Loft decking, and the couch

Gardening and other springtime projects have slowed down progress on the house a bit, but we're getting ready to make a couple big purchases: the flooring and countertops!  We've spent some time recently on small not-so-rewarding projects... like clear-coat Minwax finishes for the windows that you have to apply once, sand, apply again, and in the end its clear so you can barely appreciate it!  But we did finish the decking for both lofts, and the couch is on its way to being done.  We had some thick spruce boards lying around that we had originally harvested and milled for the loft rafters (they ended up being too warped for that straight-is-critical type project). Fortunately we didn't cut down all those little trees for nothing, and we were able to use some of them for the couch.  The built-in furniture has the advantage of extra storage beneath, and we planned space under the side table for a couple of file cabinet type drawers to help us organize.  The side table will have the same butcher block top as the kitchen counters, and even has an outlet built in!

Even more sanding

Looking pretty!  We will build a wall at the end of the sleeping loft to give us a little more separation from the kitchen.  Contemplating putting some textured glass in it to get some light from that nice kitchen skylight.

The hip roof is STILL complicated!

Bathroom ceiling 

Building the couch.

Enjoying the couch.

Outlet! 

We're going to recycle the foam from this super thick old camping pad for the cushions.  So nice to have somewhere to sit!

The World's Largest Tiny House Kitchen (and some decking for the loft!)

We have cabinets!  After some fretting and no small number of instructional YouTube videos, Kenny was an expert!  They went up in just a couple days with no problems. The plan is to make flush-fit drawers and doors, and we'll soon be ordering some butcher block for the countertops.  The original design included two 45 gallon water tanks under the sink to make our house as off-grid as possible.  We've reconsidered that recently.  If we do live somewhere where we have to haul water, it would be a huge pain in the butt to haul 90 gallons at a time (for two people conserving, you'd still have to do it once a week).  Hopefully we'll end up somewhere with a water source, and if not, we can get a larger outdoor tank at that time.  In the end, we have tons of unanticipated storage space and its a good thing: we can live in our tiny house and still keep our Costco membership!

We're also nearing completion on the sleeping loft.  We ordered 10" rough-cut Doug Fir boards to save some money, but also in part because finished Doug of those dimensions doesn't seem to be widely available around here.  We hit them with the planer, router, belt sander, nine grits of sandpaper, and a coat of Penofin, (whew!) and are now ready to screw them down!

 You can never have too many clamps

Ta-dah! 

The grate is to let heat from the propane fridge escape.

More ridiculous woodworking to accomodate the rafters.  This time, the notches for the decking boards had to be carved with a bevel on the inside.

Laying out the decking boards for fit

We took them off and stained them after this

 Its always important to have a clean and well-organized work space.

 Before: rough-cut boards

After: smooth and oiled beauties!

Some late night Penofin-ing.  It looks great!

Projects... lots of projects....

Sometimes progress on the house feels slow, but when you look back you realize that you have accomplished a lot.  Recently we've been tackling a lot of small projects, all overshadowed by the next big project: cabinets.

All the windows with the exception of the shower window are framed-- they look beautiful!  We stained the steps, and mounted the Mr. Elky on the back of the house (thanks for all the burgers!).  Kenny did the blocking in the bathroom, and we finished the walls in there.  We now have a proper electrical hookup on the side of the shed, and installed the ceiling box for the wood stove (more on the chimney debacle later).  We also got a start on staining the interior wood.

He didn't fit inside

Crazy blocking in the bathroom / under the hip roof

This took more than one try

There will be decking above for a storage loft above the bathroom

Framing windows

Loft windows

Staining the interior wood (Penofin Verde Natural, if you're interested)

For the elusive 4" wood stove pipe

Ceiling: stained, and looking good!