The NYT this week talks about the resourceful vertical dwellers who turn their basement laundry rooms into library lounges.  Sure, the article says, they could easily make a book dump in the common space where residents can rifle through boxes. Instead, they’ve furnished the spaces with shelving and castoffs to create a community space.  Neighbors can get to know one another, talk books and the weather or sit on the couch until the dryer stops.

The author comes close to disparaging some old neighbors who couldn’t say no to an old chair or lamp they’d come across in the building’s garbage. She redeems herself by writing, “the couple did not just welcome their neighbors into their home, they welcomed other people’s homes into their home, linking one private space to another through things moving in time.”

Then, this story in the Guardian tells about a small village that lost the use of their mobile library.  To take its place, creative thinkers in the town of 800 created a library from an old phone booth.  The woman who lives across the street from it suggested it, it was purchased for 1 pound and residents donated the shelving and books.  Now, it’s a popular spot.

What else can you do with an old phone booth?  Add fish and water.

Make an urban chess board.

Or do this.