I thought I had pretty well exhausted the options for extremely low or free furniture until I saw the Facebook page Recycled, UpCycled, Freecycled Garden Projects. On a whim I entered ‘cable spool furniture’ into a search engine and was a little surprised to see the range of quality furniture that people have made with free cable spools. I’ve seen plenty of crude tables, but some of these designs are quite nice.
low cost
Miscellaneous Earthbag News
Patti Stouter’s New Earthbag Building Slide Series
“A how-to slide show series. A picture is worth a thousand words. And many natural builders have limited access to the internet. These slide shows will speed information transfer into many languages because they are mostly visual and come in small and large formats. Slide sets are also available in French.”
Illegal Treehouse in Canada’s Whistler Forest
The HemLoft – a secret treehouse, hiding in the woods of Whistler
“It took months to find the right tree to build on, and when he did the spot was on public land looking down on a row of multi-million dollar homes.
But that didn’t stop Joel Allen – he just built this incredible egg-shaped treehouse in Canada anyway, without telling anyone.”
Steamer Trunk Furniture
In keeping with our series of articles about super low cost and free DIY furniture, let’s look at steamer trunk furniture. Everyone has probably seen these old trunks from days gone by, but using them creatively as furniture is less well known. The trunks may need refurbishing or repair, although it’s not always necessary. One technique is lining the inside with aromatic cedar planking (available from specialty wood stores) for use as a storage chest at the foot of beds or elsewhere. Trunks with flat tops make good coffee tables and end tables. And, as you can see in the following photos, trunks can be assembled into desks, bookcases, shelving and other furniture.
Millions of Americans Are ‘Squatting’ in Own Homes
The focus of our blog is on low cost, low tech housing solutions. But sometimes it’s good to stop and look at what’s happening in society. Even though I read about the economy every day, this article about the true rate of foreclosure is still shocking. Who wouldn’t be moved by what’s going on? Due to financial hardship, more people are investigating lower cost DIY housing alternatives such as earthbag building, straw bale construction, adobe and pole building.
Jon Jondai – Life is Easy
This is one of the best videos I’ve seen in a while. Jon Jondai does an excellent job of weaving together the importance of natural building and creating a happy life. It’s well worth turning up the volume a little and listening carefully.