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Before you read on, here is a TMI warning. We are going to go knee deep in “too much information”, so if that doesn’t sound like a bit of you, I would suggest to click on any other article instead...except 'Side effects of living in a Tiny House', that is also TMI. If you don’t have a chronic illness or pain, or aren’t in someone's life with one, this may not make a whole lot of sense to you. To those with, we all have our different needs and experiences, and I can only give advice base off mine, so take out of this article whatever may be applicable to you, and hopefully you find something useful. Ignoring my warning? In the words of Taylor Swift, “Don’t say I didn’t, say I didn’t warn ya”. To get a better understanding of why I would write such an article, I am best to start off with a bit of a brief background. Like many of us, I do not wish for pity (or health advice/cures/vitamins from strangers ;) ) but rather to be a bit more relatable to those also living with similar conditions. I have been living in a Tiny House for almost 3 years, and have a list of chronic invisible illnesses, and attacks of severe pain. Over the years living in the Tiny House, I have gone through bouts of being bed ridden, I have put the composting loo to the extreme tests (even managed a colonoscopy prep in this Tiny Home, and most of us know what those are like!), I have made it through winters, and dealt with the heat, and through all this, I hopefully have some survival tips for you all going forward into Tiny Living. DESIGN IDEAS I say this often, but it’s true that one of the best parts about Tiny Houses is that you can build or even renovate to suit your needs. You can create a space custom for you, and you can create a healthy living environment. Here are some design ideas/tips to apply to different areas of the house. Bedroom. One of the most important areas of the Tiny House for people with pain and chronic illness is the bedroom. For most, the bedroom is just a place to sleep, and if this is the case, you don’t need much room or to put much focus on this area. For us spoonies, it’s a place that some of us spend a lot of time in, both awake and asleep. When our bodies are giving us grief, it may become the hangout space. The space you may end up spending a lot of time in. So let’s make this the best space for you! Put your money here. You’re saving money not having to kit out a huge house, so you deserve to splash out and get it as comfortable as can be. Get the healthy and super comfortable mattress, get the nice soft bed linen. In terms of placement of the bedroom, this will depend on your situation. If you majority of the time would not make it up some stairs or a ladder to the loft, but occasionally could, then you are better off having a downstairs bedroom with the loft as a guest bedroom/storage or if you have money to spare, you could get an electric lift to loft. For me I am fortunate enough to be able to make it up our loft stairs majority of the time, and only occasionally can’t so we have a loft, and a couch bed for when it’s not possible. I’m also lucky that I have a husband that can help push me up the stairs or lift me down. If you opt for the downstairs bedroom, and you live with someone, I would recommend getting a room specifically, instead of just a bed in an open space, so you can close the door. Especially if you’ve got guests and need to sneak off if you’re not well. If you opt for the loft space, have a decent loft height above the bed. Our mistake was making the loft too high with a pitched roof. I have smoked my head on the roof so many times, I have lost count. Jake (husband) said I’d learn, but with a combination of brain fog and bad spatial awareness it has resulted in multiple head banging episodes without the “learning”. If we were to rebuild, I would make dormer windows above loft or a shed roof for maximum loft space. Don’t forget to put enough plugs next to the bed. I have an electric hot water bottle, so I can charge it up in the middle of the night without having to get out of bed. Electric blankets also use next to no power and if you use other power occupying medical devices, it’s good to have easy access plugs. Bathroom. If you are spending a lot of unpleasant time in the bathroom, then let’s counteract this by making the bathroom as nice as possible. It doesn’t need to be large, but just pleasant. This could mean fancy towels, plants, positive quote signs. Whatever you can add to the space that will make it nicer to be in, then add it! Design considerations for the bathroom are as follows:
House Placement. Try and get a parking spot for the Tiny House that is in an easy place to access from car to house. For a while we were parked in the middle of a paddock, and it got really muddy in winter and we would have to jump a couple fences to get to our house from the place we parked. It was fine most of the time, but when it came to a pain flare and trying to get into the house in a hurry, it made for the most excruciating trek. Something to consider is how far it is to get to a medical centre from your parking spot, especially if you have frequent trips to the Drs, or on occasion need urgent medical care. Plus, you will want to make sure you can get both internet and phone reception in your home. Once you have found that perfect parking spot, make sure you strap your Tiny House down as well as possible for minimal shake. If your in severe pain, and someone else is walking around in the house and it's wobbling, that can make things worse, and it's easy enough to avoid. Plus, it's always good to strap your Tiny House down anyway, so if a strong storm comes along, you're not worried about the house falling over! Heating / Cooling. Some people experience more pain and symptoms in different climates. If the heat makes your symptoms worse, put emphasis into a good cooling system for your home. If the cold gets you, then look at heating as a priority. For me, the cold isn’t my friend. I prefer a direct hot heat, such as a fireplace. If you have someone who can help light the fire when you’re unwell, then go for a wood stove. If you don’t mind an encapsulating heat, then go for a heatpump (if you don’t get other symptoms from them). Alternatively, if you are by yourself and prefer a dry, intense heat, I would recommend a pellet fire. You just pour pellets in the top when you are well enough, and when you’re not well, all you have to do is press a button, and it will light your fire, and then press a button to turn it off. It has a fan that pushes out heat, and has a direct heat like a normal fireplace. A bag of pellets is around $10 and lasts a few days. It heats the house super fast. The only downside is that they are quite pricey and are generally a bit large for Tiny Homes. We went for the pellet fire and chose to forgo the room it takes up because we picked up a bargain off TradeMe, and to me they are magic. This winter has been so much more pleasant with the pellet fire installed, than the last winter without it. It also helps keep the house nice and dry, even while drying clothes inside. Storage When you are designing your cabinetry, make sure you think of a good place to store all your medical equipment such as medications, vitamins, medical devices, hot water bottles, heat packs etc. Minimalism in this area doesn’t work super great with how many things we tend to need to manage our conditions! If you design a designated place for all the things, then it will save your Tiny House looking messy, and you’ll always know where your important things are. It is possible to lose items in a Tiny House, I do it all the time! General Advice With a Tiny House, once you have freed up your income from being spent on rent, you may be able to invest more on your health and wellbeing. Some options could include getting regular massages, or getting some body maintenance such as acupuncturists, osteopaths, naturopaths etc, or if you are working, you may be able to reduce your hours to a more comfortable level. That’s all for now. I could go on, but then it would probably turn into an e-book! I hope you have got something useful out this article, and if you did, I would love to hear about it! -Kasia xo  Here's a throwback pic to the time I got an onsite Chiropractor/Bowen Therapist to sort me out in the middle of our muddy paddock, and our cat went crazy!
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