Frugal and Energy Efficient Living

My architecture background makes me fond of cottages, I've got several books from the early teens and twenties on cottage design. American home design used to be very modest, often.

I work with two schools who are building tiny houses, and I discovered apartmenttherapy while shopping for solutions for the condo.

I thought that IKEA might offer solutions but a lot of their stuff just didn't fit physically. I finally found used contract furniture at an office liquidation place that was the perfect size, and I had a bed custom built-- full size but tall with large drawers below the mattress platform and further space below them. The high bed allows one to lay in bed and see the ocean.

Your idea of combining pieces is brilliant and reminds me of things I saw on http://www.ikeahackers.net