Do more Americans have Smaller or Larger Homes?

11 years ago

This is from a thread on Kitchens in which someone posted information from an article about European kitchen trends. One of the Kitchens people had this to say. I thought that her statement (below) was interesting. It made me wonder how true her statement is. What do you Smaller Homers think? Do most Americans have huge homes and kitchens? (The middle paragraph is a quote from the article.)

"Thanks for the link nosoccermom. Very interesting. The notion behind the quote below about the absence of upper cabinets in Europe stroke me as ironic:

"While this trend is very popular in Europe, it still remains to be seen whether it can make its way into the North American kitchens, where upper cabinets are still loved and very much seen as a necessity."

Ironic, or incongruous, as space is tight in Europe, homes and kitchens are smaller, and if any kitchen truly needed uppers, you would think in would be European kitchens. We have all the space in the world in North America, and most have huge homes and kitchens. But uppers are viewed as a necessity. Go figure. "

It is Nancy again. No one I know has a huge kitchen or all the space in the world. But my microcosm may be just as confined as the microcosm of the person I am quoting. What do you think?

Here is a link that might be useful: The Hottest New European Kitchen Trends

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Comments (6)

writersblock (9b/10a)
11 years ago
Yes, Americans have huge homes and kitchens. What you might think of as a barely usable city apartment kitchenette is billed in a European rental as an "American kitchen", i.e. huge. Everyone you know has a huge kitchen in comparison to what most people elsewhere have.

This kitchen is pretty typical over there:

Here is a link that might be useful: Little Paris Kitchen

This post was edited by writersblock on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 21:42
lavender_lass
11 years ago
I think American magazines and TV shows/movies, make everyone think we all have huge kitchens with islands and marble counter tops. In reality, many of us live with much more modest kitchens, but they're probably still bigger than their European equivalent.

I'd love to have a 'big' kitchen, but to me that would mean space for a big table in the middle and a cozy fireplace in one corner, with a comfy chair or two for curling up and reading a book.
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jakabedy
11 years ago
Of course the typical American has a bigger kitchen than the typical European. She also has a bigger house, a bigger car, a bigger bedroom, more appliances and a longer commute. And probably a much newer house.

A lot of things go into it, but the sheer size of the US and the ubiquity of the automobile and the suburb make things very different from Europe, where many live within walking/biking/mass transit distance from a local grocery and can pop in every day or so to get what is needed.

That being said, I don't have any upper cabinets. . . ; )
User
11 years ago
I think most Americans have fairly small kitchens. What we see on GW, Houzz, and magazines are mostly larger kitchens. Magazines want to impress, and what is more impressive than a huge kitchen with all the immenities? Sure, there are plenty of large houses with large kitchens, but I just don't think they are the norm.
Annie Deighnaugh
11 years ago
Yes it's true....american homes are larger than european homes

Here is a link that might be useful: Avg home sizes around the world
Elraes Miller
11 years ago
Size of housing is difficult to identify. But I think the survey has a great deal to offer beyond what is written. Homes in the inner city are much smaller and always have been. Move further out, the homes become larger. We have done this to ourselves with counties limiting the minimal size of building (one example). And so many wanting to get out of the city, willing to drive miles to work, etc. Gastly huge shopping centers to support them. I would have to find a county in the mountains or dry east of my area to build a small home. And are they speaking of new builds or existing from as long ago as the 1800s?

It would be interesting how they put together the chart. Not that I don't see it as realistic. In our state the basement is included in the sq.ft. And if you drive through the city there are huge victorian mansions one would love to get into to see all. Most have those wonderful horse carriage covers in front, plus carriage houses. The sad thing is they are all split up into rentals mostly for college students or business entities. Are they including these too?

Do more Americans have Smaller or Larger Homes?

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writersblock (9b/10a)

lavender_lass

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