Five Steps to Intelligent Downsized Design That Sells
FORT MYERS, Fla. (February 18, 2010) – Downsizing is a trend that is taking hold among all housing consumers, but is particularly evident among the 55-plus crowd that includes the older baby boomers, according to a recent report from the McClatchy News Service. A recent consumer survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders reveals that the most important design features to that crowd of near-retirees center on the practical.
With Florida still ranking as one of the top 10 retirement relocation hot spots, veteran real estate broker Gregg Fous of Market America Realty & Investments Inc. offers 5 design tips to intelligent design in a home to achieve a downsized living space with great sales potential.
1. Reduce air-conditioned space with the effective use of outdoor space. Extend your living area to the outside of the house with screened porches and gardens. Entire walls can be made of sliding glass doors that pocket away and expose the porch. Roll away hurricane shutters can be installed along outer screen walls to create security and usable living space in the colder months. This space is not included by the taxing authorities as air-conditioned space, but in fact is almost as usable as space that is air-conditioned with proper design and orientation to the sun and effective use of hurricane shutters.
2. Eliminate Superfluous Space. Sitting areas in bedrooms, hallways, and defined transition space are all areas that can addressed. While bedrooms can still be comfortable, more attention to closets and storage will have a greater benefit than extra sitting area in a bedroom that may be duplicated elsewhere in the home. Hallways should be eliminated by designing the home off a central core. Transition space can be achieved by décor, color, carpets, and ceiling heights instead of requiring additional square footage.
3. Share Space. In a home not all rooms are used all the time. It should be an easy matter to share, for example, a little used guest room with an office, a dining room with a living room, or an entrance way with a sitting parlor. Most families do not need two separate living areas, one where you greet the insurance agent and one where you entertain family and friends.
4. Built-ins. From offices to laundry rooms, to beds hidden in the wall, the possibilities are endless. In the kitchen, cabinets can go all the way to the ceiling for little used items. Some kitchens now come with removable panels at the kick plate for additional storage (common in Europe). Flat screen TV’s have removed the need for bulky TV cabinets and can now be built in.
5. Flow. Visual flow is important in making a small home seem larger. Eliminating visual barriers also allows you to share space from one use to another - like a dining room and family room or a kitchen and an entertainment area (bar). The elimination of hallways makes traffic flow critical - the use of light, transparent furniture and the visual targets or magnets like well-lit alcoves or art is helpful.
For more information or to subscribe to the free weekly Market America Real Estate & Investments newsletter, contact Gregg Fous at 1-800-439-1580.
