(Oct 10) Thoughts on the Tiny House lifestyle

It still seems odd. Somewhere over the past year we went from "We're going to build a small storage building to camp out of while we build our real house." to being comfortable with the thought of living in a 240 sf house. There is a part of me that still wants to build the 800 sf house that I designed but the practical side of me (and the side that wakes up tired and sore every Monday) says the smaller house will be just fine. We have lots of land to play on and every dollar we don't spend on the other house could be used in a different manner. We're already planning a building to be used as storage (since we're going to live in our previously designated storage building) and a workshop. It will actually be 480 sf, 2x the size of the cabin. The plan right now is to build it out of used warehouse racks - heavy steel which locks together like and erector set and is cheaper than the steel we're using on the cabin. Think about the racks in the big box stores which hold products and pallets of back stock. I find myself projecting forward 10 years and I like what I see. Paths through the woods. A water feature or 2. A workshop where Kim and I work on furniture projects. A large outdoor BBQ grill for smoking and grilling. I do get sad though when I think about the distance we will be from the kids and Riley. I'm really hoping to find something I can bribe them with to visit us more often. :) Not sure that BBQ by itself will be enough. I need to start a family tradition. Maybe a big get together a couple of times a year for both family and friends. Once in the Fall and once in the Spring. It's so peaceful during either. There's usually a light breeze. Temps are in the 60s or low 70s and the bugs are at a minimum.  Just need to pick the days and make it happen. :) It'll be easier when we've gotten farther along on the cabin and the storage building. Right now the cabin is serving as both.  We need a dog run set up for Steph's four legged babies. We also need to get the brakes fixed on the go-kart. Riley (9 year old grandson) has lots of fun not being able to stop when needed, however it really scares the rest of us.  We need additional outside seating. Nothing we can't overcome, but resources are thin at the moment.