One of the biggest issues in tiny home design is where to place the bedroom. Some swear by the loft, others prefer the headroom that comes from having everything on a single level. The Australian firm The Tiny House Company has come up with a brilliant new solution to this dilemma. The bed they installed in their newest creation called Portal, is set on mechanical tracks and can be retracted all the way to the ceiling when not needed. (more…)
How would you like to wake up with the view of an active volcano out your bedroom window? Residents of the so-called Phoenix House in Hawaii can. The home was designed by the firm ArtisTree and can operate off the grid. It’s also available for rent. (more…)
The Azores, a group of gorgeous islands just off the coast of Portugal, has seen increased tourism in recent years. However fortunate that maybe, it also presents a problem for the environment, so in a bid to retain the unspoiled state of the landscape, the local Tourism and Agribusiness Development Company of the Azores (TADA) has come up with a way to preserve it. (more…)
Chopsticks have been around for almost 4000 years, but they also present quite an environmental problem. It is estimated that just in China, around 80 billion chopsticks are thrown away every year, with the number much higher if we factor in all the Asian food restaurants around the world. I’ve often wondered, when eating at an Asian restaurant, what happens to the used disposable chopsticks. And so have the founders of the Vancouver, Canada based startup Chopvalue. They went a step further, and founded a project that turns used chopsticks into awesome pieces of modern furniture and home accessories. (more…)
When working from home, having a dedicated office space is awesome, and having one that serves more than just a single purpose is even better. The firm Neil Dusheiko Architects from London, UK, recently built this sustainable garden office, which also doubles as a yoga studio and even a playroom for children. This space is used by a psychiatrist who practices from home, and they use it to see patients during the day. The structure is called the Shadow Shed, and they chose this name because it was envisioned as a space with a dark skin, but with light and warmth at its center. I think they did a good job of bringing this image to life. (more…)
Japan has very stringent building codes and high taxes on land, which means that most of the homes, especially in cities like Tokyo, get built on oddly-shaped lots. These are usually the result of existing plots of land getting further subdivided to accommodate several generations of a family.
