For some, raising chickens can be part of a integrated approach for self-sufficiency. In growing your own food, chickens can provide a regular supply of eggs, fertilizer through their manure, pest management (they eat lots of bugs), plus their ingrained, ground-scratching behaviour prepares the soil for crops. Chickens need shelter of course, and we’ve seen plenty of nifty designsfor chicken coops, with this interesting specimen from Italian collaborative laboratory DettoFatto (a.k.a. “said done”) being one of the latest.

See more photos here: Chicken coop gets cool & contemporary treatment in Sicily

© 1st Options

Water towers do not make for easy conversions; there are going to be lots of stairs. London developer Leigh Osborne took a tower dating back to 1867 and converted it into “one of the most lavish and eccentric residences in the city”. It was a challenge; he tells the Penarth Times that “There were 2,000 dead pigeons in there, and poo that went up to the top of your wellies!”

See more: Water Tower Converted Into Superluxe London Home

3D Printed House Is a Giant Möbius Strip!

Coverage of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake disaster have dwindled from the news, but rebuilding efforts continue. Check out these Eye-Catching, Disaster-Resistant Earthbag Homes! 

As noted yesterday, We live in a dangerous neighborhood, with everything from Planet X to killer comets to pole shifts threatening us, even if we get through the Mayan Apocalypse this weekend. 9 Apocalypse-ready Homes

© Andreu Carulla

Andreu Carulla’s NeighBirds is a clever take on the birdhouse. 

Each birdhouse is hand-crafted into a hexagon from untreated pine. As a stand-alone birdhouse NeighBirds is a perfectly fine birdhouse. The genius of the design comes into play when the love birds decide to start a family.

(via NeighBirds: Brilliant, Modular Birdhouse Expands Into Bird Neighborhood (Photos) : TreeHugger)

credit: Malcolm Wells

Love Nature. Leave It Alone.

The late great Malcolm Wells explains why it makes so much sense to build underground; instead of killing nature, you build under and restore it. Don’t miss our collection of underground, earth sheltered homes.

© Steven Banken

There is a natural simplicity to these reed benches, made in the Netherlands.

(via Reed Benches Have a Natural Simplicity of Beauty : TreeHugger)

With The Hobbit movie coming out soon, we’re taking a look at some of our favorite real life hobbit houses we’ve shown on TreeHugger. 

Growing food indoors is usually limited by the space you have. More often than not, that means some kind of vertical placement, as we’ve seen withwindowfarms, mini-greenhouses doubling as lighting and aeroponic systems.

Fogponics — a more advanced application of aeroponics where vaporized water is used to transfer nutrients and oxygen to enclosed, suspended plant roots — is where German design company Vakant Design begins instead with Fogger, a unit designed to give plants that extra boost.

(via Fogponic Unit Stacks Vertically to Grow More Veggies in Less Space : TreeHugger)

Wow, is this the most beautiful wood floor you’ve ever seen? See how it is made here:

(via Wow: Vividly Colored Wood Flooring Is Made by Hand (Video) : TreeHugger)

If you like plants in your house (and you should. Why wouldn’t you?) you may want to consider these NASA-approved plants for filtering the air in your home. 

(via freegospel)

Love this! Created with discarded materials and production surplus from the company, mostly natural wool, this recycled rug evokes the Argentine pasturelands. 

Recycled Rug Evoking Pasturelands Greens Beautiful Home Office in Buenos Aires