MomofSeven Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 A few weeks ago I asked advice about downsizing our home based on several reasons, the primary reason being financial. I hate being house poor and not being able to take vacations or give generously to others. I'm frugal, by nature, but I don't like being beholden to a house. Â All that being said, without any prodding from me, my husband came to me one morning and said that he thinks we should downsize. That's a God thing, as I never once mentioned my thoughts to him. Â So now we are looking to go from a 3500 sqf home to somewhere around a 2000 sqf home. I have six children with one on the way and my oldest is 11. We currently have five bedrooms, 4 baths, 1 partial bath, a large playroom and a full basement. The houses we are looking at have 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 1 partial, and a full basement. The kitchens are much smaller than what I have now and won't have a functioning diningroom as this will be our schoolroom. Â I'm overwhelmed by the thought of living in nearly half the space. I'm very good at purging and neither my husband nor I keep much stuff around. I am willing to sell several sets of furniture in order to fit in a smaller home. However, I'm more concerned about all those bodies in a smaller space! Fortunately my two oldest will be in school parttime next year, so that will help. And we are insisting on a large lot for the kids to play in. But still, can a large family function in a not-so-large house? Even though my kids don't have so many toys, we just have more stuff as a result of there being so many of us - more clothes, more sheets, more towels, more dishes, etc. etc. How do we make this work? Â BTW, we plan on being in this house for 3-5 years until we can get out of debt at which point we hope to find something more suitable for our future teens. Â Thanks for your help. Quote
gingersmom Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 You do what you have to do. Â If I dared to complain about something like this my father would remind me he lived in a two bedroom apartment with his parents and his 2 brothers (the boys all shared one room). Â I think children are much more adaptable then we give them credit for. Â I have no dining room so we homeschool at the kitchen table. Or the backyard when the weather is nice :) Â My X husband grew up in a teeny tiny apartment with one child and 4 adults. It had to be beyond cramped. It was maybe 1100 square feet at most. They managed. Quote
JFSinIL Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 My hubby grew up in a Chicago bungalow - three girls in one dormer bedroom (bunk beds for two), two boys in another room, and a small closet of a room set aside for the oldest boy (years older than the other two boys). All the six kids shared one full bath. Parents had a downstairs bedroom and used the bath down there, just off the small kitchen. It worked. Â We have five bedrooms in a less than 2,000 sq. ft house from 1906. Older homes can have more bedrooms - they will, however, be small and have teensy closets (if they have closets at all.) Our family of six shares one full bath. The downstairs powder room had a shoebox-size shower squeezed in a couple families ago so it is kinda a full bath. Â No master suite or bath, that is for sure. Â No study or school room, either - two computers are jammed into the dining room along with two bookcases. If I scoot back my chair now I will hit the dining room table. Â You just use furniture that fits and make it work. And if you feel crammed - think of how much more house we all still have than most folks in the rest of the world. :-) Â Good luck! Quote
JudoMom Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) A few weeks ago I asked advice about downsizing our home based on several reasons, the primary reason being financial. I hate being house poor and not being able to take vacations or give generously to others. I'm frugal, by nature, but I don't like being beholden to a house. All that being said, without any prodding from me, my husband came to me one morning and said that he thinks we should downsize. That's a God thing, as I never once mentioned my thoughts to him.  So now we are looking to go from a 3500 sqf home to somewhere around a 2000 sqf home. I have six children with one on the way and my oldest is 11. We currently have five bedrooms, 4 baths, 1 partial bath, a large playroom and a full basement. The houses we are looking at have 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 1 partial, and a full basement. The kitchens are much smaller than what I have now and won't have a functioning diningroom as this will be our schoolroom.  I'm overwhelmed by the thought of living in nearly half the space. I'm very good at purging and neither my husband nor I keep much stuff around. I am willing to sell several sets of furniture in order to fit in a smaller home. However, I'm more concerned about all those bodies in a smaller space! Fortunately my two oldest will be in school parttime next year, so that will help. And we are insisting on a large lot for the kids to play in. But still, can a large family function in a not-so-large house? Even though my kids don't have so many toys, we just have more stuff as a result of there being so many of us - more clothes, more sheets, more towels, more dishes, etc. etc. How do we make this work?  BTW, we plan on being in this house for 3-5 years until we can get out of debt at which point we hope to find something more suitable for our future teens.  Thanks for your help.  I think layout will be key for you guys. For us, having an open main floor is wonderful. All 7 of us can be in the living/dining/kitchen and it doesn't feel cramped at all.  Our 5 boys share 2 bedrooms. We recently bought them loft beds so they all have their own space now.  Figure out the minimum you guys can have towel/clothing wise. For example, my boys each have 3 pairs of shorts. In the winter they have 3 pairs of jeans. It doesn't sound like much, but as you know, just one day of clothing for people can easily equal a load of laundry. Edited July 16, 2009 by JudoMom Quote
Danestress Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Buying, selling, and moving is expensive in itself, and the market isn't great right now. Of course, it's great as a buyer, so maybe it comes out in the wash. But I would tend to think about staying put over buying a smaller house with the idea of buying a larger one again in 3 - 5 years. It just seems like taking on a lot of work and cost and I would want to make sure that the financial gain is worth is, especially when you will only have 3 - 5 years to benefit from it. Are you sure? Â That said, of course you can live in a smaller house. I have a friend who has 7 kids aged 1 - 14 and they have a small two bedroom apartment. I am not recommending that, but you certainly can survive it. Â I have a lot of downsizing fantasies. We have too much house. When we bought it, our oldest was 15. I was VERY glad to have extra space when I had a teenager in the house. There is something about teens that they just take up more space - not just physically but emotionally and mentally. Â Now that we have only 2 11 year olds, I often think about moving to something smaller. But I resist the work and expense involved, and I know that in the blink of an eye I will have two boys who are 17 living here, and the space will seem good again. Â Once they grow up, though, I swear I am downsizing to a one bedroom efficiency. Quote
BMW Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I second the layout! That can make a huge difference. Our main floor of a too small home was completely open... no walls... and I arranged furniture the best of my ability to give us the most floor space, even if it would not have been a "home decorater" choice! That open space gives you a much needed "feeling" of space. And all of you will want that. Â Also... try to get one with a garage. You can do SO much with a garage to help you when you have a small home. I built floor to ceiling shelves and kept buckets of the children's toys, art supplies, lots of school supplies in there to free up living space. I would rotate toy boxes... my children loved getting the "new box of toys"! ;) We had a very large 2 car garage and we even put down an inexpensive wood floor on one side (where my shelves were) and had a school room out there... simple table, chairs and a desk with a non-internet computer for kids software. You might not have this extra space, but, even if you get a garage that is big enough for a wall of shelves, you will be very thankful for that. Â The biggest key for living day to day in a smaller space is having places to put things away. I used shallow bins under beds, etc. Â The good news... and I miss this... is when dh would take the kids for the day for an outting, I could start in one end and move through the home cleaning up and in a couple hours, the whole place looked great! Â We are in the opposite position that you are... and getting no where. We need a larger home right now and cannot sell the one were in because it has no equity. And the banks aren't wanting to give us two mortgages, even if we rent this house (which we have renters lined up and ready to rent here!). Here it is the best time to purchase, and we are stuck. Quote
LBC Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I'm overwhelmed by the thought of living in nearly half the space.  I don't have much advice, but I thought I'd encourage you. We just moved a year ago, from a smaller home to a larger one. Although I love the space in my new home, I find that our family dynamics have really changed. My kids each have their own rooms, and they just don't spend time together the way they used to. They all go off into their separate places. I really miss the sense of togetherness we had in our smaller home. They also spent way more time outside when we had our smaller home, which was another healthier habit they've dropped. It's great that you're willing to make this change for the future of your family. You will adjust, and if God is initiating this move, He will give you a way to make it work. :grouphug:  Also, there's less housework to do, so you will have more time to enjoy your new baby, and read to your kids.:D  Lori  PS - I think it's time to update your signature if your oldest is 11.:) Quote
Dirtroad Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) Bunk Beds for all the kids... opens up floor space. I have a friend with 3 girls in 1 room (they have 2 twin beds but one opens to a trundle). She has 2 boys and they have bunks. (5 kids in 2 bedrooms!) NO TOYS in their rooms, they keep them in a couple of bins in the familyroom/ tv area... by doing this she keeps the number of toys restricted simply by space. Â Sheets - 2 sets per bed. Then you have one set on the bed & 1 ready for back up. Get rid of the rest. Same with blankets... what you need & maybe one more for winter (depending on your climate & needs). Â Underbed storage - utilize the space for out of season clothing, board games, extra blankets (just get those bags or rubbermaids made for this) Â Shelves along ceiling. You can put trophies, keepsakes, and special items on shelves that run up along the top 12" of the room. Out of the way but cool to keep their personal favorites out to enjoy. Â Check out the rain gutter shelves idea... they would be great by each bunk bed to hold a few books or a flashlight or ipod... things kids want handy at night or at rest, etc. Â Bathroom schedules! You will still have lots of bathrooms (we only have 1 for showers, etc). Let personality types decides routines/schedules. My DD prefers showers at night... DS prefers morning. I could care less as long as I get one. I have seem families color-code towels & things to make it easy to keep up with who used what & where they put it, etc. Â If you double up the kids in bedrooms.... have you considered 1 bedroom becoming a library or study area? A den? IT could also be the home of books, toys, tv, music.... etc. Â Be encouraged! I have friend who just upsized & she is not as happy as she was in her 1500 sq feet. She sees materialism eating her kids more, she is consumed with worry over the mortgage & economic projections, and she can't keep up with the cleaning (new house is about 3000 sq ft). You may get the opposite results!!!! Â We have our house for sale. We have 2500 sq ft. When we move, I want a smaller house & bigger porches! I want to be able to take kids to more places for school experiences and not have all our money in a house (the recent real estate crash has took our house to almost the same value as we paid... 10 years ago! Pathetic return & to think of all that interest!) Hope it all goes well! Edited July 16, 2009 by Dirtroad Quote
LBC Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Buying, selling, and moving is expensive in itself, and the market isn't great right now. Of course, it's great as a buyer, so maybe it comes out in the wash. But I would tend to think about staying put over buying a smaller house with the idea of buying a larger one again in 3 - 5 years. It just seems like taking on a lot of work and cost and I would want to make sure that the financial gain is worth is, especially when you will only have 3 - 5 years to benefit from it. Are you sure?   This was my first thought, too. OP, you said it was a "God thing", but perhaps God is opening the door for discussion, and there may be other options. Could you take in a student boarder in your current house? Or perhaps a Korean student? In Canada many homeschool families are sought out to take young (ages 9 - 12) Korean students for a few months. Learning English is very important to them, so they send their kids to live with Canadian families. Many of my local friends have taken one of these students, and they have a great cultural family experience, and are well compensated financially (especially if you choose to teach the student along with your children). Just a thought.  Lori Quote
iwka Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Just to have a perspective on life it helps me sometimes to remember:  I am from Easter Europe. Most of the people after WWII grew up in very small apartments, like 1 bedroom (about 400 sq ft), with 2-3 kids and often some other family member.  I grew up in an old apartment without bathroom, just one sink in the kitchen. We had one room, our grandmother had another one, shared kitchen and tine hallway.  http://iwka.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/if-you-have-spare-change-you-are-rich/  If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleepyou are more comfortable than 75% of the people in this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, spare change in a drawer, a pocket or somewhere you are among the top 8% of the worldĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s most wealthy people. If you can read this, remember that there are over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.  Quote
DawnM Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) You sound like us! We have about the same amount of house (with the basement it is 4200 sq. ft.) We want to go to 2500-3000 including everything, but the biggest thing for us is moving neighborhoods. Our neighborhood is in the best schools and we would move and be able to not have to cut our house size too much by moving to a less well off school area within the same town. Â But, I am wondering if you have the same issue we do.....we don't know if we can sell in this market! Â Oh, and I just reread that you plan to move and then move back to a larger house later???? I don't know if I would do that. We want to downsize to be able to pay off the mortgage completely (bought this house before Crown Financial!) and just stay there. Â Dawn Edited July 16, 2009 by DawnM Quote
Kathleen in VA Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 We all live in a 1000 sf house and have for 20 years. It is cozy but I like the togetherness we have as a family. I know where my children are all the time.:) I do take advantage of all the vertical space in the house as well - that's a great help in regards to storage. We have two sets of bunkbeds and one loft bed. We don't bring much into the house either so it helps to save money in more ways than one. Â That said, I agree with the poster who said to really weigh the financial benefits before you up and sell. It costs money to sell and buy aside from the actual cost of the new house and it is a buyer's market. Â Also, consider how your house could be a blessing to others. I've often wished we had a spare bedroom when there has been a need for lodging a missionary or visiting choir or what have you. And ds22 is getting married next year and in this economy it would be nice to have a basement to transform into a newlywed suite for them - housing is still quite high in our area and entry-level jobs don't pay much. Â Since you and your dh are both on the same page, though, it does seem as if you might have a move in your future. We're proof that lots of people can live in close quarters and thrive. Purge, purge, purge! Quote
plansrme Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Our garage looks like an Ikea showroom. We do park both cars in there, but we use Ikea shelves for all manner of things. The kids all have cubbies for their shoes, sports equipment, pool towels and similar gear so that it never has to come in the house. I even keep my grain mill and bread maker out there, right by the kitchen door. Several times a week, I have the best-smelling garage in the neighborhood. ;) Â Terri Quote
Karen sn Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Just to have a perspective on life it helps me sometimes to remember:Â I am from Easter Europe. Most of the people after WWII grew up in very small apartments, like 1 bedroom (about 400 sq ft), with 2-3 kids and often some other family member. Â I grew up in an old apartment without bathroom, just one sink in the kitchen. We had one room, our grandmother had another one, shared kitchen and tine hallway. Â http://iwka.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/if-you-have-spare-change-you-are-rich/ Â Â Thanks for the link. Gave me goosebumps. i needed this. Quote
DawnM Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Wonderful to remember DAILY! Thank you!  I grew up in Kenya. It is so easy to get caught up in the way life is here.  Dawn  Just to have a perspective on life it helps me sometimes to remember: I am from Easter Europe. Most of the people after WWII grew up in very small apartments, like 1 bedroom (about 400 sq ft), with 2-3 kids and often some other family member.  I grew up in an old apartment without bathroom, just one sink in the kitchen. We had one room, our grandmother had another one, shared kitchen and tine hallway.  http://iwka.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/if-you-have-spare-change-you-are-rich/   Quote
Night Elf Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I really don't like when I hear comparisons of how our parents and grandparents lived. It's comparing apples and oranges. My MIL still lives in the house that she grew up in. She and her 2 sisters shared one small bedroom and her parents had the other small bedroom. The house has one bathroom, one small kitchen, and one small living room. It also has a basement and attic, neither which is inhabitable beyond storage. I've talked to her extensively about what life was like in her adolescent days. Their lives were totally different from ours today. For example, she and her sisters fit in one small bedroom because they shared a double bed, had one dresser and one small closet. None of them owned more clothes than 2 or 3 days worth. That was normal living for her neighborhood. In today's terms that is definitely frugal living. Â Yes, you can live in the space and make it work. But is it really economically better to make such drastic changes for just a few years? It may be for you. I'd suggest calcuating all the costs involved if you haven't already. Â We downsized 4 years ago. I absolutely loved it then. I've since changed my mind. My current house was only marginally lower priced than our former house. Our house payments are no more than $25 less per month. Our utilities are less, but I no longer believe the savings are worth the hassle. We had no problem getting rid of stuff. Most of it was old, things my DH and I had all our adult lives. But our current house is much smaller than I realized. We lost nearly all privacy. Even with our bedroom doors closed, we still hear noises from inside them. It seems no matter how much stuff we continue to give away, we still have lots of stuff to get around. Our living room holds one upright piano that my DH has had since age 12, seating for 5, and a tv stand. It feels crowded. Before, we only had one sofa but that meant 2 of us sitting on the floor if we were all in the room together. Â Oh, I could go on and on. I miss my former house. I miss the space we could spread out in and the rooms never felt crowded like our house now. Quote
MomofSeven Posted July 16, 2009 Author Posted July 16, 2009  Oh, and I just reread that you plan to move and then move back to a larger house later???? I don't know if I would do that. We want to downsize to be able to pay off the mortgage completely (bought this house before Crown Financial!) and just stay there.  Dawn   No not necessarily larger just more functional and teen-friendly. And we are not planning to buy but to rent for the next few years until we can get out of debt and save up a nice down payment for something of our own. It's a Dave Ramsey plan. Quote
Kathleen in VA Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Just to have a perspective on life it helps me sometimes to remember:Â I am from Easter Europe. Most of the people after WWII grew up in very small apartments, like 1 bedroom (about 400 sq ft), with 2-3 kids and often some other family member. Â I grew up in an old apartment without bathroom, just one sink in the kitchen. We had one room, our grandmother had another one, shared kitchen and tine hallway. Â http://iwka.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/if-you-have-spare-change-you-are-rich/ Â Â Â Just wanted to add a comment about this too. Ds22 is working for an appliance distributor right now and about 2/3 of the houses he delivers to are what we call "McMansions" - 3000sf or more - complete with marble countertops and two-level foyers - you get the idea. He comes home talking about all the "rich" people he has had to deal with and I've had to point out to him on more than one occasion that compared to most of the people on this planet we are rich as well. Â It is so easy to forget that when you must drive by hundreds of these magnificent homes just to go the library or the grocery store (I think Northern Virginia is particularly full of them). But, really, I have a pork loin defrosting in the refrigerator right now, I have a washing machine and a dryer, running water (hot water if I like), air conditioning, hundreds of books and the ability to read them. I live better than most kings have down through the ages!! Although 1000sf seems small by today's American standards, it is really quite a lovely house and we truly are rich. Quote
Renee in NC Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 A few weeks ago I asked advice about downsizing our home based on several reasons, the primary reason being financial. I hate being house poor and not being able to take vacations or give generously to others. I'm frugal, by nature, but I don't like being beholden to a house. All that being said, without any prodding from me, my husband came to me one morning and said that he thinks we should downsize. That's a God thing, as I never once mentioned my thoughts to him.  So now we are looking to go from a 3500 sqf home to somewhere around a 2000 sqf home. I have six children with one on the way and my oldest is 11. We currently have five bedrooms, 4 baths, 1 partial bath, a large playroom and a full basement. The houses we are looking at have 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 1 partial, and a full basement. The kitchens are much smaller than what I have now and won't have a functioning diningroom as this will be our schoolroom.  I'm overwhelmed by the thought of living in nearly half the space. I'm very good at purging and neither my husband nor I keep much stuff around. I am willing to sell several sets of furniture in order to fit in a smaller home. However, I'm more concerned about all those bodies in a smaller space! Fortunately my two oldest will be in school parttime next year, so that will help. And we are insisting on a large lot for the kids to play in. But still, can a large family function in a not-so-large house? Even though my kids don't have so many toys, we just have more stuff as a result of there being so many of us - more clothes, more sheets, more towels, more dishes, etc. etc. How do we make this work?  BTW, we plan on being in this house for 3-5 years until we can get out of debt at which point we hope to find something more suitable for our future teens.  Thanks for your help.  It can work easily. Four bedrooms does make it easier. We had 8 people in 1300 square feet, then 9 people in 1500 square feet, right now 11 people in 2000 square feet (4 adults, 1 teen, 6 children), and are headed back to 8 people in 1300 square feet. My 6 youngest are 11 and under as well. I'll just describe how we have or will be in certain spaces and see what you can take from it.  Bedrooms  I have had 3 bedrooms, 5 bedrooms, and soon-to-be 4 bedrooms. Four is ideal, but that is because my 16yo will not be living here. When we had 3, my oldest shared a room with the youngest (then infant to 2) and the other 4 shared the other room (with 2 sets of bunks.)  We actually have shared beds, but each person could have their own bed if we had more mattresses. The 11yo has a bed and he will have his own room because we are turning a dining room into a bedroom (putting in a partition wall and creating a hallway.) The 6 and 8yo are getting the master bedroom. They have a set of bunkbeds (but only one mattress so they sleep together.) The toys will go in there as well. The 3yo and 5yo girls will share a room (they have a twin with a trundle.) Baby is in with us for now, but will eventually go in with the 6 and 8yo boys in a trundle under their bunks.  We have 4 dressers - the younger ones are 2 to a dresser, and dh and I share one (and the baby.) Now that we live in FL, we won't have too many seasonal clothes, but storage options are a walk-in closet in the boy's room or under my bed (using the storage containers to hold the bed up as opposed to a frame.  Living Spaces  The kitchen in our new place is a large eat-in kitchen. That is what we have had in the past as well. The washer and dryer hookups are at one end in a closet, but we won't be able to have doors as our front loaders are too deep. At the table end we have a "pie safe" that will hold the dishes and china (I have Christmas dishes and milk glass.) Our table is rectangular with chairs, but I would prefer benches.  In the new place we plan to divide the living room in half (about 12x20) with a sectional couch and entertainment cabinet at one end. Behind the sectional will be our school section - I have 4-6 foot tall cabinets with shelves inside and a computer armoir. I hope to be able to put a table there with chairs.  For me, 2 bathrooms are a necessity! We do have 2 in our new place. There is also a linen closet (woohoo!) which I have never had before.  A large lot is GREAT! When we had 8 people in 1300 square feet before, we had 11 acres so it didn't seem to bad. The next lot was large as well. The new place has a yard, but it isn't super large. Thankfully we are on a cul-de-sac so they can ride their bikes there and close to a nice park where they can have more room to roam.  Stuff  We have downsized a bunch to what we have to have. As we move our stuff into the new place, we'll get rid of more I am sure. I have one set of sheets for each bed and one extra twin set in case we need it. Two towels per person. Too many kitchen gadgets (dh loves to cook.) Minimum clothes and shoes.  We do have too many computers (my mother owns a computer store.) I may give 1-2 back if I can't find room for them. We have 2 TVs - one for the LR and a very small one that the kids can play the V-Smile on or watch a movie. The entertainment center holds games and DVDs.  I have decided that if I can't find a "home" for something, we can't keep it. The clutter in the past has been unbearable. Since we have 7 dc, people seem to think that it means we need more stuff and they pass on their unneeded items.:tongue_smilie: I need to be better about keeping what we need and passing the rest on. I am also working on the relatives and gift-giving - the dc don't really need more cheap junk from China!  It's a process! Quote
coralloyd Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 It will be you that has to adjust more. We moved from a 1450 sq. ft. home to our now 2700 sq ft. home. My 7 yr. old still says she misses the other house (she was only 4 when we moved). She says it was cozy, and it was. To tell you the truth I miss it also, and we plan on downsizing from here soon (and by downsizing I mean living in an RV for a year or two :D). When we buy another home it will be smaller, I guess I just prefer the feel of a smaller house (not financial reasons). Â You'll just have to become really good at organization, and using every inch of space. Quote
Renee in NC Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I really don't like when I hear comparisons of how our parents and grandparents lived. It's comparing apples and oranges. My MIL still lives in the house that she grew up in. She and her 2 sisters shared one small bedroom and her parents had the other small bedroom. The house has one bathroom, one small kitchen, and one small living room. It also has a basement and attic, neither which is inhabitable beyond storage. I've talked to her extensively about what life was like in her adolescent days. Their lives were totally different from ours today. For example, she and her sisters fit in one small bedroom because they shared a double bed, had one dresser and one small closet. None of them owned more clothes than 2 or 3 days worth. That was normal living for her neighborhood. In today's terms that is definitely frugal living.  Ahhh...so I just need to pretend we live back then, huh?:lol: I don't think it is apples and oranges - just goes to show how crazy our standard of living is.  I downsized our clothes for the move to 4-5 outfits each (packed the rest.) It hasn't been a problem. It has made the dc not put stuff in the dirty clothes unless it is REALLY dirty because they know they will run out of clothes to wear. When we get everything unpacked I am going to keep the best 4-5 and donate the rest (I might keep 2-3 extras in a rubbermaid in case they ruin one.)  Right now my 11, 8, 6, 5, and 3yo are sharing a room. It is also my mother's storage room:tongue_smilie: - if there were only the 2 beds, a dresser, and the closet, it would be fine. My 16yo sleeps on a blow up mattress on the floor in the LR and dh, baby and I share another room. If they were older there would be a couple more in the LR.  All of our stuff is still packed in a 6 x 18 trailer. The dc have a container of Kapla blocks and a box of trucks and equipment that are not packed. They haven't missed anything else. I will admit that I miss my books!:D Mainly because I am ready to plan school and some of the books I need are in the very front of the trailer (so not reachable without unpacking the whole thing!) I don't plan to unpack any other toys (I will store them for later use, though.)  The biggest problem I have had with small spaces has been storage for things we don't need now but will need at some point. We have never had a basement or attic, but we did store some stuff under the last trailer we lived in. I put stuff in outbuildings in the first house, but most of it was ruined by the weather. Quote
BalanceSeeker Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I don't have as good advice as the others do on creating space, but when I need more space I just remember to go vertical and the ideas come pretty easy. Â As far as you making this decision, do you have an idea about how you will make out on your house compared to what you paid for it? I can relate to the peace of mind you are looking for. We would like to do the same, but with all the junk appraisers in our area trashing home values, we wouldn't get what we paid for it 4 years ago. Our semi-custom home that is 5 years old would be compared to 12 year old track homes nearby without any upgrades. Quote
Night Elf Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 Ahhh...so I just need to pretend we live back then, huh?:lol: I don't think it is apples and oranges - just goes to show how crazy our standard of living is. Â But swinging to the other extreme is crazy as well. I don't want a McMansion, but I don't want to live in a one-room house. My mom slept in a closet as a child. I don't want my children doing that just because it was good enough for my mother. Â I just finished reading Not Buying It: My Year of Not Shopping by Judith Levine. I found it a fairly good read until the last couple of months of her 12-month project. She spent a lot of time talking politics which I really don't care to read. Quote
cathmom Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I have 7 dc and live in a just over 2000 square foot house. You'll be fine! Quote
kayben Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 I have 7 dc and live in a just over 2000 square foot house. You'll be fine! Â same here. 7 dc 12 and under. we have 2100 sq ft and an open floor plan. We have plenty of room. My dc think we have a big house;) Quote
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 One thought is to not assume that the master bedroom has to be for the parents. We had one house where all three kids and all their toys were in the master bedroom. In another home, the master bedroom was also the place for tv watching (worked when the kids were little, but I wouldn't do it again). In a third, the master bedroom was our homeschool/family room with bookshelves, table, tv and chairs. Â When we redesignated the master bedroom, then dh and I took the next smaller room and used it only for sleeping. Â We have had bunkbeds so we can stack the kids. In our next home, I'm hoping that I can loft at least two of the beds and put desks/dressers under the bed area. Â I love using shelves in the garage for storage. I might also suggest a small storage shed for things like lawnmower, garden tools, maybe even bikes. One of my friends had an old carpet, beanbags, a couple folding tables, legos and a drum set in the garage. It was quite the kid hangout area. Quote
cathmom Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 In a third, the master bedroom was our homeschool/family room with bookshelves, table, tv and chairs.    That's a cool idea!  I had a friend that put her 3 nearly teen boys in the master, and she and her dh took the smallest bedroom, figuring they needed the least space. Quote
Kimm in WA Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 We also put our 3 boys in the master bedroom of our last house. They had plenty of room for their beds (1 set of bunk beds), their toys, and play space in the middle for their Legos. Since dh and I don't spend time in our room during the day, it made sense. Â When we moved to this house, in the country, it was a 2 bdrm., 1 bath. 1300 sf. upstairs and 800 sf. in an unfinished basement. We converted the basement into a storage area, 2 bedrooms, and a rec/open area w/ couch, non-internet computer, and an air hockey table all for our now teen boys. (Well the storage area is partly a craft room). Because of where the stairs are, where underneath our bedroom is (old house, if ya get my drift), and where the hot water heater/furnace are, the bedrooms had to be in the center 1/3 of the basement. Because of this, we couldn't put windows in the bedrooms and that wasn't safe for fire safety. So, we left the wall to the open area open. So, they have their own space (the twins share 1 room), yet have their open area and are still all really connected/close. I didn't want my teen boys holing themselves away - that's another reason why we did the open bedroom/batchelor pad concept, a well, for famiy closeness. We still only have 1 bathroom; most of the time it works OK because we're not all rushing out the door in the a.m. Â HTH, Kimm Quote
Tap Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 It obviously can be done but the logistics will take some getting used to. Â You don't mention dd11 in your sig line, is she with you all the time? (or maybe I am wrong about her being a girl?) Â If so I would put the older girls in one room (at their ages they deserve some privacy), the boys in the other, and the littles in one room/your room. Â If you get a 4br house this uses each room, so I would also want a living room, dining room, kitchen and preferably a family room. You can use the dining room for a school room and just put it away as needed. Â My house is basically this house and is 2200 sq ft. We have 3 kids and almost always have 5, and we sometimes have 10 (neighborhood kids). It would work for 7+2 adults, but not without a loss of privacy. We have 3 bedrooms/living/family/dining/kitchen/bonus room/large attic/2.5bath. Sub our bonus room for a bedroom and we have plenty of room for your family. Â When you downsize there are a lot of expenses, but there are also a lot of benefits. Your maintenance/taxes/utilities/payment all go down, but you also don't need as much stuff! Quote
babs Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 One thought is to not assume that the master bedroom has to be for the parents.We had one house where all three kids and all their toys were in the master bedroom. Â When we redesignated the master bedroom, then dh and I took the next smaller room and used it only for sleeping. Â We have had bunkbeds so we can stack the kids. In our next home, I'm hoping that I can loft at least two of the beds and put desks/dressers under the bed area. Â We are downsizing - moving into a home we formerly rented out that is smaller in size and mortgage. Our large home is being rented for 2 years - we hope to sell the smaller home so we are not so spread out in terms of risk. We are giving our 3 boys the master br and taking one of the two smaller rooms. I am losing about 1000 sf of living space and 2+acres of roaming room! But I am so looking forward to less house and less yard to lose our time to - honestly, I love what the book The Four Hour Work Week says about figuring out what you want to do with your time instead of looking to buy/own stuff (major paraphrase.) I don't want to be enslaved to my things any longer - it is sometimes hard to let stuff go, but once gone, I really never miss it. So, I am selling furniture and we are living with less clothes, toys, etc... to fit into the house. I feel free. The kids are on board. I am looking forward to being closer in proximity - I felt we lost touch in some ways with so many place to spread out! Â It can be done, I am determined! Â I Quote
mom2abcd Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 We moved from 3600 sq. ft. (half that was a nice basement) to a house with 1700 sq. ft. It has been very hard. There are six of us here. We share one bathroom. The house is so cluttered because there's no place to put things. We can't have friends over like we used to. Â I can't wait until we have a larger space. Â You don't need that many bathrooms, that's for sure, but it sure is nice to have enough bedrooms to be comfortable and a large enough kitchen/dining space to have friends over. Â I hope you can find something a little bigger than 2,000 sq. ft. for a family your size. (I'm assuming you're counting any basement space in that.) Quality of life is worth a lot, ya know? Quote
JaniceO Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 We are grudgingly getting ready to downsize in order to save money too. The house we currently live in has 6 bedrooms (each kid has their own room plus we have a huge schoolroom), 4 bathrooms, a huge kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a basement for storage, and lots of space. It's HUGE! Â We are moving into a tiny 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a small kitchen, small dining room, and small living room. All of the bedrooms are really small too (not sure my king size bed will even fit in the master bedroom). It will only be for a year, but it's still hard. I feel bad complaining though because I know several families with 7 or 8 kids that live in those same quarters. Â You do what you have to do. This move will allow us to live more comfortably (money wise and temperature wise) for our last year here in Europe. Not only will be saving money, but we'll be able to run the ac and the heat at comfortable temperatures. It will save us gas because all of our activities will be right there instead of us having to drive 20 minutes each way. Â We have loft beds for the boys, so I'm hoping that helps with the room situation. I plan on putting my 9 year old and 8 year old boys together and my 11 year old son in with my almost 4 year old daughter (not a typical arrangement, I know, but it's what will work for us). We will probably need the last bedroom for an office/storage space. I am going through the house before the movers come and getting rid of TONS. Lucky for us, anything that doesn't fit in the house, the government will pay to store for us. Quote
Melinda in VT Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 Well, we're in the middle of adding on in order to double our living space, but I can share some thoughts from living in 950 sq ft for the past six years. Â If you are not done having kids, think carefully about how/whether any potential house could accommodate an extra child. Kids don't always arrive with the convenient gender.;) Â Really think about the personalities of the kids you want to share rooms. In my experience, sharing a room will not overcome deep-seated personality conflicts among children. :glare: I think sharing can be good for kids, but some combinations are just not worth the stress. Â Think about your daily activities and how the new space will accommodate them. One of the things we are really looking forward to with our addition is being able to invite people over. It's very difficult in our current space, and although we have lots of outdoor room, the weather frequently makes it unusable for entertaining. Â I cannot recommend highly enough the value of radical decluttering. It has made a huge difference in my ability to live in our space happily. Quote
Ottakee Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 Depending on your market and taxes, etc. it may or may not be worth the move for 3-5 years. If you were looking for 10+ years that would be different. Â We have a 1200 sq. ft. main level with 3 bedrooms (one is only 7x9) and then a finished basement with a 3/4 bath and 2 more bedrooms, an office and a playroom. Right now we only have 3 kids and our house feels large. We have had 7 at a time here (when we were foster parents) and it was still very doable. Â Outside space is important. My kids play outside so much so inside space isn't as important. Also the layout. We have an open kitchen/livingroom/dining area so we can expand out if we need to. Â Growing up for a while we lived in a house about 800 sq. feet (if that) with 3 kids. Quote
MomofSeven Posted July 18, 2009 Author Posted July 18, 2009 First of all, thanks for all the great tips. I will definitely be imposing many of them. Â THe house we found is in an awesome location. It's on a full acre with lots of trees and a creek in the back (similar to what we have here). It's within walking distance to the library, police station, middle school (which affords us playground equipment and basketball hoops), a local market and a Starbucks (woohoo). Plus there's a 4 mile walking path nearby. Â The house itself I would guess is about 2000 sqf. It's from the 70's so everything is very condensed - lower ceilings, smaller rooms, etc. There are four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a nice sized family room, a small panelled (yuk) office/schoolroom, a diningroom, and a basement (with very low ceilings) but it's big. Â We will lose a formal diningroom, a bedroom, an office and a full bath. But overall I think it will be doable. Â The house is hardwood throughout which I expect to be much louder than we're used to. I may ask the landlord if we can carpet the steps to avoid falls. Â I'm very excited about the enclosed deck and the adjoining open deck, both which have tons of storage underneath and a surrounding patio. Â I think that although it will be tight, we will get used to it. Heck, I grew up with those low ceilings...I can do this. Â I'm looking forward to getting out of debt, restoring our credit rating, and builidng some semblance of a savings, especially for our kids' education. Â I'm a bit nervous about the application process as I fear the landlord will see 6 kids (and one on the way) and reject us. But, we're prepared to pay a larger security deposit to assuage his concern. Â Anyway, I'm still taking tips from anyone on how we can adjust to this house. It's exciting, sad, humbling, and scary all at the same time. Â Thanks - Amy Quote
unsinkable Posted July 18, 2009 Posted July 18, 2009 First of all, thanks for all the great tips. I will definitely be imposing many of them. THe house we found is in an awesome location. It's on a full acre with lots of trees and a creek in the back (similar to what we have here). It's within walking distance to the library, police station, middle school (which affords us playground equipment and basketball hoops), a local market and a Starbucks (woohoo). Plus there's a 4 mile walking path nearby.  The house itself I would guess is about 2000 sqf. It's from the 70's so everything is very condensed - lower ceilings, smaller rooms, etc. There are four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a nice sized family room, a small panelled (yuk) office/schoolroom, a diningroom, and a basement (with very low ceilings) but it's big.  We will lose a formal diningroom, a bedroom, an office and a full bath. But overall I think it will be doable.  The house is hardwood throughout which I expect to be much louder than we're used to. I may ask the landlord if we can carpet the steps to avoid falls.  I'm very excited about the enclosed deck and the adjoining open deck, both which have tons of storage underneath and a surrounding patio.  I think that although it will be tight, we will get used to it. Heck, I grew up with those low ceilings...I can do this.  I'm looking forward to getting out of debt, restoring our credit rating, and builidng some semblance of a savings, especially for our kids' education.  I'm a bit nervous about the application process as I fear the landlord will see 6 kids (and one on the way) and reject us. But, we're prepared to pay a larger security deposit to assuage his concern.  Anyway, I'm still taking tips from anyone on how we can adjust to this house. It's exciting, sad, humbling, and scary all at the same time.  Thanks - Amy  :grouphug:  The neighborhood sounds lovely.  I think if you keep your goals in mind, it will be easier to adjust. You have great reasons for doing what you're doing! Quote
Orthodox6 Posted July 18, 2009 Posted July 18, 2009 That beautiful yard is large enough for your children to go outside and blow off steam from being in closer quarters. Major, major problem automatically solved ! Â Don't worry about not having vacations. We have been married for 25 years now, and have had only two, four-day family vacations in all that time. (I didn't even get to go on the second one !) Quote
unsinkable Posted July 18, 2009 Posted July 18, 2009 same here. 7 dc 12 and under. we have 2100 sq ft and an open floor plan. We have plenty of room. My dc think we have a big house;) Â Welcome, kayben! Quote
Desert Rat Posted July 18, 2009 Posted July 18, 2009 It might make sense for you to have the master bedroom be one dormitory type room. My dh grew up one of 5 boys. All 5 slept in the master with 1 set of bunk beds and 3 twins (2 of the boys were later teens at the time and wouldn't fit on a normal bunk bed). From your siggy it looks like this would be a girls room. Then have the boys share one room. This is what I would probably do, but only if one of the secondary bedrooms would fit a larger bed. Good luck! Quote
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