Walking out of the house one day with my two young men (Jace is four and Kasen is three), they naturally left the door to our loft wide open and continued to walk down the stairs as if they didn’t have a care in the world (which is true).
I, of course, lovingly yelled up to them, “Boys…do you live in a barn?”
Jace stared blankly back at me for a minute. Blinked. Then very mater-of-fact stated “Yes, mom. We do.” This ever so popular phrase to coerce children to close the doors is not working in this house. Because we do, in fact, live in a barn.
Ok so we don’t have chickens running around inside of our home or hay bales for furniture — those are outside. It is actually a cute little, half-finished apartment upstairs. Complete with running water, a modern toilet, shower, and even a little kitchen with a stove and fridge.
This is a pretty temporary home for us right now as we are awaiting my husbands first assignment as a park ranger up here in the Pacific Northwest. Then after that we will be official nomads — jumping from park to park, going wherever the seasonal jobs may take us.
But for right now, this is our home. A one bedroom, rustic, romantic loft on a little piece of land with chickens, fruit trees, and love.
Home building on a very small scale
Space is a premium in all types of homes, but the Tiny House movement glorifies homes which check in at around 100 square feet. Not... Read more
Our bed is in the main area which can also be used as the couch, wrestling mat, laundry folding station, snuggle area, and computer desk.
A few feet away is our kitchen and eating area that is also our schooling area. Yes, we are just diving into the homeschool lifestyle that teeters on un-schooling right now. I figure that there’s plenty of learning opportunities throughout our day-to-day activities!
The two boys share the bedroom where we can confine their one bucketful of toys we brought along.
Our key to living in a small space? Purge, condense, and multi-use everything. We moved up here with only what fit in the back of our pickup truck and we are expecting to move every 6-12 months so keeping things organized and uncluttered is a must.
We spend our days outdoors, exploring the land around us, finding new flora and fauna we’ve never seen before and researching our finds.
We are just starting this nomad life and loving it so far. We move from our little loft in about a month and we have no idea what we will walk into when we get to the park we are stationed at. It’s exciting, it’s scary, it’s freeing!
My biggest concern? Not having beds or a table to eat on when we walk into an unfurnished cabin. I figure life is pretty grand when that is the biggest worry I have.
Wow! That barn apartment is amazing!
We lived in a converted barn for awhile! It was beautiful- lots of light, lots of land:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8500728@N03/5418542137/in/set-72157625472039195
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8500728@N03/5337188888/in/photostream/
But it wasn’t, and couldn’t be, wired for internet (we would’ve had to purchase a satellite dish…for a rental)…and I own an internet-based business… and it was 40 minutes away from my husband’s job, groceries, friends, etc. Sigh. It was fun for awhile but we had to come back to civilization.
We will have a lot to learn in a few years when we do get into the more remote places. But for now we are all set with internet. Not sure how to survive without it yet!
My dream is to buy a barn and turn it into my house while maintaining the integrity of the architecture, both the interior and exterior. My husband and I have decided we will not settle for another crappy house and will be pinching every penny so that we can save up and find something worthy of repurposing into our next home.
thats awesome! out here there are some huge amazing barns turned into wineries. They are so neat. Go get it!
My dream is to have a barn on my future property that will be converted into a photo studio. Ima put big ol’ windows and/or skylights in that hypothetical thing and it will be amazing.
What a neat home situation! Good reuse of space 🙂
I am in love with this.
Also, that quilt on the wall is AMAZING!!!!
Thanks! My husbands ( http://offbeatfamilies.com/2009/12/david-dil ) grandma made them all. They will make each place we go ‘home’.
* Sigh. Your pretty rural, idyllic lifestyle and home looks lovely. Loving in a barn sounds like a whole lot of fun. I’ve got a life goals to live in a variety of weird and wonderful homes. So far I have lived in a house with a bridge, a house with a lake and a boat, a house on a hill, a duplexe, a townhouse, a unit but I have never had the chance to live somewhere so gorgeously rural!
I don’t want to admit how long it took me to realize “loving” was a typo. I was trying to figure out why having sex in a converted barn would be more fun than sex elsewhere…
Hahaha I never even spotted that 😀 Roll in the hay perhaps?
I would LOVE to live in a barn. My dream home includes a modernized barn at the back of the yard, with huge windows, as my writing refuge. And a bed under a stargazing window, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen so I never have to go to the main house unless I want to. ^^
I think it is so cool that you all live in a barn and make it work! It looks pretty nice and comfortable and you have great scenery.
My husband and I live in a converted 10X16 shed; it’s wonderful and fun and weird. We spend most of our time outdoors or sitting on our covered porch. Alternative living spaces, yay!
Home tour please! http://offbeathome.com/submissions
I grew up in actual barn. We always closed the door behind us. Closing the door behind you is kinda how you keep the animals from getting lose.
hehe love this