Most of us have childhood memories of a friend’s very-DIY Bart Simpsonesque tree den, and some of us may have even seen pictures on the internet of futuristic hanging mirrored tree spheres with glass lifts going up to them and laser-heated water containers and collapsible graphene sleep pods, but it occurs to surprisingly few of us to consider installing a nice, affordable, between-the-branches man cave or goddess sanctuary in the trees of our own gardens.
With the rise of the machines and convenience gadgets, the concomitant rifeness of inescapable connectedness, and with more and more contemporary interior designers and architects reflecting our need for a break from it all in their work, having a space in your home to simply relax and get away from the discordant cacophony of constant beeps and buzzes is becoming a recognised necessity in today’s home.
They’re not just for kids.
Now obviously if you are the proud owner of a functioning treehouse, then your kids are gonna be the coolest kids in the neighbourhood, there’s no denying that- and their existence gives you a perfect scapegoat for excusing the cost in time and money of building one in the first place. But adults, I defy you to have a more relaxing time than napping in a hammock, being gently rocked by a summer breeze, surrounded by branches, birds, and the banisters of your own chalet 20 feet above your garden.
And if that cliché is too prescriptive a parameter for you, note that the role of your creation is bound only by the limits of your imagination. Throw some wires up the side of the tree to have migrated your office from indoors to out, or those of you with green-thumbs could fathomably fashion yourselves a handsome tree-greenhouse. It all depends on what type of bespoke furniture you fill the room with. Basically if you’ve got a tree behind your house then your potential living space is larger than you currently realise.
Treehouses mean trees.
Maybe all of this is redundant for you; it very well might be the case that your garden is either bereft of trees, or even shrubbery of any kind. I must admit that my own garden is baron of foliage except a 2 foot pine and an insubstantial eucalyptus tree that couldn’t hold a grudge. In which case, this should be inspiring you to rectify. Aside from the immediate benefits, getting a tree not only drinks in Co2 but kicks out oxygen at the same time, improving the very air you breathe. It gives a home to local birdlife and doubtlessly countless other leaf-loving critters. And if you opt to get a number of trees then a nice apple tree means free nutritious snacks for everybody!
If I’m honest though, the thing that is most attractive about the idea is the concept of being with nature. The population is surging ever skyward, an aerial view of the land would see patches of green and brown slowly depleting, giving way to cold, unnatural grey. Humans have a love of greenery built in and some city-kids may never even discover it. Don’t squander an opportunity if you have the perfect location for a treehouse. Wouldn’t your inner child consider that a criminal miscarriage of justice?
