Small House Plans and Designs

Optimize for efficiency, comfort, and affordability with The Plan Collection’s small house plans. We can guide you through our selection of over 2,000 designs in the “small house plan” category, with over 300 plans for homes of 1,000 square feet or less!

Whether you are working with a small lot, want to save on building materials and utility bills, are at a downsizing stage in life, or are simply interested in more environmentally responsible and smart home design, The Plan Collection’s small floor plans can help you get the most out of minimal square footage.

Good Things Come in Small Home Plans

American homes are known worldwide for being unnecessarily large. Our square-foot-per-person average is among the highest on the globe. Mass-produced with cheap materials, vast suburbs of “McMansions” epitomize the excesses of American homebuilding.

Fortunately, this trend toward excessively large homes is on the decline, and small floor plans are all the rage these days. Americans everywhere are looking to unsaddle themselves from the large mortgages and hefty utility bills that come with large home ownership. The small-home movement emphasizes small home plans designed on the principles of efficiency and simplicity, where functionality and purpose win the day over clutter and cost.

Smaller Home Designs for Every Stage of Life

Small house plans are well suited for all of life’s changing circumstances. Young, single first-time buyers can trade throwaway apartment rent for a property investment with small-home ownership. Newlywed couples, recent empty nesters, and retirees also benefit from the efficiency and savings of small home plans. Even families who want to raise kids with less “stuff” are choosing smaller homes.

As with all The Plan Collection’s home designs, small house plans are customizable and modifiable in case you want to add the “mother-in-law suite” or an extra bedroom when the time comes. We will help you start small, with a focus on smart design.

Eco Friendly Plans

Smaller homes are also greener homes. Less square footage means lower heating bills in the winter and lower electricity bills from air conditioning in the summer. Smaller lawns require less water. It is easier to use less with a small home plan.

To go even further for the earth and its future generations, our talented architects have developed a number of environmentally responsible features available to small house plans. The Plan Collection’s variety of passive-solar, energy efficient and geodesic styles means a reduced ecological footprint without sacrificing practicality and comfort.  We are also experienced in straw-bale construction methods and rooftop gardens. Our small home plans reflect a careful use of space with a softer impact on the planet.

Find the Small Plan that’s Right for You

Too attached to large heirloom furniture or bulky appliances to downsize? Concerned that a small house plan may not deliver in terms of garage space, storage space, or personal privacy? Not willing to compromise on amenities like a walk-in closet or a kitchen island? Building on a lot that requires narrow floor plans?

Let us surprise and delight you with innovative design features that rethink the small homes of the past, allowing for unprecedented luxury and utility in compact living areas. Among our 2,400+ small house plans, you are likely to find something that is right for you.