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We’re Starting To Use Our Tiny House as a Workspace
Debra Redalia
A few days ago I found myself working in our nontoxic tiny home while it was rainy off and on for a few days.
I was finishing up with sanding and putting 3 coats of nontoxic finish on a spice rack that I had built for Debra. Normally, I would be doing these activities outside, except that was not workable because of the wet weather.
So I was doing this inside our tiny home. It was quite pleasant working there, creating what would eventually be a part of our new tiny home.
(For now, it will be in our current kitchen, near Debra’s office.)
I had built the frame of the spice rack out of a purple wood called purple-heart and the shelves out of a light colored maple. It is truly a unique spice rack that will hold all our spices. Now, it will be easier for Debra to cook for us without having to rummage thru the cardboard box to find the particular spices she wants while preparing our nutritious tasty meals.
One of the benefits of using non-toxic materials and finishes is that generally they are much, much easier to work with than the toxic petroleum stuff. Especially, since working in an enclosed space with toxic materials can be very hard on our bodies.
The wood and the whey based natural finishes do not require me to use a respirator while working in our tiny home. I am looking forward with pleasure to doing lots more work on our nontoxic tiny home.

Since blogs typically give most recent posts first, it can be difficult to read a chronological story from the beginning on a blog. So here is a list of the blog posts starting with the first post and moving forward in time:
Yes, gorgeous spice rack. Awesome job Larry!
Love how much easier it is to work with non-toxic materials. Another advantage– no need to protect surrounding surfaces from toxics you’d otherwise be working with. That would only take time away from getting things done.
That’s the case with cleaning– do you notice that building and remodeling too?
Hi,
The spice rack is beautiful!
Where would one get “purple wood”? And, could you tell us more about the “whey based natural finish”? Where would I get such a finish?
Thanks!
Julia
The purple wood is purpleheart. We bought ours at a specially lumberyard in Berkeley, California called MacBeath Hardwood.
The whey based natural finish is Vermont Natural Coatings, my very favorite wood finish of all time. We were able to buy it at our local independent hardware store, but you can easily order it online.