Karen’s Tiny Turtle House

Today I’d like to introduce you to Karen Batchelor, a Baby Boomer life coach who’s attracted to a simpler life – and just how do you simplify your life? Well, one way of going about it is to lose 8000 pounds in a single year! Of course, I’m not talking about body weight, but the weight of your house and all stuff it encompasses that can complicate your life. And so, Karen is downsizing from a 1,400 square foot home to one that’s just 230 square foot.

Karen contacted me in September with regard to a tiny house design based on the BRV1, but with some modifications to make the home more suitable for an older person. After a series of conversations we came up with a list of modifications that would help Karen live comfortably in the Turtle house, namely:

• A first floor sleeping area with a wall-bed that can be folded up to create a desk/workspace
• A secondary sleeping area in the loft for when family visit, with a ladder that is stored in the loft joists
• Two skylights with a large picture window for lots of light
• A larger, 5 foot tall refrigerator
• An induction cook-top, and enough counter space for a Breville Smart Oven
• A small, energy efficient combo washer/dryer
• A large farmhouse style kitchen sink 
• Plenty of closet storage space – always an important one for the ladies!

For more information why not follow Karen’s blog, Livinglargewithless.com which is full of helpful information related to downsizing, and will also document the construction of the tiny house and what it’s like to live in the Turle House. You can also follow Karen’s progress on Facebook too!