And a doll's house, that doubles as shelves.
February 16, 2017 8:47 AM Subscribe
The Square Meter Challenge Fitting more and more people into less and less space? Ikea has some design suggestions. But will they actually work?
Sadly, the article does not attempt to answer the question.
posted by rhizome at 9:11 AM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 9:11 AM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
Instead of a bed, why not hang upside-down from your ankles while sleeping?
Instead of a bathroom, empty your chamber pot in the nearest ditch.
Instead of a kitchen, why not eat only tomatoes, oranges, lard, nutella, potato chips, and other foods that can be acquired ready to eat?
Instead of a house or apartment, you could be living in a shipping container.
Instead of greedily taking up a whole container, why not divide your 1TEU into a 3-unit apartment complex?
posted by sfenders at 9:16 AM on February 16, 2017 [12 favorites]
Instead of a bathroom, empty your chamber pot in the nearest ditch.
Instead of a kitchen, why not eat only tomatoes, oranges, lard, nutella, potato chips, and other foods that can be acquired ready to eat?
Instead of a house or apartment, you could be living in a shipping container.
Instead of greedily taking up a whole container, why not divide your 1TEU into a 3-unit apartment complex?
posted by sfenders at 9:16 AM on February 16, 2017 [12 favorites]
So, a more aesthetically pleasing version of these Hong Kong apartments...
posted by Spacelegoman at 9:22 AM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Spacelegoman at 9:22 AM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
There is an adorable, completely renovated and clever 550 sq ft house near my me and I cannot convince Shepherd to sell our current 1500 sq ft house so we buy that one. My points of "cheaper mortgage" and "cheaper hydro bills" do not sway him.
posted by Kitteh at 9:29 AM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 9:29 AM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
There is an adorable, completely renovated and clever 550 sq ft house near my me and I cannot convince Shepherd to sell our current 1500 sq ft house so we buy that one. My points of "cheaper mortgage" and "cheaper hydro bills" do not sway him.
BRB moving to Ontario.
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:47 AM on February 16, 2017
BRB moving to Ontario.
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:47 AM on February 16, 2017
Whoa! Its been a while since I was a kid but if there's one thing I do remember its that if you split a shared space like Ikea do so that the halves are unequal then its going to lead to nothing but trouble.
posted by biffa at 11:22 AM on February 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 11:22 AM on February 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
A single person can live in a ~450-500 sq ft apartment without taking extreme measures or suffering affronts to her dignity. Beyond that...a lot of this just seems like another weird way capitalism is trying to get people to work off their little-understood guilt about consumerism.
posted by praemunire at 11:30 AM on February 16, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 11:30 AM on February 16, 2017 [7 favorites]
There is an adorable, completely renovated and clever 550 sq ft house near my me and I cannot convince Shepherd to sell our current 1500 sq ft house so we buy that one. My points of "cheaper mortgage" and "cheaper hydro bills" do not sway him.
As far as I can tell, Canada is chock full of the cutest little houses, built during/after WW2 (relevant Canadian Heritage Minute). I've seen them in Ottawa, Kingston, Waterloo, and Edmonton* (so it's not just an Ontario thing, apparently).
* Technically I haven't seen them myself but my sister keeps sending me real estate listings.
posted by quaking fajita at 11:35 AM on February 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
As far as I can tell, Canada is chock full of the cutest little houses, built during/after WW2 (relevant Canadian Heritage Minute). I've seen them in Ottawa, Kingston, Waterloo, and Edmonton* (so it's not just an Ontario thing, apparently).
* Technically I haven't seen them myself but my sister keeps sending me real estate listings.
posted by quaking fajita at 11:35 AM on February 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
Here's some in Ottawa (google earth link) and now I'm shutting up about cute little (not "tiny") houses.
posted by quaking fajita at 11:37 AM on February 16, 2017
posted by quaking fajita at 11:37 AM on February 16, 2017
Late stage capitalism trying to convince people that even though they're slaving away, stressing their way into a heart attack by the age of 45, right after they've finished paying off student loans and credit card debt, so they can live like post-modern hamsters, it's still COOL and FUN and WHATEVER.
Fuck that shit.
posted by signal at 12:08 PM on February 16, 2017 [3 favorites]
Fuck that shit.
posted by signal at 12:08 PM on February 16, 2017 [3 favorites]
Every year or so, IKEA comes out with these cute little concept rooms. Every year or so, people take the whole thing completely literally. Every year or so, I end up making a comment on Metafilter that people are missing the point.
IKEA isn't trying to convince you to live in a 300 square foot apartment. IKEA is trying to get you to think outside the box, to do neat things, to decorate and furnish vertically. Hopefully with affordable Swedish flat-pack housewares.
Oh and also a ton of people live in cities where it straight-up isn't an option to even dream of living in a 2000 square foot house, and they're marketing to these people too.
posted by explosion at 12:37 PM on February 16, 2017 [9 favorites]
IKEA isn't trying to convince you to live in a 300 square foot apartment. IKEA is trying to get you to think outside the box, to do neat things, to decorate and furnish vertically. Hopefully with affordable Swedish flat-pack housewares.
Oh and also a ton of people live in cities where it straight-up isn't an option to even dream of living in a 2000 square foot house, and they're marketing to these people too.
posted by explosion at 12:37 PM on February 16, 2017 [9 favorites]
5 tiny house designs perfect for couples. This just popped up in twitter so I thought I would pass it on.
posted by biffa at 3:16 PM on February 16, 2017
posted by biffa at 3:16 PM on February 16, 2017
Found themselves one of those new wireless powered projectors, did they?
posted by pwnguin at 5:43 PM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by pwnguin at 5:43 PM on February 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
Late stage capitalism trying to convince people that even though they're slaving away, stressing their way into a heart attack by the age of 45, right after they've finished paying off student loans and credit card debt, so they can live like post-modern hamsters, it's still COOL and FUN and WHATEVER.
Was housing less cramped in the feudal era?
posted by pwnguin at 6:00 PM on February 16, 2017
Was housing less cramped in the feudal era?
posted by pwnguin at 6:00 PM on February 16, 2017
oh this is so cool! I love, love, love the multi-use aspect of it. I think it would be difficult to choose to force myself to adapt to such a small space, but I would love to live in some of the places in the world where such a small space would be the only thing available.
I'm in love with the multi-layered, multi-functionality of some of these set-ups. And Hooks! Wardrobes! Storage, flexible storage!
I've got a bunch of bulky furniture I've acquired over the past 15 years which isn't very flexible, and frequently we upend the entire apartment because "I wonder what it would be like with the TV over there instead?" or somesuch. hard floors are a must. Wallspace is a must. Clean, simple living, bring it on.
posted by rebent at 6:26 PM on February 16, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm in love with the multi-layered, multi-functionality of some of these set-ups. And Hooks! Wardrobes! Storage, flexible storage!
I've got a bunch of bulky furniture I've acquired over the past 15 years which isn't very flexible, and frequently we upend the entire apartment because "I wonder what it would be like with the TV over there instead?" or somesuch. hard floors are a must. Wallspace is a must. Clean, simple living, bring it on.
posted by rebent at 6:26 PM on February 16, 2017 [4 favorites]
and also a ton of people live in cities where it straight-up isn't an option to even dream of living in a 2000 square foot house, and they're marketing to these people too.
When I was talking about living in 450-500 sq ft, I was not speaking theoretically. I would have to be secretly adopted by a private equity executive to buy a 2000 sq ft house where I live. I'm still repelled by this marketing.
posted by praemunire at 8:33 PM on February 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
When I was talking about living in 450-500 sq ft, I was not speaking theoretically. I would have to be secretly adopted by a private equity executive to buy a 2000 sq ft house where I live. I'm still repelled by this marketing.
posted by praemunire at 8:33 PM on February 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
Was housing less cramped in the feudal era?
Only until you had a hard winter and made more space by slaughtering the cow and eating your seed store.
posted by ninazer0 at 1:18 AM on February 17, 2017
Only until you had a hard winter and made more space by slaughtering the cow and eating your seed store.
posted by ninazer0 at 1:18 AM on February 17, 2017
What do you do when all that ikea crap starts to split, bend, snap, fray and warp?
posted by james33 at 7:10 AM on February 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by james33 at 7:10 AM on February 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
What do you do when all that ikea crap starts to split, bend, snap, fray and warp?
Ikea sells an enormous range of products at various affordable price points, and mattress questions here are full of MeFites who love their Ikea beds. I have cool, powder-coated metal furniture from Ikea that will outlast me and you. To hand-wave it all away as "crap" is unfortunate.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:13 AM on February 17, 2017 [8 favorites]
Ikea sells an enormous range of products at various affordable price points, and mattress questions here are full of MeFites who love their Ikea beds. I have cool, powder-coated metal furniture from Ikea that will outlast me and you. To hand-wave it all away as "crap" is unfortunate.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:13 AM on February 17, 2017 [8 favorites]
/grabs SENIOR frying pan and VÖRDA carving knife to defend IKEA's honor
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:23 AM on February 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:23 AM on February 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
IKEA furniture is as good as the consumer. It's all out there on the showroom, you can gauge its quality easily. Buy something sturdy, and put it together correctly, and it will last. I've got an IKEA Malm bedframe that has survived 3 moves. 3 times it's been taken apart and put back together, and it's still great, 10 years later.
People who say IKEA is cheap crap either buy the cheapest stuff they offer, or cut corners during assembly, or straight-up suck at putting it together.
posted by explosion at 10:40 AM on February 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
People who say IKEA is cheap crap either buy the cheapest stuff they offer, or cut corners during assembly, or straight-up suck at putting it together.
posted by explosion at 10:40 AM on February 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
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posted by effbot at 8:55 AM on February 16, 2017