Ideas
Sheri Koones’ ADU book: ideas to bring to your own project
Published · Updated
Sheri Koones' book ADUs: The Perfect Housing Solution, published by Gibbs Smith in 2024, presents examples of smaller homes added to existing properties. It is a useful source of design inspiration for homeowners exploring different forms of ADU living.
The book features 25 ADUs across the United States and Canada, with information about how they were built, their environmental features and how the homes are used. The variety makes it useful for comparing ideas before choosing a direction for your own property.
Photographs and plans can help you recognise what you want from a small home. The next step is to translate that inspiration into a design that fits your own family, site and budget.
Look for the idea behind the photograph
When you find an ADU you like, ask what is working. It might be the relationship with the garden, a compact kitchen, a sheltered entrance or the way storage is built into a room.
That idea may be more useful than copying the whole building. A different floor plan or construction method could provide the same benefit while fitting your property better.
Keep a short collection of examples and note the features you would actually use. This gives the design conversation more direction than a folder of attractive images without a clear priority.
Test the layout against daily life
Consider where you will cook, eat, work and put the ordinary things that need a home. Draw in furniture and check the routes between rooms. Include laundry, coats, shoes and outdoor equipment in the plan.
For family use, think beyond the first occupant. Access, bathroom layout and the ability to use the main rooms comfortably may matter if parents will live there later. A smaller design can still be carefully planned around those needs.
Review the relationship with the main house
An ADU is part of a shared property. The position of windows, doors, decks and paths influences privacy and the way both homes use the yard.
A design from another location may assume different access, space or orientation. The relationship between the buildings needs to be developed for your own lot rather than carried over from the example.
Bring the site and budget into the discussion
A book or gallery does not establish what is permitted at your address. Local zoning, building requirements, services, hazards and access affect how the design can be developed.
The complete budget also needs the work around the home: consultants, foundations, connections, delivery or assembly and finishing. Looking at those items early helps preserve the design features that matter most when choices have to be made.
Use inspiration as a starting point
The value of looking at completed ADUs is seeing different ways a compact home can support real life. Bring the ideas that interest you, along with the address and the intended use.
We can help compare suitable layouts and construction approaches, then develop the site-specific work needed to move from an example to a practical project.