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Today’s interview is with the wonderful Ruth Wagner about her tiny home. Ruth ventured into the woods and never wanted to leave! Now she’s enjoying a 260 sq ft cabin in the woods, and I have to say I’m in love! Read on to learn more!
Aly: What is your sq. ft.?
Ruth: 260 in cabin. Small attached porch.
Aly: What is the layout like? (Any lofts, bedrooms, office, living space, etc.?)
Ruth: Layout is one big room with a stone fireplace. The room is used for sleeping, working from home, eating, and reading/relaxing. I have a toaster oven inside and a propane ring outside. The compostable toilet is outside. I shower at the Y; I wash at home using water heated in the coffee pot. We have electric but no running water; we use bottled water for drinking, cooking, and washing. I had a raincatcher for about a year but the plastic receiving disk cracked last winter. Heat is electric IR heater and propane heater for backup.
Aly: What made you decide to live tiny?
Ruth: I am 56 years old with one grown son. I got divorced from second husband two years ago and lost most of my monthly income in the process, but I got to keep my dogs. I was looking for a something small where the dogs wouldn’t bother anybody, and where nobody would bother us. By enormous grace and good fortune, I found this small cabin on 5 acres, which had been foreclosed. I had electric run, put up a fence, and moved in. It is so beautiful in these woods that I have no words. I have since remarried my first husband and father of our son, after 20 years apart. 🙂 My one request was, don’t take me out of my woods. He has been enormously supportive and loves the cabin as well.
Aly: How have friends and family reacted to your tiny place?
Ruth: Friends and family were initially concerned because the cabin is quite primitive, but they saw how happy I was and now everybody loves it.
Aly: What was the journey like transitioning to tiny?
Ruth: Journey to tiny was exhilarating. I was scared shitless at first because I had a deadline per the divorce as to when I had to move, and I had to get electric run so the big woolly dogs could manage the extreme heat of that summer with AC. I found this place and couldn’t believe how beautiful the woods were, but the cabin was very primitive, even more than it is now, and I had to make it work. I gave away or threw away just about everything, keeping the bare minimum. I do have a storage locker, but even that has been cleaned out and there is not much left. Anyway, it was very freeing to shed all of that excess junk. I haven’t missed a bit of it. It is amazing how little stuff we really need to be happy. Less to worry about, less to clean, less to maintain. I have more time for family, friends, and my job which I love (work from home a lot). I was lost for a lot of years and feel enormously blessed to have found serenity and happiness and myself again.
Aly: Do you have any advice for someone wanting to downsize?
Ruth: Jump in and do it. I asked myself, if my former (huge) house was on fire, what would I save? And the answer was the dogs and the photographs, and the print of my son’s feet when he was born. That’s it. The rest of it is replaceable. I will never ever go back. The peace of the woods, the wonderful smells, the owls and birds and forest creatures, the daily walks – there are no words for the peace and happiness I’ve found. When you strip away all the stuff, you have to come to terms with who you really are. That can be painful, but it’s the most important thing I think has happened to me.
Do you live in 500 sq ft or less? Let us know! We’d love to feature you on our “Tiny Segment.”
Blessings,
Aly
For tips on how to begin your decluttering journey, you can Start Here, or snag a copy of the 30 Day Challenge (our Minimalism and Decluttering eBook).
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