Cabinet Bases

I truly believe that the kitchen is the most important room in any house. I love to cook and I love to eat, both for the joy and creativity of it and for sustenance, and while I am making more compromises than some tiny housers, the kitchen is still a high priority.  Basically, my house is a galley-style kitchen with a bathroom on one end and a bed on the other. Hey, what more does a person need? 

(Actually, there are a lot of different spaces built into the design--storage, dining, living, more storage, multiple levels, that random empty space between the door and the bed...--but the kitchen is a major one in terms of square footage.)

That said, I was concerned about the use of space. I was afraid that once the cabinets were built, they would constrict the space, making the house feel like a narrow hallway from bed to bath. 

Well, the cabinets are built--at least to the point where I can tell how much space they occupy--and I can now answer those concerns...

Wha--who installed knotty pine in my house?!

Okay. I admit it. 

It was me.

I am weak.

Yes, I did say I don't want my house to look like a cabin or a beach-house. Yes, I probably mentioned knotty pine tongue-and-groove (or TNG) by name. But... I was sick of plywood. And to be very honest... TNG is fun to work with! 

Circuit Breaker Box

 For some reason I was sweating nervous about installing my circuit breaker box. It didn't look quite like any of the diagrams online, so I couldn't follow their instructions blow-for-blow... and I really, really, really didn't want to do it wrong. Electricity has the tendency to inspire fearful respect, and if you're an amateur electrician who feels otherwise, then you're probably also a fool.

Just sayin'.

Interior Walls: Wallpaper Liner

My interior has been sitting with an unevenly primed OSB surface for quite some time now.  Not the most gorgeous wall finish... but it wasn't finished; it was waiting. Waiting for the loft floors to be fastened down, waiting for the ceiling panels to go up, waiting for all manner of tasks along the way to be completed.

Now, after a whopping two days' hard labor (sarcasm--I hardly accomplish anything in two days anymore), the wait is over! Check out that much-smoother-than-OSB surface!

I'm baaack

I last posted on November 2. Oops. Funny how even a part-time job edges out the time I would have spent blogging... How some folks work and build and blog and presumably also grocery shop and walk the dog and bathe is--maybe not beyond me--but certainly impressive.

Luckily, it's only the blogging that I've been really slacking off on. I've been taking pictures of everything I've done, and I have done a few things, so I'll go back and write about them, backdate the posts so the build timeline is represented, and... enjoy!

To make up for the delay, after the jump there's a photo of my "installing polyiso insulation" look...

Ceiling Panels and Intumescent Primer

Goodbye, ceiling insulation! Hello, an almost finished surface?

I want as many nice, clean, flat surfaces in my house as I can manage, so when it came time to choose a material to close in my ceiling, I did not go with the knotty pine tongue and groove boards that so, so, so many tiny housers choose. 

No, I went with plywood. So glamorous, right? Not...

Siding: Almost Done!

From one angle, my exterior almost looks finished! Wow!

I'm still working on two sides of siding and one corner, but this shot of the two complete sides gives you a good idea of how awesome it has turned out. Right?

I just need to finish up the toolshed over the trailer tongue, install and flash the awning over the front door, and put up half a dozen small metal panels over the bathroom window.

More pictures, tips, and techniques after the jump...