Smaller Floor Plans in Big Demand

American’s appetite for big homes and over-sized furniture appears to be shrinking.

New-home buyers began asking builder KB Home for smaller floor plans right after the collapse in subprime lending last year, says CEO Jeffrey Mezger.

The demand for a huge, high-ceilinged great room is giving way to the desire for special-purpose rooms, including media rooms and home offices, says a spokesman for luxury specialist Pulte Homes.

In three of its four new sofa collections, Younger Furniture is offering "apartment size" sofas, which are about 10 inches shorter than full-sized ones. Citing a trend toward smaller homes, Rowe Fine Furniture says it expects its Mini Mod line will account for a quarter of its collection this fall.

"They're finally getting it," says Jodi FitzGerald, owner of Door Store Furniture, an 11-store retail chain in metropolitan New York that specializes in small-scale furniture. She estimates the number of smaller offerings has grown by about a third over the past year.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nancy Keates (03/21/2008)