At long last I’ve been given a production date and estimated delivery date for my Park Model house. It will go into production on Feb 14th with delivery approx. March 10th. Wow, now I have about 7 weeks to wrap my head around moving! I finalized all my custom details this week with the factory- primarily changes made to the bedroom closets, moving the space for the washer/dryer and a pantry with selves in the kitchen. But there are tons of other small details- placement of outdoor water facets, extra outlets, accessories for the kitchen farm sink, whether the shower tile is vertical or horizonal , placement of floating shelves in kitchen, prep for future ceiling fans, or even the location of the electrical panel.
So now that that’s finalized and all signed off on I can start to think about other house details. I took a little trip to IKEA this week and picked up a few things like a towel rack , shower curtain and toilet paper holder for the bathroom, a hanging shoe rack for the bedroom closet and rolls of drawer liner. IKEA is great for all kinds of storage items and the prices are excellent. Their inventory was a bit low, so I’ll make another trip to the one near Austin for some hooks and picture ledges. A fun thing about IKEA is all the little apartment setups they have depicting everything from a 350 sf apt to 800 sf. And all the little storage ideas they’ve used. I wanted to see the storage bed frame they have that the main mattress lifts up to reveal storage below, but they didn’t have a sample of it on the showroom floor. It’s either that or enough space under the bed to put bins. However I will initially just be sleeping on an aerobed, so none of it is a priority.
I have a storage unit on the property that is quite large, and I’ll have plenty of empty plastic bins from moving for extra blankets, pillows etc. I edited my things pretty well when I left Santa Fe and the closet redesigns allows for a place to store a vacuum cleaner, large kitchen trash can and dog food. The only thing I have that doesn’t seem to fit is my Yamaha piano keyboard. I think it will have to go under the bed, and I need a smaller stand for it than the one I currently have. Fitting in my minimal amount of furniture will still be interesting.
I took out the regular swinging bedroom door- the way it was positioned it kind of got in the way unless it was closed, and it’s just me in the house anyway, not really seeing the need for an awkward door. If you’re in my kitchen and want to peek in the bedroom, I’m OK with that, I typically make my bed! LOL! But I will probably hang something else there- a curtain, bamboo beads or something else. All the rest of the interior doors are pocket doors that don’t take up space.
I wasn’t fond of the backsplash tile offered for the kitchen, so I’ll eventually put something in, but I could not find a tile yet that I wanted to commit to. I love so many of them and can’t choose. Next best solution is removable wall stickers that mimic tile. Its washable, waterproof, and if I decide I don’t love it, changeable.
Once the house arrives, it needs to be skirted and stairs built for it. I also need some kind of 48” gate (s) to be able to keep the dog on the porch. Then of course hookups- electric, propane tank for the stove, sewer and find an internet provider. The house guy does the actual hookups but I have to open service accounts and probably buy a propane tank. Only the stove is gas so anything between 50-100 gallons is probably adequate.
I can’t believe that by the time I move I’ll have been here for a year. A few other people have moved to the property and it will be nice to have some neighbors. Check out CountyLineCottages.com to see a few pics of our 55+ community. This year a community center is being built with a kitchen. So if you want to have a party, a larger kitchen is available if the one in your tiny isn’t adequate. I never dreamed I’d be doing a living situation like this but tiny living suits my needs at this time in my life where I don’t want to be a slave to home maintenance, lawn care etc. I can plant a small yard if I wish, but keep everything easy and manageable.
Has aging changed the way you look at your living situation? Share your thoughts.
