How to make a smaller home seem more spacious
Q. I'm planning to build a new house. Even though my budget is not tight, I still want to build a smaller house for energy and environmental reasons. Do you have any tips to make it seem more spacious?
A. Building smaller houses is the trend today precisely because of the energy and environmental concerns you have. The way energy prices have been increasing, even if someone is not on a tight budget, future energy costs may impact the resale value of your house someday.
There are quite a few design tips to make the living space inside a house seem to be more spacious than it actually is. This should be particularly easy for you to do because you do not have to work on a tight budget.
Most of the following design tips are also applicable for people on a tight budget when building a new house. Just the fact that the house is smaller significantly reduces the overall labor and material costs.
One of the first design steps to consider is how the house can be organized into specific zones, not just rooms. Attempt to design the house with active community zones and private zones that are quieter. This can be done by having some medium-sized rooms complemented by some snug, cozy spaces. These spaces may actually be included in one corner of another room.
Design the floor plan layout of the house so there are windows on at least two walls of each room. Size the windows appropriately for the room. Very large windows in a wall can make a room seem smaller than it actually is. Include some separate small higher windows above some standard windows to vary the focus distance. This provides a view of both nearby objects through the standard windows and distant objects through the higher windows.
Instead of having typical straight walls or hallways, consider building an area with slightly tapered or stepped walls or ceilings. This can create the illusion that the room or hallway is longer than it actually is. A curved hallway can create the same illusion because part of the area is hidden from view from one end.
Area-to-area transitions can make one feel there is more to a house than there actually is. For example, thick thresholds and deep door/window trim add character and a sense of massiveness to a house. Try extending the window trim past the wall surface into the room. This creates a lighted area inside the window opening along the trim which contrasts with the shadows around the extended trim.
Don't scrimp on some of the open areas such as the foyer or entrance to a stairway, even though these two areas are not particularly usable floor space. Nothing makes a house seem smaller than a tiny foyer that more than two people must squeeze through around the opened front door.
Don't forget the outdoors and using it as living space. It is much less expensive to build outdoor living space per square foot than indoor living space and it does not require heating or cooling. To give it the sense of a room instead of just a patio, include a low stone or brick wall around its edge of it and have a large roof overhang.
• Ms. Builder's column appears Sundays in Homes Plus. Send questions to Ms. Builder, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244.
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