News About The Nook

The angle of this picture makes Ryan look so small and The Nook so large! Don't let this fool you, the proportions are a little distorted...

Now don't get too excited, we're not in The Nook yet! There have been some major changes done, though, and I wanted to switch things up a bit and do a post about The Nook instead of Monsanto and GMOs. (A girl can only handle so much of them...)

To start, I want to give a HUGE thank you to my father-in-law Keith for helping Ryan on this task. Without his know-how of building homes, we'd be probably wouldn't have made it this far in this amount of time.
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Skylights

Since we'll be living without electricity, we're going need an alternative way of getting light into The Nook. We're surrounded by hills and trees in our little secluded hollow, and it gets darker there earlier than for other people. By replacing the windows that we had with larger, longer ones we've already increased lighting but we need more. So skylights are my husband's answer to this dilemma.

Having skylights in The Nook will save on the usage of our oil lamps and will give a more natural feel to the place. We'll be able to see the stars at night, and hear the rain when it storms quite loudly as well. Those are two of the many reasons why I'm excited about having skylights. There is also talk of setting up a rectangle herb planter that would hang from the ceiling to gather some of the natural light and provide us with fresh, aromatic herbs all year long!

Yes, I'm already recommending skylights: 10 out of 10!

And don't worry, they won't let in a draft as long as the men do a good job replacing the shingles and with our EPA-approved efficient wood stove, we'd better not even feel a chill! (Although I'm so used to acclimating to my conditions with sweaters and socks because of the past few years of using only a wood stove through the winters at my parents house.)
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This is the amount of light from only three skylights!

My husband and his dad have installed 4 skylights for the room you see here (there will be 6 or more), and 2 will be used for the tiny addition to come. One is even going to be used in our bathroom because though you can see out of the skylights, you cannot see in!
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More skylights!

You can barely tell that it's there, but try looking in - it's so blurry!

You can see our little wood stove in the lower left corner, but guess what that tiny room behind it will be?

The Bathroom
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Yes, we'll have a bathroom like most others but quite different as well. (Would you expect anything else?) Right now you may see totes and other things being stored there for now, but in this little room will be a galvanized trough for bathing in with Ryan's rigged pumping- shower system above it. Also, we'll have a composting toilet that he'll build in the corner, but won't worry about stench because it'll be sealed and efficient.

Ryan seems to want the floor in the bathroom to be stone, so we'll see how that goes. We'll have to go to the quarry and collect it, and then do whatever else is necessary to make it our floor but it should turn out nicely whatever we decide. A skylight for lighting will be on the wall - again, we can see out but no one can see in.

All in all, very exciting!
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A very tall window, and where you see the hutch is where the piano will go.

The Loft
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That's where we'll rest our heads at night. It's where I hope to look at stars on a clear winter's night while freezing Ryan with my cold toes because I've managed to slip off one of my fuzzy socks.

The loft is above the bathroom, or should I say the bathroom is built off of the loft? Well, the loft was there first, anyways. Instead of having the loft go length wise across one wall of The Nook, we're having it as a square in one of the corners. Enough to fit a mattress, a side table, and the vintage luggage that will house our clothes. (It's one of those tall, deep luggages that have a pull out bar for hanging clothes and many drawers for the rest.)

We'll put in a banister, I do not desire to roll off in the night.

*bang* *crash*
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1935 Norge Cookstove
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Now I have mentioned this stove in a past post, but that was merely it. I haven't really posted pictures or described my joy in having this stove!

If all goes well, this stove will be hooked up to a propane tank. It's so cute! The small oven, the burners, the one wooden knob (unlike the rest), and the broiler and warmer. I'm so thrilled to be the owner of this stove, and I can't wait to post about my first experience cooking on it.
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This will be our front door.

That's where the kayak will hang from the ceiling by the books! Exciting!!

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So for now, these are just a few of the many things that are happening with The Nook, and I can't wait to show you more!

Have a question about what's to come or how we're doing it? Leave a comment and we'll answer!

For now, I wish good health to you and yours!