Some Clients love big houses, while others love concise and portable homes. Here is why you should consider smaller units for your housing needs.
This client insists on a 2-bedroom design. He has 7 boys.
I was worried that he had no room for his boys and then visitors.
He had been staying in the staff quarters of his place of work and wanted the building ready when his last boy enters Senior Secondary school.
He said it was a house for him and his wife. The second room is the visitor’s room.
He wants all the boys out of his house. Says he needs rest.
He was of the opinion that designing a house to accommodate all 7 boys was a waste of space, plus the cost of maintenance for empty rooms for 85% of the year.
I agree with him 100% because of the issue of maintenance.
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Now when I say small houses, please, don’t imagine some poor little space. 2 bedrooms don’t mean 8-foot by 8-foot rooms. Rooms as comfy as 20 feet by 15 feet will do with an elaborate walk-in closet.
You can have a luxury 2-bedroom bungalow (fitted with basic spaces of living room, dining, kitchen with pantry) alongside a home office, Gym room (incorporating outdoor with it), Man/woman cave, SPA/Steam room, Fruit/wine cellar room over-looking a public or private swimming pool, Indoor/outdoor jacuzzi, Private cinema, Indoor sports lounges like table tennis or snooker.
All with just 2 sleeping bedrooms.
Most parents are currently planning this for retirement, once the kids are grown. It’s a perfect retirement home idea and for those that love a lot of outdoor activities and entertaining friends, this is good for them.
We no longer create spaces that are not in constant use. The outdoor spaces give room for a lot of greenery, outdoor activities, and gardens.
Our focus is moving away from the average 50-year-old Nigerian. Younger people especially Gen Z, are becoming millionaires daily and they are not looking for big houses any longer.
They want freedom and the ability to be mobile and big houses have a way of creating inertia in the mind if you are required to relocate at any time.
Read also Babyproof your home through architecture.
They also want their space and privacy and are not necessarily thinking about extended family members moving in with them.
If you agree with him and you are desirous of developing your own plot, I’m here for you.
By the way, are you a big house lover or a small house lover?
Another reason why you should consider smaller units for your housing needs.
This Client of mine got married, and they moved into his 2-bedroom building.
He came from a family that minded their business and stayed off other people’s homes, but his wife’s family is the opposite.
The spare bedroom accommodated them whenever they visited until they began having children.
He had only 1 toilet/bathroom and it was difficult to manage.
They had 4 boys and visitors had to leave at the end of the day.
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When he wanted to renovate the building, I thought he was adding extra rooms for visitors, but he only added a bathroom for himself and his wife, then a guest toilet by the living room, while his children used the other one.
He re-did the entire interior of the whole house.
His strategy was to ensure he didn’t have a family guest sleeping over.
Yes. He added 2 boy-quarter rooms outside, one for visitors and one for the house help.
But his extended family visitors would not like to stay outside the beautiful house, so he curtailed their stay without vexing anybody.
He wins.
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