Romans 12 and Home Design

A few years ago Romans 12 were my verses for the year.  Almost everyday I went into this small place I had made in my closet to read those verses before starting out on the day.  The year I read Romans 12, in The Message, and asked God to use those verses to make me more like Him, was one of the roughest and hardest years of life. But I loved that journey and learned so much from it.  Romans 12 remains one of my favorite passages in scripture, but honestly, I haven't been quick to spend anytime in that passage again.  A girl has to get her stamina back...  I find myself drawn back to Romans 12 this week.  In The Message paraphrase, we are considering four "everyday, ordinary" parts of our lives; sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around and we are told to lay those areas down before the Lord as an offering.  The question is, what does this look like and how would our lives be different if we thought about these activities as an offering.  The overriding question of Romans 12 is, what does our culture draw out of me and what does God draw out of me?  These questions are quite a bit to think and pray over. 

I have written previously that when we were looking at houses, we had specifics on our list that we needed in our home.  One was it be a spacious dwelling, but not an over sized McMansion.  OK, I don't even know if we could afford a mansion.  Maybe a really large house, but it wouldn't have very much in the way of furnishings.  Even though Roy and I felt strongly about space, the draw of the culture was there to go for bigger is better.  Why in the world would two people without children or grandchildren ever need 5 bedrooms?  And in our case with gimp a limp here, would I ever even see the second story of our home?   Even yesterday as Dani and I were picking out colors, textures and fabrics for the living room furniture and such, I had this nagging thought, we should have bought a bigger house.  It is so easy to be drawn into what others do and what might be expected.  Then it seems so silly when someone who doesn't read my blog or keeps up with me on Facebook asks about the house and I say, oh it has three bedrooms and 3 bathrooms...  When I was growing up, how did our family of four survive so many years with just a bath and a half?  There is it is, the question...is what is my culture drawing out of us...and we had to look deeply and thoughtfully in our decisions.  We want to be beacon lights in this world of darkness, holding forth the Word of Life, but will our possessions and house decorating be what the culture lures or will God draw out of us in our everyday, ordinary, walking around lives. 

In the midst of all these decisions of structure, furnishings, and ambiance came a welcomed article in my email.  This is a newsletter I get from Robyn Waters of http://www.rwtrend.com/.  I found it quite interesting and thought provoking. 




"As I write this, eight men are hammering on the roof above my head. It is really hard to concentrate, so if I flounder or flub, please forgive. My husband and I are getting ready to sell our home, beginning the journey to downsize our lives. A few years ago I wrote a newsletter titled “Simplifying Your Life Can Be Complicated.” I thought I knew what I was talking about, but I’m in the midst of being reeducated.



Thank goodness for Sarah Susanka! Sarah is an architect, cultural visionary, and best-selling author of the “Not So Big” series: “The Not So Big House,” “Not So Big Remodeling,” and “The Not So Big Life.” She has been helping Americans understand how they can downsize their homes without downsizing their dreams for over 10 years. (www.notsobighouse.com and susanka.com)



Her “build better, not bigger” approach to residential architecture is now embraced across the country, but when “The Not So Big House” was first published it was in direct opposition to the McMansion trend. The 60-year trend was homes that got increasingly bigger, even as families got smaller. In 1940, the average amount of square footage per person in a new, single-family home was roughly 300 square feet. By 2000, that number had more than tripled. After a long run-up in median new home size, square footage peaked at 2,309 in 2007. Since then, home sizes have been shrinking, hitting 2,091 in 2009.



Savvy builders are starting to cater to the more modest needs of first-time buyers and their empty-nester parents, the dominant demographic groups over the next decade. Rising energy costs, the poor economy, and the decline in home prices also contribute to the downsizing trend.



Today, more than one-third of Americans say their ideal home size is under 2,0000 square feet, according to the real-estate site Trulia. If you’re thinking of downsizing your home, here are Sarah’s 10 Tips for Designing “Not So Big.”



1. Not So Big doesn’t have to be small: Focus on quality of space, rather than just quantity. Her rule of thumb: you can live easily in 1/3 less space than you think.

2. Make it personal: Your home should provide a sense of livability and comfort that is tailored to YOUR life. Don’t build to impress others.

3. Design for sustainable living: Build your home to last for generations, make it energy efficient, and make it beautiful. We take better care of things we find beautiful.

4. A good neighbor: Ensure your home fits the setting. Respect the views of your neighbors and design it to fit into the existing streetscape in scale and character.

5. A better floor plan for today: All the space should be used every day. With a more open floor plan, rooms can often do double duty over the course of a day.

6. Interior views: Long, diagonal views through adjacent spaces extend the perceived scale. Strategically placed windows or a lighted focal point draws the eye to the farthest point and accentuates spaciousness.

7. Varying ceiling heights: Think height, not just length and width. Create a hierarchy of space where more important spaces are open and expansive, and more intimate areas are lower and more sheltered.

8. Sense of shelter: Use a variety of visual cues to separate open spaces instead of solid walls. Raised counters, rugs, floating ceiling sections and beams can provide a sense of shelter around the activity taking place.

9. Pleasingly proportioned: Appropriate proportioning for human scale can make rooms feel both spacious and intimate.

10. Attention to detail: Everything should be thought through and designed to perfectly support your needs. Think comfort and functionality.



Follow Sarah’s tips and you can have a home that’s both inspiring to live in and perfectly crafted for your everyday living. Bottom line, your home should feed your soul, not your ego.

Smaller homes

Sarah Susanka

Robyn Waters is president and founder of RW Trend, LLC. She is the author of The Trendmaster’s Guide: Get a Jump on What Your Customer Wants Next, and The Hummer and the Mini: Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend Landscape. Learn more about Robyn at www.rwtrend.com. All Rights Reserved. "


Interesting...I think it really fits well with that Romans 12 kind of life.