Remote Living In A Small House: Storage Challenges

Living in a small home has its challenges. One challenge is storage. There are different needs for different seasons, so we have different gear for each season. During the winter months, we need even more gear on hand to help us thrive in this cold climate. As the cold starts to move in, we start bringing in things like winter clothing and boots into the house from our storage. By late spring, it gets plenty crowded in here. 

We also have to bring in the items that shouldn't be stored in freezing temperatures like touch up paint and similar items. The guest room in the winter becomes a climate-controlled storage unit for us. Luckily, our winter visitors like to stay the night closer to the ski slopes. 

I'm wearing a "Couch Potato". It's basically a sleeping bag with sleeves and holes for feet. This was a gift from my in-laws about 30 years ago. This thing is warm. It's these types of things that stay in storage until we need them.

Boot row... We have winter boots, snow boots, summer boots, hiking boots, dress boots, casual boots and cowboy boots. They all have to be stored somewhere.

We also work from home. Wherever we are, our business goes with us. Our entire home is living and office space at the same time. Everything has to have its own place, or it would be utter chaos. I try to put everything back in its place before I start my next task. 

I must tell you that organized storage is necessary on a homestead. If you are just starting out, you have to have a place to store your tools and materials. If I were just starting out, I would put some sort of storage in first thing. We have done this a couple of times and storage is always an issue. 

We added this building after purchasing the property. You can do a lot with a building like this. 

Our small kitchen...

We have an incredible amount of kitchen tools for such a small kitchen. Most of our kitchen tools are stored. We keep our everyday kitchen items tucked neatly in our kitchen. 

The building

I have over 1200 books, and I enjoy them all. 

These are just a few examples of things that we store. We made a conscious decision many years ago to only purchase items that we could use. We did not need any more doodads sitting around collecting dust. 

Tools are an investment. A homestead requires a variety of tools, and they have to be stored correctly and secured somewhere safe. 

Storage needs differ. Do your homework before purchasing a storage building. We had our building built by a company out of Oklahoma. In Colorado, everything is more expensive by double, triple or more. Number One saved us over $30K by doing a little research. He also found a concrete finisher here in Colorado for a reasonable price. We provided all the materials for the job, paid him in cash, and he provided all the labor. 

We have lived in a big house, a medium house, a small house and in a townhouse. In the woods, on the lake, on a river, in the city and in the mountains. No place is perfect. Some places have more of one thing but lack other things. We get what we think that we need, then find out it's really not what we needed but what we wanted. Making better choices takes planning. We have to learn the value of good decisions. 

Blessings,

Mrs. Smith

Slower Than Dial Up!!!

A much needed rain shower...

I just got home this early(Friday) this morning. I was suppose to be home late Tuesday night, but our week lasted a lot longer than I had planned for. We stayed in a hotel that had Wi-Fi, but it was slower than any dial up that I have ever seen. I could not post, check emails or do anything for that matter. Other than the snail Internet, we had a blessed week. I usually pack extra just in case, but it was not enough this time. I carry laundry soap just in case we have to wash clothes. Planning ahead really paid off.

Life has a funny way of interrupting our plans. I feel that there are a lot of people are feeling the strain of a bad economy. I know that we have had to adapt to this rough economy by changing the way we run our business and the way we run our household.

We want to continue to growing towards a self-sustaining lifestyle and in this economy that requires change and sacrifice. I am so excited about adding animals to our ranch  and installing a greenhouse to grow produce to feed ourselves and our animals. This is a big goal of ours, but the start-up costs and this economy have slowed our progress down. Our harsh climate makes it necessary to have not only a greenhouse, but also animal shelters in place before we can grow any type of produce or care for animals.

In the next few weeks we will be building our chicken coop and yard for our new baby chicks. I have been pouring over plans and designs to figure our what we really need to have in order to care for 33 chickens and 1 rooster. Our chickens will free range when we are home, but will have to be in a yard for protection from predators when we are gone. There are three families dividing a lot of 100 chicks. One of the families, who are on the grid, will be caring for the chicks until they are old enough to be on their own.

Nutmeg, the goat that I milked a few weeks back, had twins last week. I was visiting her owner just prior to her giving birth to twins. I haven't made it back over there yet to see the kids or take pictures. Maybe tomorrow? I hope to have a couple of female goats from this herd. They are healthy goats that produce rich milk. I would prefer a Dexter cow, but can't justify the cost of care for such a large animal. One day...