Eco Cabin Exterior Facelift Ideas that are FREE

My cabin, is a bit more of a shack... I'd like to think of it as the Love Shack though! Let's just say it's been known to be called such names as "rickety", "not year round", and "hunters cabin" - but since I have moved into the tiny wonder back in March I have happily put a ton love labor into making the once seasonal shack into a year round cozy home.

Some projects are more affordable to start then others (a more efficient roof VS. gray water system), depending not only on your budget but on your personal level/ability to do your own labor OR maybe having some huge group of friends who somehow wanna spend their time fixing your house instead of theirs. :)

*

Here are three simple, free and beautiful ways to transform a rustic cabin into a WOW, HOW AWESOME rustic cabin:::::

1. Change all the outside poles/columns/supports from the square store bought ones to small tree trunks. How is it eco to cut down the trees? Well I used a hemlock tree next to my house which was dead, I not only opened up more sun to my front herb garden, but made use of the wood in a way that took my cabin out of the "rickety" category and into southern rustic beauty.

I am using the hemlock trunks all the way around the porch. It's awesome how well it blends in with the forest!

If ya don't believe me what a HUGE change using naturally shaped trees make on the cabin's appearance, check out this BEFORE picture below... (that is the Luck cabin before I moved in and made any changes, the porch poles were rotten 2x4's....)
2. Cut your own railings! The forest is full of downed trees/thick branches, and it takes little effort with a hand saw to cut some porch railings, gather them and then get really creative about adding them to the outside or inside of the house. If you don't live in a forest, there are people having branches cut off their hardwood trees in the city all the time, why not ask a local company if you can pick some up one day.

3. Stones! I can never really have enough of them, I am a total sucker for the look of a stone path. I got these rocks (pictured below) from when the pipes for my gravity fed water were buried and these were dug up...if you don't have alot of big rocks, or enough rocks think of all the things you could do with even just a small amount of rocks - mosaics on stepping stones made of concrete (which is cheap), mosaics on a bathroom floor or wall, around some windows, decorating a hand built cob oven.

The main point is, wherever you are there are some resources that are probably free or cheap, so start looking around. I find that when I am forced into FREE creativity, things just turn out so much more interesting then anything Lowes or Home Depot could sell me.

*

EXTRA TIPS FOR CHEAP & ECO HOME IMPROVEMENT:

• Buy from thrift stores when decorating! Piles of fabrics, fun lighting, lamps, quilts, pictures, paintings and then some wait for you for only dollars.
• Need new thermal windows, try your local HABITAT FOR HUMANITY first - tons of house building supplies for much cheaper.
• Use your own skills, and the skills of local people around you!
• One man's trash is another's treasure, think out of the box - someone somwhere is throwing away what you need... go find it.

YAY for DIY!

PS- if anyone has done similar minded projects I would love to see pictures, send links!

xoxox

Milk Paint Is the BEST Paint Eva'!

Ya'll like my wonder woman colored shutter doors for my bathroom? (My mom doesn't! ha) .... but I am in LOVE with the vibrant beautiful colors of milk paint. Yeah, for realz, that stuff is made of a simple ancient recipe using milk and powdered lime, with natural earth pigments..... AKA: Non toxic, No VOC, safe for the sensitive, and antique looking!

I didn't make the milk paint myself, but instead bought it for a good price online from the Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company. I knew milk paint didn't bother me once it was dry, but I had never had a chance to paint with it myself - and I found out that not only was it so non toxic it didn't bother me, but I actually had fun! SO much fun, that I started painting everything with it ----> bat houses, bird houses, little pieces of wood, I made a painting of a tree... I had to control myself from just painting all over the whole house and making a mess.

There are two formulas of milk paint you can buy and since I have been experimenting with both and leaving some stuff inside , some out in the weather, let me tell ya'll what the difference means in real terms:::::

***The Original Milk Paint - This stuff is awesome, and it holds up just fine inside even in an house with no air conditioning .... BUT my craft projects I used it on that were exposed to weather started to mold some. So use it inside, not outside where something will get wet.

***Safe Paint (Milk Paint) - This stuff is just as non toxic and VOC free, but they altered the formula so that it adheres to more surfaces, and let me tell ya it totally works without molding at all. Even in the rain. Milk paint used in a plastic bucket from last year that was left out in the rain still has the coating of millk paint on it, so does the metal pan - both left outside in the weather. Of all my birdhouses I painted, the "safe paint" version is the brightest colored and hasn't molded at all. The company told me this paint can be used on metal & glass surfaces too, which is really amazing.

I won't go back to using any other paint (not even the No VOC regular paints) ever again, I seriously love milk paint! Even though it takes more care, it's not all that hard to mix up.
It comes in a powder form and if you add hot/warm water it won't curdle. The deal is as it gets cold it can curdle and the company encourages using a cake batter thingy to smash it up or a electric paint mixer. I just used hot water and a stick and whooped it really hard. :)

I found that the colors mix really well together, almost like painting with acrylics! I plan on making some really cool art with this stuff - next project is going to be a mural on my bedroom ceiling of night turning into day, starting with the constellations, and ending in clouds & blue sky. yay!

Xoxoxo

Me and My Dad Hanging Mirrors

This might not seem like the biggest deal to an outsider, but hanging mirrors with my dad was special... and fun. And the word "bastard" was only used once, which was directed towards a mirror. My mom was super nice enough to buy me two fancy mirrors for the Luck Cabin, both of which I decided to put in my bathroom.

The first one was rather easy being it was small and only needed one hook to be hung.
The second big mirror, we pulled out a leveler, made notches on the wall, made use of the tape measure again and again- and generally I followed my dad down a path of perfectionism (a path I rarely take anymore)...
I would have left the thing crooked, but he wanted it done right. He said "I only want to ever do this once."
I am not sure I am prepared to see my own face this much when brushing my teeth or bathing or churning my composting toilet, but I guess I bettah' get ready!!! Doesn't it look so beautiful - my mom has such good taste and my dad did an awesome job making them perfectly straight. :) Yay for my family!
Xoxoxo

Man In a Mini House

I met this guy, let's call him "Mikey", living in the tiniest of all tiny spaces eva' ... and even though he was not necessarily keen on his tiny house situation I found the basics of his survival to be poetic and just plain cool.
His temporary home in the 'shed' house can't be more then 6 feet by 12 feet... (give or take 2 feet on each side cause i didn't measure) with no running water or real electric source, just an extension cord for a basic thing or two. Mikey washes his hands in the creek below his tiny abode, the creek he has made into a rock landscaped personal oasis for himself.
When he tried running a heater inside the house, the uncovered eaves had invited all types of insects and birds into the roof - so wasps and ladybugs began squeezing out the ceiling cracks, and he'd wake up to a wasp resting on his pillow. He chose not to spray them though cause of the birds making their nests in there too. Instead he makes a fire at night to warm up to outside.
Mikey is a naturalist, private kind of guy - just him and his really sweet dog. I really enjoyed warming by the fire and petting the dog, the dog liked sitting on my feet and putting it's tail dangerously close to the fire. I liked dreaming of tiny house living.

Normally I'd talk about how much people LOVE their tiny eco savvy homes, but Mikey does not like it... there is still so much potential in that simple structure, which was built for "jus' $900" ... i could see a wood stove being put underneath, walling in the bottom to have two tiny stories in the space, the bottom being for heat and cooking, the top for resting. With all the free supplies you can get on craigslist these days, building this kind of tiny structure, or just finishing up an existing one like this could be done virtually for free.

Do any of ya'll have a favorite mini house?! What is the smallest space you'd be willing to live?

XoXo

Making Eco Efficient Space In A Rural Cabin

These are the very first steps to making my eco mecca, tiny cabin, chemical free, healthy home a place where I can not only grow my own food, have animals and be in the woods - but also have a functioning earth friendly home to sleep, cook, bathe and blog in. The little 432 sq foot cabin I am moving to doesn't have a bathroom, so yesterday I spent some time pretending to be a architecturally savvy woman and drew the totally 80's art deco looking floor plan above! I am sooo proud of it.
I am changing the open kitchen area (pictured above where the oval rug is) around to be more efficient in a small space while including a bathroom. Now anyone with even slight chemical sensativities or allergies knows renovations are about the yuckiest thing to have to do, and planning these to be utterly chemical free & healthy to breathe can baffle the best of us - but I have finally gotten to a point where I have found there is a way to do nearly everything without causing off gas problems into your home.

Caulk is a big yuck-o no no for many sensitive people, so I went ahead and eliminated the need for caulk in the bathroom by choosing a clawfoot tub, stand up pedestal sink, and a composting toilet which only needs to be bolted into the floor. (I found the tub for cheap in the local classifieds and the composting toilet is from Nature's Head.)

Flooring can be a huge challenge too, but for me I try to uncomplicate it by always choosing hardwood floors for every room. No matter what, even the bathroom. I decided against tile because the grout in the past out gassed hardcore and would make me dizzy. For this cabin I am putting in (super on sale cheap as sin) locally milled hickory wide plank floors that have no finish on them, and are nailed in (no gluing required!) The finish I will be putting on myself will be a mixutre of mostly walnut oil and beeswax. Heavy on the walnut oil more then the wax, which will be melted in a small quantity.

Size matters, when it comes to a house - the smaller your house the less of any kind of material you'll have to buy. This would help people avoid the toxic cheap stuff and purchase the better eco friendly stuff for renovations... although I have found that nearly everything you need can be found through craigslist or on sale locally. I also found an eco friendly fire retardant free insulation that is SUPER cheap and easy to install... check out Innovative Insulation Inc. here! My first choice would be sheeps wool insulation, but the expense is really intense... so radiant barrier insulation is a good chemical free alternative.

Plumbing can be a big challenge too, many people still believe they have to use PVC and plumbing glue - both of which are toxic. PVC stays carcinogenic for the entire life span of the pipe, so like who wants to drink that water??? Ways to avoid plumbing glue and PVC plastic are to use copper pipe and/or the piping called PEX. Pex uses clamps to connect pipes and doesnt crack during winter freezes like PVC does... no glue, less repair = better health and more money saved long term.
My drinking and bathing water is spring water that is gravity fed, down into the house. Since the poop will be composted by the composting toilet, there is only a need for a grey water system to catch the sink & tub water. I don't use soaps of any kind, so my system will be very pure.

Leftovers can be used to make other things around the house. For instance, there is always left over wood flooring, which can be used to make shelves, repair walls, make a kitchen counter top, or bathroom shelf for holding my toothbrush.

The space in the kitchen will basically be divided in such a way that instead of spreading out across the whole area, the back 6 feet will become a tiny bathroom, then the new wall (made only of wood) for the bathroom will allow for the kitchen to be made into a smaller 'V' or 'L' shape fitting into the corner of the wall, and storage space can sprawl upward instead of outward.

Suppppper Exciting.

Anyone have any other ideas, suggestions, or links to pictures of tiny spaces made more efficient? I need all the visual help I can get.

PS- if ya' eva' want to get paint for your home, make sure it's 100% chemical free Milk Paint!

XoXo

Creating A Sustainable Dream Part 3

Do ya remember this drawing I did back in November, a sketch of my sustainable dream? I drew it on a tax record for some random land on HWY 209 in Hot Springs and made a list above the drawing of things I wished for... asked for? Required?... in order to make myself a totally eco minded, organic, animal friendly, surrounded by wildlife home. Now look at the cabin below that I found for sale...
Even the porch with the overhang, and stove pipe for the wood stove coming out the roof is in the exact place I drew it - the windows are too. And the shape, the size, and the house is raised off the ground. The roof pitch is in the direction I drew it too, to hold a loft which this cabin does have. Plus it's off HWY 209 in Hot Springs just like the tax record I drew on. But what is even freakier.... there really is a pond near the cabin just like in the drawing!!! So I am going to share my secret wish list with ya'll, and compare each item to what this place has::: The wish is on the left side, and the reality is on the right side!

1. 10 acres or more --- 8 acres (surrounded by other large wooded properties)
2. Variety of land type, wooded, flat, sloping, steep --- all of the above
3. Pure drinking water, creek, spring, pond --- all of the above!!!
4. Sustainable & stable lifestyle --- um, check (fish in pond, get chickens, gardening with ease)
5. Open space for donkey and chickens --- there is an overgorwn cleared spot... nothing the donkey, chickens, me and a goat can't fix.
6. House, old cabin, or place to build a cabin --- rustic cabin 600 sq ft.
7. under $100,000 --- asking price $99,000
8. Organic gardening area big enough to feed myself --- see #5
9. Adjoins nice eco neighbors --- yeah, Llama and sheep farms next door
10. Easy access for getting groceries brought to me, social life --- this one is so-so... ? Who wants to bring me groceries or come for a visit... :)
11. Good dirt --- check, the area is like one giant pure forest with nearly no development for miles and miles
12. Safe for MCS --- yep.
If I can get this close to my list for a house I am thinking I should go ahead and start drawing pictures of myself holding giant wads of cash $$$, winning lotto tickets, with giant abundant gardens all around me. :) Oh, and driving a car again!

Xoxoxoxo

Sketching A Sustainable Dream

There are some adventures which are just still a dream, but the only way to make that dream happen is to clarify your intentions and follow every avenue of possibility towards making it happen. I make creative lists, and now I make drawings of what I want too! Right now I am looking for land to purchase (with or without a structure already on it) so that I can begin where I left off a long time ago, in building my own eco & sustainable homestead to live out a peaceful and natural life on. The above pic is my drawing of what I want to happen, I got the idea of drawing when a old neighbor from back in Marshall NC told me once she looked for her farm for almost a year and couldnt find anything she liked, she finally sat down one day and drew an exact picture of what this dream farm would look like - she drew in small details like spring fed concrete watering hole for her horses and hills rolling a certain way, barns in a specific place. After she made the drawing it was in almost no time she pulled up to her future farm, which was an exact replica of every detail of her drawing.
Another thing I am loving to do, is take the online photos of all the places that woo me on the TInY HOuSes BlOg, and save them in a folder for inspiration! Below are some of my most favorites I wanted to share with ya'll... to see tons more like these, go here.
I am attracted to natural wood, whether it's flat, round, logs, cordwood, or a shack - if it's made with wood in a natural rustic way I fall in love. Being in a forest setting, these structures make more sense- they blend in better and hopefully attract wildlife. :)
On the TiNy HOuSes BlOg, there are so many hand built homes that are on trucks or made from horse trailors and other wild imaginative objects. This one below is an antique/vintage photo which is why it holds that true gypsy style and energy.
And of course- here is my dream hobbit cabin, which looks not only like heaven to me but also not too hard to construct.
Now we get to interiors of tiny eco homes- which make good use of natural materials, space, and re-use.
In the pic above I love the wooden counter top, I built an exact counter top like this in my favorite house I ever bought - and would love to do it again! The bedroom pic below gets me because of the feeling of a loft, yet full private room to sleep in- it is very well designed.
Now, the cob house kitchen below freaking rocks, basically cause a real tree with bits of branches in tack was used to hang things off of and i lovvvvvve the micro sized kitchen! I am not into cabinets, everything I have is useful most days and i like having little open shelves like in this micro kitchen.
And last... quirky construction, so quirky I don't even comprehend - but all those warm looking wood slats on the walls, floor and ceiling. Mmmmmm, COmE On DReAM HoME, I am ready for you!!!!
XoXo