DOWNSIZING CAN BE BEAUTIFUL
Real estate author Koones highlights the ‘liberating’ lifestyle behind the switch to a smaller house
Downsizing your home can upsize your life. That’s what bestselling author Sheri Koones discovered after trading her sprawling 6,800-square-foot Mediterranean-style home in New York for just 1,700 square feet.
“I’ve never been happier,” said Koones, whose newest title Downsize: Living Large in a Small House was released in October. “… I got rid of 90 per cent of everything I owned and the reality is I don’t miss any of it.”
Koones finds she has time and money to spend on travel, less worry and more quality time with her adult children, who must share the TV with their parents when home.
“I had such a grand house, people were very surprised when I sold it,” she said, “but I’m so much more than OK living in my new house.”
In the book, Koones profiles 28 small homes located throughout the U.S and five from Canada, including two in Toronto. All are 2,000 square feet or less and were designed by architects to be comfortable, practical, energy efficient — and beautiful. Her goal was to shed light on the fact that, like her, people are not only comfortable in small houses, but are living better lives in them.
“I would say that 100 per cent of the people I interviewed said it was liberating to live in a small house and that they were really happy,” said Koones. The majority were looking for modern, energy efficient designs that required less maintenance so they’d have more time for leisure activities.
One of the Toronto homes featured in the book is the gorgeous 1,800-square-foot Race Residence II in Leslieville, created by local architect Craig Race, founder of Lanescape. From its curved front wall to its renewable cladding to its exceptional air barrier, the home is a lesson in practicality and simplicity.
“He made it an unusual design so it would look larger than it is,” said Koones, noting that the home features include high ceilings, south-facing windows, minimal hallways and radiant floor heating. “He was very clever about what he was doing.”
The second Toronto area home featured is the 1,600-square-foot Totem House in East York, designed by architect Reza Aliabadi of Atelier RZLBD.
A contemporary departure from the modest bungalows that surround it, Totem House is named for its vertical gallery of sculptures, a display of the owners’ one-of-akind collection of travel souvenirs, which is housed in a central stairway column.
“This home is kind of an urban renewal and it has a lot of passive energy strategies,” said Koones. It’s also “very attractive,” she added, with light and airy rooms, multipurpose spaces, no hallways, high ceilings, limited partition walls and multiple outdoor spaces. “When you have a small house, you want to be able to expand it to the outdoors,” said Koones.
The ninth real estate book by Koones, Downsize is a collection of stories, pictures and text boxes with a complete list of resources at the back. Whereas other downsizing books explain how to go about the process, providing pointers on decluttering and organizing, Koones’ book illustrates how beautiful life can be once you do it.
“This shows you inspirationally how you can live and really be comfortable in a small space,” said Koones.