Houses designed by Ikea. Does this mean I’m going to have to assemble my stove with that little L-shaped allen wrench? I can already feel a panic attack coming on. All the small pieces! THE SMALL PIECES!
Just kidding. It comes assembled.
Ikea has had prefab homes for quite a while now, but the Activ is the first one being released in the United States. Actually, Ikea isn’t the major player here, ideabox, which designs prefab, box-style homes — led the charge.
“We worked with Ikea Portland on the design as we wanted to explore using Ikea kitchen, vanities, wardrobes, and flooring in the production of a new model. Ikea Portland then supplies ideabox the materials to be used in production,” said Jim Russell, owner of ideabox.
The small houses are one bedroom, one bathroom boxes with about 745 square feet. The homes feature counter-depth refrigerators, cabinet-faced dishwashers, a double vanity sink in the bathroom and a range of built-in storage units. While the layout is static, buyers can customize their tiny home by picking the colors. The little homes come with a little price, and sell for about $86,500.
ideabox sells Ikea floors as “a perfect match for active Northwest lifestyles.” The overall space seems to appeal to the Portlandia-styled green living.
The tiny units were unveiled last week in Portland, and are only available there. As Russell puts it, “draw a line at Colorado and go west.”
While Activ is certainly stunning, quite functional and will most certainly gain notoriety because of its association with America’s favorite Swedish furniture store, it’s not a totally new idea. Similar homes built from shipping containers have gained at least a modicum of success, and a movement has been afoot since about 2006 to try to make the once unstylish modular homes sexier.
Activ certainly beats the design of my similarly sized apartment. Which, built in 1975, has none of these sleek lines and wouldn’t dream of a cabinet-faced dishwasher. I could probably even afford one of these things on my blogger budget.
Check out some pictures below.
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