Small home living: Not ‘downsizing’ but ‘right-sizing’

Associated Press | Monday, February 3, 2020 12:01 a.m.

Bob Gothard/Taunton Press via AP

Yankee Barn Homes frames are precut, sanded and stained in their New Hampshire facilities prior to site delivery. The post-and-beam frame structure is then raised at the site, along with the panelized wall and roof. The double-high ceilings and double row of windows in the great room create a light-filled airy feel.

With the current trend toward decluttering and downsizing, there are plenty of books about how to winnow down possessions to the few that are truly necessary and loved. This book shows how you can live well once that’s done.

In “Downsize: Living Large in a Small House” (2019, The Taunton Press), author Sheri Koones focuses on practical ways to live well at home once you’ve streamlined your belongings and are living more compactly.

“It scares people to think of moving into a smaller space, but every single person I interviewed who has made the transition says they are so happy they did,” Koones says. “Time and again, people used the word ‘liberated’ to describe their move to a smaller space, with homes requiring far less time and money to maintain.”

Koones, who recently relocated from a sprawling 6,800-square-foot house in Greenwich, Conn., to a 1,400-square-foot home closer to town, has experienced the transition herself.

“It’s not just empty nesters anymore,” she adds. “Younger people too are in couples where they’re both working, they’re having children later, they want to be active and they don’t want to be doing maintenance on the weekends. They don’t want to be tied down to mowing lawns and doing all the other chores that come with living in a big house.”

Living more sustainably and saving on energy costs is also part of the attraction of downsizing, Koones says.

So is aging in place. There are people of all ages looking for features like a master bedroom on the main floor, or barrier-free showers.

Some of the features that Koones says can make a small home feel more spacious:

• Raised ceilings, well-positioned windows and light wall colors.

• Multifunctional furniture, like tiny kitchen tables that can expand to accommodate dinner guests.

• Flexible rooms that can serve as office, bedroom and hobby room, for example. One house featured in the book has a garage with light fixtures and doors that open in front and back so that it doubles as an entertaining space.

• Creative storage ideas, like chairs that can hang on wall pegs, hooks for bicycles and making the best use of alcoves or space under stairs.

• Fewer hallways, which allows for more livable space.

“I refer to it as ‘downsizing,’ but a better word for it might be ‘right-sizing,’ Koones says. “For most of history, houses were more modestly proportioned, and we lived quite comfortably in those smaller homes. Over time houses got too big. Now the trend is heading toward smaller again.”