Living Large In Small Houses

On one side of the street is the baby boomer family who shipped their kids off to school. Their departure left Mom and Dad living in an empty nest, feeling ambivalent about watching their kids grow up, struggling with their sense of purpose, and reevaluating their relationship.?

On the other side is the millennial family, who left a boomer family just like them to strike out on their own four years ago, only to return to the same neighborhood wielding freshly minted college degrees. They are starting businesses, moving up the corporate ladder, and buying their first homes.?

Now they are bidding against each other on the same small house. The baby boomer is looking for a soft landing in retirement, and the up-and-coming millennial is taking their rightful place in the new establishment.?

"The trend toward smaller homes is creating a perfect storm of demand from two generations of buyers. Baby boomers are downsizing as they enter retirement. Millennials are entering their peak earning years, growing their families, and buying small starter homes," said Derek Fricke, Area Sales Manager for United Fidelity Funding Corp.?

Developers are building new houses with smaller yards, porches, and decks. Outdoor living spaces are more of a priority because homeowners are yearning for the outdoors without breaking a sweat while extending–visually and physically–the more streamlined interior space.?

Karen Mills says she sees a robust trend toward simplifying interiors on both ends of the social spectrum, from baby boomers to millennials angling for more streamlined and low-maintenance lifestyles.?

“Many of my developer friends around the country are building newer houses with an open floor plan and minimalistic designs. They are easier to clean and feel more spacious even though they are smaller,” she said.?

The demand for smaller houses is stirring up fierce rivalries between older and younger buyers. Martin Taggart, the co-founder of Team Real Estate, brokered through eXp Realty and the publisher of Life In Style, reports that houses under 2,000 square feet are selling at a premium and attracting multiple offers in many markets.

“Looking at numbers from Freddie Mac, the supply of homes up to 1,400 square feet is near a fifty-year low. But in 2020, about 28% of real-estate transactions could be downsizing,” said Taggart.?

Some people may see downsizing as a significant sacrifice, especially if they have to give up a larger home that they have been comfortable in for many years.?

Others may see it as a creative challenge, an opportunity to declutter their lives and simplify their living situation. Regardless of how people feel about downsizing, it is the new normal in the housing market, and designing for it is on the rise.?

“The style for small spaces will continue to head in a more clean, soft direction that brings elements of the outdoors into the space. I recommend using a light palette with pops of bold color added sparingly and purposefully to create visual interest,” said Mills.?

She suggests painting small rooms in dark colors that recede into the background, creating the illusion of more open space. Like a magician revealing the secret to one of her tricks, she smiles slyly and suggests our readers make all colors uniform.?

Paint floors and walls white so the human eye can’t determine where the room begins and ends. At the risk of slaughtering an analogy, it delivers an “infinity pool effect.”?

She recommends that we place furniture at 45-degree angles to free up wall space and expand our sightlines. Strategically placed mirrors reflect light and open up space. She likes to put a lamp in front of the mirror to bounce light off the walls, making the room appear brighter and more prominent.

The key to decluttering the space is multifunction storage or what Mills likes to call the “transformers design philosophy,” referring to the movie about machines that change shapes and capabilities on the fly. It could be a coffee table or ottoman that doubles as storage or a sofa used for seating and a bed at night.

Sometimes you can pack up the whole house and move it. The KODA Walking Concrete house is entirely mobile, and you can disassemble it and reassemble it somewhere else. Maybe we will be able to pick one up at IKEA soon. A looming shortage of manual skills will likely create a cottage industry of handypeople to help clueless consumers put their houses together.?

Furniture selection plays another leading role in helping us live large in small spaces. Match solid fabric colors to the walls. Noisy patterns interrupt the experience. All furniture should have legs and sit above the floor. The floor underneath, mainly hardwood or an exquisite area rug, creates a sense of floating over rather than crowding into the space.???

All of these are smart design moves, but the most significant idea in small rooms is going vertical. "Think New York City skyline design style. Build high shelving to take advantage of nooks and crannies and use all available wall space for storage," said Bryce Johnson, Owner of Bryce Construction.

A bold design selection that might overpower an ample space could be ideal for a smaller space. Maybe that wallpaper that seduced you at the store is a train wreck in your bedroom, but it could work for creating a unique gem of a hidden bathroom behind a moveable cabinet wall.?

The correct design elements can make your smallest rooms look more spacious. When a small space has a vibrant personality and big attitude, it feels larger than life because it is.?

Life in Style, the weekly Publication from Team Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty, helps homeowners make more inspired decisions about their homes and lifestyles. It features original news, commentary, tips, and analysis from leading industry experts. To be considered for inclusion in future stories, email [email protected].