Everyone around me is building big. Bigger kitchens, second living rooms, walk in robes the size of a small bedroom. And if that's genuinely what works for your life, your budget, and your weekends, that's fabulous. I mean that.
But I'm not doing it. And I think a lot of people are building big simply because that's what everyone else is doing, not because they've actually thought about whether they need it.
I'm designing smaller. More functional. More intentional. Here's my honest opinion as a designer on why that's not a compromise, it's actually the better design challenge.
Why size doesn't equal comfort
A bigger home doesn't automatically mean a better one. It means more to clean, more to maintain, more to heat and cool, and more money tied up in square footage you might not use every day. None of that is a problem if you genuinely need the space. But a lot of people chase size because it feels like the obvious goal, the default version of success, without stopping to ask whether more space actually serves how they live.
I'm a designer. A room with no real function genuinely bothers me. I notice dead space. I think about it. And I eventually resent maintaining it because it never did anything for me in the first place. That's exactly why I'm choosing a smaller footprint with high-end finishes I love, over a bigger home filled with rooms I'd rarely use.
Why layout matters more than extra rooms
This is where small home design actually gets interesting, because designing this way requires more design thinking, not less. When every room has to earn its place, you can't get away with a layout that doesn't quite work or a space that exists because it looked good on paper. Every decision matters more.
A laundry that's properly planned, with the right bench height, the right storage, the right flow between washer, dryer and folding space, will serve you better every single day than a huge laundry that was never actually designed for how you use it. An efficient layout beats extra square metres every time.
Why fewer, better spaces improve daily life
Think about your actual weekends, not your aspirational ones. Do you entertain constantly, or is that something you do four times a year and then talk yourself into a formal dining room you don't need? A cosy lounge room with furniture chosen for how you actually relax in it will make you happier than a large, sprawling living area that looks impressive but never quite feels comfortable.
Fewer, better spaces aren't a downgrade. They're intentional living applied to your floorplan. Every square metre, however many you have, should have a job to do.
Why finishes matter even more in a smaller footprint
Here's the part people don't expect. When you design smaller, your budget per square metre goes further. Money that would have gone toward extra rooms can go toward better finishes, the ones you'll actually look at and touch every single day. A smaller home with high-end finishes you genuinely love will always feel richer than a bigger home filled with builder grade compromises because the budget got spread too thin.
How a smaller home can feel calmer and more personal
A home designed around real routines instead of aspirational square footage tends to feel calm rather than cluttered. Nothing extra. Nothing for show. Just rooms that work hard for the life you actually live, filled with finishes you chose because you love them, not because there was empty space left to fill.
That's a more beautiful outcome than size for its own sake, and it tends to be a lower stress one too. Less to clean. Less to maintain. More of your home actually being used, actually being loved, actually working for you.
Designing for the life you actually want
I think about myself in ten years. What will I actually be contending with then? Maintaining rooms I rarely use, or living somewhere simple, easy to look after, and exactly right? For me it's the second one.
For you it might be different, and that's completely fine, as long as it's a choice you've made on purpose rather than a default you've fallen into because everyone else is building big. Ask yourself what you genuinely need a space to do before you decide how big it should be. Design for your real life, your real budget, and your real weekends, and your home will serve you far better, whatever size it ends up being.
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