apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

It's a beautiful day here, too... boy, do I want to shop or walk instead of working on my syllabus, but time's a-wastin'.

Agreed, it's absolutely gorgeous out there today.. and what's even better.. it's Friday! :-)

Yes, it is a wonderful day....Yesterday was nice also. Spent it on the beach on the North Shore, just outside of Boston. And to anyone I may have offended with other day with the slant/direction of my open thread comments, my deepest apologies.

not so beautiful here. It's still cold and wet. I'll try not to let it infect my mood.

a question for the electrically savvy among you - Ikea sells lots of lighting that is "hard-wired installation only." Now, I assume this is because Ikea doesn't want to encourage customers used only to using Allen keys to start fooling around with their wiring.

But is there any reason I couldn't fit some of their track lighting with a grounded plug and plug it into the wall? I have one of those outlets operated by a wall switch in my apt., and it would be ideal if I could use that switch for some ceiling light.

Any kind of hazard? Contrary to code in your area?

Absolutely gorgeous today! It's amazing how people are cheerier when the weather is nicer...

Cheerier? How 'bout more cheery?

Cheerier is a word:
Main Entry: cheery
Pronunciation: 'chir-E
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): cheer·i·er; -est
Date: 15th century
1 : marked by cheerfulness or good spirits
2 : causing or suggesting cheerfulness
- cheer·i·ly /'chir-&-lE/ adverb
- cheer·i·ness /'chir-E-n&s/ noun

It just looks weird. Like weird looks. Which is often misspelled as "wierd". I hate it when English has broken rules. Whatever happened to "i before e"

the only rule in english is that there are no rules.

no, really. english as a language has been shoved hither and yon by something like 5 different influences over the years, even before colonialism and the american melting pot brought in their own borrowings. there are different rules for different words depending on what language it originally came from. words that came from French have different vowel spellings than words that came from the Germanic side of things, for the exact same sounds. and then you have the fact that spellings were standardized way later by completely disparate groups in different parts of the English speaking world that had vastly different understandings of what sounds they were talking about. So you get words like Though and Through, which in certain parts of the UK are pronounced more similarly than in standard American English.

And let's not even start with grammer rules, most of which were invented wholesale by greek and latin teachers in the 18th century. i mean the grammar rules you learn in school (don't end a sentence in a preposition and such), not basic tenets of english grammar like verbs and objects come after the subject.

it's a beautiful day for a linguistics lesson! happy weekend everyone!

Ah ha!
The hidden return of the open thread...

Shhhh...

It's a secret.

(It's line finding the hidden room in Atari 2600's "Adventure")

oh, and original blues, i didn't see your question up there. i have no idea and have been having electrical quandaries of my own with regard to very similar questions.

the only thing blocking you, in my understanding, is whether the outlets and the cord you use can handle the voltage. also grounding issues, which you seem to have a grasp of. it's also probably a bit more of a fire hazard. but probably less of a fire hazard than the paper plate lamp from the housing works show.

june is busting out all over, these are great days to visit a park the trees and flowers are going strong and there is a sweet scent in the air. it's days like this that i do stop myself and think soak it up and remember it, especeially in february when i'm whining to myself i can't wait for spring.

Quite an appropriate topic for Bloomsday, isn't it?
:)

Bloomsday! Alana, I can't believe I forgot.

Okay, not to rehash the open thread that Maxwell probably wisely closed, but considering I felt that someone quoted me and then went on a huge rant, I feel as though I need to respond.

Actually, we did buy a smaller place than we were approved for (we could have bought a house in this area), and it was for many reasons. And while I've never even seen a 4,000 square foot apartment in the city (not even belonging to friends' millionaire parents), that much space would be my personal nightmare, not least for the amount of decorating involved! Sure, I'd take it, and then I'd sell it and pocket the profit, but I'm boring like that.

But then, we don't really know each other in real life or you'd know that.

Sorry, Maxwell! I know that wasn't in keeping with the current "theme" of the open thread.

Fiona, I dearly love living "smaller than we qualify for." Our apartment is small enough for me to keep reasonably clean, despite the twin threats of black city dust and multi-colored cat hair.

When we had a larger house, we didn't use any more rooms than we have now. That's our lifestyle... and I *would* be challenged by a 250-sq-ft studio and have to pretty much start over with different furniture and amusements. At 60, I might do it.

And on a beautiful day like today, the low demands of our little apt mean we can go romping off to the countryside. How's that for back-on-topic?

Wende,

Thanks for the laugh about bringing it back on topic. :) Yes, we also romped today, but over in Brooklyn, which doesn't exactly qualify as countryside--though there was a park!

Hope you enjoyed your day in beautiful SF...

i was just thinking about this the other day. i mean the question of would i live in less space than i could afford.

it would really depend on my situation and how much space we're really talking about. for instance, my ideal home would be much the same size as my current apartment, except i would want my bedroom to be slightly larger (i know people with walk-in closets bigger than my bedroom), and an additional room or alcove that could be used as a study or work area would be very useful. anything larger than 1000 sf for my roommate and i would be pointless and wasteful in my opinion. i can't imagine more than 750 for myself. i would be unlikely to pay more for more space, simply because i wouldn't use it and it would just be more to heat, cool, and clean.

If you want to see small, and I mean SMALL home plans, you have got to check out these petite cabins.
http://www.townandcountryplans.com/

You start to wonder who could possibly live in 144 sq ft. Most of us probably could, if necessary. The most important things (that incidentally are not available all over the world) in the home is the ability to eat, sleep, and excrete. Eating, there's a fridge, stove, sink. Sleep is a place to lay your head. And excrete with indoor plumbing, including a shower or bath.

On that large lot we just saw with the clay colored home, there could be a village of little homes. And a common area for the lot, consisting of the "extras", like a laundry room. Maybe a big TV room.

You'd OWN your own little place, and pay dues to maintain the community facility.

Some folks that travel a lot, they barely come home long enough to check their mail. They don't need a big place.

Yes, I know they are "cabinish", but there's no reason that the exteriors couldn't be of any style, including a modern village.

Front/back porches could be extended a bit to provide useful living space, for dining, for conversation. Exterior living spaces require less cleaning and the cleaning that is done is EASIER. A broom. A hose. Or you just leave the deck dusty, because it's A DECK and it will be covered with dust with the next breeze.

Even those little things save money, save the environment, and give you less to stress about.

There was some show, I don't even remember what it was, it was stupid and short-lived. But I remember a couple lines passing between the husband and wife...

Wife sweeping floor "I just can't seem to get the dirt off this floor"

Husband: "Elvira, it's a dirt floor"

So, would folks be willing to live in one of those homes, any of them, in a mod village? Being a homeowner? Sharing a community center?

I have links to successful developments along those lines if anyone is interested in seeing how they work. They are cottages, not modern, but the exteriors can be changed. More floor plans there too. Let me know!

Not in a million friggin' years. I have neigbors all up my crevice as it is. If I get a place out of the city it will be to get the hell away from everyone. Commune living=Worst nightmare.

you know, i lived in a situation that could perhaps be called a commune (and was called a commune by my co-workers and family members). it wasn't so bad. in the end i moved out because sharing my life with 15 people, in a day to day sense, was just too much.

but we lived in a huge loft with a roof garden and fab views of manhattan. i can't imagine doing 'communal living' with dirt floors, too. though i do have a friend who spent 7 years living in an early 19th century cabin in upstate new york that lacked indoor plumbing of the bathroom kind (he did have a sink in the kitchen). however, that was just him. i can't imagine having to go behind a tree AND ALSO have yet another argument of who's hogging the bandwidth, or who was supposed to clean the kitchen and didn't, or any of the other myriad arguments that one has on a daily basis when living with so many people.

Those cabins are adorable!

Back when I was single, working full-time in an office with a long (by bus) commute, and finishing my dissertation, I lived in a rooming house where my territory was only a little larger than 144 sq ft (but I had to share a kitchen and bath). I loved it. None of the (larger) apartments I later had to myself worked as well with my lifestyle.

Our rather larger apartment fits well with our current lifestyle, but I could see going smaller to maintain independence and liveliness to as ripe an old age as possible.

Hah! Chris, you crack me up. That's pretty much what I say too. My alternate source of energy would be an exercise bike hooked up to a generator that would charge a battery.

I don't see it as a commune, though, Chris. Here are some of the links I mentioned to show you exactly what I mean by a "little village"...

http://www.rosschapin.com/

Under "Plans", my fav home is the Pears and Cherries.

Under "Projects" you'll find several of the "Pocket Neighborhoods" that I consider to be "little villages". Depending on which neighborhood you view, you'll see different ways they've gone about utilizing space.

Woodlands description:
Woodlands is a rural 17-acre development with ten lots and a shared common area. Each house is sited on a 1/2 acre lot, nestled into its own meadow. The building sites were carefully planned to best utilize existing trees and native vegetation to provide privacy between houses, and to maximize solar access. Shared in common is a timber-frame picnic shelter, garden, ballfield, meadows and forest preserve. The roads are on the perimeter of the property so the outlook from each homesite is into the roadless Commons. This project was designed with and constructed by Kim Hoelting.

Third Street Cottages, closer together, check out the overhead shot.

Description:
This project consists of 8 detached, one bedroom + loft cottages grouped around a garden courtyard with detached parking. Built on four standard single family lots (each 7,200 SF), these owner-occupied, merchant-built cottages are the first to utilize an innovative zoning code that allows a 100% density increase for smaller homes in all single-family residential zones. There are four house plans with ground floors approx. 650 SF and lofts up to 200 SF.

I like the cluster of homes next to the open space. And instead of living in wall to wall housing in suburbs, consider the possibility of doing a tract size area of clusters of small homes with huge open spaces. Spaces for wildlife. Spaces to explore.

No, Opoponax and Wende, you wouldn't be sharing bandwidth there. Or sharing a kitchen, unless it was with the person who you were living with.

And, no, those little homes aren't cheap, I think the last ones at Salish Pond were going for the $500,000 range. You can check out another overhead view at Salish Pond. They separate those nasty cars and the need for attached garages.

There are huge safety benefits, I see in MY eyes, to living in the little village. The ONLY people who should be in there are other people who live there. Or guests. But there are no "strangers" just passing through. You'd notice. There are only 10 houses at Salish Pond. Access is by foot to each home.

You know who parks next to you and where they live. You know what car is supposed to be there and what car isn't. With a max of about 20 people and only 21 spots to park, you'll know everyone.

Most of the little homes are way bigger than my apartment with better designed space. Pears and Cherries has TWO lofts. One that is open to the living area. And one smaller one that has a window overlooking the living area. Plus a bedroom on the main floor. Love the built-in eating area, right in the kitchen. And it's got a neat angled thing over there for the bedroom and bath.

Note: "This cottage is featured in the books Blueprint Small by Michelle Kodis, and Creating The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka, and in Fine Homebuiding magazine (Spring 2000)."

My personal reaction to the projects Andree cites:

--Way pricey. If an 800 sq ft cottage costs $500k, that's $625 a square foot, or comparable with San Francisco pricing. In Oregon. That's not a bargain.

--Car-focused. That 15 minutes to downtown Portland on the Salish Pond project probably isn't on foot or by mass transit. So you're essentially building a new little suburb on greenfields, and because it's "exclusive," it doesn't have services like grocery stores. Residents have to drive for everything.

--Squanders land use. Woodlands is promoting half-acre lots, same as ranchettes do. How does this differ from an ordinary Portland housing tract, other than charging premium prices per square foot?

--Lack of diversity. I'm not a great fan of gated communities. I like urban diversity. The last thing I'd ever do is move to a service-less bedroom community where my only companions are 12 families just like me.

I'm all for people living in ways that make them comfortable and all for experimenting with new housing types, but my preference for smaller spaces is pretty closely linked to my preference for the convenience of urban life. If these were affordable cottages for the masses, I'd be a bit more enthuasistic.

I should add that my perspective includes the belief that open space is why we have parks -- I'm just going to be irascible about exurban bedroom communities because I'm not really on board for moving out to the country.

Hey, Wende? Ever play Sim City? Any of the versions? I have a couple older versions that run on my older computer. The little Sims get upset and complain about unemployment when there are plenty of places for employment, they're just too far away.

If you make the industrial jobs too close, they complain about pollution. If the housing is erected in expensive areas (read that as tree covered), the complain about the costs.

If there aren't enough commercial locations, they complain about that. If there are commercial locations and industrial locations nearby, and the housing is affordable, they complain about traffic.

The only way to keep them really happy is to give them everything, have a police station on every corner, turn off disasters (like floods or aliens or fires), reduce the tax rate to zero and cheat for oodles of money so that the city can continue to fund all the necessities like the police, schools, roads, airports, seaports, etc.

I tried designing little houses in The Sims (the one with the people). They don't like them. They can't pass by each other in hallways. They get stuck in bathrooms if there aren't two doors.

They aren't happy with what they can afford. The only way to have more money is to have both working, but there is no babysitter option if they have kids. And to get promotions requires studying, that gets harder and harder.

Again, the way to make them really happy is to give them everything, have them not work, and cheat for all the money necessary to give them everything. But they are STILL NOT COMPLETELY SATISFIED. They are NEVER completely happy with the layout.

They like lots of light. Put in extra fixtures and they come over, look at it, and say "Yuck".

I like my location. I like the size of my place. But I don't like being in an apartment complex and I don't like not owning. I feel I have no control over my destiny.

If I lived in one of the smaller homes out in the middle of nowhere, then I will lose the convenience of the stores. The stores won't be built for just me. So, choice, lots of people or lots of space? Choice, convenient stores and rent or distant stores and buy?

Which is why I thought the usual tract home development, split up into clusters of villages with lots of open space near an urban center might be an option.

No, there wouldn't be a 15 minute commute to work. But everything has a trade off.

Unless you can cheat for the money and not have to do anything. Like Ken Lay. Can anyone say "Toga Party"?

Andree, you have just explained the entire thought process behind why people buy McMansions in the suburbs, then their marriages fall apart under the stress of the commute and the house costs. Down where the parents live, it's the biggest models in the new subdivisions that turn over every two or three years. I call them Divorce Homes.

Darn, I have it easy as an eccentric intellectual. So much less wanting; so much less stress.