Announcement Of New Small Home Series
Last night I got ready to watch another Vera episode, only to find I’d seen the last one on Acorn TV.
So I went to Amazon Prime Video and put in my info only to find I needed to do something first on my computer. I don’t use my computer at night. If I did my hands would wear out from arthritis.
So today I will try to get that figured out. Why on earth can’t they just have all the series in one place? The money I’m sure. Usually the answer to almost everything.
Instead, I watched the first episode of Brokenwood. I like it so will continue to watch it, as I love mysteries. I think some of you may have mentioned that I might like it.
I am starting a new series called Living Large In Little Houses.
I’ll approach people who live in small homes and ask if they’re willing to be interviewed. Then I will write posts showing photos of their homes and include a Q&A.
Do you have any questions you’d like me to ask them about small space living?
My first one will likely be Kris from the blog Junk Chic Cottage. We’ve known each other a long time through blogging.
You might want to go and visit her blog. She and her husband do the most inventive DIYs in their home. It is always a wonder to see what they’ve come up with.
They moved into a small house not too long ago. She told me she thought they’d have it ready to take photos of what they’ve completed possibly next week.
I will make a separate page for these interviews so they will be easy to find.
I don’t think I’ve told you that I got to go inside one of the condos I’ve written so fondly about. They’re called Shannonwood Condos.
They’re the ones I mentioned I’ve wanted to live in because they’re right next to my grocery store and within a few blocks of Trader Joe’s and Supercuts.
Last week after getting groceries I saw a door open to one of them and a woman standing there. I parked and asked if she was moving in or out and she said out. She offered to let me look inside.
Unfortunately the very first thing in my sight was a steep three steps you had to go up to even get to the rooms. Not outside, but inside. She said that’s why she’s moving. She has a bad ankle and can no longer maneuver the steps.
Well, there went that idea. She told me if I had any problems with my ankle or knees or back to not try to live in these condos, for the steps are a real problem for many.
Why would they build condos where you open your front door and then within about two yards have to go up steep steps? Worries about possible flooding? It sure wastes that space I thought.
After slowly going up those steep steps, I saw there was no point in going any farther.
Well, that idea can go into the dead ideas file.
I wanted to show you something. Remember the back stretcher I got from Amazon? Well, I’ve found that while watching TV I can put it behind me and it gives me support while I read or watch TV in my bedroom.
Typically I put it on my yoga mat, use a pillow for my head, and lay on it to stretch my back.
But it doesn’t take long for my back to start hurting while laying in bed either.
I hate to recommend using it this way because I don’t know if it’s an acceptable way to use the back stretcher. But it works for me. So thought I’d give it a mention.
This was a great post. Sorry to hear about that hopeful condo disappointment with the stairs..wow.., too bad. I would love to see if there are any ideas about those who are collectors…how do they live big in small homes. I have collections that I know one day I will have to scale down and part with alot or most.. :0( .. Your blog is always so interesting. I love Chris’s beautiful blog, Junk Chic Cottage, already. :0)..Very lovely and creative. Gratitude to all of you wonderful bloggers. Keeps me happy each day..and something to look forward to. :0)
Looking forward to your series about living big in small homes! Love articles about small homes!
I like the looks of that back support/stretcher and think it might be useful for me, too. Do you have a link for it? I went back through your posts that mentioned it, but the link I found doesn’t look like the one you received. Thanks!
I was looking for a house at one point and a house I looked at had a long staircase right down the middle of the house. on one side was the living room, you could look down on it while walking up to the bedrooms that was a row at the top. Under the bedrooms was the kitchen. Now with 3 year old and a handicapped/non walking child, I thought this was just too dangerous and would be a lot of trouble. Later on I looked at another house. It was 4 bedrooms and 3 baths that we were looking for but it was 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and just one other room. And it wasn’t a big room. Just half the size of our living room now, which isn’t large.The kitchen was just a little dent in that room. Like a closet with no doors. I have looked at many houses and lived in many (military family) and have often wondered how insane that architects are!!
A really great series on Acorn is Wild at Heart about a British vet and his family who relocate to Africa. The stories, the animals, the scenery, the music is all wonderful. Can’t rate it high enough.
Thank you Brenda for the honor of showing my home in your series. I cannot wait to do this with you.
Have a great day.
Thanks for all your help with the blog things too.
Kris
Brenda I love the idea of tiny house info.
I live on an island in New England in the guest cottage. It’s 425 Sq. Feet & I have 1 closet but storage is tight. I put my bed on risers so bins fit under the bed.
Sorry about your dream condos but it just wasn’t meant to be. Something better will come up!!
Kris would be an excellent blog to feature on your small house posts! She has not let a smaller house stop her from expressing her own style and the rooms don’t look small at all.
Our house is only slightly over 1100 sq ft and I’m constantly on the watch for ideas. Especially for the kitchen because I’m just not a minimalist and enjoy having pretty things sitting on my counters and special ingredients close at hand. But I also need more workspace on the counters too so it’s a constant battle. I had planned on taking today to start rearranging and reorganizing my counters but then hurt my knee last night so will have to put off that job!
I can’t imagine trying to climb a flight of steps all the time anymore and am so thankful for this one level house we downsized to. I hope you can find a one level condo sometime that will suit all your needs. I’m sure they’re hard to come by and I wish so much that builders would take that into consideration.
Being free, with Prime membership, Prime is really worth the bother to sign up for and just a matter of them sending you a code. Hope you try it! I would love to have BritBox but with already having Netflix have decided not to for now. But I would love to watch Vera! And the new Shetland season. I loved Shetland when it was on Netflix and wish they had not taken it off. Such a quality show!
I’m signed up with Prime Video. It’s on my Home Page. It’s a matter of some technical thing I’ve got to look into.
Hi Brenda. I think I found those condos on Google Maps. My husband is in architecture so based on what I’ve learned from him, I am going to make a guess at what is going on with those steps in the entryway. My guess is that the condos were built in the 1960s, and then in the 1980s they underwent a facelift and the front door area was redesigned. I’m guessing that the original front door area had a few steps that led up to a small open concrete front porch, similar to what you have now. The 1980s was a big time for trying to make houses more energy efficient and for keeping the heat inside due to winters being really bad, and architects and remodelers started doing things like making air-lock entries or enclosing porches to keep cold winds from coming right into the front room when the front door was opened. It looks like someone got the idea to not only enclose the porches on those condos, but to enclose the steps as well in order to make a foyer. One clue that this is what happened is how the current front door is situated lower than the front windows. Also, the skylights and the long, solid panes of glass by the front doors are pretty classic 1980’s features.
The owners of the condo complex have done a nice paint job on the condos to make the new architecture fit in with the older architecture. It looks like a nice area to live. But, it does sound like it would be a real hassle to enter the front door and be faced with those steps, mainly because the steps won’t necessarily meet current code. They could be steeper or won’t have a good handrail for safety. And I’d worry about the skylights developing leaks, which skylights often do! I hope that some other good place to live pops up on the horizon for you.
Very interested because that is the size house I am in the market for. I’m glad you mentioned the Lovely Reads page; I had forgotten about it.
Brenda,
I would be so appreciative if as you are looking for blogs to recommend you might include anyone living in small spaces and confined to a wheelchair. Over the past eleven years my husband and I have made many things adaptive on a low budget. However, it is always so nice to see what others do to make wheelchair life better and more user friendly.
I use a power wheelchair myself.
Thank you,
Lora Farnsworth
I will make an effort to find these types of blogs for you.
How small does a small house have to be to considered a small house?
I was thinking 1000-1200 square feet would be what I would go for when looking for interviewees.
I moved in Eureka, Ca in 2010 to a 1100 sq ft house, no steps. At 76 years young sometimes my home feels huge ( when it’s time to clean) and other times it feels small (especially when i have guests). I am an avid artist and constantly organizing and reorganizing, trying to declutter and even trying to eliminate stuff. Hope you can help.
Brenda, if you ever decide to get Britbox, do look for Rosemary and Thyme. They are two lady amateur detectives who also run a gardening business. I’m sure you would love it.
I agree Rosemary and Thyme is very good. I used to watch it on Netflix, but it was removed a while ago.
Thank you for creating the lists of other possible bloggers to follow. With the exception of you and one other, all the others I used to read 1) have stopped blogging; or 2) are VERY focused on making money by blogging.
Hope you enjoy Brokenwood I liked it. They are showing new ones this month. I signed up for Acorn to get season 21 of Midsomer Murders. Last night I got BritBox so I could see Death in Paradise.
The BritBox is through Amazon Prime. I do love Vera.
I love peeking inside small homes – I’ve always been drawn to small spaces rather than large, soaring homes – they are just cozier to me…I guess growing up in an apartment in NYC, small spaces just fell more like ‘home’ to me.
Too bad about the condo, well at least now you can cross that off your bucket list.
Brenda, Good morning! I am sorry that your dream of living in the condos was dashed by a set of stairs! It was serendipity to see the woman in her door and to know that it would not be a good fit for you.
Love the idea of your new series! Looking forward to it.
Have a wonderful day!
that’s a shame about your dream condo. Happy 2020 I wish you a healthy and prosperous year.
Sonny