Small Space Pillow With a Pocket

So my wife found this, and I quite like it. As you know we have covered all sorts of items that have additional storage capabilities — here is another.

The PJ Pocket Pillow — say that three times fast — by Fawn & Forest is a great little pillow. The pillow comes printed with one of several very minimal designs: elephants, squirrels or lemons. It has a real Asian look to it and in fact it is based on Japanese anemone boxs that are traditionally used to house family heirlooms. The pillow actually has a secret — it has a pocket. It’s a great place to stash pjs, a small blanket, remotes or anything you would like to conceal.

The pillow’s Asian looks won me over right away and adds the functionality of helping you to keep your small space tidy.It’s a great find!

Small Space Apartment: Optibo

In May I had two posts about Sandy Lam’s Spaceless balcony furniture. It is a system of furniture that collapses into the space beneath it so that you can use the space for a variety of purposes. I was thinking that it reminded me of something I had seen before. When I did some digging, I found it.

Although not exactly the same Optibo is a similar concept. Optibo is the product of Swedish ingenuity I think it’s a bit like a Swiss Army Knife apartment. Although Optibo has been around for several years, I thought it would be relevant here.

Optibo was a research project on future housing and multifunction furniture. The furniture in the apartment lowers into the floor via hydraulic stage equipment. Yes its hydraulics for your couch, well not exactly. The project basically created a dwelling in a 25 square meter apartment. By concealing furniture in the floor it created a space that could transform itself thereby utilizing the space very efficiently.

As far as I can tell, they are not selling the concept yet, but it is a very noteworthy small space.

Even More Small Space Grillin’: Baja BBQ Firepack

So by now my love of all things grilled has been well established. I just enjoying grilling — at the cottage it is a integral part of my summer.

I have also covered the fact that I prefer the flavor of charcoal vs. gas grilling. I am aware of the arguments over the environmental impact of charcoal vs. gas, but I am still a charcoal man.

Having said that, if there is a way to lessen the environmental impact of using charcoal, I’m game. That’s where Lazzari comes in with their Baja bbq Firepack. A great deal of VOCs are released by the lighter fluid commonly used to start charcoal grills. The Baja bbq Firepack eliminates the use of lighter fluid. The pack is a 100% recycled biodegradable paper pack that holds 2 pounds of natural lump charcoal. The package is formed with an integrated chimney that stokes up perfect hot coals without the use of additional chemicals.

You simply light the bottom of the pack, slap it in your grill, and let the package burn away starting the coals.

I’m all about grilling, and simple greener grilling is definitely the way to go.

Small Space Floating Furniture: Cantilever Style

While doing some of my regular trolling of sites, this weekend I stumbled on an image of the cantilevered desk (pictured above).

It is a really fine piece of furniture. I love how the use of built in furniture allows for what is really quite a large piece of furniture without feeling large. The floating volume of the piece allows the room to appear more open and less cluttered.

Built in furniture is not inexpensive and good cabinetmakers are quite rare. However, the added home value of built in furniture can make it well worth the investment. Just remember to keep built-ins classic and clean so what ever it is, it will never look dated. This piece is a great example.

Eastvold Custom Woodworks created the desk. Check out their site for more of beautiful designs.

Via Mid-Century Modernist

Small Space Living Classic Reborn: The Pretzel Chair

With my deep and abiding love of all things mid-century modern, I’m not sure I could let the weekend go without mentioning The Pretzel Chair.

The Pretzel Chair is one of George Nelson’s classic designs. It is a lovely gracefully bent wood chair. The chairs were produced from 1952 to the 1980’s. To commemorate what would be the 100th birthday of Nelson, Vitra is producing a limited edition of 1,000 chairs.

Such a handsome chair certainly deserved a resurrection, even if for only a brief time.

Small Space Bathroom: Vertebrae

Of all the space-saving bathroom designs I have seen this one, the Vertebrae, is the clear winner. It is an ingenious stacking design that incorporates all of the necessities of a bathroom in to one tiny 4 square meter footprint.

The Vertebrae is a stack of swiveling units. Each unit contains a piece of the bathroom. The upper most sections are showerheads, followed by storage areas, a sink and finally a toilet on the bottom. There are even compartments on the sides of the toilet for toilet paper and a toilet brush.

The unit is entirely self-contained with a drain on the floor and you have yourself a compact bathroom. Each unit is made of aluminum and completely customizable.

The two major drawbacks are the appearance, which is perfectly suited for an episode of Star Trek, but may be a bit ultra modern for less a cosmic decor. The other drawback is the price. At $20,000 it may well be beyond the reach of some consumers, however $20,000 is perfectly reasonable in some markets.

Small Space Etsy Find: More-Light South Third Street

Light is important in small spaces. Keeping your space well lit can help it seem more airy and spacious.

Why not keep your small space illuminated with style? While browsing Etsy’s furniture category I stumbled on the seller Resurface. Resurface makes lamps, some pretty stylish lamps actually. One of my favorites is the More-Light / South3rd model. It’s a simple one-bulb hanging lamp with a printed canvas shade. The shade, which is 16x9 inches, is a print of a photograph of graffiti from South Third Street in Brooklyn.

Small Space Pop Up Furniture: Sandy Lam’s Spaceless Update

On May 8, 2008 I had posted about Sandy Lam’s Spaceless balcony furniture.

Sandy added a comment directing readers to her new site with more detailed info about Spacless. I just wanted to take a moment to say check it out. There is a great deal more information and videos, like the one above.

It’s a great idea and worth a second look. Thanks Sandy.

Small Space Fitness: Sports Furniture

The problem with working out at home is two-fold — space and ugly equipment. I guess in some bachelor-pad environments you can live with workout gear, but in most small homes you don’t want that stuff out in the open.

I have actually done a post on equipment for small spaces, but it usually needs to be easily storable to make my cut. I have endeavored to find stylish workout gear like a bench that could be a bench for sitting then a bench for exercise, but it’s hard to find.

Well Postfossil has a new line called Sports Furniture that looks promising. The collection consists of a pull-up-bar, mat, bench, skipping rope and a cup. The bench is a stylish wood bench with storage for other equipment and sturdy enough to workout on. The pull-up bar looks like a piece of sculpture — I mean it’s not hard to look at and more attractive than those doorway mounted pull-up bars.

All in all it’s a good start, I’d love to see more of this type of stylish workout equipment.

Small Space Fruit Bowl: Inout

I have been eating lots of fruit lately — summer always reminds me how much I’ve let myself go over the winter. I have been trying to get in better shape later, but that’s another post.

I stumbled on the Inout fruit bowl last week. It is one of those functional things that manages to be visually appealing while performing an actual function. The Inout is a fruit bowl — it’s not really a bowl it’s more of an object. The shape is very organic with a pronounced bowl area on one side and a perforated convex area on the other. The perforated area is perfect for repining bananas.

If you eat fruit, you may as well display it stylishly.

Small Space Summer Living: Ductless Air Conditioning

As summer approaches and hot days return, I find myself thinking about those dog days of summer. I generally like summer, the sun, the trees, but not so much the heat and humidity. In some regions and for certain segments of the population, air conditioning is a necessity.

Just how you get high-quality and efficient AC in a small space is sometime a real feat. There are several options for real whole-house or whole-space AC. The main examples of permanent AC all involve ductwork. Ductwork equals less living space. In my small modest 1860’s row house, closets are fairly slim and the thought of giving up even a small portion of them for return-air ducts is out of the question.

For the last several years we have used in-window AC units — the house is only around 650 – 700 square feet on each floor so the do cool it fairly well. But there is the laundry list of problems associated with the units. Here, in the Historical District, where I live they are prohibited in all but the secluded rear windows of our homes. They are also ugly. Oh yea, and they drip-drip-drip water.

When recently visiting the Home Show, I found several ductless AC options. I like the Fujitsu Halcyon system over the other competitive models.

Fujitsu makes a wide array of systems from 9,000 BTU to 36,000 BTU. They have wall or ceiling mount options and a slue of features. These systems have a smaller unit that is located close to the inside wall unit and connected with very small copper tubes. Some of the options include: quiet mode, a wireless remote, a high quality plasma air filter, and timers.

The outdoor component of the Fujitsu system can also be used to control multiple indoor wall units for true zoning. With this process, it is much less expensive and more efficient to cool only the space you use.

They are also available in heat-pump models so in some mild climates they may be all the heating you need. In the northeast, where I live, they could help lower gas bills, but could not handle the dead of winter.

If you need to cool a small space and don’t want to give up a window, these systems may be the perfect solution.

Small Space Pen: Fisher Space Pen

I’m not sure how, but I’ve managed to hold on to an ink pen for 10 years. I always seem to be misplacing lesser pens, but I have somehow been able to keep tabs on my Fisher Space Pen for a decade.

I bought my Fisher Space Pen, the “Chrome Bullet with Stylus”, to use with a PDA I use to own. The PDA is long gone, but the pen is still kicking. Space Pens are great little writing instruments — they are solid, heavy and stylish. They are called Space Pens because they were designed with a gas pressurized ink cartridge that allows them to write at odd angles, upside-down and yes, in space. NASA has been taking the Space Pen into space since 1968.

Well I’ve never used it in space, but I’ve had it in my pocket through three jobs, countless weekends, vacation trips and its still kicking.

Small Space AV Cabinet: Big Twin Cub

Almost exactly one year ago I bought an old turntable at a church sale. I know it was a year ago because we volunteer there every year and it’s coming around again next week. The turntable was a sweet old-school Bang & Olufsen — it’s in nice shape and in its original box! So in this year, I have not used it or even removed it from the box.

My problem is I have no place to put it. That’s where Curt Menissner and the Big Twin Cub come in. This slick little AV cabinet stores your old and new AV gear without looking like one of the many cheesy entertainment centers out there.

In addition to looking good, you can feel good about the Big Twin Cub as well. It’s constructed of sustainable materials including bamboo plywood, paper-based fiberboard and post-industrial recycled denim fill.

There is also a matching bench, the Little Twin Cub. Check them out.

Small Space Bookshelf: Tetrad

Yes we own too many books. I don’t know what that means because you can never have too many books. But we do have a large number of books relative to the small space we live in. We are always looking for creative ways to store and display our books.

The Tetrad is a great example of functional fun. This Tetris-inspired bookshelf is a 10-block set of Tetris shapes that can be arranged in any configuration you desire. The pieces can be attached to each other and/or the wall. The shelves are constructed of birch plywood with multi-colored metal backings.

And just in case you’re wondering, the bottom row does not disappear if you fill the line.

More Small Space Grillin’: The Laptop Grill

So by now you should all know I have a serious interest in outdoor grilling. I am always on the look out for the perfect grill and grilling accessories. I have always preferred charcoal grills to gas and don’t have lots of room for a grill.

Direct Design’s Notebook Portable Grill is a real contender for a small space grill. The Notebook Grill is a light, 8 pound, small grill perfect for anyone with space concerns. The grill has a somewhat large 192 square inch cooking surface. The cooking grill is stainless steel. The rest of the grill is black weather resistant stainless steel.

Just under the steel grilling grate there are cut out handles. The best feature of this stylish grill is the ability to take the grill by the handles, after it’s cool of course, and fold it flat for storage.

The laptop Grill is a stylish grill that folds flat for easy low-volume storage making it a perfect small space grill.

Small Space Picnic Addition: Fridgefork

With Memorial Day just around the corner the official start of picnic season is not far off. I was looking over some items for outdoor grilling, general outdoor partys and summer gathering ideals for Small Space Living.

I give you the Fridgefork. The Fridgefork really is another one of those ideas I cannot believe I didn’t think of. The Fridgefork is a little stretchy silicone loop that fits around most jars and holds a condiment fork. The fork is then used to retrieve the contents of that jar, i.e. pickles, olives, peppers and the like. This handy little device keeps the utensil, the Fridgefork, from contaminating other foods. It also keeps it tidy and off the table or other questionable surfaces.

It’s a great idea and if you can just keep your cousin Billy from dropping it or chasing his sister with it, the fork will always be clean.

Small Space Seating: Cube 6

The ability to comfortably accommodate guests in a small space can be a challenge. Even seating those impromptu guests can be an exercise in creativity. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some reasonable seating options for multiple guests that are less homely than folding chairs and store in a smaller space?

Well Naho Matsuno may have the perfect solution in the Cube 6. The Cube 6 is a small birch plywood cube that pulls apart to reveal 6 small stools. They are small and I doubt they will win any awards for comfort, but as a small space seating solution they just may. The Cube 6 looks like it would require a learning curve to get it all back together — its reminiscent of puzzle cubes I’ve seen.

If seating is an issue in your small space, the Cube 6 may be just the ticket for you.

Small Space Spoon: Yogurt Spoon

I like yogurt. I eat it every day — sometimes several times. It’s just a good healthy convenient snack.

When I saw Nojae Park’s Yogurt Spoon I thought “wow, why has no one thought of this before?” If you have ever eaten yogurt out of those neat little single serving plastic cups, you will get this. The Yogurt Spoon is a spoon designed for eating yogurt. The trick is that the tip is a right-angled point. It’s rounded so it’s not too sharp, but it is pointed enough to get the yogurt that normally falls out side the radius of a normal spoon.

With a normal spoon it is a fairly small volume of yogurt wasted. But when I think of all the cups I recycle, that little extra yogurt adds up to a big waste. I need this spoon.

Small Space Desk Organization: I/O Desk Organizer

The importance of organization in small space living cannot be overstated. One way to keep a space feeling larger is to keep it well organized.

The i/o Desk Organizer is a perfect way to keep you desk straight with simple elegance and beauty. The i/o Desk Organizer consists of modular walnut and ceramic elements and a walnut and felt base. The different elements can be organized by “plugging” them into the base for personal customization.

The natural materials are warm and inviting. In this day of plastic everything, it’s a delightful alternative to the standard big box office store offerings.

Small Space Integration, TubeStick

In small space living, every inch counts. It is important to prioritize the usefulness of objects and try to focus on items capable of multi-tasking. We have focused on multi-function furniture and other double-duty products. How about your personal computer?

I don’t watch much television — in fact I have never in my adult life had cable. I do sometimes enjoy watching some television, like Antiques Road Show and occasionally the news. I’ve been thinking about a new flat-screen television, but I would also have to bite the bullet and get cable.

So why not use your computer as your television? The TubeStick by Equinux is a clever little device about the size of a USB memory stick that lets you do just that. The TubeStick sticks in the side of your computer and with it’s two built in tuners it lets you watch free analog and that newfangled free digital TV as well. It also has a port that can accept an antenna for greater reception or cable.

The TubeStick has many features that make my Sony TV green with envy. You can record shows with the Tubestick, access an electronic program guide and remotely manage or watch programs with your iPod touch or iPhone. You can also zoom in on the picture and BuddySurf, a feature that shows chat rooms related to the show you are watching.

The though of having you new iMac also server as a fully functional HD TV is a proposition bound to free up space in small homes everywhere.