Neat Features

When I lived in an apartment I always knew where my keys were.  I just didn’t have a lot of space, so the keys always went in the same place.

Then I bought a house.

Suddenly there were so many tempting places to set my keys on the way to their “home” location.  Would I leave them in the back room?  How about the kitchen on the way to the dining room?   And if my daughter was excited to see me, maybe they’d just get left on the mantle in the living room.

So many places to lose my keys.

That’s what I love about this light switch cover.  If I could just turn off the light and hang my keys at the same time, I’d be set.  As long as the light was off, I’d know where my keys were!

If you have any crazy key-losing stories, feel free to share them in the comments.

Design by Jake Frey

I don’t consider myself claustrophobic.  Around my own home I’ve squeezed myself into some pretty nasty and pretty small spaces.  (Hello basement crawl space!)

But this house, located in Warsaw Poland, is only 4 feet wide.  I’m not even sure a 4 foot wide house would hold my DVD collection, let alone allow me to stretch in the morning after rolling (wedging?) myself out of bed.

For comparison here are a few things that are wider than this house: your car, a broom, your desk at work, a 10 year old boy (if laying down).

Certainly it takes a special type of person to be able to live in such a confined space.  What do you think?  Do you have what it takes?

image provided by flickr user chefranden

Now this is a good idea from Think Geek – it’s a “safe” that’s made to look like a wall-mounted plug.   Although I don’t know I’d want to lock my toothbrush up.  If you’re going to steal my toothbrush, you’re welcome to it.

Yuck.

image from ThinkGeek.com

A few weeks ago I spoke about the Dionaea House, and how I wished more buildings had unique architecture instead of the cookie cutter style we see so much of today.

Well today we’re back to look at the garage.

That’s right.  The garage.

Much like houses, most garages are uninteresting.  They’re designed to cut costs or to blend in with the house.  But there’s something about a garage (especially a 3 car garage) that stands up and says, “Hey look at me!  I’m interesting!”

And so Mr. Garage, I’m listening and I’m looking.  Since the house is almost 110 years old, it wasn’t likely an original part of the house.  (If it was, it meant someone owned 3 of the first cars ever made!)  Instead, it was likely a later edition.  Which means someone had the foresight to mirror the house’s architectural design into the garage.

Frankly I’d be happy just living in such an awesome looking garage.  Especially since no one has come forward with that $1.5 million I asked for.

Watching the news it’s easy to get the impression that the weather has turned against humanity.  Whether it’s tornadoes, earthquakes, or floods, it seems there’s some major disaster in the news on a weekly basis.

This brings up the question of whether you can build structures to withstand these forces of nature.

Fortunately, when designed properly, buildings can withstand even a 9.0 earthquake like the one Japan experienced a few months ago.  Despite the fact that its exterior is made almost entirely of glass, the Mediatheque in Sendai, Japan, was able to do just that.

And because we’re in the internet age, you can even experience what it was like to be inside that building as an earthquake struck.

Personally I can’t imagine what that would have been like.  If you’re interested in learning more about the Mediatheque or earthquake construction, the Wall Street Journal has a great article exploring that topic.

There’s a great story on the internet called “the Dionaea House.”  It’s a story about a house that is alive, and well, acts more like a venus fly trap than a place you’d want to vacation.

When I read that story a few years ago it really captured my imagination.  (Which, the story says, is the first sign that the house is hunting you.)  So while I might eventually be eaten by a house, it has really given me an appreciation for great “monster” houses.

And that was the first thing I thought when I saw this house.  What an great building to film a movie!  Or stage an Agatha Christie mystery dinner.  Or even just an awesome place to trick or treat.

Now obviously this house isn’t haunted.  But in an age where housing architecture can be so cookie cutter, it’s thrilling to just see something different.  It’s fun to let your imagination run wild.  (Or if you’re not a fan of monster movies, just picture Jane Eyre or Sherlock Holmes.  It gives the same effect.)

So if anyone has a spare $1.5 million laying around, let me know, because I’m totally going to buy this house.  And I’ll invite you over for Trick or Treat.

The house that the movie Home Alone made famous is for sale in Chicago.  Now’s your chance to buy a piece of American cultural history (if you have $2.4 million.)

A few things you might not have known about the house:

• It’s been owned by the same family since 1988
• The family lived there during most of the movie
• Home Alone came out in 1990 – 21 years ago
• That last fact makes me feel old

So to relive all those old memories, check out one of the original Home Alone trailers.

Growing up I had a tree house.  Actually I had a tree house that was built on stilts.  We didn’t have a tree big enough to hold much more than a bird feeder.  It was great and my friends and I spent many hours playing in that thing.  (It was awesome, right up to the time it collapsed under too much weight and jumping.  Oops!)

Of course ever since then I’ve dreamed of having another tree house.

Apparently I’m not the only one.  Because the “luxury tree house” market, according to The Wall Street Journal, appears to be taking off.  With such celebrities as Sting and Julianne Moore getting into the swing of things.  (Get it?  Swing of things.  Ah, good times.)

Of course a luxury tree house is nothing like your traditional tree house that’s filled with spiders and other multi-legged creatures.  These new luxury tree houses are filled with all the amenities of a ground house, including plush seats, roomy views, pillows and even windows.

Of course these also can retail for well over $100,000.

photo from flickr user emdot

Question: Why do doors have to be boring?

Answer: They don’t when they’re bright yellow and actually a barn door for your bathroom.

Dana Miller at House * Tweaking shows us that doors can be functional and fun.  (Although I must admit, that’s not really a sentence I ever imagined myself typing!).

She took wood from a fence and recycled it into a sliding door for the master bathroom.  And then painted it a bold yellow.

I know this sounds weird, but this really is one of the coolest doors I’ve seen.  I actually feel inspired by this door.  (Again, weird.)  But hey, what can I say, I love this door!

image by Dana Miller from House * Tweaking

It seems that when you own a home, your work is never done.  Perhaps that’s something that should be put in one of the documents you sign at closing?

But I have no one to blame but myself.  I’ve found that I actually enjoy making home improvements.  As much as I love my job and writing for things like Neat Features, there’s something rewarding about being able see, touch (and yes, sometimes smell) a project coming together.

That’s how it is with my newest ambition: a complete installation of a wired internet network.  For the most part this should be “easy”.  However my house is 100 years old, and so far nothing has gone “easily.”  But there has to be a first time, right?!

While I look forward to creating a network to stream music and movies around my house, I’m still not thrilled at the idea of crawling through my attic to drill holes into the ceiling.  So perhaps instead of all that work behind the walls, my wife will let me do something like this?

More pictures can be found on the highly create Maisie Maud website.  Do you have a Neat Feature of your own? Consider submitting it, and we may post it.