
Inside Aaron’s Apartment: A Most Amazing Bedroom  - geuis
http://haighteration.com/2012/04/inside-aarons-apartment-a-most-amazing-bedroom.html
======
_delirium
The Murphy bed (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy_bed>) is a traditional
solution based on rotating the bed 90 degrees to form a wall, rather than
sliding wood on/off it to form a floor. This guy's solution seems nicer in a
way, but a bit more complex.

Actually I've wondered why Murphy beds, or something similar, aren't more
common in space-constrained housing. They don't seem all that complex. The
only widespread example I can think of that people actually use is Japanese
sleeping on roll-up futon mattresses that can be put away during the day
(though western-style beds are now common there also).

~~~
nostromo
I've seen multiple apartments in old SF buildings that have a unique style of
Murphy bed.

Two units next to each other will each have one room (bathroom or kitchen
usually) that is elevated a few steps up.

That extra space allows for your neighbor to have a large drawer at ground
level that contains his or her bed during the day. In effect, you're storing
your bed under your neighbor's apartment. Unlike a vertical Murphy bed, you
can use a heavy mattress and you don't have to make your bed to put it away.

It's pretty smart, but the person I knew who had one never used it because the
building was old and he was convinced his bed would be full of spiders. :)

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fabricode
Cute & fun, but not engineered very well. In order to have the sunken bed:

    
    
      - he's raised the floor (effectively lowering the ceiling)
      - cut his floor space dramatically
      - made the center of the room unusable (stairs)
      - introduced a dependency between electricity & sleep
        (though there's probably a manual override)
      - made it harder to change his sheets
      - annoyed the neighbors (power drill to open the bed)
      - made moving day a royal PITA
    

I think a bunk bed w/o a lower bed would be a better, cheaper, and less
problematic solution.

~~~
citricsquid
Yes, the electrical component is unnecessary. He could have quite simply built
a raised floor (as he has done, maybe 1ft off the ground) cut a hole in the
middle, stuck in a mattress and then during the day had a board that covers
the top to create a complete "floor". Definitely cute and fun, but impractical
and over-engineered.

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plnewman
Reminds me of this:

JERRY: (To Kramer and Morty) What is this about?

KRAMER: I'm completely changing the configuration of the apartment. You're not
gonna believe it when you see it. A whole new lifestyle.

JERRY: What are you doing?

KRAMER: Levels.

JERRY: Levels?

KRAMER: Yeah, I'm getting rid of all my furniture. All of it. And I'm going to
build these different levels, with steps, and it'll all be carpeted with a lot
of pillows. You know, like ancient Egypt.

~~~
seltzered_
exactly what i was thinking: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQyXeLSL0II>

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adestefan
Just an FYI, but that wiring is _way_ out of code.

Edit: The reason I bring this up is because if it starts a fire no insurance
is going to cover the lose. You'll be out of pocket big time in an apartment.

~~~
p1mrx
> if it starts a fire no insurance is going to cover the [loss].

Are you sure about that? On what evidence are you basing this claim? I've been
searching for the last 20 minutes, and all I can conclude is that this is a
very subtle and complex issue:

[http://www.doityourself.com/forum/electrical-c-
d-c/410442-ca...](http://www.doityourself.com/forum/electrical-c-
d-c/410442-can-insurance-company-deny-claim-if-unpermitted-work-causes-
fire.html)

~~~
DougWebb
He's got an electrical junction in an uncovered box. That's a fire hazard. And
even if he boxed it properly (by removing the outlet box and replacing it with
a junction box) it would be against code to plywood over the frame and make
the junction inaccessible. To do this properly he could have left the original
outlet accessible in a little well and ran an extension cord to it, or he
could have run a wire into the back of the box, through the wall, to a new
outlet box higher up. He would have had to keep it directly above the old box
to avoid trying to snake the wire horizontally through framing, but that would
probably be ok.

Now that I think about it, there is probably a code violation in having his
new outlet so close to the hvac vent, and also having it horizontal without
using a covered floor-style outlet.

~~~
yardie
It's San Francisco. The parts of the city that haven't burned down yet, and
been rebuilt, will burn down eventually. :-)

------
kfcm
I guess if this works for him...

And people will give him kudos for designing and making this.

But it really looks to be overkill. When I was in college many years ago--and
I imagine it's still done--we solved this problem by making loft/bunk beds.

Engineering isn't just about making something whiz-bang; it's also about
seeking simplicity and the best cost solution.

~~~
DougWebb
I did the same thing in my first apartment, which I shared with two friends
from college. My room was too small for anything but a bed and one wall was 9
feet, so I built a high platform for the bed with a lower 3' platform as a
landing, and a set of stairs leading up to the landing. Underneath the landing
I had a closet, and under the bed I had room for a small home office.

------
measure2xcut1x
This is cool and all but I have some concerns about his long term exposure to
formaldehyde from the building materials.

Per EPA website:

"In homes, the most significant sources of formaldehyde are likely to be
pressed wood products made using adhesives that contain urea-formaldehyde (UF)
resins.

Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, can cause watery eyes,
burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing
in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High
concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. There is evidence
that some people can develop a sensitivity to formaldehyde. It has also been
shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans. Health
effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing;
fatigue; skin rash; severe allergic reactions. May cause cancer."

source: <http://www.epa.gov/iaq/formalde.html>

------
kijin
Neat, but I'd prefer a bunk bed (motorized if you want to preserve the geek
factor) so that all the dirt from my shoes don't fall onto my pillows through
gaps between those plywood panels. If this is on the West Coast, I'd also be
worried about getting my head smashed with that printer in the event of a
midnight earthquake... but maybe that's just paranoia. This looks like a
really nice way to make the most space out of those old apartments with
unnecessarily high ceilings.

------
pitzips
I appreciate this apartment in China. It's incredible.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9qnWg9kak>

------
__alexs
That looks like an accident waiting to happen. Especially with the chair on
casters so near the edge of that massive drop covered in pointy corners.

~~~
stevenspasbo
That's exactly what I was thinking, I know I'd find a way to injure myself if
I had one of those.

------
blakeperdue
Best ad for not hosting with inmotionhosting.com I've ever seen.

------
sofuture
Webcache of the actual post:
[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3...](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fhaighteration.com%2F2012%2F04%2Finside-
aarons-apartment-a-most-amazing-bedroom.html%23disqus_thread)

------
fendrak
Most people can't fathom what would lead a person to do this -- those people
pick new surroundings, and don't see a reason modify their existing ones to
suit their needs.

This is what sets engineers apart.

~~~
blhack
Being stubborn as all hell?

"What do you mean _'can\'t'_?" I'll turn this hp jetdirect into a router
bwahahaha!

~~~
saryant
Attitudes like this lead to spending three sleepless days getting an obscure
Linux variant running on a Powerbook G4 with nothing more than two old forum
posts and a pot of coffee.

And yes it's fun as all hell. :)

~~~
blhack
>two old forum posts and a pot of coffee

Something about this made me laugh.

50 years ago: "I'll make this work with nothing but duct tape and chicken
wire!"

Today: "I'll make this work with nothing but two old forum posts and a
shitload of coffee!"

Love it.

------
chaostheory
This apartments reminds me of other clever one room apartments:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juWaO5TJS00>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4yJGTPUR_0>

~~~
masonhensley
78sq ft in NYC (no kitchen, shares bathroom, $800/month):

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4FoAr8i26g&feature=relmf...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4FoAr8i26g&feature=relmfu)

------
cageface
Pics of tiny apartments in expensive cities like this make me downright
claustrophobic, no matter how cleverly they've been arranged. I'd much rather
take the salary hit and live somewhere quiet with a yard and a few rooms.

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tricolon
This CoralCDN link works: [http://haighteration.com.nyud.net/2012/04/inside-
aarons-apar...](http://haighteration.com.nyud.net/2012/04/inside-aarons-
apartment-a-most-amazing-bedroom.html)

------
adudley
Hey gang - Andrew here, author of the article. Yes, apparently this news.yc
post has brought our little site down. Working to get it restored. Who knew
people would get so jazzed about a modified bed?

~~~
adudley
Site's back up. But please, be gentle.

------
yardie
Seems neat. Why not put the bed on a lift-suspension system. I've seen some
ads in the Paris metro for a motorized bed. Push a buttom bed goes to the
ceiling, push again and bed comes back down.

~~~
nitid_name
I knew a guy back in college we called "6-8" because he was 6'8" and we
weren't terribly creative. He lofted his bed, but found that he couldn't sit
comfortably under it... so he put a winch on it.

When the project was finished, every single member of our chapter could stand
underneath his winched to the ceiling bed, except for 6-8, who was two inches
too tall.

Eventually, he dropped out of the engineering program and went for a business
degree. When we went into the attic one day and saw his winch was attached to
a hole drilled into a diagonal roof support beam, we remembered why you
shouldn't let non-engineers build housing enhancements...

------
Suan
At first I thought the cube-like stairs were the part which dropped down into
the floor when the knob is turned, like something out of a futuristic movie.

Was just a little disappointed when I saw that that wasn't the case :)

------
agentgt
I saw way crazier feats of room engineering at GaTech fraternities.

I even remember a funnel like apparatus to a toliet so that people in the loft
did not have to climb down to take a leak.

It was rather gross.

------
zeppelin_7
I think they got DDOSed by HN. Website down.

------
ccanassa
Use a hammock

------
rafamvc
Server is caput.

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mthreat
Here's a webcache link, hopefully it works for others too:

[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?sourceid=chrome...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fhaighteration.com%2F2012%2F04%2Finside-
aarons-apartment-a-most-amazing-bedroom.html)

~~~
rafamvc
That is not the whole post. Just the front page of the blog.

~~~
sleepybrett
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?sourceid=chrome...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fhaighteration.com%2F2012%2F04%2Finside-
aarons-apartment-a-most-amazing-bedroom.html)

~~~
mthreat
thanks, I updated mine with this one :)

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naughtysriram
I would have used a foldable bed.

