What would you do moving to a smaller home.

[susancollins]

We live about 45 minutes to an hour from our church, my sons OT/ Speech Therapy, friends, activities and so much more. We live farther out because my husband grew up in this area and he loves it, I really don't. We don't have a decent library system. The nearest pediatricians are 45 minutes away. We are looking at and talking about moving. We would have to get a much smaller house. We currently have 4 bedrooms with a bonus room that could be 5 bedrooms for what we would have to pay for a 2 bedroom where we are looking at moving. This is our options live here a little while longer and save up the money to get a bigger home. We could move right away and get a smaller home, so I wouldn't have the drive. The drive in traffic is exhausting to me. I have to say no to alot of great free activities for the kids because the drive is just too much. The kids don't have many friends here other than the local dance class or horseback riding because there is not alot of kids around to play with. I want the kids to start developing friendships with kids that live near us. I have put over 160,000 miles on our 4 year old car because we are always on the go. Any recommendation or advice would be great. I welcome moving to a smaller house and get rid of things my husband not so much

Edited June 14, 2010 by susancollins
Grammar

[Melinda in VT]

How many kids do you have? Are you finished having babies? How old are your kids?

[susancollins]

We currently have three children but we would love to have one more. We would have to get a least a three bedroom if we moved. My boys would share a room and my daughter would have her own room. My daughter Carrington is 6, Jackson 5, and Carson is 2.

[LibraryLover]

We traded in our big house for a small one. It has it's challenges. We are more limited in hosting parties, potlucks etc. Summer is fine, as we have an amazing lot and animals. I wish we had a bigger family room, and we are still planning that, although it seems more and more remote as the children get older and are more costly (college etc...yeah, we plan to help lol Dont hate us). We don't live far away from most events, however.

 

 

Do you use your current space? How? Do you host family? In what ways would you miss it? Would moving be less stressful than staying? Could you cut down on driving while the kids are still so young as you save money for the larger house? (How much longer will you have to do speech therapy?) Can you have hsing friends over to your place sometimes? While I would not trade my land or location, I sometimes have actual dreams where I find a tunnel that leads to a big family room/kitchen combo. lol

 

And oh, my kingdom for a mudroom. We'll do a mudroom before a family room. Those giant coats, sneakers and boots have to go somewhere! We'llneed that even when it's just dh and me. I also want to be able to host big family parties when my kids are older and (maybe) have children of their own. If I live long enough, I want to be the grandma with the pony and tree swings, giant strawberry patch etc. ;) I don't see our need for space lessening, esp since I have a young hsing child and we like to host hsing gatherings. I wish we weren't limited to summer in that way.

Edited June 14, 2010 by LibraryLover

[MariannNOVA]

We traded in our big house for a small one. It has it's challenges. We are more limited in hosting parties, potlucks etc. Summer is fine, as we have an amazing lot and animals. I wish we had a bigger family room, and we are still planning that, although it seems more and more remote as the children get older and are more costly (college etc...yeah, we plan to help lol Dont hate us). We don't live far away from most events, however.

 

 

Do you use your current space? How? Do you host family? In what ways would you miss it? Would moving be less stressful than staying? Could you cut down on driving while the kids are still so young as you save money for the larger house? (How much longer will you have to do speech therapy?) Can you have hsing friends over to your place sometimes? While I would not trade my land or location, I sometimes have actual dreams where I find a tunnel that leads to a big family room/kitchen combo. lol

 

And oh, my kingdom for a mudroom. We'll do a mudroom before a family room. Those giant coats, sneakers and boots have to go somewhere! We'llneed that even when it's just dh and me. I also want to be able to host big family parties when my kids are older and (maybe) have children of their own. If I live long enough, I want to be the grandma with the pony and tree swings, giant strawberry patch etc. ;) I don't see our need for space lessening, esp since I have a young hsing child and we like to host hsing gatherings. I wish we weren't limited to summer in that way.

 

Sheesh! :iagree:LL put it well! (See what I've put in red). We went from a huge house further out to a smaller house more centrally located. Yes, the proximity to our 'stuff' is closer, but owing to the traffic here in northern virginia, at certain times of the day it can take as long to go 3 miles as it would take to go 15 miles if we were further out, and I understand that is NOT the issue.

 

We have decluttered, and re-arranged, and knocked down walls, and maximized in every single way we can imagine. We did plan on adding on and adding up, but will likely not be doing that. We do have a great yard on a great piece of property.

 

What do I NOT like about smaller?

 

I loved the larger bathrooms in our other home -- I dislike having teeny weeny bathrooms.

 

I do not care for our smaller bedrooms - but I have learned to live with them. We have re-done the closets with high end closet organizers, and it makes a BIG difference. BUT, the rooms are still small.

 

I LOVE my kitchen b/c we are in the process of making it a kitchen to love, but it was miniscule. A wall had to be taken down, cabinets had to be torn down and replaced. It's really nice, but we lost the formal dining room in the process. Maybe not a biggie for some, but I had a huge dining room in the other house, and I miss it.

 

I realize that alot will depend on what age home you find to move into and that will have alot to do with the amount of room you have or lack thereof.

 

So, yes, the driving thing is important, I understand that - heck, I'm living that. The 'space' thing is 'for real.' When we were moving from a very large new home to a smaller, older home (the first time - :glare: - yes, we do this ALOT), I remember buying under bed storage boxes b/c I had NO IDEA where I was going to put all of the kids clothes in the smaller home. The girls would be sharing a bedroom, the closets were smaller and we had fewer of them, the basement level was infinitely smaller....it was a logistical thing in my mind. It did make me very aware of de-cluttering, paring down, giving away, throwing out, and not bringing home new stuff. I also re-thought my style of decorating (I went to a very clean cottage look). I changed to lighter colors, and I needed to have fewer things around me.

 

All that being said, I cannot wait till we get the bathrooms in this house re-done and put this house on the market and move to something larger. BUT, it will be closer in as we are now as the proximity to things is key, but I do not see our space needs diminishing - and that has to do with grand-children (we already have them), visiting family, etc.

Edited June 14, 2010 by MariannNOVA

[simka2]

That's too funny...I'm in the opposite predicament!!! We have a big house close to the city. I just told dh last night that if in a year he is still stable in his job I want to look for a house in the country!!!! Even a smaller one or rv if need be :)

 

We used to have a 100yr old house in the city. This was one of my favorite's it had such character and was cheap!!! I didn't care if the kids were a bit hard on things and we loved housting people :)

[susancollins]

Another reason we are looking at is the cost of heating this house it is a brick ranch that will be 60 years old this year. We have done lots of improvements to this house hardwood and tile floor throughout the home, new insulation, painting, wood blinds, and new fixtures all throughout. So I feel like we have made this our home and I love it except the closets and the location. It is 2800 square feet with a sunroom that adds on an additional 200 sq ft. We have a 1000 gallon LP gas tank that we filled up twice last year to heat this home. I think it will even out if we buy a new home that is closer because of the amount we pay to heat this home, not including the light bill and other utilities’.

[The Girls' Mom]

We just moved from a 3000sq ft house to a 1400sqft house. We got rid of a TON of stuff, and have realized how much of it was just stuff.

 

Yes, we are a little cramped, and we have 3 girls sharing a room. But it's livable. We are possibly looking at moving again soon, and are looking at houses somewhere between the two sizes. I doubt we'll go back to 3000 though.

[Denisemomof4]

You're cutting out activities now because you're too tired to drive to them. If you move, you'll be cutting out activities because you'll be too tired to constantly be on the go. This past year showed me that - to stop running all around!!! I'm an older mom now (47 today!) and I don't have the energy. But when I was homeschooling my boys, we had SO much fun doing things together. I haven't been able to simply enjoy an outing with my girls during the school week because we were so flat out running around and socializing. That's going to stop this year - and for GOOD!!!

 

your kids are SO young!!! My personal opinion is that you invest more time in building their relationships and enjoying each other, and forget about friends for now! I never got serious about friendships until my kids were older. I believe it's why my kids are SO close. I tell my kids all the time that friends will come and go but family is here FOREVER. With my boys, it seemed that every single time they made a close friend when they were younger, the friend moved away. It was getting SO HARD for them to keep going through!!!

 

I, personally, would not give up space OR a large home just for friends. Don't get me wrong - we ALL love our friends. And I'm blessed to be in the country with a large home and more land than we'll ever use, on TOP of having a local homeschool group. But we DO have to drive to run errands and such. It's our way of life. I MUCH prefer this than living in the small house with the bandaid lawn, and sitting in traffic for 16 minutes to go 1 mile down the road. I hated stop lights or stop signs at every corner. All That Traffic made me CRAZY!!! I don't miss it ONE BIT.

 

We live in the country and are very family oriented. Now that my oldest is 18 and doesn't spend as much time with us, I'm SO GLAD I made this choice. I miss him. Our next son will be 15 and he's branching out more. The two boys were inseparable for years and years. Only now are they growing apart some, but they're still so incredibly close.

 

My girls are a different story. My oldest is very social and I WAS doing playdates every week for her, but I'm going to cut back to every other week. My youngest child has been causing a LOT of trouble and it's broken their relationship, so my focus this year is to once again build their bonds, work on younger dd's character, and focus on just being together with them. We won't be overbooking homeschool activities this year - I want to enjoy THEM and do things TOGETHER. And I need to help them mend their relationship. (youngest has severe behavioral issues but just being home and leading a peaceful life is bringing this under control!!!!!! She even told me she can't be too involved outside the home.)

 

Friends are important. They really are. I love my friends. My kids love their friends. But what's MOST important is for your siblings to be best friends with each other first. I've seen families where the kids are with a friend almost every single day. That isn't our family now, and it never will be.

[susancollins]

It takes 45 min to an hour for church on Sunday, and then Wednesday and if my kids wanted to do Upwards Cheerleading or Sports that would put us on the road more. My daughter does Ballet, Tap, Clogging, and Horseback riding at a local school where we live. My son also does Horseback riding but there are no other activities for my son such as Karate. He wants to particpate in sports. We do soccer in the fall and spring but that is about 40 mintues away. I just wish we had more family friendly groups and activities in the county we live in.

[Teachin'Mine]

Maybe you could find something about half way. If it's a little distance from the center of things, prices should be less and you can get the 3 bedrooms you want. It would still cut down on commute time. Just a thought.

[gandpsmommy]

Sheesh! :iagree:LL put it well! (See what I've put in red). We went from a huge house further out to a smaller house more centrally located. Yes, the proximity to our 'stuff' is closer, but owing to the traffic here in northern virginia, at certain times of the day it can take as long to go 3 miles as it would take to go 15 miles if we were further out, and I understand that is NOT the issue.

 

We have decluttered, and re-arranged, and knocked down walls, and maximized in every single way we can imagine. We did plan on adding on and adding up, but will likely not be doing that. We do have a great yard on a great piece of property.

 

What do I NOT like about smaller?

 

I loved the larger bathrooms in our other home -- I dislike having teeny weeny bathrooms.

 

I do not care for our smaller bedrooms - but I have learned to live with them. We have re-done the closets with high end closet organizers, and it makes a BIG difference. BUT, the rooms are still small.

 

I LOVE my kitchen b/c we are in the process of making it a kitchen to love, but it was miniscule. A wall had to be taken down, cabinets had to be torn down and replaced. It's really nice, but we lost the formal dining room in the process. Maybe not a biggie for some, but I had a huge dining room in the other house, and I miss it.

 

I realize that alot will depend on what age home you find to move into and that will have alot to do with the amount of room you have or lack thereof.

 

So, yes, the driving thing is important, I understand that - heck, I'm living that. The 'space' thing is 'for real.' When we were moving from a very large new home to a smaller, older home (the first time - :glare: - yes, we do this ALOT), I remember buying under bed storage boxes b/c I had NO IDEA where I was going to put all of the kids clothes in the smaller home. The girls would be sharing a bedroom, the closets were smaller and we had fewer of them, the basement level was infinitely smaller....it was a logistical thing in my mind. It did make me very aware of de-cluttering, paring down, giving away, throwing out, and not bringing home new stuff. I also re-thought my style of decorating (I went to a very clean cottage look). I changed to lighter colors, and I needed to have fewer things around me.

 

All that being said, I cannot wait till we get the bathrooms in this house re-done and put this house on the market and move to something larger. BUT, it will be closer in as we are now as the proximity to things is key, but I do not see our space needs diminishing - and that has to do with grand-children (we already have them), visiting family, etc.

 

Just wondering if you might be able to provide a link to those high-end closet organizers. We live in a house that was designed to be a weekend/summer cottage originally. We have added on a big family room, but the things that drive me crazy are storage issues. The closets are tiny. I would love to know how to make them more useful.