Easy Living: What Makes A Comfortable Home
Comfort is a very interesting commodity in our culture. As Americans we probably enjoy more creature comforts than most people who have ever lived, and this is certainly due in part to the fact that in many ways we push ourselves harder than ever before. The average work week is now 47 hours, we are told, which by the time you add getting dressed in the morning, commute time, and wind-down in the evening is certainly over 50 hours weekly. And that's not counting the impositions placed on our downtime by smartphone and other technology! After withstanding the daily barrage of engagement with the outside world, we have very little patience for any sort of discomfort in our homes - or at least I know I do.
Homebuilding being an industry built upon consumer preference and lifestyle, then, there have been a host of advances in the push to anticipate people's needs and meet them with architecture and included features. Easy Living is a method of construction we use at Towns on Imperial that incorporates a "comfort" focused building code adopted by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, and is encouraged by a $5000 state tax credit for eligible candidates. Among other features, here's how we build comfortable homes:
- Wide Doorways
- Ever have to turn sideways while carrying groceries in the house so you can fit in the door? Now you feel the pain of someone who struggles with a disability. Or an older person who needs to use a walker or wheelchair. Or a large individual such as a football player. Every passageway door in our townhouses - even closets - are 3' wide, leaving ample room for folks to move around in the home.
- No Steps
- I am 37 years old. When I was 27 years old, I saw steps as cheap exercise, and maybe even as an excuse to try to take three at a time. After completing my first marathon and hearing a couple of my runner friends talk about knee replacements, I view steps in a different light. They are more stress on my joints, which are starting to hurt a bit after a long day on my feet, and the thought of moving around my house without them is starting to get more and more attractive. Give me another 20 years and I'll be ready to go out and buy a new home that has no steps. That's why every single townhouse we build has the master suite and laundry on the main floor.
- Open Floor Plan
- This used to be somewhat of a novelty in home design. It was kind of cool to sit in your kitchen and watch the TV while you were peeling potatoes or washing the dishes. But with mobility becoming more important, time for social interaction remaining at a premium, and real estate values continuing to rise, we've all realized that it just doesn't work for a floor plan to be all chopped up into little rooms and hallways. Our busy lives and physical limitations require a design that flows well with the rhythm of our schedules.
- Vaulted Ceilings
- Surprised to see this on a list of what makes a house comfortable? Well, there's more to comfort than what you can reach out and touch. Think about how you feel when you walk into a room with soaring ceilings that draw your line of sight up and help lift your mood. It makes a tremendous difference. That is why people have historically been willing to pay a few more bucks per month in utility costs for tall ceilings in a main living space and perhaps in a master suite that raise your level of comfort every time you walk into your home. Try it and see! :)
- No Stairs From The Garage
- We build 100 new homes a year. Every few years when we miss this benchmark on one of them, it is one of my boss's pet peeves. When sited correctly, a new home should be set no more than one step up from the garage floor. And the same goes for the sidewalk in the front if at all possible. It makes moving in and out of the house simple and safe, and it is an easy way to reduce the low-level grind of discomfort that a poorly designed homesite can provide.
- A Balanced HVAC System
- Our building partners and project managers at Countryside HomeCrafters spend a lot of time working on the heating and cooling systems for the new homes we build. Just like your car, your HVAC system is not designed to do a lot of starting and stopping. It needs to run continuously for a certain period of time to be at its most efficient and to provide you with the most comfortable ambience inside. If you purchase a 2-story home (depending on its size) we may build it with two separate HVAC units to best control the inside temperature, and even with single units we do a lot of testing and dialing in to make sure it works perfectly.
All these factors work together to make your home the most comfortable place in your everyday life. The list is not exhaustive, but it gives you an idea of the thought and planning that goes into it. Next time you think about the purchase of a new house or townhouse, take into consideration how easy it will be for you to live there. It matters!
Jeremy D. Vogan
(540) 487-0480 | [email protected] | Sales Representative, Towns on Imperial LLC (Equal Opportunity Housing provider)
March 5, 2015
Photo credit: www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com
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