How to make your neighbor's crawl space feel like home
With rising house prices and global climate change, many of us are making the sensible switch to cheaper, more sustainable housing, such as the attics and crawl spaces of our former neighbors. But when you come home from a long day of gender studies, you want to relax in a space that's truly your own, not just a dirt-floored maze of two-by-fours. Check out these five tips for bringing your space to life! 1. Partition spaces to create a cozy atmosphere Often, crawl spaces will have short ceilings and large, open floor plans. This can create a sense of claustrophobia and abandonment, and according to the baddies, it reflects poorly on you personally. To divide up your space and create a softer feeling, try partitioning your crawl space into small nooks and rooms, using discarded bedsheets hanging from the floor joists above your head. For a more solid divider, you can even use the laser cutters in TechSpark to build custom wall panels. 2. Choose a comfortable flooring material While a dirt floor can be a total vibe, crawling across it to get to your living space can leave your clothes tattered and discolored. But a cheap and easy fix can be had: flooring! Pallets found in the loading docks around campus can be broken apart to form makeshift floorboards, and with a little sanding, they'll be smooth and comfortable to climb across. In lieu of floor polish, you can try personal lubricant from the Highmark Center! 3. Use many small light sources One unique challenge of living in a crawl space is the many columns and beams supporting the structure you shelter beneath. These can create odd shadows with a single, central light source, making small lamps a good choice. Since you likely won't get sunlight, except through small vents, you may want to use a mix of daylight-spectrum (5000K) bulbs and warm white ones (2700K-3500K), which you switch between at twilight. 4. Incorporate plants and greenery Once your crawl space is cozy and nicely lit, consider adding greenery to truly bring it to life. You may already have vines and ivy on the outer walls of the building, and training it to grow along the floor joists above your head brings a cozy atmosphere with no watering or fertilizers required. With a little more work, you can use discarded coffee cups and paint cans as pots for native plants. Consider carnivorous varieties to tackle the bug infestations you may face! 5. Adapt furniture to suit your space Living in a crawl space comes with many struggles, but most stem from the simple fact that a two foot ceiling is rarely enough to fit common furniture. Instead of a bed frame and mattress, consider a thin memory foam mattress topper, and a pillow taped to the ceiling above your head to prevent concussions. Instead of a desk and chair, consider nailing a thin sheet of plywood to a pallet, and placing it at the foot of your bed, providing a place to set your notebook and laptop while you lie on your bed. For more interesting activities, like laundry, cooking, or sex, you may need to get creative. But here at readme, we choose to believe that limitations breed creativity.