Not So Big Remodeling: How to Achieve Big Results on a Small Remodeling Budget
(Page 2 of 3)
May/June 2009
By Sarah Susanka
Scale matters
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The concept of proportion—the harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole—is one we’ve all but forgotten in much of what we build, eat and otherwise consume these days. When it comes to houses, start with the proportions of your own body. If you are 6 feet tall or more, you’ll likely want different dimensions for the spaces you inhabit than will someone who is 5 feet tall. That is as it should be. Houses that feel comfortable to a shorter person may feel cramped to a taller individual, and vice versa. The point is that your house should first and foremost fit you and the other members of your household.
House feels too big?
A few simple strategies can help cure your home of a case of Too Bigness.
1. Create a hierarchy of ceiling heights. A ceiling height hierarchy simply means that different areas of your home have lower or higher ceilings based on their functions. On the interior of a Too Big House, the first step should be to identify areas that would benefit from a lower ceiling. Although it is often difficult for homeowners to believe that less volume will mean more comfort, a ceiling height hierarchy can completely transform the home’s interior if done well.
Here’s a list of things I’ll typically do to improve the ceiling height hierarchy:
■ Create a distinction in ceiling height between the main gathering places and hallways and alcoves; the larger spaces should have the taller ceilings, and the subordinate spaces should have lower ceilings.
■ Consider establishing a third, in-between ceiling height for spaces such as kitchens, informal eating areas and small alcoves. Alternatively, use the same ceiling height in these spaces as you would use in the hallways.
■ Consider running a dropped soffit around the perimeter of the main gathering places. I will often make this continuous soffit the same height as either the middle ceiling height described above or the height of the hallways.
2. Include some more intimate spaces. If your house is too big in its horizontal dimensions, look for places that would benefit from some downsizing. With space to spare, you can actually increase the thickness of some existing walls in order to sculpt new rooms and alcoves within the existing space.
We usually build our interior walls out of 2-by-4s, so the finished wall is around 4 inches deep. It is economical to do this because we typically want to maximize space. But if space is not an issue, your walls can be any thickness you want, and they can define a differently shaped space on one side than they do on the other. You can give each new place its own unique form and character, making some cozy and intimate.