Apartment-Sized Furniture Trend Gets Bigger

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We've been saying for awhile that less is more, and it appears that mainstream modern furniture design is catching on to the trend. When it comes to home interior design ideas, TreeHugger always thinks smaller is sexy; the Wall Street Journal reports on the trend of shrinking home sizes and the shrinking, apartment-sized furniture that's coming it with.

As the housing market fumbles, Baby Boomers downsize to condos and first-time buyers settle in to urban neighborhoods, interior design and furniture sizes are responding with smaller pieces to fit smaller spaces all around.

To wit: "Citing a trend to smaller homes, Rowe Fine Furniture says it expects its Mini Mod line, introduced in 2004, to account for a quarter of its collection this fall." And, "According to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal consumption of furniture and bedding grew only 2.4% in 2007, far short of 5.8% growth in 2006 and 6.1% growth in 2005. January sales fell 1.9% compared with January 2007."

And the trend toward smaller sizes also often (but not always) has an ancillary effect: smaller is cheaper, too, for the most part. Dig in to our less is more category for more examples of how scaling back can help you live it up. ::Wall Street Journal via ::Apartment Therapy: Chicago