Feeling Cramped? Your Home May Need a Redesign, Not a Move
As housing prices remain high and moving costs add up, more families are reexamining their current homes instead of shopping for a new property. The article argues that in many cases the problem is not square footage, but poor planning and underused space.
Interior designer Hadass Rot of Hillel Architecture says the feeling that a home has become “too small” is often misleading. “People tend to think that if the house no longer suits them, the solution is to move to a bigger apartment,” she says. “But often, with the right planning, we can get much more out of the existing area. Sometimes a relatively small change in the division of spaces completely changes quality of life.”
One major pressure point is when children grow older. A room that worked for two young children can become a source of conflict in the teenage years, when privacy, a study corner, and a personal space become essential. Rot says customized carpentry, smarter room division, and sometimes moving interior walls can create solutions without enlarging the home.
Another common issue is remote work, which became routine for many after the coronavirus period. Rot says not every home needs a separate office, because a work area can be integrated into a bookshelf, a quiet niche can be created in an existing room, or multifunctional furniture can be designed so the solution feels like part of the home rather than a compromise. Storage also plays a major role, since clutter can make tens of square meters effectively disappear. In her view, better storage can suddenly make a home feel larger, lighter, and more comfortable.
Rot says flexible spaces are one of today’s main trends, allowing rooms to change with the family’s life cycle. A children’s room can become an office, a playroom can become a guest room, and a family corner can be repurposed as needs shift. She concludes that small changes, removing an unnecessary corridor, opening a closed-off area, changing the location of openings, or redesigning the kitchen, can transform the entire sense of space. “Life is dynamic, so the home also needs to be dynamic,” she says. “Before rushing to look for a new house, it is worth stopping to check whether the current home is really too small, or whether it is simply time to think about it differently.”
