do it yourself scott vargo takes pride in refinishing furniture he and Kim discover from flea markets, alleys, antique shops and on Craigslist.org. “We just sort of wing it,” he says. “a lot of it has to do with seeing the potential of what something could be, seeing past the chipped, nasty paint job.” For now, they do makeovers “pro bono” for friends and family and are building an online portfolio of their work. neither is formally trained in decorating, but thanks to Kim’s employee tuition benefits at the school of the art institute, they’ll take their first interior design course together this spring. the vargos have several suggestions for living well in a small space: Yellow Brick home 1 avoid clutter 2 Buy appropriate sized furniture 3 Kim and Scott Vargo have lived in a 650- square-foot Logan Square condo for the past two and half years with two cats and one dog. They chronicle their home’s design improve- ments on their blog, YellowBrickHome.com. Kim, a tech coordinator for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Scott, a sales service rep for a uniform company in Schaum- burg, previously considered an 800-square-foot condo prior to signing on their current home. Multipurpose furnishings coupled with creative use of color make their home appear much larger than others twice its size. “Honestly, space wasn’t that big of a deal for us,” says Kim. The couple wanted a home with a more open floor plan to maximize room sizes and make entertaining friends more enjoyable. They found it in their current home with a kitchen that opens into the living room. A cur- tain hanging from a ceiling track sections off the kitchen, if necessary. “We’re in the kitchen serving drinks, mak- ing food, everyone’s hanging out [in the living room] we’re all together,” says Kim, of the in- creased interaction the smaller space offers. organizing for small spaces Molly Boren, owner of Simplicity Works Home and Office Organizing in Chicago, regularly assists clients in culling clutter to save living space. She’s made an under-600-square-foot one-bedroom her home for the past three years and feels its smaller size makes her life easier. “It forces me to stay lean,” she says. Boren recommends a three-pronged ap- proach to dealing with items that are consum- ing more space than necessary. Be realistic about what will work with your lifestyle First: Pare down, ask yourself what is bring- ing value to my life? “What of those can I honor and treat well and the other stuff, can I let that back out into the world so that its value can be used?” Boren suggests. second: Find homes for the items that don’t make the cut. As a free service, Boren takes clients’ cast-offs to recycling centers and rec- ommends keeping a “donate bag” in the car for easy drop off. third: Decide on the maintenance of any remaining items. Set up a system for dealing with clutter, communicate the system to all household members and don’t underestimate kids. According to Boren, children are usually more receptive to letting go of an item than parents estimate. Dinah Sanders, founder of the simple liv- ing website, Discardia.com, suggests ridding your home of object-related guilt she terms “Dream Duty” “[Dream Duty] is associated with objects you keep because they represent someone you want (or wanted) to become. If I don’t get rid of this guitar/skateboard/ballroom dress, I will eventually get around to using it proficiently, even though I don’t practice…. Start making time to work on that dream or let it go. If you want to fit into those pants again, eat less and exercise or get a pair like them in the size you are now,” she writes. preserving space and Land Ed and Eve Noonan founded the conserva- tion community Tryon Farm (tryonfarm.com) in 1997. Their development, located an hour from Chicago in Michigan City, Ind., features 4 don’t be afraid of color. But be wise with it. paint one or two ac- cent walls rather than a full room detached and attached homes, designed by Ed, that range in size from 400 square feet to 2500 square feet. Ed’s designs include environmentally sound features that provide highly significant energy and water savings. Built on a former dairy farm, the development incorporates the existing landscape of woods, dunes, wetlands and meadows. Two-thirds of the 170-acre farm will remain open indefinitely. He says there are two important ideas to consider when designing small homes. First, don’t waste anything, whether it’s building materials or land, and secondly, make the home “just big enough.” Noonan says the terms “green architec- ture” and “green building” are now part of the common language—so much so that bankers and appraisers are fast becoming acquainted with, and are receptive to, green building and smaller home sizes. “The trend is toward a much more appro- priate-size house,” he explains. “There’s a definite change. I think it’s an economically driven change.” Christine Escobar is a native of Chicago, a freelance writer and the founder and editor of GreenParentChicago.com mindfulmetropolis.com 25
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