On any given day of the week, the Bell residence in Little Rock’s Pulaski Heights neighborhood bustles with activity. Between Ray and Carrie Bell, their 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and Carrie’s 17-year-old son, Candler, the house is a hub of game-watching parties, sleepovers, cocktail hours and formal dinners.
“People are always coming in and out,” says Carrie, a stay-at-home mom and freelance photo stylist. “I like to call it my little party jewel box.” Last January, she and her husband Ray, who owns a printing company, traded in their 6,000-square-foot home for a 2,700-square-foot 1947 red brick colonial. They replaced the existing garage with a master bedroom suite and laundry room, and discovered that with this one addition, the home’s smaller size was well suited to their lifestyle. “It made sense for our petite family,” says Carrie, whose son will be heading off to college next year. “We live in this house much more easily than the other because it brings us all together.”…