Here are some of the sites that have cool TINY apartments, houses, and cabins that ARE inspiring for those of us trying to simplify and NOT live in a house where the crapper is bigger than the entire residence for most people on this planet (actually...I don't know that. It's called "hyperbole").
Tumbleweed Tiny Houses
The guy who designs these sounds like kind of a self-righteous dick (but I think that about Thoreau too...he lived in SOMEONE'S BACKYARD for pete's sake...sorry...side-rant-tracked), but the designs are cool and he'll sell you just the plans. The houses range from 65 square feet up to 774. I'm thinking somewhere around 600 square feet right now.
Apartment Therapy
These folks apparently run a contest each year for the coolest small residence and get entries from all over the world. Some are a bit designer-y and high-tech-y for me (I want chickens and a compost toilet not an electric stairway and a roomba) but the way people arrange tiny spaces rocks. I've linked to the 2008 contest but you can find the others once you've gone through the hundreds of apartments on that list (well...dozens).
100 x 100
I am hypnotized by this art project. These are photos of residents, in their rooms, of the oldest public housing project in Hong Kong. The project has since been demolished according to the website and now I wonder where the people are. They had rooms that were 100 square feet. There is one door. No windows. And everyone has turned these into unique living spaces. The options range from an empty room [check out #56 and #83] with a bit of newspaper on the floor to put your veggies on, and perhaps a rice steamer, to absolutely cramming [check out #79] the place with crap. One family [see #76] seems to have divided the space horizontally creating 2 levels though both appear fairly in accessible. I'm fascinated by #25 (a house divided...) and #27 (the Hong Kong 'Dark Knight'??). I swear I once saw a guy sitting on the floor by some food on a piece of paper and a cooker that looked like a charcoal burner which seemed sad AND like a disaster waiting to happen in an unventilated 10x10 room. If anyone sees that, please put the number in the comments. Anyway, I love this art project because each room is so different and you can see the personalities (or think you can) in the decor. Some people seem happy there and like they'd be happy anywhere. They've painted and decorated, are having card parties, watching something on their TVs. Others, like the 'Dark Knight' look like they are a bit odd and perhaps "happy" is not part of their life's quest. Anyway, enjoy these. The artists other projects have links up at the top right. Those are cool too. I like the one about bastard chairs.
Cabin Plans
I not only have a small-living-space fetish; I have a floorplan fetish and this site satisfies both issues. I love to look at plans and decide why they are wrong. I pity the architect who ever has to work with me. Nothing will ever get done because I will always see something I want to change.
Bale Watch
This one has cool (and some crap) plans for strawbale houses. These could easily be adapted to cob or other alternative building materials. I have long liked the design called the Cube, eventhough it is 1152 square feet and probably too big for me if I live alone (and let's face it...that IS the plan...people in my house pisses me off). I wish I could put a link to that plan but you'll just have to scroll down and click on it. I can't figure out the frames thing. Anyway, I don't like the shed roof, but the floorplan is nice. Very egalitarian. The bedrooms are all the same size and the crapper is small. I would add a nice greenhouse to the south side for passive solar and just because I like plants and want to garden.
There are more sites, but I'm sure my readers have all dozed off by now.
3 comments:
I like the cabin called the "Yukon" because you can turn it into a general store (ala Olsen's Mercantile on LHOTP) if you get tired of living there! I'll check out all the other links later. So far the Yukon has my vote!
laurie: I KNOW! Isn't it cool. Also the Klondike could be a neat little store.
And, I think in the Yukon, if the front part of the ceiling is about 9 or 10 feet high, you could put a little sleeping loft over the kitchen and it would be so "Little House on the Prairie".
Hey Jill -- Remember about nine years ago you sent me all the tiny office supplies because my (then) officemate hogged the office? I wish I could send them back to you because you could use them in your tiny home. Laurie was right -- the Yukon does look like you need a bunch of barrels on it selling corn meal or pickels or something. I think having a loft that you have to use a ladder to get to is kind of scary, but that's just because I am so klutzy. Good luck finding the perfect place for you. Angela
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