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Thursday, November 14, 2013
Our New Mini Soap Loaves Are Here!
But only for the holidays. Our festive new 8.5 oz. mini soap loaf will make a fragrant useful gift for almost anyone on your list (including you). Just remove it from the paper loaf pan and cut to the desired bar size with a large kitchen knife. Or leave it sitting in the bathroom for a while and cut it up after the holidays. Choose Orange Walnut or Brown Sugar Fig. Available now through December only. Limited quantities so order early!
PS: I'm using the Brown Sugar Fig right now and it is...TO DIE FOR!!! Honestly, it smells so delicious I just want to take a big bite out of it. Orange Walnut will be up next. :)
Labels:
a wild soap bar,
brown sugar,
fig,
gift,
holiday,
mini soap loaf,
natural,
orange,
organic,
soap loaf,
walnut
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Of Course We Use Sustainable Palm Oil
A Wild Soap Bar was using sustainable organic palm oil before it was cool to do so. Our long time palm oil supplier, Daabon, was awarded the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's highest level of Identity Preserved sustainable organic palm oil certification. That means that each palm oil lot meets strict sustainability standards and can be traced back to its field of origin in Colombia. Daabon was also the very first palm oil producer to earn Rainforest Alliance Certification. In fact they hold a total of 27 sustainability certifications.
We're proud to have Daabon as our sustainable palm oil supplier!
Labels:
a wild soap bar,
Daabon,
Rainforest Alliance,
RSPO,
sustainable palm oil
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Farewell to My Friend, David Busch
I just learned of a freind's passing. These things are never easy. David W. Busch died suddenly on Sept. 24 of a massive heart attack while hiking with his partner in Big Bend National Park. My first reaction to the news was complete shock of course, but that was followed by the comforting thought that at least he went quickly doing what he dearly loved, surrounded by the beauty of nature that awed and inspired him.
I first met David many years ago at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Wild Ideas Shopping Event. Over the years we exhibited there many times together as well as at other area festivals and shows. We once traded a large watercolor depicting an eagle soaring above the canyons of Big Bend for a limestone sculpture of an eagle in flight that my husband Mike carved. It takes on even greater meaning now.
David was a gardener, a naturalist, and an accomplished watercolor artist who exhibited all over the country. He was an extremely talented and gentle soul whose loss will be felt by all who knew him. Examples of his incredible work can be found at Raindance Watercolors.
My heart goes out to Ray and the entire Busch family.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Why is Our Handmade Soap So Expensive?
After all, it's only a bar of soap! And a cheap bar of soap gets you just as clean as an expensive one, right? Most likely. So if getting clean is all you're after, then by all means buy the cheaply made commercial bars and go about your merry way. But if you're looking for superior skin care, safe natural ingredients, and environmental and social responsibility, then you might want to reconsider. Because those aspects are often ignored by the big commercial corporations. Let's take a closer look.
Cheap milled soaps are usually made by lifeless machines operated by low paid workers, sometimes in foreign countries. By contrast, our handmade natural soaps are made in the USA by folks who earn a decent living wage, who enjoy paid vacations, and who also get company paid family health care year round. In addition, our employees are free to arrange their work schedules to tend to family matters as necessary. When's the last time you heard of a big corporation with such flexibility?
Every facet of our business is done by hand, the good old fashioned way, by someone who cares, and who is compensated fairly for it. From designing the packaging, to tediously perfecting our original recipes, to stirring up the formulas in small batches by hand, to cutting and stacking, to carefully picking and packing your orders and answering your phone calls and emails with a smile. Huge corporations simply can't offer this much care and attention to detail.
Cheap corporate soaps are also made with cheap ingredients and not much else, like conventional palm and soybean oils, certainly not organic and usually GMO. Many are also made with cheap factory farmed animals fats too...not something anyone with a conscience would want to support! Our natural soaps are made with more costly but sustainable certified organic vegetable oils that do no harm to people or planet. Cheap commercial soaps are typically scented with harmful synthetic fragrance oils too. Our soaps are always scented with only botanical essential oils that possess therapeutic qualities and again, do no harm when used properly. A Wild Soap Bar soaps retain all of their moisturizing glycerin too, while the cheap commercial brands take that out and sell it to make more profit. Ever wonder why your skin is so dry and itchy after using commercial soaps? Bingo. Artificial dyes, synthetic foam boosters, harmful antibacterial agents...the list goes on and on. None of these will EVER be found in our pure and natural soaps and you can count on that!
Purely profit driven vs. also caring for people & planet. Are you starting to get the idea here? Cheaply made soaps may seem cheap on the surface, but they take a heavy toll on our world as well as your skin. Which business model do you want to support?
Considering the many benefits of our handmade soap (safer, smells better, more moisturizing, more sustainable, lasts longer!) it's not really that expensive after all, is it?
Labels:
a wild soap bar,
green business,
handmade soap,
made in the USA,
natural soap,
organic soap,
soap
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Warm Wishes
I'm so excited. Fall is in the air and the weather is cool and crisp (well, almost...it's Texas!) We poured the first batch of our seasonal Warm Wishes Soap last week (think cinnamon and vanilla spice and everything nice). And you know what that means... 'Tis the Season is right around the corner!
♫ falalalala...lala...lala ♪♫

Labels:
a wild soap bar,
cinnamon,
handmade soap,
holiday,
natural soap,
organic soap,
seasonal,
spice,
tis the season,
vanilla,
warm wishes
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
AWSB Enters Whole Foods Southern Pacific Region!
You may remember that we exhibited at Expo West in Anaheim, CA back in March to try and land some new accounts on the West Coast. Well that's exactly what we did! We'll be shipping opening orders to 17 new (to us) Whole Foods stores this week and we expect our products to hit the shelves by Oct. 1! Here's a listing of all the new stores we'll be entering. If you're in these areas, please check us out.
Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena, CA
Fairfax in Los Angeles, CA
Jamboree in Tustin, CA
Montana in Santa Monica, CA
Wilshire in Santa Monica, CA
Oxnard in Oxnard, CA
Pacific Coast Hwy in El Segundo, CA
Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, CA
Sherman Oaks East in Sherman Oaks, CA
Sherman Oaks West in Sherman Oaks, CA
Venice in Venice, CA
Fort Apache in Las Vegas, NV
Tenaya in Las Vegas, NV
Paradise Valley in Phoenix, AZ
Scottsdale in Scottsdale, AZ
Speedway in Tucson, AZ
Kahala Mall in Honolulu, HI
Friday, September 13, 2013
In Focus - Handcrafted Soap
This is a great little video about the handcrafted soapmaking industry. See me accepting the award for Best Packaging at the 2010 Handcrafted Soapmakers Guld Conference in Denver at marker 3:58. Woohoo!
Labels:
best packaging award,
handcrafted soap,
handmade soap,
HSCG,
HSMG,
HSMG conference,
soap making,
soapmakers,
soapmaking
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Little Green Things Add Up
We've been using biodegradable packing peanuts for as long as I can remember (which admittedly, isn't all that long sometimes!), but we also do lots of other little things that are green in nature. Like re-using plastic milk cartons as peanut scoops and for holding liquid soaps. Using cloth rags for soap clean up instead of forest depleting paper towels. And using other eco friendly ways to clean.
It's the little things that add up. What little green things do you do?
Labels:
eco-friendly,
environment,
green,
green cleaners,
recycle,
reduce,
reuse
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Boys Will Be Boys
Meet our 2 wonderful sons....Jory (L) & Cael (R).
Do their FB profile pics tell you anything about our family? (yep, that's a mushroom!) LOL
Labels:
a wild soap bar,
moustache,
mushroom,
new years
Friday, August 2, 2013
Paisano Pete
Summer's are usually hot and dry here in Texas. Very hot. And VERY dry. That's why I keep a bird bath near my office window. I never know who's gonna pop in. From snakes, to frogs, to squirrels, to...well...birds. There's always something to see.
Yesterday it was Paisano Pete. I love roadrunners! (Sorry for the blurry pic, it was taken through a window screen.) They're the most entertaining birds I know. They devour snakes and scorpions and rodents (what's not to love about that?) and they make a variety of cool sounds too. My personal favorite is their clacking sound. They're curious, friendly, comical birds.
Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting one? beep beep
Yesterday it was Paisano Pete. I love roadrunners! (Sorry for the blurry pic, it was taken through a window screen.) They're the most entertaining birds I know. They devour snakes and scorpions and rodents (what's not to love about that?) and they make a variety of cool sounds too. My personal favorite is their clacking sound. They're curious, friendly, comical birds.
Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting one? beep beep
Labels:
bird bath,
paisano pete,
roadrunner,
texas,
wildlife
Friday, July 26, 2013
The Perfect Shave Soap
During Jory's never ending quest to develop the perfect shave soap (yes, he's obsessed with it lately), he's had a few hiccups along the way. Here's his most recent experiment with our already popular sassafras shave soap formula. Can you say soap on a stick (blender)? He added too much stearic acid which accelerates trace, so he barely got it glopped into this flat mold. Never mind being able to pour it into the nice round tubes it was SUPPOSED to go into! Oh well, at least they're ready for the next batch. (Never underestimate the power of positive thinking, right?)
Here he's desperately trying to smooth out the top and in case you hadn't noticed, it was an epic failure. The soap was not properly blended either so I doubt it will be usable. (Not particularly positive thinking, just the cold hard facts.)
But man oh man...look at the awesomely stiff lather it generated!!! I do believe there's hope on the horizion! Better luck tomorrow Jory. Keep your chin up son. Onward. :)
Here he's desperately trying to smooth out the top and in case you hadn't noticed, it was an epic failure. The soap was not properly blended either so I doubt it will be usable. (Not particularly positive thinking, just the cold hard facts.)
But man oh man...look at the awesomely stiff lather it generated!!! I do believe there's hope on the horizion! Better luck tomorrow Jory. Keep your chin up son. Onward. :)
Labels:
a wild soap bar,
natural soap,
organic soap,
shave soap,
shaving soap,
soap maker,
soapmaker
Friday, July 19, 2013
The Multicolored Rainbow Soap Rag
Living proof that we use reusable cloth rags instead of disposable paper towels to contain & clean up our natural soap messes. What little green things do you do to reduce ~ reuse ~ recycle?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
I've been rummaging around at second hand stores lately, looking for quirky decorative items for our new home (no it's not done yet, but hey, it's getting there...and it will be paid for when it IS done...and THAT'S definitely something to cheer about!)
As the self proclaimed "soap bartender" I sign every email with cheers! - so this thing had my name written all over it. I wish it had an exclamation point but for $1.99, I really can't complain. I can always slap another shade of paint on it if need be too...though I dearly LOVE turquoise! Dearly. I do.
Cheers is a happy word (and it was a happy sitcom). This one's hanging out in my office for now, but I'm thinking on top of the open wine rack in the new kitchen will be a sweet spot.
Turquoise? Orange? Yellow? I'll figure out the color later.
Cheers!
Labels:
cheers,
decorating,
home decor,
signs,
soap bartender,
wine rack
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
What's Brimming with American Spirit & Handcrafted by a Skilled Tradesman?
Meet Timber & Coal
The brainchild of our master soap maker Jory Hanus, Timber & Coal is a new men's line committed to that same level of quality that America was built upon, blending utilitarian function with turn of the century craftsmanship. Timber & Coal celebrates the average hard working American whose hands helped build this great nation, providing a nostalgic look back at a simpler more honest time.
The current line-up includes 5 organic soaps: Amber Grain, Blackland, Cold Brew, Longleaf, and Sarsaparilla. Watch for this new brand to grow over the years and eventually graduate into its own web site. I'm just helping Jory get it off the ground. Thanks for helping us spread the word.
Labels:
americana,
guys,
handcrafted,
handmade,
man,
men,
men's soap,
natural,
nostalgia,
organic,
soap,
soap for men,
timber and coal,
turn of the century
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Plants Can Make You Smell Good!
Most conventional perfumes are made with harmful synthetic chemicals (pewwee!), but that wasn't always the case. In the past, simple natural scents were made by steeping fresh, slightly wilted flowers and leaves in a glass bottle with alcohol or oil. Sounds romantic, but the process was often time consuming. You can do the same, or you can use all natural ingredients to quickly make your own scented waters at home.
Mix 1/2 cup natural alcohol (try Everclear or vodka) with 1/4 cup distilled water in a glass spray bottle. Add 2 or 3 drops of your favorite essential oils and shake well. Experiment with different blends to make your own signature scents. These are lighter than perfume so they're perfect for daytime use and you won't be slathering yourself with all those toxic chemicals either. Don't forget to give it a little shake before each use because naturally scented waters don't have chemical emulsifiers in them either.
Spritz. Repeat. Enjoy!
Labels:
diy,
essential oils,
natural perfume,
natural scents,
perfume,
recipe,
scented waters
Saturday, June 1, 2013
The Natural Solution to Real Soap Scum
Let's face it. If you use real natural handmade soap, you're probably going to have to contend with soap scum. This is not a fact that natural soap makers often highlight. But one that exists, nevertheless. Synthetic detergents are less susceptible, but who wants to use that chemical laden fake soap stuff anyway? (If you answered, "I do" then you can skip this blog post and go about your unhealthy merry way.)
Soap scum is an informal term for the white solid film that results from the addition of real soap to hard water. Its most familiar sign is the dreaded "ring around the bath tub". The one you have to scrub and scrub to get rid of (especially before guests come over). Not an enjoyable chore, to say the least!
But soap scum doesn't have to get you down. And you don't have to resort to toxic cleaning compounds either. Make a simple paste out of baking soda and vinegar. Add a few drops of anti-microbial tea tree or lemon essential oil (optional) and a squirt of liquid castile soap. Apply to soap scum and let sit for 15-20 minutes. This will soften the scum so that you can wipe it away.
OK, you still might have to scrub a little. But at least this is a non-toxic and affordable way to tackle soap scum. You're done.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Can't Sleep? Make Yourself Some Skullcap Tincture
Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora - aka scullcap) is a sedative and general tonic for the nervous system. It calms anxiety and irritability while it lifts spirits and even eases the pain of headaches. I like to use it at night when my mind is racing and I'm having trouble sleeping. A dropper full of skullcap tincture usually sends me off into a deep, restful sleep.
Be sure to make a positive ID first before gathering the wild herb and never gather more than 1/3 of what's available. Freshly wilted skullcap leaves are best, but you can also purchase dried organic skullcap leaves for use in this recipe. (You can purchase the finished tincture too for that matter.)
To make the tincture you'll need a clean half pint glass jar, 1/2 cup of wilted or dried skullcap leaves, and enough 100 proof vodka or Everclear to fill your jar. Add the leaves and alcohol, then stir, cap and label your tincture. Be sure to put the date on it too. Keep the jar visible so you can shake it every day or so but keep it out of direct sunlight. At the end of six weeks, strain the tincture through several layers of cheesecloth or an unbleached coffee filter and compost the leaves.
Use skullcap to promote sleep and relaxation or to get you through a particularly stressful day. Although considered completely safe when taken in normal doses, skullcap is not recommended for pregnant or nursing women or for young children. You can add 15-20 drops to any beverage 3 or 4 times a day, or if you're brave like me, just swallow it straight. Good medicine is supposed to taste bad, right?
Labels:
anxiety,
headache,
herbal,
herbal medicine,
nerve tonic,
scullcap,
sedative,
skullcap,
tincture
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Ultimate Quick Change Soap Loaf Cutter
Nearly 3/4 of a million bars of handmade soap cut with our trusty old Chestnut Farms soap loaf cutter (the wooden one on the left) and it's still going strong, but Jory finally got around to making a new more easily adjustable one. And when I say easy, I do mean E.A.S.Y.! This HDPE beauty will cut loaves (or bars for that matter) from .5 - 4" thick. But it's most impressive feature is that you'll NEVER have to loosen (then tighten) the wire in order to change the height of the cut. Which means the wire will probably NEVER break and you'll probably NEVER have to replace it! I don't know about you people, but that has us doing the happy soapers dance into the wee hours of the morning!
Now I'm not going to go into the exact mechanics of this thing because we're going to offer them for sale at some point. But trust me, this is the EASIEST adjustable soap loaf cutter you'll ever use! If you do custom work or have the need to change the height of the cut frequently, this tool's for you! He's still tweaking the design a little (the final one will be a bit less bulky), but would you be interested in owning one for $225? It will come with a standard 1/2" and 1 1/2" cutting height capability, but you'd get to choose 3 other sizes for free, with additional cutting heights available at $10 each.
This soap cutter is built to last a lifetime and it's so easy to change the cutting height that even a 5 year old could do it!
If you're interested or if you have constructive feedback...please leave your comment below.
Labels:
loaf cutter,
log cutter,
soap cutter,
soap equipment,
soap loaf cutter,
soap makers,
soap making,
soapmakers,
soapmaking
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Give More
Labels:
a wild soap bar,
Kiva,
micro lending,
micro loans,
wild about good
Thursday, April 4, 2013
wild about good™
It never hurts to do a little extra for someone. Especially when you've been blessed with good fortune yourself. That's why I started my wild about good™ Kiva lending team in April 2012 and since then I've made 11 microloans to people all over the world. Good, honest, hard working people who just needed a little extra help to move ahead. Knowing that I've improved someone's life, even if just a little, feels...well...GOOD!
Then I got to thinking, how can I kick this up a notch to do even more good? Enter 100% real castile made with saponified organic extra virgin olive oil and nothing else. As far as natural handmade soap goes, it's the cream of the crop!
Won't you join me?
Labels:
castile,
giving back,
Kiva,
lending team,
micro lending,
micro loans,
microlending,
microloans,
natural soap,
wild about good
Saturday, March 23, 2013
expo west: the finishing touch
I knew it would be a good show. All the signs were there. Every step of the way, everything that could go right....did. All of our display materials fit in the wooden crate as if it was custom made for them. Our flight out of Austin was smooth and we easily made our connecting flight in Las Vegas. (The landing in Anaheim was pretty hairy, but we'll pretend that didn't happen.) We had an excellent booth location and we got the display set up exactly as we had envisioned it. And we hadn't even forgotten a single thing! Even the little plants I brought from Texas were still blooming. Nice.
When we got to the Best Western Plus Pavilion, it was all we had hoped for. Clean and comfy with a tall enough shower head! And the beds were heavenly too. Thanks to tripadvisor...we'd done our homework well. It was a fairly short walk from the convention center and there were plenty of restaurants nearby. Things were shaping up quite nicely.
But there was one little detail left undone. I'd brought an antique milk bottle from home in hopes that I could find a beautiful flower to stick in it. It would be the finishing touch that would make our booth absolutely perfect. Surely I could find a flower to pluck somewhere...this was southern California! But my attempts at finding a discreet location where I could safely snatch one had been unsuccessful.
Until the morning of the show! Shortly after leaving our hotel room, I found a beautiful freshly cut sunflower lying right on the sidewalk. I wouldn't have to risk plucking one from a flowerbed after all. And the soap loaf it would be sitting next to in the display was...SUNFLOWER! A sign from above.
I knew it would be a good show. Doesn't it look so cheery?
When we got to the Best Western Plus Pavilion, it was all we had hoped for. Clean and comfy with a tall enough shower head! And the beds were heavenly too. Thanks to tripadvisor...we'd done our homework well. It was a fairly short walk from the convention center and there were plenty of restaurants nearby. Things were shaping up quite nicely.
But there was one little detail left undone. I'd brought an antique milk bottle from home in hopes that I could find a beautiful flower to stick in it. It would be the finishing touch that would make our booth absolutely perfect. Surely I could find a flower to pluck somewhere...this was southern California! But my attempts at finding a discreet location where I could safely snatch one had been unsuccessful.
Until the morning of the show! Shortly after leaving our hotel room, I found a beautiful freshly cut sunflower lying right on the sidewalk. I wouldn't have to risk plucking one from a flowerbed after all. And the soap loaf it would be sitting next to in the display was...SUNFLOWER! A sign from above.
I knew it would be a good show. Doesn't it look so cheery?
Labels:
display,
Expo West,
good fortune,
luck,
serendipity,
trade show
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
AWSB Named a Constant Contact 2012 All Star!
A Wild Soap Bar, a leading provider of handmade natural soaps and body care products, has received the 2012 All Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than half
a million small organizations worldwide. Each year, Constant Contact bestows the
All Star Award to a select group of businesses and nonprofits who are successfully
leveraging online marketing tools to engage their customer base and drive
success for their organization. A Wild Soap Bar's results ranked among the
top 10% of Constant Contact’s international customer base.
Labels:
2012,
a wild soap bar,
all star award,
constant contact,
marketing
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
"The Box"
For those of you who ship freight on a regular basis, this is probably no big deal. But to us, you'd think we were sending our grandchildren to the moon! We've been planning our trade show booth space for Natural Products Expo West for several months now and it all culminated yesterday in the packing of "The Box"....a 58 x 42 x 46 inch plywood crate that hopefully transports our goods safely all the way to California and back.
Mind you, we've had the 10 x 10 booth set up in our warehouse for weeks. Adding. Subtracting. Tweaking. Perfecting. But the real question now is....will it all fit?
Miraculously, yes. But let's shrink wrap it to keep it snug.
Add a few walls, a lid and voila. I can't tell you how relieved we are in this picture!
Throw a tarp over it all to keep the 40% chance of rain off (and of course it did)...and there you go.
Ready for blast off this morning! See you in Cali.
Labels:
a wild soap bar,
Expo West,
freight,
trade show
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Yes, But Is It Really Organic?
I recently saw this posted on a website..."if you don't see the USDA Certified Organic seal, the word "organic" doesn't mean anything. The important thing is the ingredients."
Well...yes...and no.
I mean yes, the USDA certified organic seal is a pretty good indicator that the product is made according to the standards set forth by that agency. No one can deny that and that's all well and good. But for those of us who don't have time to jump through all the hoops that USDA organic certification requires (and believe me, they are NUMEROUS and it's expensive too!)...does that mean our use of "organic" or "certified organic" doesn't mean anything?
Well...no! Of course not. When we say an ingredient is organic, we mean it's certified organic. That particular ingredient has been certified by one of the organic certifying agencies and just because the product as a whole isn't USDA certified organic, doesn't mean that some of the individual ingredients aren't. In this case, as in all ethical businesses, organic means something.
But yes, I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that "the important thing is the ingredients." Check the ingredient list to see for yourself what's in there. We use tons of certified organic ingredients that carry the seal in our products. Companies like ours who incur the extra expense of using organic ingredients deserve to get some respect too. I know that greenwashing is rampant these days, but that doesn't mean that every company who hasn't earned the USDA certified organic seal is doing it!
Sure, I hope we actually do have the time and money to get our organic soaps and body care products USDA certified someday (because they most definitely qualify)...but until then, you'll just have to take our word for it. Things like honesty and integrity ought to count for something. Don't you think?
Labels:
certified organic,
ethical business,
ethics,
green washing,
greenwashing,
organic,
USDA
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Timber!
Bzzzz. Crack. Timberrr! Thump. The sound is a bit unnerving.
The time has come to remove the dead trees, at least the ones that threaten the soap shop. Better to fall now in a calculated sort of way than to come crashing down onto the rooftop unexpectedly, don't you think?
This majestic eastern red cedar was about 48 feet tall, and there's at least a half dozen more around the perimeter of the building. Patiently waiting for the whine of the chainsaw. The dreaded buzz cut. The landscape is rapidly changing.
Approximately 60% of our trees are dead now (both evergreens and hardwoods) thanks to extended drought conditions over many many years (with even more fatalities most likely to come). Many people here consider red cedars to be mere trash trees, but I've enjoyed ours immensely over the years. Their "always on" green leaves. Their edible blue berries. The long shaggy bark and aromatic red heartwood.
This grand-daddy will live on as several hearty new fence posts. But I wish it was still green and growing! R.I.P. old friend.
Labels:
cedar,
drought,
eastern red cedar,
soap shop,
texas
Sunday, January 20, 2013
The Hanus Haus
It's been a long while since I've posted about our house building adventures out here in the wild. And an awful lot has happened since then too. Life...well...it happens...and Jackie & Jory's new house has now become Mike & Maggies! While it makes me a little sad our grandchildren won't be living next door, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super excited about this turn of events. What's not to love about living in a spacious new modern barn instead of an aging 24 foot travel trailer? Yes, we had an owner built home before the trailer, but that's another story.
This new home was originally modeled after The Plus House in Sweden, but we've modified it a bit to suit our needs and the sweltering Texas heat. Since Mike and I don't need much space, we dissected the house into 2 equal parts leaving an open two story breezeway in-between the spacious living/kitchen area on the right (see bottom photo), and the 2 bedroom/bathroom/utility area on the left. I expect we may get more mileage out of this outdoor living space than any other room in the house. Plus the less square footage I have to clean, the happier I'll be! (You see I've never wanted a big house, just a nice one.)
So for now, we'll have one giant storage space overhead, but we can always finish the upstairs later should we feel the need. I'm thinking playroom for the grandkids on one side, but we'll see. Right now we just need to finish the downstairs so that we can start enjoying it. Did I mention what an incredible amount of hard work this house building stuff is?
But now that we've hired outside help, we're FINALLY making good progress. And not a minute too soon either! Whew...
This new home was originally modeled after The Plus House in Sweden, but we've modified it a bit to suit our needs and the sweltering Texas heat. Since Mike and I don't need much space, we dissected the house into 2 equal parts leaving an open two story breezeway in-between the spacious living/kitchen area on the right (see bottom photo), and the 2 bedroom/bathroom/utility area on the left. I expect we may get more mileage out of this outdoor living space than any other room in the house. Plus the less square footage I have to clean, the happier I'll be! (You see I've never wanted a big house, just a nice one.)
So for now, we'll have one giant storage space overhead, but we can always finish the upstairs later should we feel the need. I'm thinking playroom for the grandkids on one side, but we'll see. Right now we just need to finish the downstairs so that we can start enjoying it. Did I mention what an incredible amount of hard work this house building stuff is?
But now that we've hired outside help, we're FINALLY making good progress. And not a minute too soon either! Whew...
the front of the house (north side)
looking up into the centrally located breezeway
looking through the breezeway (from front porch to back porch)
cathedral ceiling in the 8' wide breezeway
living/kitchen/dining with a BIG view to the south
Labels:
barn house,
breezeway,
dog trot,
house building,
modern,
outdoor living,
owner built home
Thursday, January 10, 2013
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