Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Design tips for small square footage (Was: Re: How big is too big (for a house))

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Apr 15, 2017, at 3:28 PM, William C. Wood <woodwc [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> (Sounds simple enough, and my crew has always been happy with small bedrooms. 
> I've been in some vacation homes and rentals that use that principle -- 
> everyone can sleep in peace, and then there's space to hang around the 
> fireplace and look out at the lake. But there must be something that the 
> wider world thinks is bad with small bedrooms, because as square footage 
> increases in standard house plans, it's the size rather than the number of 
> bedrooms that typically increases.)

I saw a documentary on life in Sweden in which the bedrooms for the children 
were literally a single bed above a desk. Just enough room for a chair at the 
desk and a large window with a window seat. The window made it bright and open. 
The window was at least half as large as the bed. High ceilings. 

The room was as long as a bed with a closet built in by the foot of the bed. 
The room was as wide as the bed plus half the width of the bed of floor space.

Then there are Dutch cupboard beds. I know a woman who built one. And another 
single mother with three children who had two sleeping in converted cupboards.

I think in houses the children’s bedrooms are regarded as play spaces and toy 
spaces. Of course that never works and the toys end up downstairs. But there is 
the illusion that they will play in their rooms. Teenaged girls usually do. 
Boys are less likely to. The floor is to throw clothes on.

Large spaces are also sold as inexpensive to build and add value. Another 
bathroom is expensive but floor space isn’t. But all that SF is expensive to 
maintain, heat, and cool. The roof gets larger and larger. And the space is 
just there for you to buy more stuff and never pass on things to others.

I think we have also have forgotten the grace notes of a wonderful house — big 
windows down almost to the floor and well designed built-ins. The Swedish 
bedrooms had built in beds and desks. Use less wood and take less space because 
the walls are used as supports.

I have both free standing bookcases and a wall of built in shelves. I love the 
built-ins. They are solid and give the room a sense of permanence. When people 
first came in to see them they thought I had pushed the wall into the next 
unit. The area seemed larger.

I would love an old fashioned Inglenook if I could find someone to build one. 
No free standing tables and chairs.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org