Monday, January 26, 2009

Say Goodbye to McMansions

I regularly read news on the internet, and an article on the WSJ's MarketWatch caught my eye this morning. It is about the trend to smaller homes in America!

As a self-proclaimed 'Not So Big' architect, I have seen this trend coming over the past 3-5 years. My clients tend to delight in the small, cozy nooks that I design for them, while foregoing some rooms that used to be standard in a home (such as the formal dining room).

The Armstrongs, a couple nearing retirement, hired me to help them make the home they built over 40 years ago work better for their Golden Years. One of the changes we made was a tiny addition to Margaret's sewing room - which doubles as a playroom for grandchildren - and triples as a dining room extension for holiday parties. In order to make it work well for these uses, and to make it feel more inviting, we basically pushed out one exterior wall 2'-6" under the eave. We added a row of windows and a window seat with storage underneath. By improving the functionality of this room, with just a small addition, we greatly increased the amount of activities that could happen there!

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