time sitting out there on my computer working. It’s much better than a cubicle, that’s for sure. Can’t beat the view.

The only thing I don’t really have yet is living room furniture. We were waiting to decide what kind of couch to get until the house came, and then we kind of wavered back and forth about it for a while. On Friday we finally went to Haverty’s and got one, although naturally we didn’t like any of the standard fabric options and ended up getting a special order fabric, which can take up to 10 weeks to be delivered. And we didn’t want to buy a coffee table until we had decided on a couch, so we don’t have that yet either. And I don’t really watch TV, so we didn’t bother moving any of the tv stuff over yet. As of right now I have an empty living room, and it’s looking like January before it’ll be filled. I did buy a beanbag chair so I can at least sit in there for now if I want (the beanbag will eventually move to the reading nook) but that’s it. Right now I just put the dog beds in there during the day. It’s fine.

On Sunday morning I got up early to head to the grocery store, grabbing food and a few household items that I still needed. I was concerned about pantry space but I think it’ll be fine, and of course the fridge and freezer are huge so there’s plenty of room in there. Right now I’m still figuring out the best ways to live smaller, and I’m sure it’ll evolved more over time, but so far so good. I honestly really like it. The house is comfortable, I don’t feel squished in here at all. It may change once there’s more stuff and the SO and the cats… I’m sure it’ll shrink a bit then. For now though, it feels quite spacious. I don’t really NEED more room than this.

I’m still waiting on the skirting to get installed, some stuff had to be ordered and it’s taking a little longer than anticipated, but that’s the last major outstanding thing. For now anyway. I’m sure more things will surface. I’ve also not put up any artwork on the walls, and need to figure out rugs and that kind of thing. My brain needs a little bit of a break though. Maybe next week I can tackle some of that.

For now, here’s another walkthrough video now that I’m moved in and there’s actually stuff in here! We’ll see what next week brings…