By Vern Holmquist
I have been watching with great interest the worldwide trend toward smaller, even micro housing.
And I agree with those who say we should be considering taking up less space on our planet.
With this in mind, I have studied all the floor plans I could find. Having lived many years in the somewhat confined space of mobile or what is now known as manufactured homes, I feel I have some knowledge on how small a home can be and still be functional.
Now keep in mind, I am speaking of room for only one or two people, not a place to raise a family.
My dream home is based on the premise that young people starting out in their adult working lives are out of their gourd tying themselves with a quarter of a million dollar dream home mortgage.
Taking time and means to stop and smell the roses is more important than living to pay a mortgage.
First of all, there must be space for stuff, and we all have too much stuff. If this were not true then why would we have to have so many garage sales?
We can eliminate some unnecessary stuff in our lives and still have the important stuff we need to relax and dream inside our home.
Most of the small homes I’ve looked at have very little storage facility, so in my design I made this a priority.
I have decided the least square footage I could call a perfect fit is 480 square feet. My floor plan came out to be 16 ft. by 30ft. and of this, 280 sq. ft. is devoted to compact necessities, the rest is designed for comfortable, gracious living. After all, I do need room to relax and dream.
Of the room devoted to necessities, I have again divided the 280 square feet with a wall down the center separating the kitchen from the bath and laundry room. Toilet, basin and shower and washer and dryer all connect to this center wall while the opposite wall will be taken up with storage shelving except for a dressing table just opposite the shower. All high voltage wiring and the plumbing is within the center wall.
The gracious living part, by day serves as a nice-sized living room with light but comfortable lounging chairs, sofa to relax in while watching TV or doing whatever. By night, a comfortable Murphy bed pulls down off the wall for a good night’s sleep. Remember, heavy, overstuffed furniture has a visual weight that crowds living space.
How does it all work? When it’s bedtime, you pull the drapes over the big window, pull down the Murphy and get ready for slumber. In the morning, you wake up to the warm glow of the decorative fireplace, that puts out enough heat to warm 480 square feet, make the bed or if pressed for time, just fold it up, take a shower, turn around to the dressing table two steps away and do what you have to do to make yourself presentable for the day. Dirty clothes go into a handy built-in hamper and from the hamper to the washer, to the dryer and then to a bin on the storage wall. So in this area, compactness leads to efficiency. Sounds good to me. Especially since less housework equals more time for fun!
