The final triumphant scene is the everyone remembers most, but a close second is probably the breakfast scene, where the two strong-willed women battle it out over a meal. For me, this is the best scene. It’s an all-out brawl that’s choreographed like a great dance or stage fight. What makes it all the more impressive is that there is virtually no dialogue. You can practically see Patty Duke’s Helen’s mind working to beat her teacher, while Anne Bancroft’s Annie keeps coming up with strategies to get the child to eat a meal in a civilized manner. Two great actresses at their best.

LAUNDRY
A combination washer/dryer is much more common than it used to be. The growth of 2nd homes and cabins has fueled it, I suppose, but those of us interested in small homes are reaping the benefits of the boom. Thor makes a combo machine that needs no dryer vent. The Compact Appliance website lists a few models by LG, along with a couple other lesser known companies. Now, I could get a stacking W/D combo but I’m going to try to use less electricity by air drying my clothes as much as possible. So I won’t need both washer and dryer full-time.

KITCHEN
Here’s where all the fun is! Although I’m still not sure of the exact layout there are a couple of appliances that I know I’ll be getting:
Stove/Oven: The Aga Companion Range is an adorable 24″ wide four-burner gas stove with conventional oven/broiler and a convection oven. All that in just 24″! They also make an undercounter refrigerator, which is next to consider…
Refrigerator/Freezer: I have always been annoyed by the lack of counter space in every apartment I’ve lived in. I imagine it comes from growing up with an extra long expanse of counter in my parent’s kitchen. So I’m doing everything I can to gain counter space. Putting the refrigeration under the counter is an easy way to do that. Even though I’m only feeding myself out of this kitchen, the two-drawer fridge at the Compact Appliances site actually holds quite a bit of food. And match that with a three-drawer freezer and I’ve got it made. Of course they are fabulously expensive but I’m hoping I can afford a few (okay, ’several’) “luxury” items. It’s funny that smaller scale appliances are so much more expensive that larger models. If I can’t afford these items, I’ll go with a more inexpensive undercounter fridge and a stand-up freezer to put in the garage.
Dishwasher: Haven’t given it much thought, besides the fact that I want it to be…you guessed it…small. Happily, there are several models at Compact Appliance to choose from.

HEATING
Water: Tankless, as I’ve mentioned. It’s especially appropriate since there’s only one of me in the house. For more than 2 people you may need 2 or more of these tankless models, but they’re still more efficient since the only water that’s heated is the water that is actually used. Then there’s the idea of tying the water heater into the…
Heat: …radiant floor heating. This is accomplished through running hot water through pipes in the floor, so some homes tie it together with the household hot water. Of course, this is all still a mystery to me, so I’m sure there will be much education to come on this subject. Oh, boy!

Here’s one potential view of the kitchen space. I’m thinking of changing the window to a full three-sided bump out so I can put a cabinet below it that doesn’t extend into the kitchen space. It would be a good place for garbage and recycling. Maybe something like this, for example. It’s my latest kitchen incarnation with a red backsplash (using recycled materials, of course) and a concrete countertop. The round thing in the front is a round glass bar-height table that I’m thinking of adding on to the end of the counter, if there’s room. I’d like to create a little glass ledge to run the length of the counter, too, but that’s probably too expensive.

Walls/Ceiling/Floors: For that venetian plaster finish there is the American Clay Company, which uses environmentally-friendly clays and aggregates and natural pigments to create looks ranging from the aforementioned venetian plaster to southwestern adobe and more. Just look at the photo gallery to see some of the great looks. Click on the second picture from the left, then on the center picture, and finally, look at the top three pictures of the bathroom sink — very cool! That’s similar to the color combo I want, plus I love that deep window look so I might have to go with some extra thick walls (like in the last picture on the bottom right). The ceiling will be painted sky blue with clouds. (Using a bio-friendly paint, of course.) Floors? Probably concrete painted to look like cobblestones. With the heated floors it will be toasty warm!

Sink: Gorgeous, gorgeous glass sink like the ones shown here. My personal favorite is “Spiritual Faith”, which is about halfway down the page. To echo the sink I want to install a ceiling fixture that is red/orange glass so it looks like the sun (Now this is eye-catching.) See the sink wall here.

The sink will sit on a marble-top console table like the one on this page (about 3/4 down the page, the Villa Santorini Marble Wall Table). That’s assuming a hole can be cut in the marble for the drain, of course. I’m thinking of a wall-mounted faucet since this is a rather narrow table. That site has several other iron items that I’d love to add, such as a towel holder, the apothecary jars, and perhaps a wall basket or two. Also, most of the typical under-counter bathroom stuff will be kept in the Laundry/Dressing Room in an Ikea wall mirror/cabinet.

Toilet: Hopefully I can find a two-button model that’s not too expensive. They’ve been used in Europe for years but they’re only just becoming more widely available in the U.S., it seems to me. The toilet will be on the right side wall as you enter the bathroom and there will be a glass block (probably) half wall between the door and the toilet. (By the way, that is not really going to be a mirror on the toilet wall, as shown in my picture. I’d like to install an ironwork grill and put hinges on it so I can create a niche behind it for shampoo, etc. The shower area is the corner seen at the left side of the picture).

Shower: The most difficult part of this bathroom is actually that it’s a corner room so there are two exterior walls. Since plumbing in exterior walls is…um…frowned upon…I’ve had to find alternatives. This lovely shower has a floor connection and that raindrop showerhead is pretty spiffy, too. So I can place that shower just off one of the outside corner walls where the open showering space will be.

Lights/Fans: I’ve found a site that has recessed lighting (fluorescent, even) with exhaust fans. Don’t know if they’re any good, but they look great!

Before you even enter the room the door will catch your eye: french doors in black with frosted glass. How cool is that?

In my house, therefore, the laundry room is also the clothes closet. A wall of closet organizers on one side, washing machine/dryer on the other, a few other odds and ends around the room.

And since I am a theater buff, what better place to decorate theater-style than…the Dressing Room!

The utility items will be housed under the stairs, which should be possible since I’ll be using a tankless water heater (much smaller than a tank heater) and radiant floor heating. If I need more utility room I can extend the 5′ x 8′ entry way. The “door” to the utility area will be pantry shelves that are on wheels so they can roll away when I need to access the utilities.

The rest of the stairs will house book shelves, much like these stairs from an HGTV program (Can you guess that I get a lot of my ideas from that network?) More bookshelves will be up in the loft. Yes, I have a lot of books. Want to make something out of it?

Ahem. Anyway…

Most normal people would put the utility items in the basement, allowing the stairs to the basement to reside under the loft stairs, right? Yeah, right. What fun would that be? I’m still working on a way to put both utilities and stairs under the loft stairs, but for right now, the separate entry will house the basement stairs. I want to keep the utilities on the main level to keep them easy to access.

I want the stairs to look very open, as long as building code allows me to create stairs without a railing on both sides. The more open they are, the bigger the space will look. Also, I’m torn between a classy natural wood finish, such as maple, or rustic like the cool stair pictured here. Now that would be fun!

I’m building a house. A tiny house. No, really. I don’t know where, I don’t know when, but I’m building it.

Why? I was inspired by Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, which I first saw in Natural Home Magazine. You may have seen his work in the Sierra Club magazine or heard about it on NPR. It was one of those “Aha!” moments when I realized that I could build myself a tiny house for a relatively small amount of money, making it affordable to finally own my own home. Since then I’ve been planning and researching, finding ways to incorporate environmentally friendly building techniques and gadgets into my plans.

Details? If you insist…

SIZE: 16′ x 24′, one floor with an 8′ sleeping loft. Now that sounds small, but the extras add up. There’s a 12′ x 12′ screen porch between the house and garage, plus, there’s no way I’m getting this tiny house built in the Twin Cities metro area with it being that small, so I have to add a basement. Thus, with main floor, loft, screen porch, basement, entry (which houses the stairs to the basement…do I count that?) it comes to 1080 sq. ft. I don’t even know what I’d put in the basement. Perhaps some workout equipment and my current TV (I’d need a new flat screen TV upstairs…oh, yeah!) Maybe I’ll create a theater down there…or an art gallery…who knows?

Anyway, the loft level could have shorter walls, say 4-6 feet since the roof will be open to view. My main problem is whether or not I can have an open roof like that without putting beams over the open area of the first floor. That’s my next area of research.

Wanna see it? Here’s the basic plan. Yeah, I know — it’s remarkably ugly from the outside. Exterior work will come later. Also, the house will not actually be that “tall”, since my software wouldn’t let me design a second floor with less that a six foot ceiling. Also, I’m futzing with the placement of the couch/TV and the table/desk area (flip flop?) so that will probably change.

So those are the basics. I have a billion more details to tell you about, though. Such as the stairs that double as bookshelves, pantry, and utility closet. And the theater-themed Dressing Room (you know — where the laundry meets the closet). And my favorite room, the mediterranean courtyard-inspired bathroom!