During my morning blog surf (not big surf), I followed a link to "Mac Motorcycles". I use to ride and still like the beauty of some motorcycle forms. I will admit, I loved the energy of my "Plastic Fantastic" but for shear beauty – even standing still – there is little that compares with some of the custom and small shop machines. I clicked around the images of the four machines on the Mac Motorcycles website and found some sketches.

Just as with the real machine, the sketches are something to look at. My taste in art is much like any interest, I prefer simplicity to extravagance. It’s one of the reasons that "sketches" are one of the most interesting for me. A good sketch shows more of the artist than a finished piece. It leaves just a bit more to the viewer – both to fill in the blanks but also to get a hint of the artist "in action".

A beautiful motorcycle lets you imagine the feel, the weight, the rush of what it might be like to ride. A great motorcycle lets you dream. Sketches are no different.

The source for my post’s title is a book by Sarah Susanka. I am in the midst of designing a new home. At the same time, I am watching all of these “dream homes”, “home improvements”, “this old house”, “rezoned”, etc. shows of TV. The TV shows keep showing bigger and bigger homes – 3000 sqft, 4500 sqft, 5300 sqft, 8000 sqft, ENOUGH !

I started living on my current house with about 900 sqft. The house has grown to 2500 sqft. I’m a solo empty nester now and as such I don’t use most of the house. For those of you who now find you house with fewer residents than in the past, when was the last time you used some of those abandoned rooms ? Have you tried sleeping in the guest bed ? Washed up in the kids bathroom ?

So I’ve started designing a smaller house. My first attempt was 1500 sqft. I’m now on my second attempt at 1200 sqft. If I leave out the out-building for the work shop I hope to get under 1000 sqft on my final attempt. I’ll be honest, I plan to get a little professional help – designers and/or architects specializing in both “green” building and “designing for small spaces”.

BTW: the 30″x31″ foot print of the pictured Neo-Comby toilet+basin will set you back about $5000 !. I guess the real question isn’t designing a 1000 sqft home but rather if I can do it on something less than the budget of one of those Mac-Mansions.

My question is “how small is big enough ?” What do you think ?

I opted to give Google’s SketchUp a try. When it is first installed and started, it has the typical “helpful tips” popup. More often than not, I either disable this or I leave it running for a few instances and read one tip each time I start the program. The SketchUp tips were really helpful in getting familiar with the software so I started clicking thru the tips. Then I came across this one …