Bless This Tiny House

Tiny House News in France

March 20, 2015

Our French segment aired! IN FRANCE! 🙂
Kinda strange that we have no idea what they’re saying about us. I thought the craziest part would be the voice dubbing… nope. Craziest part is that we were contacted by another French television network. (I’m guessing that we’ll be doing the exact same thing?) So we’re shooting again next week. 🙂

I keep saying that living in a tiny house is really just normal. I have to rethink that, there are a few elements of living in a tiny house that are verymuch not normal. Who even knew?

You can watch it here: Tiny Kasl Family on French Television!

Vertical Space

February 16, 2015

We’ve been in the Tiny House for four months now and we’re really acclimating to the space and making it our own!

That super tall shelf was a free find on the curb from a few years ago. It looked ideal for our future Tiny House and look! Ryan put it up and it fits perfectly.

*Finding shelves that don’t protrude too far into the space yet still hold more than just knickknacks is a real challenge.* This one fits the small chapter books just right.

We don’t have a ceiling fan. Not needed. I removed the base from two fans and hooked them up to the loft railing. Pretty great!

We raised the couch! Cement blocks and two 2x10s and we now have storage underneath for tools and extra sheets and bedding. Nothing fancy! Thank you to Mom and Dad!, It was their idea when I said I was going to take a stroll through Ikea and see if I can makeshift some storage.

As you can see, I’m all about the free and the makeshift. To me it feels like a Found Objects Art Project. That’s totally my thing. 🙂

Now when you sit on the couch you can look out the window and use the sill as a place to set a few things, making it Sully’s favorite place to chill out. I’m pretty fond of it, too.

See the difference?

The couch (we call it the couch… ottoman/dresser thing) was so awkwardly low, now it’s kinda awkwardly high but we have the benefit of the storage underneath so it’s a win.

What do you think of the more “lived-in look”?
Now you can tell that a family of four actually lives in this space.
Pretty HOMEy if you ask me! 🙂

Celebrate!

January 31, 2015

A few years ago we made the decision that we would live in a Tiny House.

Looking back I realize, I have never even considered the possibility that living in a Tiny House could be challenging. (207 sqft? Psssshaw, no problem. …Haha!) 🙂 I think that’s why our transition has been so easy! We’ve celebrated every change as a family and treated the entire experience as an adventure and a gift. The kids share our energy and attitude and have embraced the Tiny House completely.

As Sully and Story’s Momma I am proud! Proud to provide this exciting lifestyle for them, proud to have set up a foundation that opens up new opportunities for them in the future, proud to show them that sometimes it’s okay to not know exactly what-the-heck you’re doing but to trust God, say Yes! and do your best, proud that they have been happy, engaged participants in the dramatic changes we’ve made over the past year.

…I’m going to overuse the word PROUD! I am proud of Ryan. I admire his determination and dedicated hard work to provide for and lead our family! He is a special education teacher and has been going to grad-school full time for the past seven years, maintaining a 4.0 GPA! (I think that warrants at least a high-five!). I am proud to be his wife. I love that, as Ryan’s work will soon get more challenging, we have already simplified; upgrading instead on our experiences and adventures! I want the weight of nonsensical (that silly mortgage!) excess responsibilities and bills to be ~~minimized,~~ eliminated(!) so he can excel and we can be free to do awesome things together.

Paying off a mortgage plus student loans (that total much more than the mortgage) would have been a life of financial lock-down. But we didn’t want to just live within our means, we want to live within our means.

I’m writing and researching at my little desk, kids sleeping soundly above me, Ryan fell asleep praying with them, everything is nice and toasty from the fire, we have exactly what we want and need, and we’re looking forward to an adventurous future of freedoms and options.

Not any part of this is sacrifice.
We’re savoring God’s goodness.
And anticipating whatever it is He reveals to us next.

The answer to the BIG question you’ve all been asking.

January 25, 2015

Of the most common questions I receive, it is evident that you guys are verymuch concerned about our “privacy.”

Although this is a topic I’d like to, and really probably should, avoid…

Here we go. 🙂

I’ll paint a picture for you while giving zero detail and keeping a sense of, ahem, privacy.

This evening, in a midnight attempt to start the wood stove that went quite awry, the fire alarm went off. While we opened windows and cleared the smoke it refused to silence and continued to blare for nearly 5 minutes (it’s a really, really good fire alarm! Thank you, Freiberger Family!).

It’s very loud, all the lights were on, many windows were open, Ryan and I were talking above the noise, and the dog was barking.

*The kids slept through it.*

You CAN have sex in a Tiny House! (Juuuust clarifying, in case you’re not yet clear on the topic, …am I seriously writing about this!?)

So, thank you so much for your concern… (?) but it’s okay. The size of the house doesn’t matter.

🙂

Tiny House in the News!

January 7, 2015

Did you see the news!? 🙂 It’s supercool to bring Tiny Houses to maintstream media. Although, it’s usually such a gloss over and there’s really no depth or education. So even though it’s presented in a “Can you believe it!?” fashion, it’s at least an introduction for people who might be interested to learn more. And we’re glad to be a part of that. Here’s a link to our story by Fox 9

Welcome to the Tiny House!

January 5, 2015

Hi! Did Fox 9 News send you on over?
AWESOME!

Well, Thanks for Visiting! 🙂 We’re happy to share with you!

If you have a question for me, throw it down in a comment!
I’ll do my best to answer and/or address it in a whole new blog post.

If you’d like a photo tour click here:
http://www.blessthistinyhouse.com/?p=39

You can also find more Tiny House pictures on my instagram:
http://instagram.com/kimkasl

Frequent Tiny House updates on facebook, www.facebook.com/kim.kasl

We’re grateful to be on this Tiny Journey and are excited for whatever adventures God has planned for us! Best Blessings and Happiness to You!

#TinyKaslFamily

A photo posted by Kim Kasl (@kimkasl) on Jan 1, 2015 at 6:46pm PST

On the NEWS tonight!

January 5, 2015

Fox 9 News came out to the Tiny House today!
Talked and Toured. 🙂 It was really nice!

We’ll be on tonight at 9!

Here’s the link if you’d like to watch it live: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/category/237218/live-video

I’ll share a link afterwards when it becomes available as well! 🙂

Tiny House Weather Report

December 31, 2014

I know what you’re googling.

tiny house winter
tiny house cold climate

tiny house insulation

tiny house heating options

Ultimately, you want to know if you can live in a Tiny House in super cold weather and not freeze to death.

AmIRight?

Well, tonight might be a good example. It’s December 30th, -6 degrees outside,

with a “feels like” temp of -20 degrees,

and the Tiny House is a toasty 70 degrees.

The Kimberly Stove is burning a mix of firewood and Eco Bricks.
The temperature fluctuates a lot in the Tiny House (from warm to uber hot). I should get a good thermometer and give a better report. Last night we were roasting in the loft and I had to open a window; it was left open for several hours (with an outside temp similar to tonight’s). I’m certain we must be in the high 80s up there often enough (with the windows closed of course).
I like the heat but I don’t necessarily want to sleep in a sauna.

We like to throw the Eco Bricks in once in a while -or when it’s super cold out- because they burn really hot and for about two hours before the stove needs to be reloaded. The Kimberly Stove inventor dude highly recommends Home Fire Logs, claims that they burn hot for 8 hours, but they’re only available on the coasts! I’d love to try them! But paying for shipping is a pain. Next time I’m road tripping to Oregon visiting my sister I’ll take the truck, buy a ton of it, and pray it’s as awesome as he says!

We have spray foam in the walls. So apparently that works really well. (Likely terribly toxic and I would have chosen that denim stuff -I mentioned it- but whatever.)
And, as I’ve said before, we’re skirted.

So!

Tiny House + Extreme Cold Climate + Kimberly Stove + Skirting + Spray Foam Insulation = really nice, warm, better-than-just-surviving, cozy Tiny House Dwellers.

So when people say, “yeah, but what are you going to do in the winter?”
You just tell them, “The Kasls are Tiny House Living in MINNESOTA and they’re staying so warm that they have to open the windows when it’s below zero outside!”

Does that answer your question?

*If not* Ask me!
🙂

Our hotel room is bigger than our house.

December 28, 2014

Yes, we got a hotel room.
No, we did not just tow our whole house 1000 miles.
You forgot to factor in:
-gas
-icy roads and snow
-tying down everything we own
-the skirting that’s in place to insulate which took several days to put up
-insurance
-where we would park it
-kids (what should be a 6.5 hour drive took 13 hours on the way there and 11 on the way back without a tiny house in tow)
-mega stress

Capiche?
Sweet. Moving on!
🙂

We had an out of town wedding this weekend.
(Beautiful! Husband’s BFF since childhood! So Happy!)
And it was my job to figure out how to get us there for as close to free as possible. Using priceline I did the “name your own price” thing and, although I tried lower, I hit on $45/night and it turned out to get a pretty sweet hotel room with a kitchen in it! (I’m so glad I didn’t have to bring a portable stove top and dishes!)

Here’s the point of the whole thing!
This place has nearly the exact same features as our Tiny House. So I got curious and asked how many square feet our room is.
“Around 350.” was my answer.
Our hotel room is 143 square feet bigger than our 207 square foot home!

So how does it compare?
I just miss my sink! My big, beautiful farmhouse sink!
I would guess that there’s equal amount of counter space but our sink makes such a huge different in how the kitchen functions.

One thing the hotel has that the Tiny House does not is a garbage disposal. Someday, if our budget ever has room for excess, it might be nice to install one. A luxury for sure. We’ll have to see, I’d prioritize learning to compost. Maybe I’ll accomplish that first and won’t have a use for a garbage disposal. 🙂
Also, an office chair (with a back! Oh the luxury! ) and a full length mirror. A perk but I don’t really desire to have one in my tiny home.

It’s fun to compare because of the similarity in size. Of course, it’s a hotel, and nothing compares to the warmth of your own home that God blessed you with.

Show me your silverware drawer!

December 28, 2014

Ryan recently made a rare and most profound minimalist statement.

“I think we need to get rid of some more silverware. “

Yes! I was totally thinking the same thing but assumed I must simply be crazy.

I know that doesn’t look like much.

I’ll have to count it and get back to you. Then I’ll probably tell you about how we’re only 4 people, and how I personally only use one spoon when I eat my soup 😉 and how ultimately 4 of each item is all we really need. 6 max, for when we have company.

And even if we did, somehow, end up with seven people in our Tiny House all eating soup at the exact same moment (!?) I would totally sacrifice my spoon for our soup eating guest and enjoy my soup from a coffee mug.

I’m minimalist like that.
Can you dish it?

…I totally just found this German proverb after I wrote this post:
“It’s better to have no spoon than to have no soup.”
No lie.

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