Earlier this year, a production company contacted me to ask if I could spread the word that they were looking for tiny houses to feature in the second season of an AOL online channel. After I posted to a few tiny house groups, on a whim I decided to submit our house. Eventually, they contacted me and asked when they could send their camera man.

That was around the time I told Bill about the whole thing. How I convinced him to go on camera I still don't know. But he did. And for months I've been cringing, thinking about how awkward I felt in front of the camera and dreading the day the show came online. But guess what? The cameraman took incredible shots, and the editors worked their magic cutting our most awkward moments. 

Why put ourselves through this trauma? For the same reason I forced myself to accept an invitation to be interviewed on a tiny house podcast and the same reason we talk at tiny house conferences. It sounds a little evangelical, but we have a message: You can live better with less. If you're happy with a big house and lots of things, I'm happy for you! But, if like us, you find yourself working a job you don't like and spending all your money on your big house and its big bills when you'd rather be off on an adventure, then maybe you, too, will want to Dream Big, Live Small.

All photos and video courtesy of Dream Big, Live Small / AOL.com

We loved last year's Tiny House Conference in Asheville. This year, the Portland conference was another home run. Beautiful houses to tour (see below), tiny house enthusiasts and experts to chat with, great vendors sharing their wares and receptive audiences for our talks. New this year: I was on a panel of tiny house dwellers dishing on lessons learned living in compact spaces. Ryan Mitchell of The Tiny Life knows how to throw a conference. (Thanks, Ryan, for including us!)

One of the highlights for me is still touring the houses on site at the conference. The artistry as well as the practical solutions, the tried-and-true approaches and well as the creative takes on small living—I love it all.

At this year's conference, Covo Tiny House Co. blew me away with their technology. Bluetooth controls for just about everything in the house (lighting, heating and security included) aren't just convenient and cool, they're space savers. The Mio model we toured would make an amazing live/work space with its sit/stand work desk, built-in monitor and a slew of USB charging ports.

Two other on-site builders underscored the importance of a good foundation. For a THOW, that's the trailer its built on. Tiny Mountain Houses (TMH) and Seattle Tiny Homes (STH) offer trailers specifically designed and engineered for tiny homes. STH says their trailers offer DIY builders 18" more buildable space (which is huge when you're talking tiny). The company also sells complete plans, including materials lists and step-by-step guides. TMH trailer design allows the company to maximize interior height, so their lofts didn't feel like crawl spaces. TMH also made the case for RV certification (which their houses have) for insurance and parking accessibility.

When it came to sheer beauty, a few DIY houses on site were a joy to tour, including the Gypsy Caravan, Sanden House and Patrick's Tiny House. Here are a few photos from my tiny house touring.

For a dozen years, small-space dwellers have had a daily dose of inspiration–Apartment Therapy. The website lists its mission (helping people make their homes more "beautiful, organized and healthy") and its goal (improving homes while reducing "reliance on stuff"), plus a "What We Believe" section, where the website lists four tenants to which I'll add my humble belief vote:

• A calm, healthy, beautiful home is a necessary foundation for happiness and success in the world.
• Creating this home doesn't require large amounts of money or space. It requires inspiration, connection to resources and motivation to do something about it.
• The basic elements of good home design can be learned and achieved by all.
• Simplicity and luxury are not mutually exclusive.

Since my daughter introduced me to the site, I've been hooked. Apartment Therapy advocates nothing more passionately than intentional living. What makes you feel good? What suits the way you want to live in the world? I love the pieces on color, the tips for organizing, the DIY features and, naturally, the small space highlights. And did I mention the photography? Wide-angle, light-splashed, perfectly framed images of a thousand places I'd happily live. 

After countless hours of drifting and clicking my way through the site over the past year, one day I noticed the "submit a story" link on the site. So, maybe, just maybe, if I could interest Apartment Therapy in our tiny house, they'd send a photographer out to our wee abode to take "real" pictures of the space. Late one night, I jotted down a few thoughts, attached a few pictures and submitted my "story."

I didn't hear anything for a couple weeks. Then I got an email that our story would be published a few days later. What? I couldn't remember what I'd written. I didn't know what pictures I'd attached. That Saturday a piece came out, and I was relieved to follow the link to see that what I'd written made sense and the pictures I'd sent did justice to the house. The piece was headlined "A Small, Solar-Powered House in the Blue Ridge Mountains." (That made me wish I'd included a picture of our solar panels!)

I'd still love to have an Apartment Therapy photographer show up on our doorstep to take professional shots of our little place. That hasn't happened, but I have enjoyed communicating with the people who have asked questions in the comment section. They've helped me think about our tiny house with new perspective. (I try not to focus on the double responses that show up from me; when my first responses didn't load for a few days, I wrote a second round of replies—only to have both rounds of comments post the next day!)

So, thanks, Apartment Therapy, for all the inspiration...and for including us in your intentional-living discussion.