Debate Around the Optimum Home Size
Our obsession for big homes has helped us displace a long-standing trend. For the first time, homes built in Australia are bigger than those built in America and this change in statistic-sheet needs some serious introspection. It is time to ponder whether we actually need such big homes, especially in the light of an ever-imminent housing shortage.
Number of residents
It is important to approximately assess the number of people who will live in your home 5-10 years from now? Let me explain this. First Home Buyers have received a big jolt; what with the Grants not helping them too much and investors spiking property prices to zones they cannot easily access.
First home buyers in trouble
As a direct consequence, more and more young adults- not able to save enough for their first homes- are deciding to live longer with their parents. We know how the Gen Y is more inclined towards having its private bathrooms and living spaces. I guess this explains why it is important to prefigure the number of residents expected to ‘people’ the home in coming times and plan the optimum home size accordingly.
Gender of children
The optimum home size may also vary keeping in mind the gender of the children. After all, two male children can keep on inhabiting the same bedroom long after turning into young adults. The same is true for the two female children, too. This said, you will definitely need to ponder upon an extra bedroom if you have two or more children, and from opposite genders.
Natural storage facility
Another aspect worth ruminating over is the kind of storage you need. A few homes are blessed with natural storage facilities while others require creating storage space. Depending upon your needs, your house may require quite a number of extensions. It is good then to construct those extra spaces now when the cost of building them is expected to be a good few dollars lesser than, say, 10 years from now.
The case of missing dining tables
Paradigm shifts have also resulted in quite a few reconsiderations. Our preceding generation would agree how a separate dining space (read dining tables) was a must in their times. Today, that selfsame dining space has merged either with the kitchen area (kitchen islands with stools) or with the living area. This has allowed us to shrink our home sizes by a few square metres.
Sometime ago, I had discussed the Mcmansion Syndrome in one of my articles and had asserted how our willingness to buy apartments in the CBD area is kind of a departure from the Mcmansion trend. Here is hoping that we become even more prudent in our choice of homes (in terms of size) and how we use its inherent space.
What kind of home extensions did you have to plan?
