Living in a Dumpster
He lives in … a dumpster. Californian artist Gregory Kloehn is creating a new type of apartment in a dumpster.
The small habitat of artist Gregory Kloehn in Brooklyn goes completely unnoticed, but in this garbage dumpster converted into an apartment, you can stay as a couple and enjoy the barbecue or the roof terrace.
In the street, if it is closed, you do not suspect that it is an accommodation, you think that it is a trash can, explains the 42-year-old Californian artist about his green container of approximately 2 meters next to the bins. If you pass by you can’t imagine there is someone sleeping inside. Even if the barbecue is running, grilling meat, people pass by without suspecting anything, they just think it’s a trash can, adds Gregory Kloehn.
The small unusual accommodation goes completely unnoticed by passersby, but in this refurbished roll-off bin transform into a flat, two people can stay and enjoy the grill or the roof terrace. The latter had already converted shipping containers into dwellings when the idea came to him to work on smaller boxes. He bought a brand new dumpster and installed it his town, as the artist’s house in California is much more respectable in size.
They can shower. At first he thought he would make it rustic, but then he thought, why not try to make it a luxurious and livable place? So he took what you can find in a house and he managed to put everything in this small space. The shower and the barbecue are hung on the outside of the bucket, but the interior includes a kitchen area, with a small granite worktop, a sink, a gas burner, cupboards and a cooler. On the other side, leather-trimmed cushions go around the apartment”.
There is toilets and a terrace. Under the seats, several storage boxes are easily accessible and the artist even has a toilet there, which can be connected to an evacuation system. And if the whole thing is low enough, the insulation has not been forgotten. Space is limited but, after a quick manipulation, Gregory Kloehn also shows how you can sleep two in this refurbished bin. As for the small roof terrace, it allows you to sunbathe and observe the neighborhood. For electricity, all you have to do is take an extension cord and hook up to a Starbucks, for example. The extension is supplied. For the water, you have a shower, you can shower, shave and clean your teeth.
Is the smaller the better? In a country where the average size of houses is 241 square meters, more and more people are still interested in smaller housing. Among them are many baby boomers who are looking for smaller accommodation when they retire. There are more and more builders and more and more people looking to live in small houses, according to a blogger who writes content specializing in design and small dwellings. And the movement would be even more important if the building law and local laws were not so restrictive, he believes.
The bigger the house, the more problems there are, according to Gregory Kloehn. There are more costs, more things to maintain, and ultimately, you will fill your house with unnecessary things.
