First, some background about this digressive post: last weekend (courtesy of Groupon), Kat and I double-dipped as attendees of the NYC Go Green Expo and its über-fabulous neighbor, the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. Both were awe-inspiring spectacles, to say the least, and we came away feeling like our brains would explode with ideas. I got to thinking, in particular, about the new decade that is already revealing its essential character and message: “It’s the environment, stupid.”
Living large, let’s face it, is so yesteryear. 21st century living is about being creative and acting responsibly and doing more with less. Recently, the thought occurred to me that the 2010s could be a true antidote to the 1980s, when bigger was always better. What about the 1990s, you ask? Didn’t we make an effort to regurgitate all the gluttonous greed and status-seeking salacity of the previous decade? Not so much. In retrospect, it appears that most of us got sidetracked by the real-estate boom and the newfangled “interwebs”. Think about Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a minute. Did the Billyburg hipsters of 1997 build fuel cells out of kitty litter, keep bees and brew homemade mead? I don’t think so. On the contrary, I seem to recall dot com startups and creative financing for seven-figure lofts.
Finally in 2010, after an entire generation spent playing with Monopoly money and trifling with gadgets and futzing with our digital lives, maybe we can … oh, I dunno … get back to the crucial task of saving our planet?
Prepare to enter the brave new world of downsizing. Yes, I know what you’re thinking: the concept of living in a small space is nothing new. Manhattanites have been doing it for decades. It’s cheap. Nevertheless, I daresay it’s never really been in vogue before. Does the term “carbon footprint” ring a bell? And it’s not just smaller apartments. We’re talking about modular units built out of shipping containers, prefab sheds, tiny houses on wheels. Why? Because small spaces are green spaces.
Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan doesn’t come out until May 11 but I highly recommend pre-ordering a copy from Amazon. Given Apartment Therapy’s unequivocal devotion to teeny spaces, this book will be one of the hottest must-reads of 2010. You can give your diminutive digs an eco-makeover and be one of the cool kids, just in time for summer! Even if you don’t have a studio apartment, you’re almost guaranteed to find innovative ideas for making your interior space leaner, meaner and — most importantly — greener.
Recent Comments