Maine report points to Modular to save on Housing Costs

Maine's ambitious goal to construct over 80,000 housing units by 2030 necessitates innovative approaches to enhance affordability. A recent analysis commissioned by the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition and written by Sarah J. Sturtevant, titled "Field Notes II: Can Construction Technology Improve Affordability?"  interviewed over twenty people representing developers, suppliers, manufacturers, contractors, designers, and regulatory groups, and asked, “Might greater adoption of new(er) construction technology bridge the gap between construction costs and what most Maine households can afford?” The answer is a qualified “yes”. Newer methods can reduce costs, and there are barriers to address. 

The Advantages of Modular

Sturdivant investigated the potential of three technologies: uninsulated exterior wall panels, insulated panels, and modular construction, to reduce the cost of housing in Maine. She concluded “Modular components have the most promise and the most barriers. Depending on whether the state is able to reach a higher level of standardization, Maine could see cost savings of 10-35% of total costs from the greater utilization of modular.” Benefits of modular include:

• Quality and performance from building in a controlled environment

• Better utilization of Maine’s workforce

• Less seasonality

• Faster

• More ergonomic construction for workers

• Less waste going to landfills

She adds, “Barriers are extensive, including the same code-enforcement issues as insulated-panel construction; double sales tax is charged on modular units and the licensing requirements have not coordinated with training programs resulting in lack of human capacity. Overall, there is a lack of industry knowledge about the opportunity of factory-built components … New(er) technology is an important tool in the tool kit and it is worth addressing the remaining barriers to broaden adoption.”

“Root Causes” Why is it so hard to build lower-cost (aka affordable) new homes?  

In the “Root Causes” section of the report, the writer points out that: 

• There are dozens of organizations (public and private) that impact the construction of a single home, each with a different funding source and business model. 

• Each new development is virtually its own company, which is inefficient

• On average 24 subcontractors touch each new single-family home over the year it takes to build, and it’s expensive to coordinate so many people.  

• Multi-family has an even higher number of “subs” and takes closer to 2 years of construction, and over 3-5 years of permiƫting & approvals.

• Coordination also includes surveying and engineering, title work, legal and accounting, distributors, transportation, earthwork, and repairing heavy equipment. 

• There are shortages in the number of contractors and subcontractors, and shortages of workers, and the educational system tends to focus on training employees, not on creating new companies.  

• By some measures, over 40% of total development costs are from increased regulatory burdens over time

• Maine overall has a high percentage (about 30%) of 1 person households, and it’s challenging financially to build for one person households. 

Recommendations for Maine

Here are some of the solutions the author suggests; for a full list see the link to the document below. 

• Establish a repeatable floorplan that could be the basis of a state-wide modular contracted garnering volume pricing and expedited reviews.

• Ask the Real Estate board of appraisers to study valuation methodologies for small homes

• Suspend the finished goods sales tax on modular manufacturing, so that materials aren’t taxed twice. 

• Clarify and train for interaction between code enforcement, factories, and third-party inspectors (TPIs)

• Shift the Manufactured Housing Board to the Maine Office of Community Affairs

• Increase the threshold size of projects that require no additional review

• Shorten approval times 

• Train more students who want to enter the trades

• Create business development programming for tradespeople who want to start their own companies. 

For additional reading and more information the full article can be found at: https://mainehousingcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Field-Notes-II_Can-construction-technology-improve-affordability-1.7.25.pdf

Interior Design for Small Homes with Large Livability

There are numerous reasons why downsizing to a smaller home or ADU might make sense for you. From empty nesters who feel that 2,000+ square feet is just too much space without the kids around, to folks who want to travel without a large mortgage and housing footprint to worry about, every reason to explore this change is completely valid. However, when making this shift,  there are often fears or misconceptions about what it will be like to live in a smaller home.  Most commonly, when sharing the footprint of our small homes – which average between 500 to 900 square feet – we are met with someone saying,  “I could never live in a home that small.” 

Well, if you design it right, a small home can improve your life in many ways. Here are a few interior design tips to make the most of a small space.

Building Small Homes with Large Livability

When building small backyard and stand-alone homes, designing them with livability should be highest on your builder’s priority list. Each home needs to be designed with the homeowner’s unique storage, furniture, and functional space needs in mind. 

Here are some considerations you should keep in mind as you work with a professional to design your new small home. 

Prioritize Multifunctional Spaces and Design Features

Just because your home is small doesn’t mean you need to give up space to do the things you love. When looking at a space, consider the variety of purposes it could serve. Here are a few examples of intelligent interior design choices that take the term “multifunctional” literally:

A kitchen island on wheels: See how this kitchen island is actually on wheels? This design allows the homeowner to move the island so that the kitchen table can extend when hosting larger parties, while still having plenty of kitchen prep space and a spot for their toddler to get involved. Win win.

A full size laundry room within an existing bathroom: While many small homes have stackable waser and dryers, instead of sacrificing their dream of having a laundry room in their smaller home, these homeowners worked with our construction design team to incorporate it into their existing bathroom layout. By using space that may have been wasted behind the bathroom door, this design allows for added storage cabinet space, side-by-side laundry appliances and a counter top for folding, all while still having room for a bathtub.

Creating a galley kitchen that looks like a large island: The owner of this home wanted a full kitchen in their open living space while still having a spot for her grandchildren to help her cook, do homework or art projects. Instead of a traditional floating island, this open galley kitchen creates a lot of extra prep space, has full cabinets below the counters, and allows enough room for her microwave. Plus, with how large the counter space is, she has additional seating and plenty of room for the kiddos to sit and chat with her when they visit.

Purchase Multipurpose Furniture

While the right furniture piece always ties together a room, this is even more true in a small home. Each piece of furniture you choose should not only have a primary purpose, but prerably, it would serve another function as well. For example, perhaps you have a trunk that holds blankets and is also used as a coffee table. Getting creative in your furniture choices will only add to your home experience and functionality.

Consider Alternative Door Options

Rather than choosing traditional doors that swing open, pocket doors are a more compact choice that reduce visual clutter and make your home feel open. They are an especially great choice for couples or a single person who may not need to shut interior doors that often, but still want to have the option for privacy, as needed.

Another option for door selection that makes spaces feel bigger are sliding glass exterior doors. These style doors provide a nice view to the outdoors and create the illusion of vastness, especially when facing a large backyard or natural space.

Let the Light In

If you have the opportunity to design in a way that lets the light in, do it! We have had homeowners choose to put windows in their showers to let more natural light into their bathrooms or they may prioritize furniture that can be designed around windows (e.g., window seats) so that the furniture piece isn’t blocking valuable sunshine in their living space. You can consider how windows are used in the design stage of your build – for example, in the bedroom below, these windows were installed around a bed’s size that we knew ahead of times. Because this design was incorporated during the planning stages, we were able to put in the largest windows possible without concern for blocking them with furniture.

Pro Tip: Use a lot of shiny surfaces in a space (e.g., stainless steel appliances, glossy countertops, sparkly tile, etc.) so that light can reflect and make a space seem bigger.

Do Not Ignore the Nooks and Crannies

When designing the interior of a small home, be sure to look at all the areas that may not normally be used and consider how to use them in a way that adds to the space. Ask yourself: Do you have a small nook that could be a closet? Is there a stairwell that could have storage beneath it? Can you shorten an entryway to fit a coat closet? Is there a spot that would normally just sit empty? When we say consider how every inch is used, we mean it.

This little nook was turned into bench seating for the homeowner’s daughter to use as a reading nook and has two deep drawers for blankets underneath. This same space could also be used for a built in desk for those who need a place to work or could be used as toy storage.

The space underneath stairs all too often goes unused – but this home design created a gorgeous built in library and still had room for cabinets on the bottom, making a great spot to store items used often, but that they may not want on display.

Go Up

Curious how to make it seem like your space is far more expansive than it actually is? Go up! Higher ceilings allow for more windows. Plus, a mono pitched roof is modern looking, allowing for vaulted ceilings indoors and remaining solar panel friendly outdoors.

Above Photo: Vaulted ceilings in a traditional gable roof home with our modified Square design path. It’s easy to see how even a small number of square feet can seem massive with a ceiling that tall.

Another way to take advantage of height is with kitchen cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. Not only can you fit more inside of them, but they actually give the illusion of taller kitchen ceilings by vertically elongating the walls to the naked eye.

Put These Small Design Tips Into Action

We have only just begun to scratch the surface when it comes to tips for smart small home interior design – but we hope this got your wheels turning. As you consider a construction and design partner for your small home or ADU, consider the thoughtful details and creativity they’ll bring to your build as that will be key to maximizing the use of your new space and ensuring you’re using every square foot of your new home. 

For more design tips, head on over to our YouTube page and subscribe to see homes we’ve built for our clients (like this home in Florence, MA). 

If you’re ready to start your build and are looking for a construction design partner who will collaborate with you from start to finish, we’re here to help – get in touch. 

How "Green" Are Our Homes at Backyard ADUs?

First, let’s look at how we are different from typical home builders.

We Build Small.

Our largest dwelling unit to date has measured in at 1314 sq ft in conditioned space and had 3 bedrooms. The average size dwelling unit in the US in 2022 was 2310 sq ft and has 4 bedrooms. Smaller is better. They use less carbon-intensive materials, use less energy to operate, and are cheaper to build.

We Build Smart

While we are loosely tied to the “tiny home” movement, we do not actually build “tiny homes”. Our homes are designed to have all of the amenities of a large home in a smaller, better-designed footprint. Our homes are designed around the things people do in them, the furniture they have, and don’t rely on size to hide design flaws.

We Build Accessible

Instead of trying to meet the broad requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act for accessibility in every home, we build our homes to be adaptable to each particular client as their needs change. We create layouts, and accessibility features that will allow our clients to age in place while maintaining affordability and the things they love about their current homes. 

We Build Green (In a realistic way!)

We believe that combating climate change is important, but also understand that money is real. We believe balancing energy efficiency with monetary efficiency is important to actually build green for the largest number of people. If 95% of people can’t afford to build a Passive Haus then Passive Haus is mostly irrelevant.

So in what ways do we build “Green”?

ZeroEnergy Ready & Net Zero

Our standard construction techniques allow us to surpass the stretch energy code requirement by almost 20%. This means our homes cost on average $800 – $1300 per year to run and yes, that includes heating and cooling, and your stove.

This means they can easily be made Net Zero with a roof mounted solar array. The majority of our projects can be made net zero by adding a ~6-8kw photovoltaic (solar) system. In scenarios where there is insufficient sun exposure we may need to build a solar carport to accommodate some of the panels or the homeowner could in invest in community solar.

Above: Solar array being installed on the roof of a carport in order to get peak sun exposure next to the main home in Williamstown, MA.

Maximizing Land Use While Minimizing Land Impact

Utilizing ADUs or multiple small homes on lots provides an opportunity for shared amenities and care that further reduce carbon footprints. Some examples include:

• Sharing a vehicle

• Sharing Garage/Storage Space (1 Garage instead of 2)

• Shared lawn and outdoor recreation equipment 

• Shared Child care (no need to drive to daycare) 

• Shared maintenance cos

Engineered Foundation Systems

We build most of our homes on our “Frost Protected, Shallow Foundation” crawlspaces. If you haven’t read our blog post on their design, you can check it out HERE.

Our frost protected foundation for our 810 SF L-Line uses approximately 16 yards of concrete and approximately 37 sheets of 2” XPS insulation, while a standard 8” thick, 4’ frost wall over a poured footing uses approximately 28 yards of concrete and approximately 42 sheets of 2” XPS insulation 

Less Jobsite Waste

We separate all of our job site waste so that the fewest items possible make it into a landfill and reduce dumpster fees. We sort all cardboard out of the waste pile for recycling and all waste wood into a separate pile. 

Building in a Factory also reduces waste relative to building from the ground up on-site. The factory is climate controlled so materials do not get ruined by weather, material purchases are planned to maximize use across multiple homes, and cuts are planned to maximize material usage by a production engineering team.

Pictured above: components for our homes are built in the factory rather than onsite which minimizes material waste.

Insulating Beyond Code Standard to the Point of Diminishing Return

We focus on energy use per potential occupant. This means we build smaller homes, which require less energy to heat before you even consider how well the homes are insulated.

All of our homes exceed the prescriptive insulation requirements of the most recent International Energy code. Because our homes are small, we don’t need to go too much past this. With fewer SF to heat adding more insulation, making the home higher and using better windows/doors mean we hit a point of “diminishing returns” sooner than a larger home. We insulate our homes to the point where the payback period for doing additional things exceeds 15–20 years.

Our Spes:

Walls:

• R-21, High-density fiberglass (dense blow preferred when available)

• R-9, 1.5” foil-faced Poly Iso OR 2” ZIP system

Ceiling:

• R-60 minimum.

• Flats/cathedrals: loose-blown cellulose (on site)

• Vaults: 12/12 cords with 3” spray foam on the roof deck & 2 R-21 Roxul batts or dense blown cellulose

Foundation:

• Walls: R-22 Nudura Block

• Under-slab: R-10 EPS

Air Sealing:

• 2 ACH50

• 1.5 ACH50 in MA to receive 15k Mass Save Rebate

Above: Image credit given to Personal Excellence. You can read the full article/source further explaining diminishing return HERE.

Air Sealing Beyond Code Standard to the Point of Diminishing Return

We try to reach an air sealing level of 2 ACH 50 in all of our homes and 1.5 ACH 50 in MA where this level is required to receive a 15k rebate. This metric means when the home is depressurized to 50 Pascals, the air within the house only fully changes 2 times every hour. 

In a small home, hitting low-air selling numbers is especially difficult because it is measured as a ratio of air escaping through tiny breaks in the envelope, windows, doors, stove/bathroom fans, etc (numerator) to the total building volume (denominator). Large homes have the luxury of more space/volume to “hide” the air leakage of a door or kitchen stove vent, but we know larger homes use more energy just because they are larger.

Glazing & Windows that Exceed Code Standards to the Point of Diminishing Return

We utilize glazing with a U-factor of 0.26 in all of our homes (15% better than code for overall insulating ability) and utilize glazing with a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of 0.29 (66% better than code during summer months). The double-hung windows we use have an air infiltration rate of .01cfm/ft2, nearly a tenth of the closest double-hung window you can buy.

No Combustion Appliances

We install only electric appliances. This includes no gas stoves! Induction stove technology has reached parity with gas stoves and is the better option on all fronts.

We Use Heat Pump Technology for Heating & Cooling

We use heat pumps which are up to 400% efficient. Rather than creating thermal energy using electric resistors or burning fuel, heat pumps transfer energy from one location to another. 

There is simply no good reason to heat a home by burning stuff anymore. Don’t forget, if the power goes out a gas/oil burner will not heat your home. These heat systems need electricity to run the air/water circulation pumps and to ignite them. The only true power-outage-proof system is a woodstove.

We Adapt to New Technology

We work hard to not become complacent with how we build and are careful not to reject a new idea, because “this is the way we’ve always done it”.  We constantly seek out other experts and look for more information to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. Most recently this has been appliance technology and initial research into low-voltage lighting.

Get Started Today

If you are ready to get started building your own ADU or small home, the first step is a feasibility study. More information on getting started can be found HERE. In addition, if you have specific questions about the energy efficiency of our homes, please email info@backyardadus.com to get your question answered.

Written by Austin Gregory, Backyard ADUs Chief of Engineering and Operations

Edited & Published by Avril Williams

Our Home Foundations (FPSF) vs. Typical Foundations

At Backyard ADUs, we use a frost-protected, shallow foundation (also known as FPSF) instead of conventional systems to boost energy efficiency, decrease moisture building up, and decrease cost.

History

While we would love to take full credit or the design, these foundations were first used by the well-known American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, during the Depression to reduce construction costs. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) discovered the design and created a design guide in the 90s. The guide helped boost popularity in the southern states, but few builders in New England adopted the frost-protect foundation system over a traditional 4’ frost wall. If you want to dive further into FPSFs, the guide has since been revised and can be accessed HERE.

Typical Frost Wall Foundation

There are generally four different foundation types used in New England. Traditional foundations are 4 –9 feet tall and have a base at least 4’ below the surface to protect against frost. These foundations also sit on a separate concrete footing. They are insulated on one side of the wall and usually take around 2 weeks to construct.

Our Frost Protected, Shallow Foundations (FPSF)

A FPSF is only 18 inches tall, wich provide just enough room to create a fully conditioned crawlspace for utility access. Builders frost protect the foundation with a wing of rigid foam insulation (XPS) that extends beyond the foundation perimeter to lift the frost line up around the home. When scheduled well, a building can complete this foundation in 2 days.

How are they similar?

• Both techniques have a perforated drain pipe around their bases which are covered with 3/4” stone and a filter fabric. This drains water away from the foundation of the home, helps keep the basement dry and prevent unseen erosion. Water either drains to “daylight” down hill from the house or into a drywell that allows water to percolate back into the soil.

• Spray foam is used where the foundation and the home meet. This provides insulation and creates an airseal, improving energy efficiency.

• Rebar is used to strengthen the concrete and prevent foundation failures.

• Both have a layer of insulation board (XPS) underneath the floor.

• Both attach the home to the foundation using a sill plate that is bolted to the concrete

Above: XPS insulation board laid over screeded sand used to level the site,.

Above: Inside of the ICF blocks. Rebar sits on top of the black brackets.

Why We Choose to Use FPSF

TIME

Two days instead of 2 weeks! The FPSF only requires 1 concrete pour and 1 inspection, whereas a traditional foundation requires 2 of each. By doubling this, the process moves from just a few days to a few weeks due to coordinating schedules of all of the people involved and the potential for weather delays.

MONEY

Creating a taller foundation also requires MUCH more concrete and labor. In fact, the traditional 4’ frost wall foundation takes more than twice as much of each, which can easily double the cost.

These shallow crawlspaces also make the house more efficient. They are much smaller spaces, and hence, minimize heat loss potential.

HEALTH & SAFETY

The shallow crawlspace is passively conditioned by the heating and cooling of the main house. This improves air quality by preventing moisture and stale air that lingers in so many basements and crawl spaces.

ACCESSIBILITY

We create a water-tight seal between our continuous wall insulation board and our insulated concrete forms which allows us to bring our floor system 4” from the ground instead of 8”. This enables us to have just 1 step into the house instead of 2.

This sounds like a small improvement, but that 1 additional step means landings, railings, and an extra 8’ of ramp length if a ramp was ever needed.

THE BIG ONE: RISK FACTOR

Our FPSF dramatically reduces your risk factor! What does that mean? The number of unknowns and chances for unexpected events increases you dig deeper to accommodate a crawl space. Those unknowns include solid rock, huge boulders, high water tables, underground springs, or even an ancient sacred burial ground. Each of these events adds unexpected cost and cause schedule delays.

Above: Traditional and ICF Foundation details.

What about the frost line?

A 4 foot foundation is 4’ tall so the footing will be below the frost line. Frost generally does not extend deeper than 4 feet in the area we build. When frost goes underneath a foundation it can push the foundation up (think of frost heaves in the road). A frost heave under your home can cause an incredible amount of damage as the ground shifts and moves parts of your home while others stay still.

Our FPSF is frost protected with insulation (instead of digging below it). Our foundations have a wing of 2” XPS rigid foam board that extends out beyond the perimeter of the home. This prevents cold temperatures from freezing the ground adjacent to or under the foundation. The foam extension allows the ground under the foundation and crawl space to remain at a stable 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

Will it blow away?

No, it will not blow away. The concrete for our L-line’s foundation weighs about 34,000 pounds which provides a substantial anchor to keep the house on the ground.

Above: A shallow frost-protected foundation ready for a home to place on it.

Have more questions about our homes? Go to our FAQ page to get them answered and if you can’t find the answer there, feel free to email info@backyardadus.com and someone will respond with the information you need. Otherwise, the first step to get started building is by signing up for a feasibility study to see what’s possible.

Top ADU Design Trends for 2023

Well, let’s face it. ADUs (accessory dwelling units) are becoming a trend in themselves; not to mention, the overall desire for smaller homes. The housing crisis, driven by continued high monthly rental costs and high prices of already existing homes, has people looking for other options and ADUs seem to be one great solution.

With the new year in full swing, Backyard ADUs decided to take a look at some of the trends that we think you will see when it comes to ADUs going forward in 2023. Here are our top 8 when considering planning, design, construction and everything in between.

1. Lower Interest Rates

According to Mortgage Brokers Association forecast for the year, “Although short-term rates will continue to increase, …long-term rates have already peaked. We expect that 30-year mortgage rates will end 2023 at 5.2%.”

With that prediction they will be down ~1.2% from where we ended 2022 and almost 2% from when they peaked back in October at 7.16%.

So while there are a lot of factors involved with cost when building, we are excited to start to seeing one of them moving in the right direction.

2. Multigenerational Living

While we have seen this trend increase for the past couple years, this will definitely continue throughout 2023 and we are a huge fan due to it’s dramatic level of benefits.

Grandparents all over the country are building in their children’s backyards. Whether it’s due to the passing of a spouse, downsizing from a home that’s too large or needing more care while maintaining independence, this seems to be a win win for everyone involved. Rather than investing in a retirement/senior living facility, the investment goes towards increasing the value of a property while keeping a family member close and in their own home-style environment. Grandparents are also getting to raise their grandchildren, saving on childcare costs for homeowners and allowing family to spend more time together, in addition to everyone saving on maintenance costs by sharing the property.

Above: A homeowner’s mom moved into this L-Line home in her daughter’s yard, allowing her to spend more time with her grandchild.

3. Buying Property to Share

Another model that is increasing in popularity is family members, or even good friends, investing in land together. That land is then used to build two or more separate homes on, lowering cost for those who may find standalone properties a better option or who don’t already own a home to build behind.

Above: Siblings in Williamstown bought land together, cutting cost, and then each built their own single-family home on the property.

4. DIY Shells

While Backyard ADUs can build your home from start to finish, a new trend is purchasing one of our DIY shells and doing the work yourself. Dramatically more cost-efficient, this option can suddenly make building a home possible for some families when it otherwise wouldn’t be.

The name may have you imagining a giant delivery showing up with a million pieces to try and put together like Ikea furniture or just an exterior empty box, but it actually arrives much more ready than you may think. Don’t worry about electrical, plumbing, cabinets, putting up walls or insulation. Instead, all the tricky steps have been done for you and it’s ready for you to add finishing touches like flooring and paint.

We are excited to be working on new ways to support you in the process with soon-to-be released videos for those DIY projects and providing support calls when you get stuck.

Above: One half of a two box shell, already installed with cabinets, plumbing, wiring, and windows.

5. Energy Efficient Homes

The trend towards energy efficiency has been around and is not going anywhere. An incentive-based program offered by MassSave in 2022 is leading the way for more energy-efficient homes and is driving code changes that will set these new targets as a baseline in the next few years.

In our first year building, to meet these strict energy goals, we were able to complete 7 homes that qualified for a $15k rebate! Even though this program is only offered in Massachusetts, we are continuing this trend by implementing building practices in the factory and on-site that ensure our homes meet and exceed energy requirements across Massachusetts and Maine.

Not only does this practice positively impact the environment but it also impacts homeowner savings. All of our homes are built Net Zero ready which gives the potential for homeowners to reduce the cost of running their home to less than $700 per year, including heating and cooling!

Above: This Greenfield home qualified for a rebate through Mass Save after receiving a 1.4 ACH50 infiltration rate on the blow door test.

6. Mono Pitched Roofs

If you have been following us on social media you may have noticed the new design trend that our clients have fallen in love with.

Mono pitched (a.k.a. mono plane) roofs not only add a modern feel to any home but they also have practical use. They are often more cost effective and allow for the illusion of a lot more space, which is a huge deal when it comes to a small home. They even provide the opportunity for vaulted ceilings!

One of our favorite benefits is, if you are aiming for net-zero, this style gives plenty of roof area for solar panel installation when facing in the right direction of the sun.

Above: Mono pitched roof home recently built in Williamstown, MA.

7. Wellness Spaces

People are looking for areas in their homes that make them feel good. We don’t just mean home gyms or yoga rooms, as we know that in a small home space is limited. While those things may find a nook in the homes we build, we are instead seeing more things such as natural light, blurring indoor and outdoor space lines, and fresh air being important. People are also prioritizing space for things they love and that which just makes them “feel good”.

We are also noticing people adding more plants to their space and creating useful outdoor spaces that have as much purpose as the ones indoors.

Above: Creating a heart of one grandmother’s home, this kitchen has all the wellness features she hoped for; lots of cooking space with seating to include her grandkids, tons of natural light, large windows that open for plenty of fresh air in the summer months, and a spot to start her plants indoors .

8. Being Bold

White subway tile, plain wooden cabinets and beige walls may always be around, homeowners are now taking more risk when it comes to incorporating bold interior features and colors. Clients are showcasing their personalities in everything from unexpected wall colors, to tuxedo cabinets, and funky light fixtures.

Above: We fell in love with our client Libby’s bold choices throughout her small home, including her blue countertops, unique backsplash, sea foam wall paint and live-edge open shelving pictured here.

Above: Bold paint and cabinet colors in a Portland home.

Do all of these trends have you wondering how you can start the process in building your own small home or ADU? The first step is in ordering a feasibility study to see what’s possible. Head HERE to get started today or CONTACT US if you have specific questions. We would love to hear from you!

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Sources: Fratantoni, Mike, and Joel Kan. “MBA Mortgage Finance ForecastMike.” MBA Forecast Commentary: December 2022, Mortgage Bankers Association, Dec. 2022, https://www.mba.org/docs/default-source/research-and-forecasts/forecasts/mortgage-finance-forecast-dec-2022.pdf?sfvrsn=b584bf7_1.

“United States MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate.” Investing.com, Mortgage Brokers Association, 1 Feb. 2023, https://www.investing.com/economic-calendar/mba-30-year-mortgage-rate-1042.