Build better, not bigger
Susanka argues that American homes waste money on unused square footage while lacking the details and proportions that make a space feel like home. Spending on quality and tailoring beats spending on size.
The not so big house
6 ideas
Rooms should be used, not reserved
She criticizes the formal living room and other 'company' spaces that sit empty, arguing every room should earn its place in daily life. A smaller house of used rooms lives larger than a big house of dead ones.
Human-scale devices that shape feeling
Susanka names concrete techniques, ceiling-height variation, framed views, light from two sides, and interior thresholds, that make modest spaces feel rich. Comfort comes from designed detail, not floor area.
The house as a portrait of its dwellers
She frames good residential design as fitting the specific rhythms and rituals of the people who live there. A home succeeds by being tailored, not by conforming to a generic ideal of impressiveness.
Shelter around activity
Susanka favors defined, sheltered zones for specific activities over vast open volumes, giving inhabitants a sense of enclosure and belonging. Nooks and alcoves outperform undifferentiated great rooms.
Value per square foot over total size
Reallocating a building budget from more space to better space yields a home that is more livable and often no more expensive. The economic argument reframes luxury as care rather than quantity.