Living in a tipi for
two years (see “Lessons from a tipi” post) helped me realize what I want out of
a home. I no longer take any comforts for granted. And I've rediscovered some
of them, like doors that close! And lock!!
Going back to simple
living brought us to the decision to take the building of a more sheltered
more permanent home into our own hands. My husband built our home himself, alone mostly, on the deck
we built for the tipi.
We took certain things
into account when working on the design of our home.
-We built the deck in
a natural clearing in the forest, so only a few saplings were taking out and
many were redirected. It was essential for us to not destroy the forest in
favour of building a home which overlooks it!
- There was a big Cheesewood
tree next to the clearing and we designed the pitch of the room to accommodate the
tree so that none of the larger branches had to be removed.
-Living in the tipi
brought us into a closer relationship with our natural surroundings and that
was something that we didn't want to lose. We wanted to incorporate outside
living as much as possible and we kept the living room area as an outside space
so that you have to step outside to get to the kitchen, this keeps us close to
lunar cycles, the stars, what the little birds are doing. It also means that if
you don’t cover your food, those same little birds finish off your breakfast
for you!
- Our outside shower
ruined me for ever having an indoor shower again! We’ve kept our shower
outside, it’s nestled into the trees and it’s so lovely!
- We designed the
electrical system to easily switch over to solar. We’ve kept our power needs
simple and low impact.
- Big houses are
great, but the bigger they are, the more time you spend inside, and the bigger
your impact on natural resources, we’ve made our home as small as possible.
- There is so much
stuff in the world that we really don’t need to buy anything new ever again!
We’ve upcycled as many building materials as possible which means that when I
walk through my son’s door, I think of my brother-in-law, when I walk into my
daughter’s room, I’m reminded of our friend, Marty, and his wood workshop
filled with beautiful driftwood, reclaimed yellow wood planks, antique wooden
treasures. There isn’t an area in our home devoid of personality!
- It doesn’t make
economical or ecological sense to design a house built from materials which are
not found in the area. The Garden
Route is covered in forest and plantation, so we
obviously used mostly wood. This was an educational process in itself as we would
find ourselves having to explain to suppliers why we didn’t want old-growth forest woods
like Meranti and Balao and that there are many gums and other South African
plantation woods to choose from.
- We designed for our
family and we had fun with it. We made a trap door which leads from our kids’
rooms to the passage (which isn’t built yet!) and painted a road with parking
bays on our son’s floor!
They say that building
your own home is much like painting a work of art, you never finish it, you
just decide, at some point, that you’re going to stop now! We are half way. And
the next building frenzy is set to start sometime soon. It’s an exciting
process and we had a hand and a say in everything, no funny surprises! As a result
I’ve gotten into carpentry and actually made our kitchen counter and work
surface. It’s a great feeling and definitely a lesson in focus, clarity and
patience!
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