15 Home Ideas the Rest of the World Has and Your House STILL Doesn't

Most of the world quietly solved the everyday problems your house still fights — and they did it decades, sometimes centuries ago. Here are 15 home ideas from around the world that fix the small daily frustrations American homes just live with: cold rooms, glare and summer heat, wet dishes, cluttered counters, and sky-high energy bills. You'll meet the Japanese kotatsu that heats the person instead of the room, the Korean ondol heated floor, the German tilt-and-turn window, the Spanish persiana shutter, the Finnish drying cabinet, the Swedish two-duvet bed, the Dutch hijsbalk hoist beam, the Iranian badgir windcatcher that cools a house with no electricity, the Chinese kang, Icelandic geothermal heating, Danish hygge lighting, the Swiss bunker-turned-storeroom, the Italian bidet, the Russian masonry stove, and the Brazilian área de serviço. None of it is exotic. None of it is expensive. Most of it is older than electricity — and almost none of it is in your house, because somebody decided that for you. 👉 Subscribe for more clever home ideas from around the world. 👍 Like if your house is missing at least one of these. 💬 Which one do you want most? Tell us in the comments. Air conditioner 1 2019-09-13 by FASTILY - CC-BY-SA Amsterdam breidt zich uit Weeknummer 51-49 - Open Beelden - 61464 by Polygoon-Profilti (producent) / Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid (beheerder) - CC-BY-SA BurningOgatan(JapaneseBriquetteCharcoal).theora by STRONGlk7 - CC-BY-SA Chimney smoke video dec 09 by Secretlondon - CC-BY-SA Cooking pots over a fire in Eastern Cape - South Africa by Amada44 - CC-BY-SA Description of Ember Attacks by the Country Fire Authority, Victoria, Australia by Country Fire Authority - CC-BY Gas heater by Dschwen - CC-BY-SA Gouripur House - Kalimpong - Interiors - 01 by Sumit Surai - CC-BY-SA Gouripur House - Kalimpong - Interiors - 02 by Sumit Surai - CC-BY-SA Patio de los Leones by Jynus - CC-BY-SA Setting Fire to the Masonry Heater by Video recorder, Sound recorder, Photographer: Laura Vaara - CC-BY Washlets (high-tech toilets) in Japan (video) by Basile Morin - CC-BY-SA