Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny…….Houses?

There has been much talk this month about homes and I don’t just mean foreclosures and sales data.  The International Home Builders Show was held this week in Las Vegas where Better Homes and Gardens Magazine released the findings of their “Next Home Survey” (click here to read an article on the survey by MarketWatch).

The survey found that 36% of consumers in 2009 (up from 32%) plan for their next home to be somewhat or much smaller than their current home and almost half of the survey respondents said they would be looking for greener materials in their next home. What about you? Which green features would be on your “must-have” list?

Many of us living in Arlington already live in smaller residences – apartments or condos.  And those who don’t likely did at some point – even if it was just in a college dorm.  The small space not only makes one creatively seek storage options but I know first-hand how it can also make you reconsider buying an item to begin with.  After all, where would I put it?  There’s not much choice when you have 500 sq ft to play with.  So how do we go from a couple hundred square feet to a couple thousand square feet? And is it really necessary or is it simply to get more storage space to fit more stuff we go out and buy?

As the MarketWatch article states, the average size of homes started in the third quarter of 2008 was 2,438 square feet, down from 2,629 square feet in the second quarter.  Being a dweller of a multi-family complex myself, this sounds like a mansion to me. How big is your home?  Or, better yet, how small would you go?  Check out some of the world’s tiniest homes and then let us know!

 

Comments

[Mike]

I personally feel more comfortable in a smaller living area, because it forces me to get rid of a lot of things. In getting rid of my excess "junk", I feel a lot less cluttered and more free to move around.