Tammy Strobel

You Can Buy Happiness and it’s Cheap

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Tammy and her new book

I have been friends with Tammy Strobel for several years now and I did a post awhile back on when we first met in person. Tammy is the founder of the blog Rowdy Kittens and has been simplifying her and her husband Logan’s lifestyle over the last few years. She … Read more

Why I Love My Tiny House

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{Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Tammy Strobel. It was originally published in Blissful Reflection: A Little Book of Letters.}

A few people have asked me why I love my little house so much. I’m sure I’ll continue adding to this list, but for now, here’s a quick response. What follows is in no particular order.

I love our neighbors. They’re warm, funny, and welcoming. I’m enjoying getting to know them better.

I love how the kittens learned to climb the loft ladder in less than 24 hours and how Elaina looks like a little sumo wrestler as she goes up toward the loft, throwing one leg over at a time, with her belly swinging below. On the other hand, Christie is a little ninja. She’s light, quick, and silent as she slinks up and down the ladder steps.

I love watching the bike commuters ride by our house every morning. Logan and I sit in the window nook and watch them zip by, all bundled up and ready to face the day.

I love how the afternoon light spills through the French doors and how the sun casts a glow onto the orange leaves, making them sparkle.

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Means To Minimalism- A Chat with Tiny House Dweller, and Blogger, Tammy Strobel

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Guest Post by Derek Diedricksen

She doesn’t like being labeled, but I still can’t help but dub her a “Maven of Minimalism”, (and hopefully she won’t get mad at me for it!), and for good reason, as Tammy Strobel has moved from what most would already consider a small living arrangement (a 400 square foot apartment), into a new, even smaller, 128 square foot home! Her story, I feel, is not only gutsy, but fun, and enlightening at the same time….oh yeah, I should mention that she also lives in this very same house with another person- Logan Smith- so at 64 square feet a piece, I felt they might have quite a bit of light to shine on the world of living with little.

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Interview by Derek “Deek” Diedricksen of relaxshacks.com. The “Tammy” sketch below is from his tiny house design book “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks“- in a brand new “Tricks Of The Trade” chapter with input from Lloyd Kahn, Gregory Paul Johnson, Dee Williams, Jay Shafer, Alex Pino, Duo Dickinson, Mimi Zeiger, Colin Beavan, Alex Johnson, Cathy Johnson, and some guy named “Kent Griswold”!?

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Deek: What was the turning point in your life where you decided that the run of the mill, status quo lifestyle, and one usually surrounded by “stuff'”, wasn’t for you?

Tammy: About six years ago I took a life changing trip to Mexico. At the time I was volunteering with the Mexico Solidarity Network and was unhappy with my career and huge mound of debt. After visiting Mexico and seeing so much poverty, I realized how trivial my problems were. When I got back, I knew I had to make some serious life changes. And a few months later, Logan and I happened to watch a You Tube video featuring Dee Williams and her tiny house.

Once we saw Dee’s video, we knew tiny house living was a good fit for us. So we started taking steps to transform our lives, like paying down our debt, selling the cars, and giving away a lot of stuff. Seeing the video of Dee and her little house was a big turning point for us. It gave us a whole new perspective on what our life could be like; that I didn’t have to drive two hours to and from work everyday or live in a big house either. It was empowering to realize I could live life on my own terms.

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Tammy and Logan’s Tiny House Tour

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My friend and fellow blogger Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens and her husband Logan just fulfilled a dream of theirs and moved into a tiny house. The home was designed and built by Dee Williams and  Katy Anderson of Portland Alternative Dwellings based in Portland, Oregon. I asked Tammy to give us … Read more

Minimalist Apartment Living

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Tammy Strobel is off on vacation this week and is taking a digital break as too. Tammy writes about minimalism and she also lives the life that she promotes. Tammy recently took these pictures of their small apartment in Portland to share with her readers and before she left on vacation gave me permission to share them with you. Tammy and Logans apartment is less than 400 square feet.

When Tammy and Logan moved from Sacramento to Portland they downsized to where they were able to load all their belongings into the back of a standard size pickup. That is quite an accomplishment. The neat thing is that they have stuck with a minimalist foot print. Just check out Tammy’s tiny library and the clothes closet.

If you are interested in minimalism which most of us are who follow this blog be sure and read Tammy’s blog Rowdy Kittens and check out her books Smalltopia and Simply Car-free. Thank you Tammy and Logan for sharing your life with us.

Photo Credits: Tammy Strobel

Tammy and Logan plan to eventually build a tiny house on wheels and are planning to have Dee Williams and Katy Anderson from Portland Alternative Dwellings assist them in the construction. I am looking forward to seeing that project started.

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