{"id":6226,"date":"2025-01-03T08:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T13:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=6226"},"modified":"2025-01-03T08:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T13:58:12","slug":"frugal-but-fun-an-origami-home-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/frugal-but-fun-an-origami-home-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Frugal But Fun: An Origami Home, Anyone?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cost has always been a big reason to pick a compact home. Today, though, less really is more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New generations of home buyers seek out small homes<\/a> for a range of reasons \u2014 like a preference for uncluttered minimalism. Or a goal of reducing their footprint on nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appropriately designed small homes can be easier on people with mobility issues. Smaller homes mean lower taxes. They use heating and air conditioning efficiently. They cost less to clean. It\u2019s easier to find misplaced things!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the latest in compact living? Take a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Origami-Inspired Living and Working Spaces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ori Living works with developers in Chicago, New York City, and other places where space is a scarce commodity. The design company provides homes with fold-up interior features, so even a 200-square-foot space feels roomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sliding walls, folding bedrooms with king size beds that lift up into the ceiling when not needed, closets that fade out of sight, hidden offices\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resident can adapt a room to the moment\u2019s use, without relying on their own muscle power to move furnishings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding that we learned back in our school days. The most interesting aspect of an origami room concept, other than its artistic flair? It presents a \u201ctool to build more housing<\/a>.\u201d That\u2019s got our attention. Ori Living focuses on \u201cinnovations to make density possible and palatable<\/a>\u201d which may just be key to adding housing to cities in an attractive form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Detached, Not Disengaged<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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If given our druthers, most of us would pick a detached home to live in. Condos and townhomes have a vital place in the housing stock, yet small cottages and clusters of tiny homes have a special appeal: no shared walls.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking for less space in a standalone home doesn\u2019t mean shunning the mainstream U.S. housing market. Homes are becoming smaller overall. Nationwide, newly built homes now average just under 2,200 feet. Today\u2019s typical starter home buyer is getting some 4% less footage than their parents did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of construction is lower when a builder works with smaller dimensions. And builders can construct a good number of small homes at once. That\u2019s helpful. The nation needs millions of housing units to meet the current demand for starter homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Prefab Homes Are Fab: Little Charmers Under $300K<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A prefabricated (\u201cprefab\u201d) home can be delivered in an assembled state, equipped with bathrooms, kitchens, and plumbing systems. Because you already need to own a space to put one, the low cost of a prefab home can\u2019t really be compared against a home on a plot of land. Some buyers use these as guest homes or in-law cottages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few examples include these, noted in a recent lineup published by House Beautiful<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n