EYE ON DESIGN BY DAN GREGORY

Now More Than Ever: NOT SO BIG

Ten years ago architect Sarah Susanka began showing how to “build better, not bigger” — as an antidote to McMansion mania — and launched her hugely successful (and ongoing) series of books about the Not So Big house. Well, now that the “not so big economy” (perhaps we should trademark that phrase) has arrived, we need her ideas more than ever. So I am enormously pleased to announce that Houseplans.com is now the exclusive host for her Not So Big architectural plans. With her wonderful  best-selling books, including The Not So Big House (Taunton, 1999), Home By Design (Taunton, 2004), The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really  Matters (Random House, 2007), and the just released Not So Big Remodeling (Taunton, 2009),

Sarah has become the J. K. Rowling of home design. Harry Potter, meet your architect!

Sarah brings a brand of practical magic to the way she explains how to make the most out of limitations in resources, space, and time to create plans that are practical, innovative, and personal. Here’s a sampling of her designs. (All photographs courtesy Sarah Susanka.)

Showhouse 2004 (454-5) embodies warmth and generosity.

The wide encompassing roof is a graceful multi-tasker; it shelters terraces and a courtyard while projecting personality in the upward sweep of the eave over the sun room at the center.

A River Runs Below It (454-2) is oriented toward views and outdoor living.

The screen porch on the deck at the side of the house is like a seasonal pressure valve, allowing life to move into a sheltered outdoor space during warm weather.

See how the living room opens directly to the screen porch; sliding doors can close it off from the living room in colder weather. Characteristic Susanka touches include the built-in window seat between the dining area and living room, and the built-in display cabinets flanking the entry hall. These sorts of details add character as well as comfort to smaller spaces.

A Good Neighbor (454-1) is designed to blend into older neighborhoods, as this images shows.

Inside there is a sort of choreography of craft, with welcoming details like the breakfast banquette near the kitchen,

and the elegant stained glass pattern for the window in the foyer, shown below.

It is a  Not So Small delight to delight for us to know and work with  Sarah.