collective living

A New Year, and a Winter Small Space Experiment

Now that it's January, winter has officially arrived in Massachusetts. There's a  few feet of snow on the ground, and it's not going anywhere for a while. Confession time: I really wanted to live in the COMET over the winter this year, but I couldn't get her weatherproofed in time. The hole in the wall where the fridge will end up going has a large vent, and without the fridge installed it was like sleeping outside! It ended up getting too chilly, and until I seal up the cracks and insulate the vents and install the fridge (and find an acceptable heat source) sadly I will not be sleeping in the COMET this winter. However, I took this opportunity to try on another tiny space living situation for fun and to see what I can learn from it.

While I'm not living in the COMET, I'll be living in a tiny closet under the stairs in a collective house. The "room" is about the size of a twin bed, but the previous dweller made such good use of the space that it feels cozy, not cramped. There's a bed on a platform so I can store things underneath. There are two drawers installed directly into the wall as built-ins at the foot of the bed. There is a desk that nests in the wall and unfolds when you need it, and the bed becomes your desk seat. She even installed a nifty bookcase tower. There's also a tiny window on an exterior wall, so you can see outside and get some fresh air. I will have to post some pictures!