Along with researching stuff and measuring and re-measuring our space, we’re settling into life in our new community. Day-by-day, we’re watching our tiny home take shape, which is thrilling! But best of all, we’ve had visits from old friends, and are making new friends in our neighborhood.
Friends Make Everyplace Feel Like Home
In early June, our dear friends Sue and Dave came for a five-day visit in the midst of their East Coast summer RV tour. We first met way back in 2015 in California’s Sierra Nevada and have since met up whenever possible, including a delightful visit to their former lakeside home in New York in 2019.
As is always true with the very best friends, even though it’s been several years since we last saw each other, we fell immediately into the easy rhythm of good conversation, plenty of laughter, and companionable exploration. Our time together went by far too quickly.
Lunch at the Purple Onion in Saluda
Click on photos for a larger image
An afternoon at beautiful Marked Tree Vineyard
We were also delighted when our former Ashland neighbor Miriam stopped by for an all-too-brief visit with her partner Andy and brother Marcus. We had a great time catching up on the last few years, and are hoping they’ll return for a longer visit.
Oregon friends Andy, Miriam, and Marcus. Y’all come back!
Friends are obviously a cornerstone of happiness in our lives. One of the reasons we chose to move here instead of buying a home in a random neighborhood is the opportunity for community and the ease of meeting people. We’re very happy with our decision.
New friends Chris & Nate, also from Oregon!
At the arboretum with Scott & Pat, new friends and neighbors
So. Many. Decisions.
When we ordered our house last fall, we were inspired to custom-design many of the features that ordinarily come standard. I mentioned previously that we’re doing our own counters, flooring, tile, and appliances. We’re also designing our own closets, which is more complicated than you would imagine.
So just like when we renovated my family home in Florida three years ago, we are spending countless hours making design decisions and shopping for materials.
But this is vastly different from the summer of 2020, when we were stuck in a remote locale during a pandemic and ordered most everything sight unseen from Wayfair and Home Depot. We’re thrilled to have so many options close by. And we’re committed to shopping locally as much as possible.
We’ve enjoyed perusing ceramic tile, lighting, flooring, plumbing fixtures, and slabs of stone countertops at local small family businesses. And the service is superb.
Slabs of quartzite weigh about 1200 pounds, so browsing is not an easy proposition. This one was a bit too busy for our small space.
This is the quartzite we ended up choosing. And we found a pale gray-green subway tile for the kitchen that is just perfect with the wall color and countertop.
The Benefit Of Experience
We’ve learned a lot in all of our years of owning and renovating homes, but it’s mostly about what we don’t want. Take flooring, for example. We’ve had hardwood floors (scratch easily), tile (cold and hard), marmoleum (fades in sunlight), wool carpet (never, ever stops shedding), and most recently in our Florida remodel, luxury vinyl plank flooring. The week after we had that installed, a contractor dropped a wrench on the floor and left a huge dent. And we added our own dents just by dropping silverware.
This time, we’re going with a high-quality wood laminate. It’s made with 70 percent recycled materials, is non-toxic, and is guaranteed to be waterproof, scratch proof, and dent resistant. We shall see.
We’ve tried everything else in floors. Might as well try this!
Choosing the right toilet took a lot of time and research. It needed to have a small footprint with a short tank to fit beneath our extended quartzite countertop. We were happy to have a Kohler showroom nearby to try out the products, LOL.
This one is just right!
We need to have all of the materials on hand by the end of July, so we need to get busy and make a decision on the kitchen sink. Right now, we’re vacillating between enameled cast iron, fireclay, granite composite, and stainless. Any advice?
So much progress in a few short weeks!
We’re very happy we were able to add a back screened deck in addition to our front screened porch. Magnolia is thrilled!
Two porches to choose from? YAY.
ENAMELED. CAST. IRON. For the win!!!! You’re welcome.
Thank you, Spreckles! 😂😂 My thoughts, exactly!
I always look forward to receiving these from youse guys.
Laurie…. you are such a commodian… laughed out loud.
You and Eric are duhhhh BEST!!!
XOXOXOXOXO,
Kyle (Plyler)
“Commodian,” hahaha!!! Love hearing from you, dear cuz. I miss you! Come see us in North Carolina! ❤️❤️
Your new toilet looks very comfortable – LOL!!!
Love the tile and flooring choices… it’s always overwhelming no matter the size of house you are building. Glad you are on the home stretch.
Thanks, Brenda! It really is overwhelming to make SO many choices. The toilet was a big decision. I don’t like the new taller toilets—my feet don’t touch the floor, LOL!
Laurel
Lots of decisions but what we see looks great. I have the granite composite in both
houses and love them. I’d stick to a lighter color I don’t think it shows wear and
in our smaller home the light gray goes well with the quartz veins in the countertop.
Hi Penny, we’ve been seriously considering the granite composite sinks. I’ll bet the light gray looks beautiful with your countertops! I really would like something different than stainless this time around, and I think it’s going to come down to granite or the porcelain enameled cast iron.
I know it’s overwhelming and exhausting to feel like the decision-making process will never end, and then fretting over the choices when you DO make the decisions. As we’ve talked about, no matter what, you’ll never get it all “right” (because there is no right) and you’ll hate something after you’ve had it a few days, then love it again, then learn about something else you could’ve had and wonder why you didn’t do this or that. But, before you know it, it will be HOME. Lucky Magnolia with two pretty porches for perching!
Joodie, you know exactly how overwhelming and exhausting the decision-making process is during a home build…and you’re right, I’m probably going to regret some of the decisions we’re making after we move in. We’ve gone through a lot of choices in the various remodels we’ve done over the years, and I’ve learned that nothing is perfect. But it’s fun to try something new! We’re really looking forward to having a home again. :-)
I vote for enameled cast iron also! If you want to have a nice, clean, shiny sink that is. I wish I had one in our Arizona house, but the previous owner chose differently….sigh.
I love how the addition is coming along, the little back porch will be your sweet, private space when you’re “socialized out”!
I’m glad to see you’re still managing to have fun while angsting over house choices….somehow I knew you would (wink wink).
Thanks again for showing us such a great time and for giving us a real good look at a pretty great part of the country!
Sue, having you and Dave visit was the highlight so far of our time in Flat Rock! Not only was it fun to have you here, but you were both so incredibly supportive of our big life decision to move here and build a tiny house. We’re still missing you!
We’re thrilled that we were able to add the screened back porch. All three of us are going to love having that private, shaded space.
We’re leaning toward the porcelain enameled cast iron. That’s what our sink in Oregon was, and it was beautiful. It was very shiny. :-)
Dear ones,
In a world that’s gone so totally bat dudu mad, these are fun choices and should be enjoyed together with a glee and hurrumph … no angst or dithering … who ever cares the most about the outcome gets the deciding vote period. No judgement or criticism, just a reminder to lighten up, look for the helpers, and consider yourselves among the luckiest alive …. and we are all so fortunate to call you both friends! Blessings on your new home and your sweet fur baby …. hope to come visit this year! Love and laughter!
Diana, we would LOVE to have you and John visit us this year! We miss you two so much. We appreciate your sweet blessings on our new life adventure and tiny home. We were Japanese maple shopping yesterday and thought of you two and your lush, beautiful Oregon gardens.
We’ve been having a lot of fun planning our home, and are especially enjoying the ability to see things in person in local showrooms. We agree easily on almost everything—the challenges are more about what will actually fit into our tiny house. It’s easy to miscalculate, so we have to measure carefully…and then go back and measure again. It’s an interesting puzzle fitting it all together!
We love our granite composite sink!
Love what you are doing and had no doubt you would have a million new friends there before we have a chance to see it.
Can’t wait!
Miss you guys!
Hi Beth, we’re enjoying the process of creating our tiny home and can’t wait for you and Perry to visit us here! The granite composite sinks are beautiful. We’re now deciding between that and the enameled cast iron…such a big life decision, haha. Wait till you see the bathroom sink and faucet I ordered! We miss you guys, too. It feels like way too long since we’ve seen you!
Maybe I can comment. In Dublin, ship internet iffy. Our mushroom colored granite composite sink has been perfect. Nearly 6 years
Hi Sue, thanks for commenting all the way from Dublin, and from a ship! Another vote for a granite composite sink…I like knowing that they’re durable. I hope you’re having a wonderful trip, and am looking forward to hearing all about it!
Hello Laurel,
The new tiny home looks wonderful –but, I sure don’t envy you all those decisions. Sounds pretty exhausting (and you still have to MOVE in!) So, step lightly and smile –and tell yourself what Sue Bank says: “it will all work out – somehow.” You know, we had Dave and Sue here in NY for two weeks and even that was NOT enough time with them. And I’m so glad that Magnolia will have her very own personal outdoor porch — she is one lucky girl. CindyP
Cindy, it sounds from Sue’s post that you all had a wonderful visit together. Lucky you to have them there for two weeks! In the midst of all of these house decisions, I remind myself that nothing will be perfect, and there is no one “right” decision…except that we need to make darned sure that what we’re choosing is going to fit appropriately in a tiny house! Everything revolves around what will make Magnolia happy, LOL!
I am so happy to see this post! Your tiny home journey is so interesting and inspiring. And, it is great that you are finding new friends in your community… friends make all the difference to our overall happiness.
While I don’t have a recommendation about your sink, I would never install a new toilet without an integrated, or sit-on-top bidet. I don’t know if they come in the small size you need but, if they do, I highly recommend it.
Looking forward to future tiny house update posts!
Janis, we’ve had several people recommend that we install a bidet. I’m researching options for our tiny toilet, haha!
We’re enjoying the process of planning our little house and we’re especially enjoying making new friends in our new community. So far, we’re happy with our decision to make this big life change. We’re very excited to see everything come together over the next six weeks!
I cat-sat for a friend who had an enameled sink and pots and pans scrubbed in this sink left gray streaks everywhere! A pain to clean off the gray streaks! I ordered a 12″ deep brushed stainless steel utility sink for my new place, on the advice from others that a deep sink is good. Don’t know yet if I’ll like it. You’re making more progress than me! Catch my build updates at my La Lair On Wheels blog under the Garage/Apt tab. Looking forward to your updates!
Terri, we had a cast iron enameled sink in our home in Oregon, and you’re right about the gray streaks left by pots and pans. Fortunately they scrubbed off easily with Bon Ami. We installed a huge stainless sink in our Florida home, and it was also a challenge to keep clean because of water spots. Apparently no sink is easy to clean. :-( I hope everything is going well on your home build!
We’re excited to be joining the parade of friends visiting you in your new location. Looks like you picked a popular spot! I am really glad to hear that things remain on track with the build; I know that living in between places for an extended period of time is stressful and annoying. Those two porches are going to massively expand the usable space of your home – ask me how I know. :-) We can’t wait to see it in person!
Shannon, I know you and Ken understand exactly just how challenging it is to build a home. And your project was soooo much more involved! We’re thrilled that we were able to add on the additional screened deck. Not only does it add to our living area, but it gives us a very private space outdoors. We’re so excited that you and Ken have arrived in the area! We can’t wait to see you guys!
Love that picture of you posing as a commodian! A nod to Kyle. I’d say you are professional house renovators and planners so you have this, no problem. I love seeing the progress and marveling at the vast number of friends you have and are making. Glad I’m one of them but how in the world do you have time?
Haha, we are kind of pros at this house building/renovating scene, Sherry! We did a major remodel on our home in Oregon 20 years ago (and kept doing stuff!), and then renovated our home in Florida. And now this! We’re ready to move in and relax. But no matter how many projects we have going, we always have time for friends. :-)
You two always have great taste. Cast Iron is my favorite. Stainless steel anything, never again. As to the other options I don’t know much about them. How to clean them would be at the top of my list. Your place is coming along, looks great so far. Have fun!
Aww, thanks, Brenda! I’m so happy to hear from you. I agree with your assessment of stainless steel. That enormous stainless sink we chose for our remodel in Florida was way too much work. I love the look of porcelain cast iron! Hope you two are doing well and enjoying summer on the Oregon coast!
Great post! I love the hummingbird header photo! New friends are so very important as we discovered in our AZ neighborhood. All the photos of your visit with Susan and Dave are great but I especially love the one where they are sitting at the winery looking back over their shoulders–they are having fun! Love your countertop/back splash selections and no more stainless steel sinks for me, ever! In this Montana house I have a white enameled cast iron sink that I love–except–it’s lost its finish! It is 20+ years old and we are going to re-do the kitchen next summer. That toilet photo is hilarious! So glad things seem to be progressing for you three and that you are still taking time to have fun!
Janna, I also love that photo of Sue and Dave at the winery! We had such a great time with them. Friends make everything better!
I’m glad you like our countertop/backsplash choices. We’ve had a good time picking stuff out! And I agree with you about the stainless sink. I think you know I hated that enormous stainless sink I chose for our Florida remodel. It was such a pain to keep it clean. I really liked our enameled cast iron sink in our Oregon home…although it also was losing some of its shine after 20 years. But 20 years is a good long run!
It’s wonderful, and not surprising, that you’re already hosting old and meeting new friends. Finding like-minded people in southern Arizona has been more of a challenge :-) The build is looking great with the additional bedroom looking like it was always supposed to be there. Glad Magnolia won’t have to put up with just one porch – that would be so lame! Anything but a stainless steel or dark ceramic sink gets my vote. Have fun with the final touches!
Jodee, that bedroom does look like it belongs, doesn’t it? We’re so happy we made the choice to add on the second bedroom and the screened deck. I think that will make all the difference in our comfort in our tiny home experiment. And it gives us more space for hanging out with new and old friends! Thanks for your vote on the sinks…I think porcelain is going to win!
Glad to hear that things are moving forward. So exciting! We are slowing down our travels with a new address possible in the future, Bridgewater, Va. Will keep you posted
That’s exciting news, Susie! I know you have family there. I’m looking forward to hearing what you two decide to do. Good luck with your decision!
I can already see you sipping tea on that porch. You may have to move the party to the street with all your friends you are accumulating.
Haha! Morning coffee, afternoon tea, and gin and tonic for happy hour! That porch will be perfect for it all! Hope you guys are adjusting to life back on the mainland after your fabulous trip to Vancouver Island.
The builders are moving right along and making great progress, and you guys are doing your part to make well researched and thoughtful choices for the interior. You guys are total pros at this and everything you’ve chosen so far is lovely. I really can’t wait to see the finished product.
And by the time you move in, you’ll already have made so many new friends and hosted plenty of others. Speaking of which, great pictures of you guys and Sue and Dave! I’m sure it was awesome to catch up once more!
Laura, we had so much fun with Sue and Dave. Those friendships we made in our full-time travels resulted in some wonderful “forever friends,” including you and Kevin. :-)
The builders are definitely making good progress on our house. We’re amazed every day at how much they accomplish. We’re busy trying to get everything together so that we’ll be ready when it’s our turn for the finishing touches. Thanks for your encouragement!
So. Much. Progress! Good for you guys! I love the shade of that yellow toilet, but I’m not sure I could handle it in my own bathroom, especially in the morning before coffee. If Kohler ever needs a model for its toilet ads, Laurel, you’re a shoe-in! That photo reminded me of a family shopping experience at one of the big home improvement stores when our kids were young. (They’ll kill me if they ever find out that I shared this, so mum’s the word!) Apparently, they got bored while Alan and I were shopping. We turned around to find the two of them squeezing behind the displays of toilet seats and creatively using them as photo frames for their faces. Thank heaven you restrained yourself, and didn’t embarrass Eric by doing the same thing!
Hi Mary, that’s a hilarious story about your kids using toilet seats as photo frames! I wish I had thought of that, LOL. I was very happy that the Kohler showroom had the toilets available at ground level to try them out. It does me no good to look over my head at toilets on display at Home Depot! By the way, the toilet we chose is white…the lighting in the photo makes it look yellow. :-)
No matter what you choose, it will have been done with lots of research!!! Trust your instinct and what you love and it will be beautiful?!!! You have good taste and it’s not your first rodeo!!! Look forward to seeing the final tour!!! Fun experience!!!! Exhausting but almost complete!!!!🪶🪶
Thank you, Julie! It really does seem like our first instincts are generally what we end up choosing. It’s a bit more complicated with the tiny home build, because measurements really matter so we have to be careful. The first refrigerator I ordered was too big, but I caught it in time. Hope you two are doing well. I’m sure you have another birding adventure planned!
Goldilocks, this one is just right! I don’t know materials and I vote for 1 large with the drain in the back corner. Who determined that drains need to be centered and blocked by every dish you rinse. You guys are pros at this!
Haha!!! Yes, trying out the toilets was a Goldilocks moment! All of these decisions are complicated by the tiny house parameters. But it’s fun choosing. I completely agree with you about having the drain in the back corner of the kitchen sink. Thanks for your vote, Leah! I hope you guys are doing well.
Decisions, choices and doubting one’s decision and everything in between are not new to you but reminded me also of our own home improvement.You are going to love everything you got since you have meticulously researched and double check your choices against the new tiny home. Can’t wait to see the final reveal. Wow, wasn’t it a few years ago when you were proudly showing off your home improvements in Florida?You’re experts on these!
New home, new friends keeps life worth living.
ML, Although we’re enjoying the process of perusing our options, we’re getting to the point of just wanting to be done with the decision making. I know you understand! It was much easier figuring out stuff for our home remodel in Florida—we didn’t have to be so careful with measurements.
Believe me, I’ve been very aware that it was only three years ago that we were going through that huge Florida remodel…and it took more than a year to complete everything because of the supply chain issues. Meanwhile, we’re loving spending time with friends old and new. Come visit! 😊
So glad to see all those smiles as you pick and chose the new items for your Tiny Home. Can’t wait to see the finished house! Exciting!! Love, love your toilet choosing photo. Too darn funny!! I am SOOOO jealous that Dave and Sue got to spend time with you. Sure sounds like a wonderful visit with great conversation and tons of laughs. Glad they got to reconnect with you two. Good to hear you are meeting lots of new friends in your community. You did choose the right type of community for you both. Happy New Material Choosing!!
Pam, we had such a great time with Sue and Dave. Although we were busy exploring every day, there’s so much more we would have loved to have shown them. We hope that you and John will come to visit us sometime. We’ll show you our favorite hikes. 😊
We’re getting to the end of our big project of choosing materials for our tiny home. I think we’re down to light fixtures and ceiling fans. We can’t wait to see everything in place, including our landscaping for our tiny gardens. It’s been fun, but we’re ready to be done and to have our own place!
Laurel,
As a retired home builder with 150 homes to my credit, I would love to have had you and Eric as buyers. Unlike many I dealt with, you know what you’re doing and have been through the process enough to understand that the decisions are endless, come with tight deadlines…and that you will have a regret or two. I vote for the cast iron sink, but I have another suggestion: a tankless water heater. Endless hot water, and they don’t take up much space. Please let us know the date for the open house and keg party. ;-). Joe
Hi Joe, a big yes to the tankless hot water heater, and also to the cast iron porcelain sink. I’m glad to know that we’ve made good choices. Thanks for sharing the benefit of your experience! Wow, 150 homes…that’s a lot of homes and a lot of people to help through the process of what sometimes seems like an endless maze of decisions. We’re excited to be getting to the finish line! No keg party, haha, but we would love for you and Helen to visit!
I’m so happy you are making new friends, as well as having old friends come to visit you! Socializing will help reduce your stress, which I so remember when building a house in Texas. SO MANY decisions! Ugh. I vote for the enameled cast iron sink. I had one in our former home and loved it. So easy to keep clean and looks so pretty with any type of countertop. And two outdoor living spaces is wonderful. We had a porch and a back deck when we lived in Nebraska. Sat on the porch every evening after work, watching the neighbors walk by with their dogs or children. Used the back deck when we entertained and wanted more privacy. You’ll love having both!
We are home from our 6-week trip to Canada. It was a dream road trip and, thankfully, we had ZERO problems other than a little snow in Silverhorn Creek and Jasper. My final blog entry for LAST year’s trip to Glacier goes up tomorrow. We have four weeks of back-to-back visitors coming, starting next week, so we’ll see when I start blogging about Canada. Pics are up on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. Now to start planning our trip to Vancouver Island (leaving in mid-Sept, I think). I’ve pretty much copied your blog entries and will most likely go everywhere you guys went! Let me know if I should avoid anything you might not have mentioned. Rod’s hoping to interview some folks about a shipwreck that occured off the coast in the early 1900s (for his next book).
Have a great week!
Hi Lesley, I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to respond to your wonderful comment. But this month has been crazy! It sounds like you’ve been busy, too, with travels and lots of visitors. I’m looking forward to catching up with you.
I’m so glad that our posts on Vancouver Island were helpful for you. We absolutely loved our five weeks there, and it remains as one of the highlights of our full-time travels. I hope you’re enjoying time at home on the beautiful Oregon Coast! OX
Glad to hear things are progressing nicely with your Tiny Home. Custom-designing is more work for sure, but so much fun in the end when your dreams are realized.
Hi Erin, custom designing is definitely more work (I’m taking a break from painting cabinets at the moment, LOL!). But you’re right, this way we’re going to get it the way we want it. Hope you two are doing well!