Quarantining in <400 Square Feet for Two+ Months
Recently, Domino asked me to answer some questions about what life has been like in our tiny house since we began self-isolating— the questions + responses are below.
We hunkered down on March 13, and we intend to continue the course as long as our state and local officials instruct us to do so, in an effort to keep ALL members of our community as safe as possible.
(Thank you to Elly Leavitt for the questions and the Domino feature!)
Q: How long have you been self-isolating in your space?
A: We’ve been practicing strict isolation and physical distancing since March 13th.
Q: What tweaks have you made to accommodate everyone staying inside at the same time?
A: While life beyond our walls has changed drastically— as it has for everyone— our existence at home is remarkably similar to how it’s been for years. We are used to being mere inches from one another for days on end, as my husband and I both work full-time from our <400 sqft live-work office, and our 3½ year old was not yet in a full-time school.
However, just before the lockdown here in Los Angeles, we swapped out my desk in exchange for a large credenza. This has helped us all tremendously, as it provides a generous, streamlined and accessible storage solution for our son’s toys (among other items). This has lead to a simplified clean-up process, which is helpful in space of any size, but particularly a compact home
Q: Your main room is a multipurpose area - can you elaborate on that a little?
A: We’ve been in our tiny house for 9 years, and the main room has always been a multi-purpose room. As such, we didn’t need to acquire anything new to help us keep the space adaptable while sheltering in place. With the help of rolling and folding furnishings and accessories, this zone can easily become my office, our son’s place space, our workout room, a pop-up dining room, a makeshift office, a screening room, and our son’s bedroom at night.
Q: How do you carve out time (and physical space) for yourself at the home?
A: We are lucky enough to have a small yet highly usable garden and porch. When the weather is nice, any one of us can separate from the group and sit outside under the shade of our canopy of vines. It’s a great place to read, work or enjoy an outdoor shower.
Within the house, we’ll sometimes set up a mini, portable projector to create an oversized screening surface in either the main room or the bedroom at night, which keeps our son occupied while my husband and I check in with each other about the business and/or personal matters.
Q: What does your work-from-home station look like? How have you altered it (if at all)?
A: I’d always had a dedicated office zone within our cottage until this Spring. Now that I no longer have a desk, I either work at the kitchen counter, or via a pop-up office that consists of a garden table and an easily portable basket of essential office accessories and supplies. (My favorite spot is on our tiny back stoop, as it strikes the perfect blend of indoor and outdoor.)
Q: Can you tell me a bit about what it's like having a kid in a tiny home during this time? How do you balance everything?
A: I’m less interested in finding “balance” and more interested in going with whatever flow seems healthiest and most natural for us as a family and as individuals, day by day. Sometimes I’ll pass the entire day with my brain focused on work while my husband, Adam, cares for our child and our 2 dogs. Sometimes I’ll stash my tech away and focus solely on family and the house/garden. While we miss our library, beaches and community events, we feel so grateful to be here right now. Sheltering at home is a privilege that we don’t take lightly, and by turning every little thing — like gardening, cooking, cleaning, creating, reading, and exercising into family activities, the days have rushed by.
Q: Are there any fun activities you've loved doing together? (IE crafts, ways to get West involved around the house)
A: We have 2 Lettuce Grow Farmstands that we tend to daily— they’re great tools for growing leafs greens and vegetables in small spaces like ours. West loves monitoring and harvesting the plants with us. We also do simple activities like paint our fence with water, play “darts” with suction cups, set up tetherball within the house (aka a ball in a stocking tied to an overhead beam), go “fishing” from our folding Pikler Arch with magnetic rods, hang laundry up to dry on the line, and more. Everything can be turned into some sort of a game with a bit of creativity and patience. I am not a cook, and at best I’m a DIY-lite sort of person, so none of these things require extensive crafting or specialized skillsets. (Whew.)
Q: What have been your biggest challenges?
A: Teaching small space living tips via live online classes has been a joy, but also a struggle. With 2 loud pups, a delightfully playful young child, and neighbors in close proximity, there is a lot that’s beyond my control when it comes to creating a quiet and focused environment during the sessions. But that’s quite all right— this is a time for global empathy, understanding and patience.
Q: What are you doing to unwind together as a family - how has that routine changed?
A: Family yoga (thanks, Cosmic Kids!), gardening, and movie projector sessions have all been so enjoyable lately. We’re much more lenient about how much time we spend viewing shows— I think our son has seen every episode of Sarah & Duck and Puffin Rock 1000 times, but he still loves them. And we’ve been making (and thus eating) cake a bit too often. But the last thing I’m going to do while trying to keep the family and business thriving during a pandemic is guilt myself over such things. Instead, we’re embracing them. (Further details via this blog post.)
Q: What tips can you share for those living in a smaller space during quarantine? What have you done that you've personally found to be the most helpful?
A: I have countless blog entries, IGTV videos, and even a book that are dedicated to cultivating comfortable, beautiful and efficient small spaces! But the main takeaways from these resources that I’ve been implementing at this time are: continuing our use of washable goods in lieu of disposables (this saves so much space and prevents unnecessary household waste), creating pop-up offices that offer a bit of a visual barrier so my son better understands when I’m working, and communicating clearly and efficiently with my loved ones so that we’re all on the same page and happy to be together in our tiny home, 24/7.
