If you're young and mobile — and likely strapped for cash — you don't want to be bogged down by a lot of stuff.

Need to get across town? There's Bikeshare. Going out of town? Use Zipcar. Looking for a place to stay while you're there? Check out Airbnb. Want something cheaper? Try Couchsurfing. In today's sharing economy just about anything can be rented, borrowed or bartered at a fraction of the cost to buy or the price charged by a commercial service.

In post-World War II America, consumerism was king. After years of deprivation due to the Great Depression and the war, the GI generation — back to work and pouring into the newly-built suburbs — was eager to buy.

They spent on homes, cars, appliances, TV sets, gas-powered lawnmowers, LP records, stereo phonographs, cameras, hula hoops — you name it. But in our postrecession economy, it's not what you have that matters, it's what you get; not who owns, but who gets to use it.

Beth Buczynski, author of "Sharing Is Good: How to Save Money, Time and Resources Through Collaborative Consumption," explains: "Millennials no longer see material possessions as a vehicle for self-expression or independence the way their parents may have. They want the music, not the CD. They want the experience, the connection, the relationship, rather than the souvenir. Besides, they probably don't have anywhere to put it."

Collaborative consumption poses some interesting challenges for designers, not the least of which is: Is it a viable business model? Traditionally, designers are hired to perform custom work. They are masters of consumption; they know which products are the best and how to get them.

But designers also are experienced collaborators. Usually that involves working with other professionals and trades to realize their designs. Could they use their collaboration skills in other ways to create a virtual studio through which they could share clients, designs, furnishings or sources?

This is already happening informally through the use of social networking media and crowdsourcing sites like Arcbazar and Decorilla. But some pros in other design fields, such as product design and graphic design, are experimenting with collaborative business models for their firms.

For designers just starting their own businesses, sharing or bartering can be a great way to reduce costs. Co-working centers are gaining popularity with creative types looking to collaborate and cut down on office expenses.

What about swapping consultation services for outsourced services, like bookkeeping, Web design or public relations? In the community, collaborative consumption is a great way to network and obtain referrals as you develop contacts to share stuff or barter services.

Designers excel at creating collaborative and shared environments. Flexible office spaces, libraries that double as community centers, hotel lobbies with business centers and areas for socializing, and retail stores with coffee bars are just some of the multiuse projects designers frequently undertake.

In the not-too-distant future, though, designers may be asked to design apartments or multiuse spaces that have no private owners but are held by a corporation that rents them by the day, the week or the hour.

Under that scenario, how do you design for repeat customization and multiple-user experiences? Is the paradigm the model home, the showhouse room, the pop-up store or something entirely new? Does designing for collaborative consumption benefit from a cradle-to-cradle approach, where everything is speced with the intention that it will in due course be replaced, recycled or repurposed? Where there is no ownership, there are no heirlooms.

Sharing and bartering are not new. What have changed are the reach and scale, as well as the underlying ethic. Mobile and social networking technologies have allowed collaborative consumption to blossom into a global phenomenon.

In the old days, you might borrow a cup of sugar or the hedge trimmers from your neighbor, maybe rent or time-share a vacation home. Today, complete strangers who reside in different cities or even different countries are using apps to hire out cars, flats and even parking spaces for as little as a few hours, redefining our ideas about ownership and use.

While not likely to replace the traditional interior design client, these collaborative consumers are creating a niche global economy based on use rather than ownership, distributed social networks and concern for the environment. For enterprising designers who share their values, the opportunity awaits to create a new model for design services.