An art historian’s eclectic, nerdy, queer, and academic-themed 650 sq ft apartment
My decorating style and clothing style are one and the same: lots of texture, pattern, and color, and a mix of old and new, femme and butch. Plus lots of purple and lots of pink, from my hair to my lipstick! I want my home to feel not just lived-in, but full of items you can’t wait to pick up and find out more about.
Married student housing for college students is awesome and you should totally live there
I’m not sure who introduced the idea to us, but we happily discovered that our university offered inexpensive on-campus housing to married students and families. We checked out the apartments, got the details, and were sold: $400 rent for a tiny place only a five-minute bike ride from school? Yes.
A tiny, geeky, artsy, punk-y studio in Seattle
There are two big challenges here: storage room and tidiness. It’s not a very big apartment — I think it clocks in at about 425 sq. ft., and it only comes with just the closet and some poorly arranged kitchen cabinets to contain all my stuff. So most of my furniture is for the storing of things because I can’t live without making and surrounding myself with art.
What should we be considering when we build our own home?
My husband and I are looking at building our first home. I just wanted to ask the Homies about any experiences that they’ve had when building their first homes (good and bad), and what they wish they’d known/considered first.
Our cottage-style home in the middle of the Arctic tundra
Cambridge Bay is a fly-in only community north of the treeline and well within the Arctic circle. We’ve got a population of 1500 people, mostly Inuit. The community has two grocery stores, a hardware store, one bank, a post office, one restaurant, and a few government buildings. There are no bars, movie theatres, or shopping malls. It costs over $1000 one way to fly to the closest community. Despite that, there’s a lot that going on here. We make our own fun at home.
What do you know about vintage mobile home restoration?
Our new vintage mobile home.[/caption]My husband and I recently purchased a totally sweet vintage (1967, baby!) mobile home, and we are really excited to finally be home owners. While it took me a minute to get over my middle-class judgements about “trailer trash,” etc., I am now all in and thrilled that while it may not be our dream home, it is OURS. (Also, the wood paneling is pretty amazing.) But because of my total lack of experience with mobile-home living, I feel really unprepared for the quirks and particularities that will come with our new home.
Our one-bedroom condo in Seattle: Home to four people and a kitty living well
We’re a family of four that love living in a pretty small space. Our condo is 730 square feet, one bedroom and one-and-a-half baths. We didn’t intend to stay here, and I certainly never expected to end up loving small space living or a minimalist approach to possessions but this home has taught me the value of both and shaped the expectations I put on myself for how I want to show up as a home maker in the world.
Why yes, I DO live in a barn!
Walking out of the house one day with my two young men (Jace is four and Kasen is three), they naturally left the door to our loft wide open and continued to walk down the stairs as if they didn’t have a care in the world (which is true). I, of course, lovingly yelled up to them, “Boys…do you live in a barn?” Jace stared blankly back at me for a minute. Blinked. Then very mater-of-fact stated “Yes, mom. We do.” For right now, this is our home. A one bedroom, rustic, romantic loft on a little piece of land with chickens, fruit trees, and love.