Americans from coast to coast have ridden their houses skyward in a furious appreciation tornado, only to plummet back to earth in a startling new and different economic landscape.

Welcome to the new realty reality. Flamboyance is old-fashioned. Size is so not cool. Small is the new big.

As Americans focused more and more on the financial appreciation of their address, many lost the thread of what makes a house a home in the first place. When someone decided to renovate a kitchen, the first priority was, what changes would sell well, and the second priority was, what changes would we enjoy? Homeowners sacrificed many things they would personally enjoy for the sake of resale.

Now that the housing bubble has burst, Americans are reacquainting themselves with the joys of homeownership from a new, healthier perspective.Small is beautiful – againWhen the housing bubble grew, homeowners became fixated on the value of their square footage, tracking its worth as closely as a stock portfolio. That's because we tend to price houses the way we price shrimp -- by the pound rather than, say, the way we price bread -- by the loaf.  Unfortunately, when that enormous bubble popped, some homeowners realized that all that superfluous square footage was for naught -- and in many markets actually depreciated the value of their homes.

Americans are giving a second look to the small-is-beautiful movement born a generation ago. The "Not So Big" movement advocates downsizing toward cozier, more enjoyable homes that emphasize quality over quantity. It even dreams up architectural fixes for empty nesters who want to age in place.You can go home againPartial kitchen or bathroom remodels are the norm today rather than full-scale, down-to-the-studs makeovers. Instead of adding on, his customers now are more likely to update family rooms with new cabinets or built-ins.

Renovations are more about livability than salability.  Homeowners may not be as aggressive in making their house bigger in a market where values may not be going up or may be going down.One upside to the economic downturn: Remodeling is a bargain. Many companies have moved their prices down by as much as 10 percent, and construction materials, which were on an upward curve, have not increased this year.It's a great time to take advantage of pricing for remodeling. One of your best returns always is updating your home. It not only makes it more enjoyable, but if you were to resell it, nothing moves better than a home that has been kept up and updated.