5 Tips to Make the Most of a Small Home

Brad Swartz and his eponymous architecture studio have garnered a heady reputation for making the most out of small homes. The studio is focused on a sustainable future for city development and works towards reformatting small inner-city dwellings and, simultaneously, removing all notions of compromise attached to present liveable homes. So, here at Kanebridge News, we though who better to pen a guide to designing a small home.

Here, five things to consider maximising your small space stylishly.

Case The Place

When looking to purchase a smaller unit or dwelling pay close attention to the windows and the external aspect. Often what makes a small dwelling feel bigger is what surrounds it or what it looks out to. A small unit with multiple windows — especially on either side — will make it feel larger, bring in better ventilation and better light.

Get Your Priorities Right

Figuring out what matters to you before designing your home is an essential first step. Whether you want a place to entertain, or you need space for an office, or lounging — having a clear understanding of what you want from your home will help you more efficiently organise and design your home.

Find Balance Between Storage And Space

Creating ample storage in a small home is always an uphill battle. The key to creating a comfortable and liveable space with little room is to find the balance between having the necessary storage without comprimising the sense of space. In a nutshell, this means making sure that you can see the full width of the room by not taking cupboards to the ceiling or leaving a gap under cabinets that exposes the flooring for a sense of continuity. These small things trick the eye and when combined with good aspect and lighting can make the home feel much bigger than it really is.

Find Opportunities For Multi-Use Items

Small homes require a sense of creativity, so where possible, find opportunities for things to have multiple uses. Foldable desks that become clothes racks, murphy beds, or screens like the one I used in The Boneca [pictured above] building I used to delineate the two spaces help to add functionality to a room without sacrificing space or light.

Add a Touch Of Luxury

Just because you’re living in a smaller space doesn’t mean you have to forgo life’s luxuries. And, as the spaces are smaller – a little bit goes a long way. Opt for a splash of marble, or other luxurious stone finishes, or build in a drop-down projector — whatever it is is, that’s going to make the home more comfortable and liveable for you. Ultimately these are home and you want to feel comfortable in them and want them to be a space you want to live in.

bradswartz.com.au

The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.

Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”

Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.

The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.

But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.

Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.

“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”

Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.

Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”

Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.

Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.