This is something that has intrigued me for a long time. The minimum amount of space for a person to live in in comfort. Something that could be mass produced or something like that for college students who don’t want to live in the dorms, bachelors looking for a first house, etc… for an affordable price of perhaps $10-20,000. I have had many ideas but never a good design, so I am asking for some ideas from other people.
Some things to keep in mind that I think a house would need, this is of course simply my opinion and based on western values:
a bathroom with at least a toilet, sink, and shower (I’ve found designs that use about 16 squre feet of floorspace, but custom units could be made smaller, for example, as they are waterproof, why aren’t toilets built into showers?)
a kitchen with a sink, stove, and oven, these could of course be smaller than normal (say a single stoveplate and a deep oven that’s only wide and deep enough to fit a 9x13 pan) along with some decent countertop space for letting dishes dry, preparing food, etc… I figure a dishwasher isn’t neccessary, doing dishes by hand is easy, epsecially when it is only one person. A kitchen would also need some decent storage for pots and cups and such too.
a bed (or hammock to save on space, hammocks are also exceptionally comfortable and cheaper than beds with sheets and such)
a water tank/heater (a small 50gal should be suitable, unless those tiny instant water heaters get cheaper)
a cooling and heating unit, perhaps only one depending on where you live
storage space
an easily cleanable and cheap floor (think polished, sealed concrete if it isn’t a manufactured home)
a desk
a table and chairs (2 chairs and a small 2x2’’ table would be sufficient)
windows (large round ones, 4’+ are very good looking in a small space but expensive)
Some miscellaneus things that might be wanted (that I would probably want myself) would be:
infloor heating (efficient and easy to do with a concrete floor)
bookshelves
closet
towel rack
coat rack
a couch (perhaps a futon that turns into a bed)
room for a tv (possible just a large computer monitor with a tv card so the monitor would be dual use, that’s cheaper than a decent tv too)
some room/a desk for electronic/craft work
microwave oven
I have always thought that all this could be put into a well designed space of around 10’x30’ or so, possibly less, possible more, it would probably depend on the person inhabiting the space. I know for me that as long as it is well lit and is capable of being breezy (e.g. has openable windows) then I am fine with tiny spaces.
So tell me, what are your ideas and opinions?