One of the study's most fascinating discoveries challenges a common assumption in the world of property and design. While many of us crave more square footage, the research showed that the feeling of spaciousness is three times more important than the actual size of a home.
In fact, twenty percent of people don't feel their home is spacious, regardless of its dimensions. This highlights a common design trap: you can have a large house that feels cluttered and cramped, or a smaller apartment that feels open, airy, and expansive.
This is where professional space planning becomes invaluable. It’s a design tool that allows us to make a restricted space feel bigger without altering its physical proportions.
Take our clients, Stuart and Claire, for example. They came to us unhappy with a home that felt cramped and disconnected, a space that simply didn’t reflect their vibrant family life. Our solution wasn’t to build an extension. Instead, we re-imagined the existing footprint. We relocated their kitchen from a dark, north-facing front room to the back of the house. Here, we designed a fluid, open-plan kitchen, dining, and snug area. By installing large Crittal-style windows, we flooded the new space with natural light and created a seamless connection to the garden. A carefully considered colour palette, chosen specifically for them, tied it all together.
Although the footprint of the house remained the same, the result was transformative. We had created that crucial feeling of spaciousness through light, views, and intelligent flow between zones.
