Why Smaller Spaces Are Huge Right Now

Living large is Dead!

It would come as no surprise that on the heels of the country's biggest recession in decades, many homebuyers have reassessed their needs.

Nationwide, the huge homes that were so in vogue some years ago are now considered over the top, sitting on the market for months as the house no one wants to dance with.

According to a recent article in the International Business Times, the size requirements for first-time home buyers is trending downward.

Here in Bed Stuy, this trend is taking on a similar shape. Buyers who were once looking to occupy an entire brownstone as a single family home are thinking twice:

"Why occupy the whole brownstone when we could also get some additional rental income?" is the question the more frugal are asking.

Thankfully, McMansions (5000 square foot homes with too many bedrooms and bathrooms) have no presence in Brownstone Brooklyn. Still, the pricing here in Bed-Stuy makes the neighborhood tempting for some buyers to go overboard in terms of space.

Since a three- or four-story Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone goes for $600,000 - $850,000, depending on location and condition, nearby Brooklynites who have recently sold their co-op or condo apartments for similar prices are frequently seduced into living the brownstone dream.

The "dream" is to return these homes to their original use and splendor. When they were originally built more than a century ago, brownstones were primarily used a single family homes. The garden level was for kitchen and dining. The parlor for entertaining and the upper floors for bedrooms. This is why many Brownstone layouts feel "funky."

There are kitchens where bedrooms were originally. Bathrooms the size of closets because they were closets 100 years ago. The Great Depression and World Wars I & II helped to facilitate a new reality. 

Today's new movement is to live efficiently. On the design side, creative solutions like multi-purpose rooms and furniture are helping buyers expand their usable space while actually using less of it.

Some owners who once occupied a garden duplex are now finishing their basements as recreational space instead of taking up another floor of their home. Go to Apartment Therapy, to preview the "Big book of small cool spaces".

On the dollar side, check out Bankrate.com's affordability calculator.

And remember: There is no such thing as living large, if you are ducking bill collectors.

Next: "The Seven Best Renovations for Your Money"

Martin Tkalla Keaton is a senior associate and Multi Million-Dollar Club member of the Corcoran group