Small House Design| Small contemporary house designs |why the small house movement is here to stay
According to the US Census Bureau, the median size of a new home is now 2,200 square feet, reversing a 1990's trend of "bigger is better." McMansions – those 5,000 square foot palaces of the suburbs sprouted like weeds in the desert. We all needed space for our stuff- our belongings rarely used. Then the real estate bubble caused us to reconsider space and utility.
We started asking ourselves many questions. Do we really need all this space? Shouldn't our homes contain flexible spaces rather than rooms used once annually? Do we really need a grand entranceway? Do we really need excessively large master bedrooms?
Our values have changed and so have our homes. Designing smaller homes is a movement that's here to stay and learning why and how to design smaller homes is more important than ever.
Why is smaller better?
- Smaller homes are more efficient – grand living rooms that are empty a majority of the time are not efficient.
- Smaller homes are easier to maintain – we have realized that cleaning a large home is time consuming and expensive, not to mention time consuming.
- Smaller homes use less energy – electric and water bills for a smaller home allow us to have lower overhead thereby contributing more to our savings accounts.
- Smaller homes have a smaller carbon footprint – if we can all decrease our carbon footprint, we can decrease global warming.
- Smaller homes need fewer materials and natural resources – when we consume less, we are function better as a society.
Case in point
Clients are asking me to design projects on a smaller scale. A recent example is a couple living in the Arcadia neighborhood near the Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona. The homeowners asked me to design a new master suite for their seventies mid century modern home. They wanted a sleeping area to be only as large as it needed to be to house a bed and two end tables. They decided that they would only use that space for sleeping, so they opted to focus on functional areas of the master suite. The master bath was designed to include aspects that would add to their quality of life – a separated tub and shower, two large sink areas, and a large walk in closet. See project here.
This confirms the long held theory that bigger is not always better. We are thinking in new ways about the spaces we call home. A home is no longer just an investment. We are likely to stay in our homes far longer than the previous decade. Using space efficiently is not only "hip," it's here to stay!
©Copyright 2009 - 2011| Dana W. Ball | All Rights Reserved
Dana W. Ball, The Art Guy, is the creator of The Visual Home™, a design process that allows clients to visualize their home for suitability, comfort, and style before it is built using three dimensional (3D) design technology. Dana creates custom designs for kitchens, master bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices, outdoor spaces and patios, as well as new home designs from concept through construction.
Dana, a licensed General Contractor and Architectural Designer, uses sustainable and green design concepts to create custom spaces for clients from California to Virginia and Idaho to Arizona. Contact Dana and start designing your dream home today!
Three ways to contact us:
Call Dana, the Art Guy at: 480-235-4532
Email: dana@artguydesign.com
Snail Mail: 6350 N. 78th St Suite 259, Scottsdale Arizona 85250 |
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