2 Million Swedes Helped Design This 'Ideal' Home: Would You Live in It?
The Swedes know a thing or two about design. So when a property website there analyzes the preferences of 2 million people to design the perfect domicile, you can bet there will be some features you’ll want to incorporate if you ever get to build your own dream home.
This is the country that launched IKEA, after all.
This modern home stays true to tradition with the red of a Falu wooden cottage. Photo: TVArk
The Swedish property site Hemnet analyzed 200 million clicks by 2 million different users to determine which features and styles people wanted most. They used the findings to design a prototype, aptly nicknamed “House of Clicks.”
”The fact that two million people visit Hemnet each month provides a good foundation to interpret what kind of homes people are dreaming about,” Hemnet spokesperson Staffan Tell said in a statement. “The Hemnet Home provides interesting insights into how Swedes want to live right now.”
The resulting structure, created by architects Tham and Videgard, is both striking and surprising.
It seems that the average Swedish household is very happy with a modest 1,115 sq. ft. Photo: TVArk
As detailed on Slate, we find that “ideal” may not be as out of reach as we expected. Visions of grandeur, McMansions and countless bedrooms are nowhere to be seen. The average dreamer isn’t looking for sprawling floor plans either. In fact, the scale of “ideal” is on the smaller side.
The small home manages to maintain an airy feel. Photo: TVArk
The Hemnet Home is a cozy-but-respectable 1,115 square feet, spread over 1.5 floors with high ceilings. It boasts four modest rooms and an open plan kitchen, and even includes a private outdoor space on the second floor.
The architects write that the Hemnet Home is “a new standardized house within reach of most people. A simple, cost- and energy-efficient design that is easy to build and customize. But also a beautiful building with generous natural light and a feeling of space throughout the house.”
The bedroom leads onto a private, second floor, outdoor space. Photo: TVArk
For such a small property, it manages to evoke a feeling of space and breathability. Surprisingly, it doesn’t skimp on life’s little luxuries either: it contains a beautifully tiled bathroom complete with tub, and a functional, yet stylish fireplace.
A small home can still contain an open kitchen, with style that’s right out of a design magazine. Photo: TVArk
The home is an exercise in striking simplicity that proves bigger is not always better, and certainly not always what people are looking for.
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Though not necessarily suited for a family of four, this prototype meets the needs of the average two-person household, with room for wiggle.
Perhaps it proves that what we are looking for is well-appointed, not overwhelming, with an emphasis on restrained luxury. Though, over-the-top mansions and sprawling estates will, of course, always draw eyes and wild imaginations, the reality may be that we crave something manageable, which speaks to our design desires in a more modest capacity.
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