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Notes

  • Plants:

    • Big trees: Oak, poplar (type of cottonwood), cottonwood (alamo o chopo), Ash, maple, Redwood or sequoia, pine, Buckeye, Willow.
      • Beware with aggressive roots: Fig tree, Eucalyptus, Elastic ficus, willow, poplar,
    • Fruit trees: Fig, Apple, Strawberry, Loquat, Quince, mulberry, Sweet Almond.
    • More fruit plants: Raspberry, Blueberry, Gooseberry, Currant, Blackberry (spikes), Honeyberry, Goji berry,
    • Grass-like: Dwarf Carpet of Stars

    • Interior: Kentia plant

    • Interior plants in water

      • Lengua de suegra
      • Cabeza de flecha
      • Suculenta Jade
      • Filodendro corazón
      • Pothos

Wall Material

  • Mainly glass curtains, just glass. Otherwise clear walls.

    • Quartz glass is not normal glass. Both are silicon dioxide, but quartz/fused silica transmits UV down to ~200 nm, while normal soda-lime glass cuts off at ~320 nm — it passes UVA and blocks UVB. The difference is trace iron and the sodium/calcium added to lower the melting point, not the silica.
    • Laminated glass (PVB interlayer) blocks UVA too, out to ~380 nm.
    • Starphire is low-iron glass — more UV and blue than standard float, but it is not quartz. Standard acrylic cuts off ~375 nm; only UV-transmitting grades (e.g. OP-4) reach ~280 nm.
    • We are not glazing for UV transmission — see Glass & Shading.

  • Clear wood planks (plywood). Wood paneling

  • Bricks
  • White painted concrete (lime?)
  • Cementitious: White portland cement + gypsum + white sand
  • Raw white fine concrete plastering (Repellado del enjarre en bruto)
  • Tinted glass
  • Pegboard surface
  • Cement board (Duroc)
  • Lath with Woodchip-Clay
  • Fiberglass Reinforced Panels, Fiberglass mat
  • Gypsum panels
  • Exposed concrete block (noise through the structure?)
  • Don't use gypsum finish (releases dust, it's not resistant, bad with humidity, hard to paint, hard to wash without destroying the paint, it flakes off).

Floor material

It must withstand water, friction, sunlight, heavy objects with thin feet, not sag.

  • marble (for bathroom)
  • thick stone (granite)
  • concrete slab
  • epoxy
  • cement
  • tiles

Doors

Few hinge or sliding doors with magnetic latches on both ends to fix them open or closed.

  • Bathroom: Sliding doors with public bathroom indicator.
  • Entrance: Smart lock that connects to the key/knob from inside, maybe with a double clutch to still be able to use keys.
  • Workshop doors: Sliding or hinge in both directions, with magnetic locks only.
  • With seal like swiss doors
  • Should be able to lock open.

Curtains

Rolling shields at the south. Opaque insulating blinds (Stop partially sunlight + blockout) + thick translucent sheer curtains. Some of them roller, so that I can block sunlight from my head, but not

Normal or roller, both smart. Would be super cool to have smart film on the glass, to regulate the temperature for free, making the glass change from transparent to white translucent or change the reflectivity.

  • Luminette privacy sheers (smart, translucent + opaque)
  • S Fold. Open/close automatically depending on the temperature and routines.
  • Rose Home Fashion Blackout curtains

Drawers vs. boxes on shelving

Small drawers should not exist — a box on an open shelf does the same job better.

  • A box can be pulled out and carried to wherever you're working, and covered with a lid to keep contents clean and contained. No drawer hardware needed.
  • Nice-to-have: some resistance/damping when pulling the box out so it doesn't slam off the shelf.
  • Exception: for frequent, one-handed access, real drawers win (soft-close, single-motion open without lifting a box out). Use drawers only there; default to boxes-on-shelving everywhere else.

Countertop material

  • Very resistant to chemicals, heat, and UV.
  • A little porous, may require sealing.
  • Generally affordable.
  • Non-porous and highly durable.
  • Can discolor with direct UV exposure over time.
  • Wide range of colors and patterns.
  • Highly customizable in shape and color.
  • Porous and requires sealing to prevent stains.
  • Can develop hairline cracks over time.

References