Bringing Back the Nook

Mini-retreats will help buyers warm to your homes

Photo Credit: Dungan Nequette Architects

Many of today's new homes combine the kitchen, dining room and family room into one large blended area: the ubiquitous great room. But when the walls come down, the noise levels rise, and that sense of togetherness may not seem so great. One way to compensate is to create little safe havens - small me spaces - where Mom, Dad and the kids can each get away from each other without retreating to their bedrooms.

These safe havens tend to be most effective when used in the kitchen and the master bedroom suite. They need not be big and bulky, but they do need to be architecturally defined.

"Nooks, niches or small alcoves can allow for privatization within a more public or family space," says Tom Hastings, president of the Hastings Companies, a builder and developer based in Hingham, Mass. "Built-in window seats and alcoves in a floor plan create places where clients can easily cocoon with a hobby or a book."

Of course nooks and alcoves are nothing new, but in an era of cost reductions it's easy to justify cutting them. To the mind of a potential home buyer, however, these simple touches go a long way toward making a space feel like one they can imagine themselves living in. These features need not be expensive, either. For instance, a small bump out can become the room's focal point with the addition of a simple table and chair, or a window seat with some comfortable cushions.

Another feature that will be a hit with buyers is a separate quiet room where the adults can get away and decompress. Louis Cohen, co-principal and creative director for LBC Design and Construction in Aventura, Fla., says that a number of clients have requested quiet rooms. He gives them what they want at an affordable price by creating guest rooms that can do double duty as a safe haven. The key, he says, is to not over-define the room. Instead, give it elements of a television room, a reading room and a quiet sitting room. Occasional guests can be accommodated just as well on a pull-out sofa as on a conventional bed.

You can also make a private retreat more affordable by making it small. "A small quiet room will have qualities of traditional spaces like a study, library, sewing room or bar but be cozier and less formal," says Jeff Dungan, president and principal of Dungan Nequette Architects in Birmingham, Ala. For example, his company "created a very cozy, intimate, yet masculine space - 10 feet by 10 feet - for a rugged, sophisticated southern guy who just wanted a room to watch sports and have a glass of bourbon with a friend or two."

No matter the size of a retreat area or quiet room, these unique spaces are able to create a sanctuary by imparting a feeling of intimacy with the surroundings and fostering a relaxed mood.


© 2008 Moen, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved	Privacy Policy \| Unsubscribe
	Need Help? Call 1-866-900-MOEN