„Does it spark joy?„

That is what Marie Kondo is asking, when it is time to purge your stuff. Kitchenwise, bathroomwise and -the most challenging of them all for me- closetwise.

When moving into a tinier household another factor besides joy weighs in: space. When we decided to actually follow through with our plan of building a Tiny House, I started to google a lot. „Fashion lovers in Tiny Houses“, „a lot of clothing in a Tiny House“ and yes: early on I also googled „Tiny House walk-in closet“. I did not find that much about it. Most of it was about the need of reducing your closet to one jacket, three pairs of shoes and a collection of 5 essential practical shirts. The term “capsule wardrobe” appeared a lot, which is by the way a very intriguing concept in my opinion, which I’d like to know more about and hope to share my experiences with in the future. But still the worrying conclusion started to manifest in me: Tiny House and a more extensive amount of clothes don’t really work together. But following Marie Kondo’s advice meant that things that still spark joy should get a chance to stay with you. Even if 5 pairs of boots take more space away than one pair of boots. And no one needs 5 pairs of boots. Can a curiosity and intention for tiny living and a passion for fashion get along? Fact is, I don’t yet know; and I am very open for my way of living “fashionably” to change over the years or over the process of living tiny. Another fact is, for now my from 70 reduced to 40 pairs of shoes along with many pants, sweaters and dresses will be moving in with me. I decided -with a huge, patient support from my husband (who can fit all of his clothing in one drawer)- that everyone makes their own definition of a “perfect Tiny House owner”. I happen to be one with a love for a generous selection of fashion. And for now I feel good and confident with that.

That being said, clothing is not the only thing we had to reduce. The second big purging project was the kitchen. We learned that this is a place, where a lot of stuff secretly over time piles up. Somehow we suddenly had 6 frying pans, a complete set of rusty cutlery and a whole lot of tupperware. I found the kitchen to be a difficult project on a different level: the danger of defining something as “need to have” rather than a “nice to have” seemed somehow bigger. “We might need that third big bowl once – when we have a bigger group of guests and make salad and also a bread dough at the same time”… We realized that this has to do with accepting, that you will do certain things different in a Tiny House. You will have a new way of organizing, of cooking, of entertaining guests. So you might have only one big bowl; but you will figure out a way of serving your salad and baking your bread and having a happy group of guests.

So, how we see it in our decluttering process so far: It comes down to a combination of that “emotional sparking joy” of keeping something because it puts a smile on your face and practical planning on keeping something that contributes to your life – which of course can also spark joy.

And the knowledge that you will have to get rid of a significant portion of your belongings (there is no way around this if you go tiny) can also help you to get to that place of actually wanting to get rid of a lot of your material possessions.

In concerns of your emotional connection to your possessions my advice to everyone -fashion lover, book aficionado or collector of unique stones- would be to start your purging process early enough; as early as possible. It should not be a rushed process and be done with respect. You need the time to sit over old children books, read them once again and be transported back to a happy childhood memory; or cook your lunch in those cool baggy jeans, that you know you will never wear again and will therefore end up on the “give away pile” , but that make you feel that nice 90’s Hip Hop vibe and kind of chill. All those things were at one point a part of your life and should be valued as such; each of them should get your “Thank you”. So don’t put this (at times painful and nerve wracking) activity off to the last possible moment. Try to include it in your daily, weekly, monthly -whatever fits your lifestyle- routine. Trust me: like this it can really become a fun and most of all liberating thing to do.

We are not yet done with our purging. And I assume that the last part of it will probably happen in those very last days before the move. Or even after the move, when we discover that it just doesn’t or doesn’t need to fit anymore. We are mentally preparing ourselves for that. And for me the element of sparking joy will remain crucial.

I am looking forward to continue to share our experiences with this process as we get closer to the moving date but also after that. Stay tuned 🙂

(Our stuff will be donated to the Swiss Red Cross. Since it is a bigger amount it will even be picked up in front of our door!)

A whirlwind…

Early in the morning we left for our unannounced meeting with the commune of Le Noirmont. While sitting in the train, a whole lot of emotions where present in us both. Nervousness above all else I would say. But also impatience, insecurity and surely a joyful exitement that showed itself in some untypical childish behavior from the both of us.

We had no idea what was expecting us and knowing we don’t really speak the language all that well did not help with exuding confidence…

Needless to say we where happy to finally have the very friendly woman in front of us that apparently is responsible for passing along building permits (it is not the commune but the canton that in the end decides on a „Go“ or „No go”).

Our “meeting” lasted no more than 5 minutes. We have our permit. So to speak… The commune will need a document of us, showing a picture of the Tiny House and informations about sizes and such. Since it is agricultural land it needs to be mobile. And we are now working out the various options there are of making that work. But it is certain, that it will be possible and the most important thing (and the reason for celebratory coffee and freshly pressed orange juice in the tearoom of Le Noirmont) is: we can build where we intended to build from the very beginning! A little trip to Creux-des-Biches allowed us to immediately inform my mother Sibylle about the developments and stand for a little while on the still empty space, imagining that this will in a few months be our livingroom view.

Just as we stood on the platform, waiting for the train back to Basel to arrive, a strong wind quite suddenly arrived, shaking the trees. And now as we drive back through stormy Jura, yet another whirlwind of emotions works its way trough me; all the things that are going to change, all the new possibilities and adventures that lay ahead of us. Samuel sitting next to me, anxious to start building is updating his Hornbach-shoppinglist. It is a good whirlwind for sure – one that shakes us like the trees, wakes us up and pushes forward, encouraging, whispering „Let‘s begin“

The first building milestone: Windows!

Yesterday was a big day, because after a lot of designing and planing we finally got our first “solid” part of the Tiny House: two windows. This is a big deal for us – windows are certainly not one of the cheaper parts of a house. And – as you can see in our designs – we want A LOT of them 🙂 Because in a house with a lot of windows you get to be in contact with the outdoors even when sitting on your couch and drinking a cup of coffee.

And yesterday proved to us: When building your own home it makes a lot of sense to “spread the word” as wide as you can; it shows, that you will get support of any kind from every corner and it is also a wonderful way to connect with people and make new acquaintances.

Thank you so much to Patrick and Susanne as well as Samuel and Mariam for giving us those windows and thanks to my dad Markus who drove us and our new windows home 🙂

Today is yet another big day for us: we are currently driving to Le Noirmont to drop in at the commune and speak about the building permit. So hopefully it will be a successful meeting and we can soon put those windows in their new spot 😉