The Positive Side of Building Small – Comfort, Quality and Livability!
There are many advantages to building small. Less is more when your home is planned around your lifestyle. Many empty nesters want a smaller and more efficient home. Spending on unnecessary space increases utility consumption and maintenance costs. More people are finding that building small is the most effective use of their money – and it’s environmentally sound.
Design features that emphasize openness and multi-use space can make a smaller home appear larger and feel more spacious. Combining a living room, dining room and kitchen into a single larger open space with shared functions will make a home feel much larger. Passive solar design, which often allows for expansive use of glass and opens the interior to the outdoors, will also make a small home feel larger than it is. The home is literally borrowing space from outside for a more open feel. When a floor surface material, such as stone or tile extends from inside the home, through a door and onto an exterior patio, the outdoors is drawn in to create a greater sense of spaciousness inside the building.
In a standard size home the cost of construction or remodeling is increased when high quality finishes and fixtures are chosen. In a small home it is easier to add high quality finishes and stay within a budget. Green building materials and building methods can also be incorporated in a smaller home at a lower cost, which is good for the environment, the owners’ health and can save money and energy.
As families grow and age and parents find their children leaving home for college and beyond, many are finding that their homes are bigger than they need. The large home that seemed too small when filled with children and teenagers now has rooms that may not be used for weeks or months at a time but still have to be cleaned and heated. Many empty nesters are trying to decide what to do with their homes. Some are selling and moving into smaller homes but many are finding that the economics of moving really doesn’t make sense. People are often better off staying on the property that they have improved over a number of years and may own free and clear.
Leff Construction has the design-build skills to help you add a second unit to your home. We can make your small, elegant new home a reality with our in-house architectural and structural engineering design staff or by working with your own architect. Please visit the Design-Build section of the web site to learn about those services, and look at our Portfolio to see other small homes we’ve built. Then call or e-mail us to get your project started.