Despite the popularity of large McMansions with vaulted ceilings and four-stall garages, a growing number of Americans have begun to believe that bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to where they live.

For guidance, they turn to Sarah Susanka, who created something of a sensation two years ago with her first book, The Not So Big House, in which she argued that most folks would be happier with a smaller house designed to fit their lives and where quality rules over quantity.

The book was a bestseller and Susanka is so in demand on the lecture circuit that she has given up her architectural work to spread the word on "not-so-big" and to talk about her ideas for a new design language to help create a not-so-big house.

We'll talk to her about that today and about her second book Creating the Not So Big House.

About the author
As an advocate of "less is more" in residential architecture and interior design, Sarah Susanka has emerged as one of America's favorite home architects. As a result of the success of The Not So Big House and the new vision it holds for the American home, she was featured by U.S. News and World Report as one of 18 innovators in American culture. Susanka has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Charlie Rose Show, and numerous radio shows around the country. She is a former principal and founding partner of the firm chosen by LIFE magazine to design its 1999 Dream Home.

Sarah Susanka is a principal with Mulfinger, Susanka, Mahady & Partners, with offices in Minneapolis and Stillwater, Minnesota. She writes an architectural design column for Fine Homebuilding magazine and contributes to several shelter publications.