Tiny House Blog

Chelsea brought this article and this fantastic little apartment to my attention. I am guilty of not covering apartments very often but I love the use of space in this one and you must see it.

The article written by The Seattle Times Rebecca Teagarden is titled “Tiny apartment shows the value of a good fit” and talks about Steve Sauer’s 182-square-foot Seattle condo which shows the value of a good fit, from the soaking tub built into the entry floor to the “video lounge” tucked beneath the “cafe area.” Sauer shopped Ikea for many of his home’s furnishings, such as a little table, and used tabletops to fashion cabinet fronts.

Saurer’s says, “What I really wanted was one place with exactly what I needed and wanted. Quality is more important than quantity for me, and extra space only a problem,” he has written, describing his nearby too-big-for-him, one-bedroom condo.

“I wanted to compress my home to squirt me back out to the community,” he says, taking inspiration from dwellings in Scandinavia and Japan, places where space is dear. “That was one of the philosophical reasons. I want to be able to shop daily, not store a lot and eat really well.”

When Sauer couldn’t find the things he needed, he designed them and built them: The stainless-steel shower caddy, towel bar. For other pieces, “Ikea came through again.” Lighting, cabinet pulls, and butcher block for shelves, the table top and cabinet fronts. The rich flooring, Brazilian walnut, was installed by Matt Messenger. A bureau from West Elm fit to 1/8 of an inch, and so it was ordered.

“My dream is to put 300 of these in a building and not have it be a tenement.”

Read the Seattle Times article here.

I am excited to see my friend and fellow blogger Tammy Strobel featured in the New York Times today. Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Tammy and her husband, Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. Eventually giving up their car and using only bicycles for transportation and than leaving her day job and relocating to Portland, Oregon, Tammy and Logan have made some major changes in their lives.

Read the complete article called But Will It Make You Happy? at the New York Times website and visit Tammy’s website Rowdy Kittens and follow her journey there.

Photo Credit: New York Times

Tammy Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, in their pared-down, 400-square-foot apartment in Portland, Ore

I covered this Box of Tricks back in January of 2009 but it has been getting a lot of attention lately and a movie has been put together on YouTube so I thought I would share this briefly again.

There is a recent article in Man Overboard about this and here is a brief introduction: In Hong Kong, because of the space, apartments are small and expensive. Gary Chang, an architect, decided to design a 344 sq. ft. apartment to be able to change into 24 different designs, all by just sliding panels and walls. He calls this the “Domestic Transformer.”

Enjoy the video below and read the complete story here.

Like many other cities, my hometown of Reno, Nev. has seen more and more people leave the suburbs to make their home in a more condensed urban environment to save on housing and gas costs. Several buildings in the downtown Reno corridor have been redeveloped to include housing for city living. Kelly Rae and Pam Haberman of HabeRae Investments Inc. are creating tiny, beautiful urban infill houses while keeping the history of many of these buildings alive.

2 More on Watt Farmhouse

Kelly and Pam have been redeveloping properties since 1998 and are most well known for their 8 on Center project, but their most recent projects are getting some attention for their tiny size, aesthetics and green design. They have won local awards for historic preservation, environmental design and community improvement. Continue Reading »

Tiny apartments, especially tiny studio apartments, present a set of challenges to the dweller. Storage is one challenge: With the exception of the handful of lucky folks who score rent-controlled apartments and stay for years, it’s not worthwhile for most renters to buy built-in storage units for their apartments. Creating a separation between the living space and bedroom space is the other major challenge. I live in a studio apartment, and I’ve learned how to stay organized and to maximize my space. I’ll tell you what works for me, and a few other tips that I picked up from Linda Merrill, a fabulous and pragmatic interior designer who I work with.

How to Maximize Space in a Studio Apartment

• Multi-tasking furniture is your best friend: Instead of trying to squeeze a couch, a guest bed, and a linen closet into my apartment, I bought a daybed with a storage space built in under the mattress. I store my sheets, towels, and (oddly) scrap paper in the hidden compartment under the mattress. Continue Reading »

Tara and Herb both sent me two related articles about some cool lofts under development in Vancouver B.C. Canada. These micro-lofts are about 270 square feet, the size of two parking spaces.

General manager Jon Stovell says the micro-lofts will have pretty much everything essential for living, including a bathroom, kitchen, workspace and big loft-style windows that provide natural ventilation and bright views of the street.

“They have a fold-down wall bed, and when that wall bed is up, it has a fold-down table. We integrated a workbench with a built-in flat screen TV so that that does not take any room and created a glassy washroom enclosure that functions as a single area — shower, and toilet and sink all in one area. Continue Reading »