One recent report suggested getting rid of hallways in new homes could reduce square footage and costs:

As homes shrink in size, hallways could be one of the first casualties. Eliminating these liminal spaces would decrease the number of interior walls and allow for more condensed homes, the survey found.

“Essentially, we’re Tetris-ing the functional rooms together, avoiding wasted square footage on non-functional areas like hallways,” the report said.

Other tactics Arroyo has noticed designers employing to save on space include eliminating a formal dining room, adding storage in unused spaces (under the staircase, for example), three-story homes with the living space on the second floor, and tandem garages.

I am trying to imagine a house without hallways. Does this mean that it has one large room – open floor plan great room combining kitchen, dining, and family? – with all the other rooms off of that one?

Could a hallway be expanded a bit and instead be claimed as another room? (I am thinking of the rooms sometimes found on the second floor at the top of stairs where you might fit a small desk or one chair and it is called an “open space” even though it is really a wider hallway.)

If there are not hallways, where will children run back and forth between walls or family members learn to walk past each other in a confined space? Or wonder which room is which when seeing several doorways at the end of the hall?