T: Tiny Spaces

Welcome to the T edition of the April A-Z Challenge! I thought about going for the obvious and talking about my tea stash, but then I realized that's not actually the thing I love most around the house. Let me preface this my saying that I'm a natural nester, a cozy cocooner, and a busy burrower.

If you made it past the terrible alliteration, I'm saying that I adore (read: live for, love, NEED) tiny spaces to make my own cozy little escape nooks. Even when I was a kid I'd seek out the tiny hidden corners and stay for hours - crammed under a shelf in a closet, under the entertainment center, a hidden space in tree branches... that was the best place to sneak off with a book :-)

However, my beer and pizza loving grown-up body just won't fit into those kinds of spaces anymore, so now I live for finding unused corners to take over and make my own. I may not be able to hide there, but there's something about the mostly enclosed nesting feeling that just brings peace back to my crazy days.

Lucky for me, the good folks over at Design Sponge know that tiny spaces are the place to be at all ages. Check out their 10 Cozy Reading Nooks that I bet you'll be finding a way to work into your house now.

From light and airy to dark and cozy, they've got them all!

What are your favorite escapes around the house? Do you have any tiny spaces of your own?

S: Storage Solutions

Happy Friday, y'all!

Today I'm going to harp on one of my favorite topics: STORAGE! Being both a sailor with limited cabin space and a Tiny House lover, finding simple and genius storage hacks is a minor obsession of mine. Especially considering my closets and drawers would probably explode if left to my otherwise messy nature (don't mention my make-up drawer to my husband!).

You can follow my Storage Solutions board on Pinterest if you want to keep up with all the cool ways I'm trying to halt the chaos in my cabinets, but here are a few of my favs to get you started.

1. Magazine Holder for Kitchen Boxes - My personal favorite right here up top. THIS is what keeps the pantry stacks from falling on your head. It never fails - regardless of whether I need the foil, wax paper, plastic wrap, or baking sheets... it's ALWAYS on the bottom of the stack.  

2. Hair Tool Holder out of PVC - Craft your way to a gorgeous solution for jumbled styling tools and cords! I can't tell you how many times I've had to stop with my hair in a towel trying to untangle the hair dryer from the curling iron.

3. Stop the stinky drawer! There's always that one drawer that somehow stays musty. This is a great way to combat the stink.

4. Jewelry Saver for Trips - I've actually thrown away necklaces on trips because I got sick of trying to unknot them. This is great for keeping other small loose items together, too. Taking apart a piece of furniture with lots of tiny screws? Never lose them again while you're working. 

Check out some of the other ideas from some seriously creative geniuses below. What are your favorite storage hacks?

  Follow Ashley's board Storage Solutions on Pinterest.

Tiny Vacation!

Happy Friday, everybody! 6 weeks ago today, we were on our way up to Nashville. Some people go to Nashville for the music. Some people go to Nashville for the shows.

The Nashville Tiny House was so adorable!

We went for the kick-ass Tiny House.

I love tiny spaces. Seriously. I'm a natural nester and have been for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid I always found the tiny forgotten spaces to hide in with a book and a flashlight, whether it was under the coats in a closet or in the hidden space behind the old entertainment center. The more it felt like a cocoon, the better.

Go ahead - call me crazy. (You wouldn't be the first!) But it's no surprise that I jumped right on board when the Tiny House movements started building steam. It's economical (which really speaks to my heart), it's practical, it's low maintenance, and it's friggin' adorable. Be honest, ladies - who here DIDN'T want to live in their dollhouse as a kid?

We found it on Airbnb.com and knew we were going to love it as soon as we saw the fun modern/industrial exterior. Inside, it's about 185 sq feet of cozy awesomeness that made a perfect weekend escape for us.

Chill time in the Sky Palace!

My favorite part was the sky palace - a place of absolute peace and nesting heaven that boring people might refer to as a "loft." Since this weekend was all about R&R, we kicked back with drinks and Netflix and ordered in. (Note the lovely puppy dog pajamas in the pic)

This was more than a vacation for us, though. Since we're planning to build our own Tiny House within the next two years, it was also a test run to see how it really felt living side by side in a space this small. We passed with flying colors! Although, I would strongly recommend to anyone considering it that a powerful bathroom fan is a must-have, marriage-saving addition to a teency living space like this. Seriously. Spare no expense! ;-)

View from the Living Room: Kitchen and Bath  are nestled under the loft bedroom, AKA Sky Palace

When Inspiration Strikes: The hubs working on the design for our own Tiny House.

Think you're up for the experience? Chances are there's a Tiny House rental near you or wherever you're headed for your next vacation. Most of these are managed by individual owners, so a search on Airbnb.com for "Tiny House" is your easiest way to find them. Have fun with your tiny vacation!