I’m still not sure what lesson the universe was trying to instill in me recently, when it scheduled two rather different home shoots on adjacent days. And I sure wasn’t thinking about life lessons when I set out that Thursday morning from my modest 1923 badly-in-need-of-updating home.

House A is a 4,000+ square foot rambler tucked into the woods south of town, adjacent to a wildlife refuge upon which a herd of elk grazed blissfully under a cold winter sun. Just three years old, it was built with great attention to detail (a tub that fills from the ceiling?!?), and is bright, spacious, and perfect for entertaining, particularly if you have a lot of friends to entertain.

House B is just out of downtown Olympia, in a quiet westside neighborhood. In the back yard of a modest home is a cute little house that you could be forgiven for initially considering to be  a garden shed. It’s from a design by Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, and is built on a trailer chassis. So technically, yes, it’s a mobile home. While tiny, it has in common with House A a keen attention to detail, gracefully squeezing into it’s tiny footprint a kitchen, toilet, living space, closet, storage, and a sleeping loft, all illuminated by plentiful windows and two skylights.

Because it’s fun, because it may make you think about what you need to live and where you may fall on the continuum between extravagant and simple, and because I’ve yet to completely understand the universe’s lessons for me in this curious juxtaposition, I present without further comment images from the two homes.

Kitchen:

Bedroom:

Bathroom:

Interior:

Living: