Greener than green.

Treehouses are something I've never personally experienced. Maybe we just don't get that kind of enourmous, back-garden type of tree in the South of Spain (I did have an apple tree as a child in England, however). Maybe we just don't realise what we're missing, what with all the swimming pools and beaches... Or maybe we'd be more interested if all tree houses looked like the Wilkinson Residence in Portland:

Not bad. Not bad at all. This is what happens when you ask architect Robert Harvey Oshatz to design your house.

Step by step

Sometimes people say things that inspire me. I've spent quite some time on Knock Off Wood, a fun blog that provides plans for "knocking off" popular pieces of wooden furniture. From Ikea to Pottery Barn, Ana White delivers the plans and shows off her own examples of furniture building. But maybe the best part is all the space and attention she devotes to all her fans and readers, people who set out to make their own wonders using her plans. They showcase some spectacular stuff, and here are just a few examples:

Ana came up with this lovely shelf in no time using some discarded pallets!

And here we have an amazing child kitchen, made by Ana's guest blogger Kirsten from Crafting Chicks

For more great furniture ideas you should definitely pay Ana a visit, but going back to my original statement, Ana is also a very interesting women with plenty to share. I was personally touched by how she sees life: taking one day at a time and managing everything step by step, definitely what I'm trying to do now! You should read the whole post, but I think it sums up into this:

As we look at this mountain in perspective, this hike seems incredibly amazing.  But in actuality, everything amazing is merely a combination of very ordinary steps.  Never once did I look ahead, and think, I am going to climb to the top of that mountain.  Oh no, it was more like, I am going to make it to the next drainage without being carried.  And when we would reach the next drainage, I would think, I know I have one more drainage in me.  And before I knew it, there was no more drainages.  We were on top.

Organic Architecture

Javier Senosiain's work for Arquitectura Organica reminds me a bit of Gaudí, in his use of colourful tiles and almost biological curves. All of his buildings and designs aspire to become one with nature, and they're often constructed using animal thems. One of my favourites is his Nautilus shell-like house. More info and photos at the article on this place at Beautiful Life, or at Javier's website.