A Different City and Living Small
I lived in Fargo back in the early 1990s. The NDSU campus and older part of the city is much the same, but the suburban sprawl that emanates from the old core is just one big ugly suburb. Please stop consuming acres of the worlds best farmland to build more ugly banality. With a little planning, we could have cities that are timeless like others around the world. My own personal version of hell is having to live (and pay for) one of the oversized, cookie cutters that are the standard offering in American homes. Been there, done that and failed. I never want to go back to that house poor lifestyle that so many Americans buy into. That is why the small house movement has me so excited, even though in this part of the country anything that isn't mainstream and about big houses, big trucks and big oil is looked on with the suspicion of a resurgent communism.
This week at NDSU I've had a little time to mess around. Recently, I've become interested in the idea of maximizing space while living in a house that rounds out at about 800 square feet. Although, this isn't really a tiny house, I see it as a workshop for exploring ideas of maximizing the use of space.
The video of a 400 square foot apartment in NYC incorporates some of the ideas that I am interested in utilizing one day. The ideas make the diminutive space livable and useful. I was especially interested in the storage wall on roller tracks that uses a similar concept to the compact shelving used in library storage. I came across this video and the company Resource Furniture with innovative, space saving designs. Although their prices are high, one may be able to use ideas to rework existing pieces into a DIY version. Anytime a website says "contact for a quote" I know it isn't going to be cheap. Eventually IKEA and the low cost furniture crowd will jump.on the growing small space bandwagon and create knock offs for regular people. A New York Times story alerted me to their existence and I'll continue to watch this exciting movement as it develops. The sustainable future is more of us living in smaller, more efficient spaces.
On a roll, I found this other video of an interesting cabinet idea and another that follows the cabinet concept. There is also this one that is way too small, but I like the DIY approach of the builder and the way he pushes the space to extremes.
Although these spaces are extreme and I don't want to go that small, they offer ideas and technologies to help make a larger space more livable. Some of these ideas can really open up a modestly sized home or apartment.
This week at NDSU I've had a little time to mess around. Recently, I've become interested in the idea of maximizing space while living in a house that rounds out at about 800 square feet. Although, this isn't really a tiny house, I see it as a workshop for exploring ideas of maximizing the use of space.
The video of a 400 square foot apartment in NYC incorporates some of the ideas that I am interested in utilizing one day. The ideas make the diminutive space livable and useful. I was especially interested in the storage wall on roller tracks that uses a similar concept to the compact shelving used in library storage. I came across this video and the company Resource Furniture with innovative, space saving designs. Although their prices are high, one may be able to use ideas to rework existing pieces into a DIY version. Anytime a website says "contact for a quote" I know it isn't going to be cheap. Eventually IKEA and the low cost furniture crowd will jump.on the growing small space bandwagon and create knock offs for regular people. A New York Times story alerted me to their existence and I'll continue to watch this exciting movement as it develops. The sustainable future is more of us living in smaller, more efficient spaces.
On a roll, I found this other video of an interesting cabinet idea and another that follows the cabinet concept. There is also this one that is way too small, but I like the DIY approach of the builder and the way he pushes the space to extremes.
Although these spaces are extreme and I don't want to go that small, they offer ideas and technologies to help make a larger space more livable. Some of these ideas can really open up a modestly sized home or apartment.
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