Trend Talk: Right-Sizing Homes & the PR Pitch

The idea of right-sizing a home isn't new to Gale Steves. In fact, the need to better design and build homes to "fit" a home owner's lifestyle was somewhat obvious to the former Editor in Chief of  Home Magazine and industry consultant when she saw the prevalence of over-sized homes and unused rooms back in the 80's. 

Her new book, Right Sizing Your Home: How to Make Your Home Fit Your Lifestyle gives voice to this trend and is gaining real traction with the media. Why? Priorities have changed for homeowners and buyers in the wake of this recession. Practicality, frugality and authenticity rule over big, beautiful and expensive and are influencing  buying decisions. Earlier this year, the New Economy Home captured the attention of the industry at the International Builder's Show for the same reason, giving the home building and real estate market a new major selling point -  affordable adaptability.  

"It's not about square footage anymore, but about how inventive a home is," says Gale. Her right-sized predictions for home design?  Master bathrooms will shrink, bedrooms will  downsize in favor of closets becoming dressing rooms, dining rooms will disappear and "eating rooms" in or off of  kitchens  will re-emerge. 

How can you take transform this national trend into a PR opportunity?  

• Consumers and the media want solutions. Start pulling out stories about ways you saved clients or customers money and made their homes more efficient through your design services or products. 
• Pitch a story to your local paper on how to transform an unused or outdated area into a functional spaces.  
• Start walking the talk. It's important to sync your business with the changing marketplace. Speak at partner retailers or showrooms, or host events in your  store that address these topics. They're timely and give you more material for the media. 

While I haven't read Gale's book, I was impressed by the excerpts she provided me. She's outlined a realistic how-to approach with checklists and instructions anybody can follow, and included a lovely  "The Art of 'Re' " introduction that outlines 15 "re-" words to start creatively rightsizing.