One of my favorite things in industrial and functional art is efficient use of space.  People design their furniture and living spaces to make life work well in small places.  This ins't your feng shui movement/placement, this is getting the best use out of space.  I've seen hgtv shows where couples fit everything they own, neatly and conveniently, in a 400 sq ft condo.  I should pull out some of those links...everything from single foot staggered stairs, to entire walls that move and can be used for storage.  

This little idea of storing books in the staircase is pretty awesome.  Kallie and I have a lot of books, and if we ever live on a boat, this would be one place we could store them all.  Kind of gives a new meaning to treading lightly on the words you speak.

http://www.geekologie.com/2008/02/bookshelf_stairs_are_freaking.php

 http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/at-europe/at-europe-london-closeup-the-amazing-staircase-042543

I like showers.  I like gadgets.  Put them together, and you have an extreme shower.  It's probably a little spacey for me honestly, maybe i'd just put it in the guest bathroom.

http://www.aquapeutics.com/test/u6810b.html

Heaven.  That's the only word I can use to describe Jay Walker's (the brilliant brain/entrepreneur behind priceline.com) library.  I love it.  Every aspect of it.  The personalization, the M. C. Escher floors, the lighting, the collection, everything.  It's perfect.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker?currentPage=all

 

Contrary to what you may believe, I enjoy privacy.  I'd love to have every room in the house completely sound proof.  ESPECIALLY the bathrooms.  I would like to think I'll have people over often, and I hate feeling like someone is going to hear me in the bathroom.  along with the bathrooms, I'd like to have a lot of them.  All over the house.  I want to be able to go to the bathroom anywhere I want in the house.

I have 2 favorite smells.  fragrant tobacco from a pipe and concrete.  Concrete reminds me of my childhood.  Not only was there a lot of concrete pouring going on around the house as I was a kid, but my dad and I used to go watch people make roads.  I love that smell.  I also, love concrete.  It's basically like grown up play-doh.   Well, maybe not in the function of playing with it (or eating it) but that you can make whatever you want out of it.  It's like a miracle solution transmogrification substance...yeah.  I like it because it's functional and cheap.  You can make entire houses out of concrete.  Or just kitchen counters.  or stair cases.  or huge sculptures.  I plan on using concrete A LOT in a house that i would design and build.  You can color it, texture it, and shape it how ever you like.  I like customizable things.

I've always been a fan of rooftop decks.  The optimal place for a roof top patio thing would be on a sky scraper/condo building, but I'll take what I can get.  Maybe I'll use this desire for a roof patio to go along with my love for open lofts.  You know, the ones where the elevator comes right into the apartment?  No walls, just huge space, exposed steel rafters, HUGE glass windows all around, and nice hardwood floors.  Basically, I want to play basketball in it.  I would love to get some moveable walls and re-arrange the whole apartment and layout whenever I wanted to.  That would be great.

Growing up, we had this garden of sorts in the back yard.  It was about...40 feet by 25 feet.  I barely remember what we grew in it, I think i remember some lettuce or cauliflower rows, but I know I remember the strawberry section we had right next to the shed.  We had a little fencing thing around it to keep animals from eating them.  I use to love to sneak a strawberry or two.  wow, I must have been like 6 and I remember that pretty well.

I also remember going over Bruce Watson's old house and seeing his garden.  Man, that was a sight to behold.  He had at least an acre or two of solid garden on the hill of his backyard.  If you don't know, Bruce is a main character in the story of my childhood, whether he knows it or not.  But he'd tell stories about how he'd stand on his back porch early in the morning and raise his arms out and shout to his garden, "GARDEN!  GROW!  PLANTS!  GROW!" and that is what he attributed the success of his garden to.

To the point and sentiment/reminiscing aside, I want a garden at my house.  More to the point, a green house.  Not just any green house though, think Big Top Pee-Wee's greenhouse.  I want it to be techy, of course.  Finger print entry, automated sprinklers, temperature and moisture regulators, hydroponic solutions, the works.  I want to be able to go get fresh fruits, vegetables, etc anytime I want.  I'm certainly not against working in the greenhouse, I'd actually love to take care of plants like that.  I'd just want to be able to live off veggies and fruits if a nuclear holocaust were to happen, ya know?  It's like my own plan B. 

 Next post I'll talk about the moat and electric fence surrounding the property...

I'm a big fan of accent lights at night.  From lighted pathways, recessed ceiling lights, and now, glass kitchen counter tops.  I saw a show on TV where some baseball pro had their kitchen redone for "green" initiatives, and they had this huge island in the middle of the kitchen that would "breath" like the mac logo, in a nice calm cream color.  It was awesome.  here's an article in the post gazette about a local person's glass counter tops.  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08145/884412-30.stm

If you know me well, you know that I like things to have a reason or purpose.  I definitely take function over aesthetic, but if you can mix the two in harmony, that's ideal.  To the point though, I would love a studio in the house, but I'd never be able to use it to it's full potential.  So i'd like it to have it's own entrance and have it run as a business.  There's probably some way I could take advantage of running a business out of my home come tax time too.  If I could find someone that would be willing to run it for 85% of the profit, I think it could work out well.  It'd be nice to open up the house to musicians as well.

I want a big slide somewhere.  In the house or outside, or both.  Maybe one that goes from the top floor to the basement.  I want a spiral staircase too.  An elevator somewhere would be nice.  not a big one, even just a one person closet type, but an elevator none the less.  Secret passage ways are a must.  even if it's just a ladder hidden in a wall to get to the floor above.  Not that I want this to be a big play house, i think those features would have practical use to them.