Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
very little house on the prarie
'Small' article about small living in The Economist - I can't say it enough: I love, love, love the idea of scaling back, living with less and living smaller...
Feb 19th 2009 LULING, TEXAS From The Economist print edition
A new vogue for little living
Tiny Texas Houses
Squeeze right in
SEVERAL years ago Brad Kittel was living in the small town of Gonzales, Texas, running an architectural-antiques shop and feeling restless. He had the largest collection of antique door hardware in the country, and a warehouse full of salvaged material. But it was not shifting. So in 2006 he started Tiny Texas Houses, a building operation based in the appropriately tiny town of Luling, as a way of showing off his wares.
One of Mr Kittel’s current projects is a custom-built Victorian-style farmhouse with a green exterior. Most of the house is to be made of salvaged materials. It will have a full kitchen and bathroom, a loft big enough to sleep in, and a roomy living area with a vaulted ceiling. At 350 square feet (33 square metres), this is a fairly capacious model. Some of his tiny houses are half that size.
The idea is to offer a greener and cheaper alternative to the dread McMansion. And Mr Kittel is not alone. The Small House Movement has been around for years, encouraging people to think about how much house they really need. But lately it has attracted more attention. “It seems like a perfect convergence of a bad housing market meeting a bad economy and more awareness about global warming,” claims Jay Shafer, an enthusiastic advocate. His Tumbleweed Tiny House company sells small ready-made houses as well as plans for slightly larger ones. Its teensiest model, the XS-House, measures 65 square feet; ready-made, it costs $37,000. For several years, the company survived on a sale here and there. Lately, says Mr Shafer, interest has risen.
In one sense tiny houses are not a novel idea. Plenty of people live in small spaces because they cannot afford larger ones. And affluent Manhattanites could get lost in a 500-square-foot apartment. But the average American home is pretty big. In 1980, according to the National Association of Home Builders, the median single-family home sold was 1,570 square feet. By 2005 that had expanded to 2,235 square feet.
The indications now, though, are that the trend is to scale back. According to the Census Bureau, the median size of home starts dropped to 2,114 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2008, down more than 100 square feet from the first quarter of the year. And 100 square feet is a significant slice of space. Mr Shafer’s whole house is about that size.
Feb 19th 2009 LULING, TEXAS From The Economist print edition
A new vogue for little living
Tiny Texas Houses
Squeeze right in
SEVERAL years ago Brad Kittel was living in the small town of Gonzales, Texas, running an architectural-antiques shop and feeling restless. He had the largest collection of antique door hardware in the country, and a warehouse full of salvaged material. But it was not shifting. So in 2006 he started Tiny Texas Houses, a building operation based in the appropriately tiny town of Luling, as a way of showing off his wares.
One of Mr Kittel’s current projects is a custom-built Victorian-style farmhouse with a green exterior. Most of the house is to be made of salvaged materials. It will have a full kitchen and bathroom, a loft big enough to sleep in, and a roomy living area with a vaulted ceiling. At 350 square feet (33 square metres), this is a fairly capacious model. Some of his tiny houses are half that size.
The idea is to offer a greener and cheaper alternative to the dread McMansion. And Mr Kittel is not alone. The Small House Movement has been around for years, encouraging people to think about how much house they really need. But lately it has attracted more attention. “It seems like a perfect convergence of a bad housing market meeting a bad economy and more awareness about global warming,” claims Jay Shafer, an enthusiastic advocate. His Tumbleweed Tiny House company sells small ready-made houses as well as plans for slightly larger ones. Its teensiest model, the XS-House, measures 65 square feet; ready-made, it costs $37,000. For several years, the company survived on a sale here and there. Lately, says Mr Shafer, interest has risen.
In one sense tiny houses are not a novel idea. Plenty of people live in small spaces because they cannot afford larger ones. And affluent Manhattanites could get lost in a 500-square-foot apartment. But the average American home is pretty big. In 1980, according to the National Association of Home Builders, the median single-family home sold was 1,570 square feet. By 2005 that had expanded to 2,235 square feet.
The indications now, though, are that the trend is to scale back. According to the Census Bureau, the median size of home starts dropped to 2,114 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2008, down more than 100 square feet from the first quarter of the year. And 100 square feet is a significant slice of space. Mr Shafer’s whole house is about that size.
Monday, February 23, 2009
send me your photos!
Hey everyone - sorry for the blogging hiatus. I'm back now and ready to start showcasing Ottawa interiors! (Okay, I won't say no to interiors from other parts of the world, but my emphasis is going to be Ottawa homes). So...that said, I have a few friends who are going to be receiving phone calls from me with requests to photo-document their living spaces and post them online for all to see, but the handful of apartments I already have in mind are only the tip of the Ottawa treasure-chest iceberg, SO, if you live in Ottawa and are pretty stoked about how you've developed and decorated your living space, send me some pics and a bit of your 'story' cause I'd love to blog about you and your space!I'll be waiting at decorateitdarling@gmail.com!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Its the Energy Stupid!
I ran across this criticism of Architects and the green movement the other day. http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-007-prioritizing-green2014it-s-the-energy-stupid/?full_view=1
It was written by Joseph Lstiburek; a renowned building science expert and royal smart ass. Many Architects and Engineers do not like Mr. Lstiburek because of his criticisms. I think mostly because he is all too often right; and he always has facts to back his claims up.
Lstiburek's basic criticism is this. Architects and Engineers are creating "Green Monuments". Buildings that are hailed Green and win awards; and yet they statistically are not saving any energy over their non-green counterparts.
I tend to agree with many of his criticisms. I have felt for some time that we get caught up in all the new exciting technology - so much so that we forget the basic principles of good environmental design that the Ancients knew, and that Edward Mazria re-taught us over 30 years ago. This is why I try to focus on the basics - see http://simplyeleganthomedesigns.blogspot.com/2009/01/top-10-green-things-to-do-when-building.html
I think our industry should be open to criticisms like his. If we really want to do good, then we should verify that we really are doing good; and just not convincing ourselves of it.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Green Links
I just wanted to pass on an FYI that I have now posted links for various green resources along the sidebar of the Simply Elegant Home Designs Blog. Over the next weeks I will be refining the listings. Since there are so many green resources available to us I want to try to edit the list down to provide useful "common sense green" information, and to eliminate as much redundancy as possible. I will also be adding a links page to my Simply Elegant Home Designs website.
Again, you can see the links along the right sidebar of the Simply Elegant Home Designs blog. And by the way, I welcome your suggestions.
