For those people thinking of downsizing to a small home, Sheri Koones has written a book for you! The book, Downsize: Living Large in a Small House is geared to empty nesters although many younger people are downsizing as well. Large homes come with high costs and huge time commitments in order to maintain them appropriately. Homeowners find themselves with less quality time to spend with family and friends. Many new homeowners and empty nesters want a more care free way of life. They want to spend their time traveling and experiencing new things. Ms. Koones herself downsized to a 1,400 sq ft. house. Her house is now convenient to town and close to shopping, restaurants and movies. She says she wishes she had made the move years earlier. After having success with her own move, the author interviewed over 30 homeowners all over the United States and Canada. All the houses in the book are 2,000 sq ft or less.
There are beautiful detailed photographs of each home as well as floor plans to go with them. Each house has small square footage as opposed to traditional large homes. As a result, the energy costs are lower. Many have the master bedroom on the main floor (popular with older homeowners who are hoping to stay in their homes as long as possible.) Another commonality is the homes have a good amount of natural lighting, creative storage, minimal hallways, multipurpose rooms, furnishings with added storage, pocket doors, porches and patios to name a few.
Ms. Koones states that “everyone I interviewed for this book was delighted to be downsizing. They used words such as “liberated,” having rid themselves of all the stuff or baggage that had loaded them down for years.”
Most of the people interviewed had energy efficiency as a priority when building or updating their small house. Some were built with LEED standards. Houses were built with solar energy, HVAC systems that are more efficient and LED lighting and energy efficient appliances. Each house in the book is listed with the green features it is built with.
Of course, decluttering and purging is always difficult. Especially for multi-generational families. Many baby boomers have keepsakes, furniture, china and artwork stored from their parents and other relatives. On top of that they have their children’s things in the house as well. It can be overwhelming to start purging, and once started hard to know what to do with the sell, consign, donate and trash. As Ms. Koones suggests, certainly there are books and reference materials to help you declutter. Another option from our standpoint is to hire a professional organizer. Professional organizers have the tools and resources to help you figure out how to rid yourself of items you will not need in your new home. A professional organizer can make a long tiring process streamlined and stress free.
In the end, the author states that small does not necessarily mean less comfortable or less attractive. Many homeowners of the new homes said the current designs reflect their aesthetics better than the house they had lived in previously. This lovely photographed book illustrates that small houses can be easy to take care of, more cost affordable, energy efficient, comfortable and beautiful at the same time.
Congratulations to Ms. Koones on a well written book reminding us that big is not necessarily better.
