Archive for the ‘Moving’ Category

The Minimalist Bed Frame

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Now that I am packing to move, I can clearly see how I have been in collecting stuff. I haven’t been bad at all. The part that bothers me is the amount of large furniture I own.

I have a TV stand, a futon couch, a chair & ottoman, one large book shelf, two small book shelves, a dining table and a dresser. Oh, and a platform bed.

The TV stand will be given to a friend for free since my new apartment has a built-in cabinet in the living room. I had to buy some furniture (two Bekvam kitchen carts as counter tops and a Gorm basic shelving unit for the microwave) for basic cooking preparations since my new kitchen comes with nothing more than a spice cabinet.

I just finished dismantling the platform bed and started to wonder if a bed frame is needed at all. The more I thought about it the more it became apparent that It is purely a social pattern to use one. We people are conditioned to use one since we were kids. Moreover, people like to use a spring box with the mattress and I don’t.

I use a futon mattress resting on slats. The bed will be positioned in the corner of my new bedroom with walls on two adjoining sides.

Objective Reasoning on not owning a bed frame:

  • The futon mattress on the hardwood floor will be more comfortable than the mattress on slats.
  • I will have one less furniture to dust and clean.
  • My dog likes to jump up on the bed. She is a large greyhound. Her jumping will not make the headboard and sides scratch the wall.
  • I will lose under-the-bed-storage
  • I will not be able to use a night stand
Subjective Reasoning on not owning a bed frame:
  • It is a college look portraying an immature living condition (people actually told me this when I asked them)
Inferences to above reasonings:
  • I will be more comfortable
  • I will own one less furniture
  • I will not need a night stand. The floor is my night stand.
  • I wont get my walls scratched
  • If I need under-bed storage, I probably have too much stuff
  • If people judge my personality by my lack of bed-frame, they are probably not good friends
The minimalist bed frame is actually not having a bed frame at all.

Is it worth it?

Can I make it stylish like the zen masters?

Can it be executed in a mature way?

Let me know on twitter @abhishek_m

Posted in Furniture, Moving | No Comments »

Minimize when you move

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Changing apartments is something we all dread. I like the change of scene every couple of years.

When I was a master’s student in Gainesville FL at University of Florida, my belongings were few. A majority were clothes and books. The first time I moved to Jacksonville FL from Gainesville, it took me two trips on my sporty Mitsubishi Eclipse. There was a desk from Goodwill, a chair and a used mattress that I gave away to the room mates I was leaving behind. That year, I moved a total of three times, all within Jacksonville. With every move, my stuff grew. By the third move, I filled up the bed of a large pick up truck to the brim. The bulky items included a fairly minimalist platform bed, a futon mattress, a dresser, a large book shelf, a corner book shelf, minimal desk, clothes and books.

It is time to move again. I am changing neighborhoods to a more walkable one. Read the rant here: http://www.sheksfootprint.com/archives/365. This time, I have eliminated the corner book shelf but added a folding dining table, four minimalist saddle seat stools for the table (that I stained personally), a folding futon couch/bed combo, a new futon mattress, a minimalist chair-ottoman combo, a TV, a side table, a microwave, a toaster oven and four bicycles. Yes, four bicycles.

My furniture collection is fairly basic. I may downsize the TV stand since there is a nice built-in in the apartment I am finalizing. I entertain a few guests occasionally and need some furniture. As far as the bicycles go, they all have different uses: city bike, cargo bike, folding bike and an english roadster. OK, the english roadster is for pure fun. See pictures here: http://www.sheksfootprint.com/my-bicycles

I am using this move as a reason to downsize. I hope to find and eliminate stuff that I haven’t used in two years. I am good at letting things go and am getting better at it every day. It is the small odds and ends that I have a clutter of. They are all neatly stuffed behind closed storage closet doors and on the top rack of my clothing closet. I plan to never load them on the truck when moving and simply move them to the local Goodwill later.

Posted in Moving | Comments Off