Mark Ahlheim - Healing Homes.GURU

My homes answer that question by not getting caught up on trying to make some big dramatic architectural statement but rather by concentrating on design details that help occupants live a more joyful, fulfilling, and productive life. When they do, health ALWAYS follow. If you live on Chicago’s north-side, you know the look that all too often does NOT inspire from the moment you walk through the front door—you enter a soulless McMansion living room/ dining room area gussied up with some overwrought trimwork meant to impress. Its physical separation from the family room/ kitchen area by a butler’s pantry and half bath means that the visual openness the home is trying so hard to achieve gets blocked, and circulation gets pinched whenever guests come over as they crowd into the back half of your home while the front half searches for meaning. On the contrary, Chicagoans who live in the Bungalow Belt equally know the inspiration that can come from something as simple as the beauty of an exquisitely hand-tiled bath or a couple pieces of nature-inspired stained glass windows and a floor plan that easily accommodates private study or a baby nursery or overnight stays or even intergenerational living. I have seen both in my travails as a Chicago real estate agent and I have learned that the understated and the simple can inspire more than the elaborate and complicated. Ultimately I believe the healthiest homes are those that are not just devoid of polluted air and water and chemical toxins, but those that also combine the elements I discuss here in their construction. I have also found that joy and happiness I talk about can come from almost anywhere within a home and frequently derived from the simplest of design elements: e.g. a strategically-placed built-in bench that invites one to sit and stay and read with a child; a door-activated light switch that obviates the need to fumble for a wall switch in an otherwise dark closet; a library ladder that saves floor space and makes it easier to reach and store rare or rarely-used books. It is these small nuances and attention to detail that help a small home live BIGGER, adds versatility or extra functionality, makes a home more comfortable, and in general, helps us be our best and live happier lives without the extra square footage.

I have incorporated many of these elements into my own home. I invite you to come by and see them sometime so you can experience these things firsthand.

THE WAY WE REALLY LIVE

The last of the design principles that underscore Ms. Susanka’s Not So Big Houses and my healthy Little Big Home designs are homes that possess a floor plan that reflects the way we really live. No simple task in an age of COVID, but suffice it to say that flexibility and adaptability are built into her designs and mine.