If you’re running low on floor space but have an abundance of headroom, maybe you can build something like this!

I’ll take it! The photo above pretty much rocks my world. I love this whole thing. The particular shade of wood on the doors and floors is beautiful, and it all works great with the marble counters and the awesome rustic loft.

Speaking of the loft, that’s really the idea behind this post. By taking advantage of high ceiling areas, you can effectively double your floor space without adding on to your home!

Here are a few more photos to illustrate the idea a little further…

Even if You Have Plenty of Room!

Who says you must be low on space to do something creative and cool like this! I’d do this in a huge home just because it’s so much fun! Wouldn’t it make life a little more interesting to wake up in an urban treehouse? Note that the stairs are also used for storage.

Use Every Nook and Cranny

Millions of homes have these spaces where the stairwell partially protrudes into the room. What a creative solution! Not to mention the following unique points…

• They wrapped the baseboard around the front of the lower bunk to really enhance the “nook” or “cubby” feel of the bed areas.
• A little bit of plywood with a custom cut profile further encapsulates each space.
• The wide planks on the walls are consistent with the wide plank flooring. The overall space looks homey and a little rustic. The handrail visible in the picture shows that the overall home is probably not rustic at all.

Awesome, Radical, and Maybe for Short People?

I really love this space, which was a tiny one-car garage/shed which was converted to a house!

I’m just wondering if that headroom in the bed area would work for me. I’m a couple inches north of six feet tall and I think I’d need to sleep with a hardhat on even when I’m not in trouble.

One thing’s for sure, when I look at all these cool uses of space, I’m convinced more than ever that the creation of a perfect spot has very little to do with square footage.

Everybody has a claim to fame. Sometimes they change, and I hope mine does, but here’s what it was back in the old days: I was the guy who could figure out how to add a second floor onto any house, even after other contractors said it couldn’t be done.

There were usually two issues. The first was support and foundation. It was too expensive to augment the existing footings to support a two-story. (I shared the secret solution to that here)

"Winders" Can Make an Impossible Staircase Possible!

The second, sometimes harder to solve, problem was the stairs. Often, the existing house just didn’t have a decent place to put the stairs. Building codes have strict standards on the width of risers and treads.

Riser: The part of a set of stairs that you see facing you when you look at the steps from the ground floor. Often painted, these are the boards that fill the space between each step. “Open Stairs” have no risers, but the code applies as-if one was there.

Tread: You guessed it, the part of the stair you tread upon. The step.

The code is kind of complicated so that it can cover all sorts of circumstances, but a classic stair configuration is a 7/11 stair. 7″ risers and 11″ treads. In my neck of the woods, the rule-of-thumb was this “two risers and one tread should add-up to between 24 and 25 inches”

This staircase has open risers. It looks great, but is too steep and too narrow for most building codes.

Width requirements are also an issue. The one that can stump even brilliant designers sometimes (or so I’ve heard) is the headroom requirement. I still remember my shock and fear after the stairs were installed on one job and, as I descended them, I looked straight ahead at a huge beam. I barely cleared it. A guy an inch taller would hit his head on the way down. (time for the beam relocation plan)

So what’s the secret? Unfortunately there isn’t really one secret. The design of the second floor structure is the key, but one of the tricks I learned to use frequently was “The Winder”.

Winder Steps Shorten Overall Staircase Length

There are often times when you want the bottom of the stairs and the top of the stairs to be in different directions. This is usually accomplished by having a lower section of stairs that climb to a landing, then having an upper section that climbs to the second floor.

These winders would meet many codes, but some (like Florida) wouldn't allow the winders steps to come to a point.

Sometimes there is a full 180 degree turn at the landing, but the most common configuration is a 90 degree turn at the landing. This requires a smaller landing and allows the stairs to live in a corner.

Winders are steps that are “in” the landing. More accurately, they are in the place where the landing would be if you had one.

The advantage is that you gain “rise” in a space that otherwise would remain at one level. This shortens the overall staircase length and can greatly increase design flexibility. Like big time.

Check Codes For Minimum Tread Depth

This is a typical winder installation in lieu of a landing.

One of the dangers in designing stairs with winders is that in some building code jurisdictions (I work in Florida and this is the case here), there is a minimum depth a winder can be. So you can’t install a pie-shaped or triangular step that runs all the way to a point in the corner, you have to design it so that the narrowest portion of the winder is at least the minimum. I think it is 5″ here, counting the nosing. (the nosing is the part of the stair tread that sticks out past the riser below, often rounded, and is included in the measurement of a tread)

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There you have it! On the off chance your weekend includes designing a staircase in a tight spot, you’re all set.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

- RG

The pictures for this post were found in a few places:

Yesterday, I wrote a post about a really great DIY Green Wall Vertical Garden Thingy that I ran across while chasing down a photo that caught my eye. This is that photo:

This space really caught my eye because my family and I live in a tiny house of just under 1000sf, having downsized from about three times that size. Anytime I see a small space design that really works great, I have to write about it!

Glass, Glass, and More Glass

One of the most effective tools in small space design is light and this room has plenty of that! The floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors create an almost seamless integration with the adjoining deck.

This much glass is hard to use in larger spaces because of heating and cooling challenges, but in a small space it’s much easier and less costly to keep the inside comfortable.

Color, Color, and Less Color

I really love the color of this wall and the way it goes against white. In fact, I think it’s almost the exact same colors as in (one of) my dream kitchen(s). The bright yellow tables add a perfect accent and putting them on blue wheels makes the space flexible! Luvvvvv it!

Open Beam Ceilings of Pretty Wood

I limit my use of the word pretty to situations when I really want to get the point across. This is pretty wood. It looks like a natural fir but it could be one of umpteen other great species used for framing. What it is NOT however, is super-high-end-cost-you-a-fortune-and-then-some kind of wood. This is pretty normal stuff that has been hand selected for the best grain and the nicest arrangement of knots, etc.

I don’t think it’s been finished at all. Why wood you? (ha!)

Don’t Miss The Lighting

Gotta love the juxtaposition of the raw wood with the sleek modern lighting.

Bottom line.. love this room!

photo source: Sunset.com

Are you ready for this:

At first glance I said to myself, I’m not ready for that. I guess it was like a little introspective moment because the more I thought about, the more I thought… well maybe. Whoknew?

I’ve known for quite some time that I could be converted to the dark side, er. I mean, modern design. And the fact that I love color is no secret.

The more I looked, the more I realized that this picture embodies a few principles I’m sold on.

1. Use color – no explanation needed.
2. Use available space – The built-in obviously takes advantage of a void behind the wall beyond while taking nothing from the room.
3. Use contrast in materials – How about the knotty wood floor! Did you know that the more knots in the wood, often the less it costs? Finish it with a high-gloss finish and it’s beautiful.
4. Lots of light – also self-explanatory, but this space rocks the idea!
5. Clean lines – hard to see in a close-up picture, but one of the things I love about contemporary design is the opportunity to carry lines through various spaces. A small example is how perfectly the counter in the built-in aligns with the opening between rooms.

The Modern Cheap Kitchen

One of the cardinal rules of selling remodeling work or just about anything else is “never say cheap”. Inexpensive is fine. Cheap is an insult. So I meant inexpensive:

This is the same house. These cabinet doors are SO simple to make. You can do it yourself, I swear.

All it takes is some good plywood with the top veneer in the wood species of your choice, some pre-glued “edge banding” you apply with the same iron you use on your shirts, and some decent quality concealed hinges.

It looks great, costs little (depending on the wood species), and makes for an easy remodel of existing kitchen cabinets. Put the extra money into great appliances.

So there you have it. A modern small space with inexpensive but beautiful components.

Are you ready?

- RG

images: Sunset.com

We live in a 1000sf home. Four of us. Three boys (including me) and one saint of a woman. The plan was to make it larger, seeing as how I made my living building room additions for many years. But the wonderful Florida real estate market had other plans and as time has gone on, we’ve all come to realize that small space living isn’t so bad. I’ve written a few posts about our house, here’s one: Small Houses and Green Living

But this video shows the idea taken to a new level by a real design genius.

If you have a few minutes, you’ll enjoy this.

The cover of a House Beautiful magazine on the table next to me asks “Is small the new big?”.

If I say yes, can we all agree on 40 being the new 30?

I was led from said magazine to the website, HouseBeautiful.com, where I stumbled upon this picture. I usually flip through the pictures pretty fast waiting for something to jump out and give me pause, which this one did.

It was the vines on the wall that got me. Hello.

I’ve always wanted vines like that. Isn’t that incredible looking? Can I do that in Florida?

Courtyards Rock

Once I stopped staring at the vines on the wall, I noticed the rest of the courtyard. I did a brick floor like this a few years back on the otherwise wasted side yard of a home. It turned out fantastic and I feel the same way about the floor in the picture. (notice that this brick uses thick grout joints like a brick wall)

The fountains, the cool little awning roof over the door, the wrought-iron hinges on the working shutters…it all just works. It creates a secluded little outdoor room that becomes every bit a part of your home as any other room. Admittedly, I’m a Florida boy, but my thought is that the addition of a firepit, chimenea, or other heat source makes it workable for at least three seasons almost anywhere.

I’ll be on the lookout for more cool courtyards. My guess is they’ll be easier and easier to find as the “small is the new big” movement rolls on.

5 almost great ways of using every nook and cranny for efficient and beautiful storage.

Here’s the deal — I live in a really small house.

If you’ve been to my blog before you know the story. We were going to add-on, life happened, budget flew out the window, addition plans change.

So I live in this small house of 1000 square feet with two growing boys, two dogs, a hedgehog, some lizards, and couple of tortoises…oh, I almost forgot… and one saint of a wife.

Living in a small house, I decided to click on a link in a newsletter from BHG.com that said “Add Storage to Every Room“.

The picture above is the second one I saw. I hate to be rude to the venerable BHG, but that is not great storage. The space under the TV is “alright” storage, but that closet isn’t even worth talking about (but they do). That’s not what I need. I need much better than that!

I Need Serious Storage Ideas For Small Spaces

Of Course, I already sort of have them (the ideas), but seeing that picture made me want to go see what I could find. I went on the hunt for great small space storage ideas. I mean great!

I have to tell you, not all hunts work out. I found some good ideas, but great? You tell me.

Here’s what I found:

Idea #1 – Build a corner bookcase.

I have a spot that we’re planning on building a corner seating unit (like a window seat) with bookcases above. I think it’s a good idea. This picture isn’t exactly my style, but it shows how much stuff can fit in a corner. (roomlust.blogspot)

Idea #2 – Put more storage under the beds.

I’m doing the boys room soon and it needs ultra storage efficiency, but it also has to look cool. This photo again, shows a great idea, but not the look I want. The storage under the floor might be a little farther than I want to go. (urbansardines.wordpress)

Idea #3 – Totally max out wall space in the living room.

I have to tell you, I was getting frustrated by this point. Yet another great idea, but just not my style. The idea of getting a whole ton of storage on the wall around our couch sounds like it ought to be part of the plan. (hgtv.com)

Idea #4 – Put the kids bed in the sky!

Finally, one I like. All this needs is a serious dose of color and we’d be looking good. I should have saved this one for the upcoming post on beadboard! Check it out. By putting the kids bed up high, tons of floor space is opened up.

They need less headroom than you think. We traveled all over in a motorhome where the kids bed was in about a 30″ tall space! They loved it. I’ll be incorporating this idea for sure. The lights on the wall…I think I’ll do that as well. (crookedbrains.net)

Idea #5 – Use Custom Built-Ins Often

I finally decided to just sneak in a picture of what I’m doing in our bedroom…to the furniture. Lots of custom built-in stuff. Kim says I have to get further along before I’m allowed to show pictures, but I snuck in a tiny corner just to give you an idea. Hopefully the little piece of pillow will give you a frame of refrence.

This is maximum use of space. See the door hinges? You can’t really get closer to the door than that! I’ll show you when it’s all done how I deal with the casing on the door. The space above the bed will get doors and there are built-in cabinets below the open shelves you see.

We’ll wrap it up and paint it all pretty within the next couple of months.

Do you have any great small storage space ideas or photos you would like to share? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Oh man, I’m in trouble now. All this time I’ve tried to avoid titles like this. Not that I don’t think of them, I do, I am a man after all, and sometimes a mischievous one. But I usually restrain myself so as not to offend anyone. But it’s late, and I’ve probably spent too many hours at the computer today. So I’m not fully in control of my facilities (or is that faculties?)…

In this case, though, the title refers to exactly what I’m talking about. In my previous post, I said small houses are better. But the comments and some completely unrelated reading I was doing have me wondering.

Maybe Size Doesn’t Matter!

Maybe what always has me saying that I like a little house more than a big one is simply that, out of the two houses we’ve ever lived in, the one we like better happens to be the little one. Maybe size is only part of the why.

There are so many other things to love about the house. The neighborhood is totally beautiful, the house is fifty steps from the edge of Charlotte Harbor, the really tropical plants grow here, the kitchen is bigger (didn’t remodel the kitchen in the other house yet), the master bedroom is smaller (other one is 14′x22′ which is just too big), we have 1000 square feet of outdoor deck space, and a tiki bar.

There’s the truth really…. we have a Tiki Bar! And a bigger kitchen. And an ocean. Duh.

In the last post comment, one family moved to a 30 acre horse farm that had a bigger house. Another moved to a 3400 square foot house because after a long time in the military, he got a job that paid enough to cover the big house. Another figured 2500 square feet was perfectly small!

The point I learned from you is that the size of the house doesn’t matter. It’s the life you live in it. It’s the way it makes you feel. Does your family feel comfortable, safe, loved, and happy? Do you spend all day cleaning or is it manageable? Do you like the location and the area overall?

Does the house have personality? That’s on strange thing about our house. When we leave the little house empty for any length of time, we actually feel bad, like we hurt it’s feelings. I told you it was late and I was squirrelly. But our little house has a personality. A nice one.

The green aspect of my post… that’s another matter. I’ll look more into that later. (I think I’ve just had a sticker placed on my back because my youngest is grinning ear-to-ear after just stopping by to give me a hug.)

What are your thoughts? It’s not the size of the house that matters?

My wife and sons must have inherited my fondness for small spaces. Or, maybe traveling the country in a motorhome taught us all to love the comfort of close quarters together. Or could it have been the move from 3000sf down to 1000sf that did it?

Whatever the reason, for us, small houses are better.

It hasn’t always been this way. I built an addition on our home in Tampa that was just about the same size as our home in Punta Gorda. I added a master suite. A big one. Obviously at the time, I thought bigger was better. No longer.

Smaller is better. For me, the real kicker is the family togetherness, and the cozy feeling of our home. Weird as it may make me, I really like to keep my crew close.

Right now, I’m writing this post at the kitchen table (not small, huge, seats 12, made by yours truly), and my bride is as close to me as if we were sitting at a tiny table in Starbucks. I barely have to move my arm to touch her.

My sons are less than 20 feet away, one in the living room playing a game ( I just heard a slight cough from him… he’s getting over a cold). My older son is in the bedroom he shares with his brother playing his guitar. It sounds great and it’s like live entertainment. If I want to add a word of applause, I don’t even have to raise my voice.

Small houses are better.

But, hey, that thouchy-feely stuff aside, smaller houses are also better for the world. I’m not going total tree-hugger on you, I mean I do love to make stuff from wood, but look at the common sense of it:

• Less land
• Less material (less manufacturing)

A huge house with nothing but energy star and green everything isn’t going to hold a candle in “overall impact” comparisons to my little house. And that’s just in the construction and manufacturing process.

What about the ongoing impact?

Our electric bill in the little house is about half of what it was in the bigger house. Half. Same four people, same clothes washed and dried, same temperature in summer and winter, just less space which means less air-conditioning, fewer light fixtures, less wasted energy.

It’s not all roses

There are some problems. The boys don’t love sharing a bedroom. Storage is a serious issue. We don’t have room for much more stuff in this house for sure.

But do we need more stuff?

Overall, I’m a fan of small houses. I wonder if people will ever consider taking part of a house down? Can you imagine that? Tear part of it off and haul it away to make the house smaller! That seems crazy! But I bet it happens.

What about you? Small house? Big house? What’s perfect for you?

A little too busy to write a new post this week, I decided to bring back a “classic” (from way back in January!).  I hope it encourages you and I wish you a great week!

I’ve been thinking a great deal about small spaces lately. That surprises me given that I’ve made most of my living by making houses larger!

Family of Four in 1000 sf?

It might have to do with the fact that my family has recently moved from a house of about 3000 sf to one of only 1000 sf. And we LOVE it!

Not that we couldn’t use a little more. I’m sure I’ll be putting my room addition building prowess to work on this place before long. But I won’t be tripling the size when I do. I’ll probably bump it to about 1400 sf or so, that’s it.

The other thing causing me to think this way is the whole state of the world today and the impact it has on remodeling and construction work in general. I wrote a short article recently on the economic trends of 2009; you can read it here.

I’ve had a ton of experience trying to squeeze space. Here are a few principles to follow:

Keep It Clean!

The small bathroom above is a great example. The smaller a space is, the less clutter it can handle without really messing with your mind!

My first suggestion is that you probably don’t need half of the stuff in any given space: get rid of it!

My second is to use built-in’s that cover up your stuff.

I see some storage solutions that do a great job of giving you a place to put something but a horrible job of hiding it.

Simple cabinetry can be used to work wonders in small spaces. This clean built-in combines the bed itself with the closet and storage.

Make it Bright!

Natural light makes a huge difference in the feel of a small room (or any size room for that matter). Get natural light from two sides when you can. One of the biggest things that make our small house work well is an abundance of light. It doesn’t hurt that we can see a few miles across the harbor!

Use Every Square Inch!

Storage is everywhere if you look for it. How about the space under the beds? Is it really well utilized? Even if you have those plastic storage bins made for sliding under there, they really don’t take full advantage of the space.

Consider having a custom bed made, or better yet, make one yourself! Don’t know how? Just email me and we’ll figure it out together! For now, until this blog is so huge I just can’t do it…I’m offering to help for free!

There are so many other places too! What about the huge volume your sofa takes up? Or the dining room table? Take one look at the inside of a yacht or a motorhome and you’ll see that good small space design does not waste space…ever!

I found this great photo showing the use of an attic space for a sleeping room. This isn’t possible on many newer homes due to the use of pre-engineered roof trusses. But if you live in a home that is conventionally framed (often in Northern Markets or older homes) and has a steep roof pitch, there may be a simple room addition right over your head!

If You Must Add-On!

Make it small! A room addition doesn’t have to involve months of work. There may be a perfect spot on your home for a simple little “bump-out”. Maybe you can even avoid footings and slabs altogether by doing a cantilever “bay window” type addition. Take a look at this cool job:

If you have a small space project you’re considering, or have done, I would love to hear about it!