Tag Archives: homes

On being able to walk through your old home

Posted on June 5, 2022 | 2 comments

Have you ever wanted to go back and go inside homes you once lived in? I have. I still have memories of places I lived in as a child, and I have a yearning to go back to them, go back to Minto Street or Borden Street, and walk through and touch the houses I once inhabited.

The last and longest place I lived in was 110 Castlefield. I can’t go back there, but thanks to that Youtube video above, I can virtually go through it. I can see all the changes that were done to it by me and others. I can have countless memories of it as the video progresses.

It’s true, I have hundreds of photos as well, and those are great. But I really love that video. I hope it never comes down.

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What’s this? Just some beautiful cabins to imagine escaping too

Posted on October 10, 2020 | Comments Off on What’s this? Just some beautiful cabins to imagine escaping too

Like many of us, the people at Dwell have been thinking of escaping as a form of dealing with the pandemic. They have gone from fantasing about it to compiling this amazing list of cabins for us to drool over. The above is just one of thirty five amazing places, all of which you can see, here: 35 Magical Tiny Cabins to Pin to Your Mood Board Immediately – Dwell

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In Detroit, Tiny Homes are in vogue (and for good reason)


This is a fascinating article on the use of tiny homes to help those without a place to call their own: In Detroit, Tiny Homes Are More Than a Lifestyle Trend – POLITICO Magazine

I think for many cities, apartment buildings are the way to go. More importantly, I think cities need to wake up to the problem of unaffordable housing and strive to make living in the city achievable and satisying for those that live there. If that means high rises in one city and tiny homes in another, then what works best is what should be aimed for. Here’s to livable and affordable places to live.

(Image from the article. It’s a nice place. Very IKEA, but that’s ok.)

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Posted on December 13, 2019 in homes, new!

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A masterwork of maximalism

Is this home featured here: This Cozy Minnesota Home Will Make You Want a Candelabra | A Cup of Jo

You really out to go to the site and check it out. Meanwhile, here’s a peek to show you what I mean:

Some thoughts on this:

  • There is a ton of objects in this photo, but they are orderly. There is a place for everything; things aren’t just thrown about.
  • The objects are all attractive: nothing is just stuck somewhere.
  • It helps to be in a nice room, but the good thing about maximalism is that you can turn even a boring box in to something attractive. (Much harder to do with minimalism
  • The colour scheme is consistent here. That helps rest the eye as it moves around the room.

I highly recommend you go to Cup of Jo linked to above and see the rest of it. It’s inspiring for maximalists like myself. 🙂

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Posted on September 19, 2019 in decor, new!

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A bold maximalism


Meanwhile a bold maximalism is achieved here, not so much by the amount of items as by the amount of bold colours and prints used throughout the place. It’s still not a big place, but it feels right. I guess that is all relative, but I love this.

For more, see This Manhattan Home Feels Like a Jewel Box | A Cup of Jo

(Image a link from the above article in A Cup of Jo)

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Posted on August 31, 2019 in homes, new!

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The limits of minimalism…

Might be here: Under 200 Square Foot Studio Apartment in Hong Kong | Apartment Therapy.

Cozy and minimal is fine, but this is basically the space you find in a big camping tent. I am sure some people can adopt just fine, but I don’t know if I could live in such a space for long. I also wonder if this is the direction we are heading for cities other than Hong Kong. Higher property costs and lower incomes might cause this to happen in other cities. I don’t look forward to that.

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Posted on August 31, 2019 in homes, new!

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On the limits on tiny houses

Posted on February 16, 2019 | Comments Off on On the limits on tiny houses

I’ve written a fair bit about tiny homes as they are something of a fascination for me. This piece, in Fast Company, is about the downsides of them. They pump up the downsides, but there are downsides for sure. Anyone with fantasies about tossing it all in and getting one would do well to read this.

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Where American live in their houses and why you need a smaller one

Posted on June 4, 2018 | Comments Off on Where American live in their houses and why you need a smaller one

This is fascinating. Among other reasons, it shows so many people have significant amounts of their living space that they rarely use (the living room, the dining room). I imagine many eat their meals either in the kitchen or the family room. Based on this diagram, I can easily see people being able to get by with almost half the square footage pictured above.

It is nice to have that extra space, but if you wished you could live in a larger space but cannot afford it, you might console yourself with knowing you might not use it anyway. Save your money and live with what you need.

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Can you finance a tiny home?

Posted on May 18, 2018 | Comments Off on Can you finance a tiny home?


According to this, yes (kinda): Tiny House Financing Tips – Mobile Home Loans | Apartment Therapy

It’s not in any way straightforward like getting a loan/mortgage for a traditional home, but it can be done.

If you are interested in getting such a home, it’s worth reading those tips.

P.S. To buy the house in the image, go here. It will set you back around $11,000.

 

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Tiny homes you can build

Posted on March 15, 2018 | Comments Off on Tiny homes you can build

If you want to build a tiny home, Dwell has a nice list of resources for you here. I particularly like the one above. There is a wide range though, and if you are considering building such a home, see Dwell.

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More on tiny homes

Posted on December 5, 2017 | Comments Off on More on tiny homes


Two more tiny home stories. First up, Muji also has a tiny prefab home and you can see more pictures (like the one above) here: Muji Hut Launches With 3 New Tiny Prefab Homes Collection of 9 Photos by Aileen Kwun – Dwell.

Second, here is an odd but topical story for a tiny home heated by Bitcoin mining technology! 

 

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Posted in architecture, design, new!

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A tiny home that seems livable

Posted on December 5, 2017 | Comments Off on A tiny home that seems livable


Many tiny homes look nice to visit but the thought of living in something so small seems impossible. An exception to those homes are these MADi houses, featured here: MADi Flat Pack Tiny House – Fast Set Up Eco Friendly | Apartment Therapy. 

They seem spacious, thanks to the A frame and all the windows. Better still, they seem very affordable.  Tiny home fans (or skeptics), take note.

You can find more about them here.

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What No One Ever Tells You About Tiny Homes

Posted on September 22, 2017 | 2 comments

Tiny home
What this piece in the New York Times says is the truth about tiny homes is really true about living in any small space, be it a tiny home or a very small apartment or condo. I liked this article because it mentioned things you might not think of, such as how ordinary objects which are not noticeable in bigger spaces become significant in larger spaces. Anyone thinking of downsizing should read this piece.

I still think there are lots of benefits in living in a small space. And some of them, like the one above from inhabitat.com, are gorgeous. But yeah, onions and laundry baskets. 🙂

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Houses aren’t homes: they’re capital

Posted on May 17, 2016 | Comments Off on Houses aren’t homes: they’re capital

And in the richest cities, like London, they are greatly appreciating capital, as this shows:
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With some reflection, this makes sense, if you take as a given that:

  •   Stocks and bonds and even wages are fairly stagnant in terms of return on investment
  • Urbanization means homes in cities that are desirable to live in are becoming more scarce

The result is homes becoming one of the forms of capital that can has the means to greatly appreciate in value.

To reverse this will require a greater supply of homes on the market, either through greater density in desirable cities or through more cities becoming desirable to live in. I can see both of these occurring. What I don’t see occurring is other forms of capital becoming more capable of great growth.

It will be interesting to see what happens in 10 years. But right now, bet on homes in key cities to continue to do this.

 

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