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I recently saw this in Metropolitan Home and completely fell in love with the minimal treatment and simple floorplan. The color palette is spare and elegant, which matches the architecture perfectly.

‘We kept asking, ‘How do we simplify?'” Project architect Carly Coulson explains that they did not pre-wire or place ducts in the block walls. “This was one of those things that Kevin felt was too constraining on design development to determine at the beginning of construction,” she says. “The sensitive decisions he made concerning construction sequence had a very positive impact on the design process and the final aesthetic.” Clearly, process is Streeter’s passion. Even with 20-plus years as a builder, he keeps challenging himself. “One of Michael Graves’s project architects once said, ‘Make everything look like you thought about it,'” he says, thoughtfully. “We do that for our clients, and here I could practice that for myself.”‘

View Floorplan.

This little cabin seems anything but small. Sleeping lofts are, of course, necessary in maintaining a small footprint, and this particular plan utilizes the space wonderfully. If you’re interested, the plans are available to purchase.

“The C3 cabin was born out of a desire to reduce and to simplify. Whereas the footprint may be small this cabin lives large. With only 352 square feet on the main floor and 128 square feet in the loft, it encompasses all the domestic requirements of structures many times larger. The design of this cabin is premised on three goals. First, to provide the required spaces for an extended stay cabin within a minimal footprint. Second, provide a quality of space and abundant natural daylight typically not found in this size of structure. And third, to allow for simplicity of construction and maintenance.”

Here’s a handful of pictures that might inspire your next remodel or building. I’m currently reading
Little House on a Small Planet by Shay Salomon, and it’s made me rethink small spaces- which is why the
Zig Zag Cabin (upper left) seems especially intriguing.

Modern shed out of Seattle sells these great modern one room studios that can be built in a weekend.

For anyone interested in green home building, there’s a couple documenting the construction of their home in the form of a blog called ‘Green In Medusa’. You can share your own experience or take notes if you’re planning a similar project.

“[The] blog is a joint effort of owners Baldomero and Stephenie Fernandez and architect Lynn Gaffney to document the design and construction process of an affordable green house in upstate New York. The aim is a transparent sharing of the triumphs and mishaps so that sustainable design becomes approachable for everyone.”

[posted by katie]

I can’t stop looking at this small retreat located in Norway. Built by Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen (of Saunders Architecture), it’s an experimental structure that was self-initiated and self-financed so that they “could pursue [their] architectural vision in line with [their] convictions: uncompromising, original and respect for the landscape.” Lovely.

SIZE: 20 m2
LOCATION: Kjepsø, Hardanger Fjord, Norway

Completed 2003