House size versus appearance

[EthiopianFood]

We're looking at homes (we can't buy anyway...), and I found a house I just LOVE. It's has all the features we've been looking for, and is so beautiful (1920's, lots of woodworking, smooth stucco, just plain stylish). It is also has a 670 sq ft foundation. :glare: There is a second story, plus a full basement, so number of bedrooms wouldn't be an issue (2010 sq ft total, which doesn't sound so bad...). This would be a house I would be proud to say is mine, based on appearance. :001_smile:

 

OR, a boring, plain (i.e. modern, rectangular, vinyl siding) house that doesn't make me smile, with a larger foundation, likely not a second story, and hopefully a full basement, giving maybe 300 more sq ft total.

 

Which do you choose, especially if you're hoping to have several kids?

 

ETA: We wouldn't have the money to fix the things we didn't like in the plainer house, like boring siding or flooring.

Edited November 3, 2010 by RaeAnne

[ChrisOR]

Here's my priorities in a house selection (of similar price) ---

-- location

-- house appearance

-- size (give or take several hundred square feet)

 

So in your case, I would pick the beautiful house!

[KnitWit]

If it's truly a *plain* house, can you not give it a face lift and make it *yours* AND enjoy the larger footprint?

[EthiopianFood]

If it's truly a *plain* house, can you not give it a face lift and make it *yours* AND enjoy the larger footprint?

 

The things that I love about the smaller house are older style woodwork, really nice stucco, hardwood floors, etc. There is more "style" to the house in general. If we are lucky enough to get a house, we won't have enough money to do much more than change some paint colors. :001_smile:

[Parrothead]

There is so much more one can do with a blank slate.

[KnitWit]

Oh, Okay, I certainly understand that.

 

So, then you have to think about room size. In the pretty house you love, are the common rooms large enough to accommodate your family (plus a couple more kids) AND company? Or, is there a place for kids to go play?

 

What about bedrooms? Even if your family grows, if you have 3 good size bedrooms, that can make a big difference. Especially if the two kid rooms will allow for a couple of sets of bunkbeds if needed.

 

What about the kitchen? Is it functional?

 

I mean, size isn't everything. I lived in a 900 sq ft 2bdr/1bath when my 5th child was born, but we loved it and it was cozy even though it was cramped and I could not WAIT for more space. Our home sold and we temporarily lived in a rental that was 4800 sqft. We H.A.T.E.D. that house!!! It was too big, not cozy/homey, didn't like the looks of the outside. Our home for the last 8 years is 2700 sqft and is just right. It was not the dream home I wanted with the big front porch, nor were the room sizes the greatest, but the price was right! LOL! So, my dh built me a screened porch the length of the back of the house! :)

[Tap]

Depends on the floor plan. A well designed small house can be more usable than a poorly designed larger house.

 

It also depends on your families style of living vs. the house plan. I love rooms (even if it means smaller rooms) vs. large open floor plans. My kids like 'personal space' vs community living.

 

 

But, if I had a house of small children....I may love an open floor plan where I can see everyone at once. OR if we entertained a lot. Or if we had a large extended family who came over a lot.

 

What I don't like is large foyers (wasted space), unnecessary hallways, and closets so huge you can sleep in them or bathrooms as large as a living room.

 

I love 2 story houses, but do realize that every staircase eats up square footage too. So a small house with a staircase, will be even smaller than an equal size single story home.

 

 

It just really, really depends on the floor plan.

[LibraryLover]

Can you rip the siding off and replace it with wood?

[OrganicAnn]

I would keep looking till you found a house that doesn't feel like a compromise.

[Laurie4b]

If the size difference was substantial, I'd opt for size, but in your scenario, 300 sq feet difference is not that much of an advantage.

[annlaura]

How much yard space does each have? Years ago when I was a nanny, the mother of the family told me she'd thought she wanted a bigger house when they bought theirs, but that she wished she had a smaller house with a bigger yard. That comment always stuck with me. I agree that the floor plan makes all the difference. We have a very small house, but I love it way more than I could have imagined if just presented with square footage. Another consideration for us was a lower energy bill for a smaller space.

[Audrey]

We're looking at homes (we can't buy anyway...), and I found a house I just LOVE. It's has all the features we've been looking for, and is so beautiful (1920's, lots of woodworking, smooth stucco, just plain stylish). It is also has a 670 sq ft foundation. :glare: There is a second story, plus a full basement, so number of bedrooms wouldn't be an issue (2010 sq ft total, which doesn't sound so bad...). This would be a house I would be proud to say is mine, based on appearance. :001_smile:

 

OR, a boring, plain (i.e. modern, rectangular, vinyl siding) house that doesn't make me smile, with a larger foundation, likely not a second story, and hopefully a full basement, giving maybe 300 more sq ft total.

 

Which do you choose, especially if you're hoping to have several kids?

 

ETA: We wouldn't have the money to fix the things we didn't like in the plainer house, like boring siding or flooring.

 

 

I abhor those things they call houses that are really just a homogenous box held up by vinyl and (sometimes) with a big garage in front. Living in one of those would suck the life out of me. Go for the house with character that you love.

[TanuvasaMama]

That's a lot of money to spend on something you don't love.

[EthiopianFood]

Oh, Okay, I certainly understand that.

 

So, then you have to think about room size. In the pretty house you love, are the common rooms large enough to accommodate your family (plus a couple more kids) AND company? Or, is there a place for kids to go play?

 

What about bedrooms? Even if your family grows, if you have 3 good size bedrooms, that can make a big difference. Especially if the two kid rooms will allow for a couple of sets of bunkbeds if needed.

 

What about the kitchen? Is it functional?

 

I mean, size isn't everything. I lived in a 900 sq ft 2bdr/1bath when my 5th child was born, but we loved it and it was cozy even though it was cramped and I could not WAIT for more space. Our home sold and we temporarily lived in a rental that was 4800 sqft. We H.A.T.E.D. that house!!! It was too big, not cozy/homey, didn't like the looks of the outside. Our home for the last 8 years is 2700 sqft and is just right. It was not the dream home I wanted with the big front porch, nor were the room sizes the greatest, but the price was right! LOL! So, my dh built me a screened porch the length of the back of the house! :)

 

You are just the type of person I hoped would respond! :001_smile: How big does a bedroom have to be to allow two bunkbeds without the kids just eliminating each other? Was your old home 900 sq ft with all floors combined? How much room do kids in a big family really need?

[elegantlion]

We previously lived in a cute 1100sf bungalow. We moved to a 200sf ranch (here the disdain in my voice when I say ranch). Now if you love a ranch, great, it just not my thing. Ours is 1970s standard. It's boxy and boring. The only redeeming quality is a wall of built-in bookcases.

 

We just got a "new" house. Guess what we found? A 1920s bungalow with charm, charm, charm. Aesthetic quality is so much more important that I ever thought. While our new home is a fixer upper I almost cried for joy the first time we saw it. The layout is similar to our old bungalow, but improved. It has original doors, original trim, original hardwood floors, even the original doorknobs on the interior doors. It has a finished dormer room (ds is getting that) and an unfinished basement and a back deck.

 

I can't tell you how excited I am to be moving to this "new" house. Dh is a carpenter and when I said i wanted charm, he smiled and said he'd add whatever charm was missing.

 

So yes, I'm tossing stuff. I'm downsizing and I'm giving up a much desired 2nd bathroom. But I know I will adore this new house so much more.

 

I always thought I'd be happy with more space and we've lived here five years and I'm not.

[daffodil]

I would get the house I loved even if it was a bit smaller. My house is tiny and plain, but I love the location and the yard.

Edited November 3, 2010 by daffodil

[silliness7]

I'm definitely in the minority voting plain. I really think it depends on your personality. If you NEED beautiful to be happy and don't think you can do that with furnishings and accessories you should go with the pretty house. We're 9 people. Space is everything to me. Being cramped makes me super grumpy!

 

But I've never been into decorating. I like pretty things but I don't think I need them emotionally or mentally or intellectually or whatever level it is that people need those things but I do recognize that some people really do. I'm missing that gene. I'm o.k. with that. It's kind of like the introvert/extrovert thing. You've got to go with what will make you smile, put a zip in your step, help you feel satisfied and ready to take on the day. I'm happy in my big plain house. :001_smile:

[HappyCrazyMama]

If the size difference was substantial, I'd opt for size, but in your scenario, 300 sq feet difference is not that much of an advantage.

:iagree:

[ChrisOR]

I currently live in a plain home with great location and beautiful views. If it were not for those things, I wouldn't love this house. (We rent, so it doesn't feel permanent anyway.)

 

But I have noticed in this plain, 1970s ranch house that my furnishings look a bit shabby (and not in the chic way), while they looked fine in my last home with its pretty wood floors and stone fireplace.

[BeckyFL]

I would say keep looking or get the smaller house (that you really want). :)

[Unicorn.]

I was going to vote more space, but as you are talking about only 300 more sq. feet, then I'd go for the dream. Now, 1000 sq. ft more- I'd vote plain.

[prairie rose]

How much room do kids in a big family really need?

 

How big is "big family" to you? We lived in just barely 1000 sq ft town home with stairs (read "wasted space" so it was less than 1000 usable sq ft) with no garage and only a small 6x4ft shed in the backyard. No basement, no attic. We had 3 kids when we moved in and 4 kids when we moved out 4 years later. It had a kitchen the size of a postage stamp, 1 full bath upstairs and a half bath down. It had 3 bedrooms but all 4 kids chose to share one room (about 8'x8') and we stored stuff in the other bedroom. Our queen size bed barely fit in my and dh's room. The only common area in the house was the living room/dining room which was 12'x24'. There was a small patch of grass out front that we had to mow and the backyard was 24' wide and 40' long. The only redeeming value of this house and the reason we did not move when our 4th child was born even though we had the chance? An absolutely gorgeous view of the East China Sea from our backyard and 1/4 mile from the beach. :D It was a shock at first because it was so small but we all ended up loving that house once we learned to work with it rather than against it. ;)

 

When we moved back to the states, we had a 2000 sq ft 2 story house that we hated with a passion. Way way way too much space for us and poorly laid out. We now have 1300sq ft and it's just about right for us. It has about 800 sq ft more in the partial basement but it's unfinished and not really usable other than for storage. When we finally buy, I'm going to be looking for about 1500sq ft or so unless we win the lottery and I can afford to hire cleaning help. :lol: To me, more space is just more to clean and more for the kids to dirty. :tongue_smilie:

 

I wouldn't worry about the tiny bit of extra sq footage. 300sq feet isn't that much ;)

[Peela]

We always go for size because dh has a big personality and we all need space from it regularly :)

[EthiopianFood]

How big is "big family" to you?

 

I wanted 10 before I had dd. Now, some days I don't think I could handle more than two. So between 2 and 10? :D

 

An absolutely gorgeous view of the East China Sea from our backyard and 1/4 mile from the beach.

 

:w00t:

 

more space is just more to clean and more for the kids to dirty. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Wow, this is such a good point. I would never have understood this until I had a child, but now, yeah....

 

I appreciate everyone's replies. It's very interesting to hear your reasonings.

[Scuff]

We had been living in about 850 sq ft, 2br house. Now we also have the 600 sq ft 3 room upstairs. Ahh. The extra space is heavenly after living cramped up for so long. I agree that layout matters. And 300 sq ft isn't that much, depending on layout. I love the character in our house. And the old charm. But it would have to depend on how small was small to choose it over a plain house.

[oldskool]

I would say it depends on your lifestyle. If you entertain a lot or have visions of hosting Thanksgiving dinner for family and friends then go with the plainer house with more space. We live in a small 1920's bungalow which I love (especially when it is clean), but it has serious limitations. It is really difficult to have our friends over and now that the kids are getting bigger they are just requiring more physical space. We won't ever move so it is just something we live with. I also try to keep it in perspective that we still have more room then much of the world.

 

 

Lesley

[Abigail4476]

We always go for size because dh has a big personality and we all need space from it regularly :)

HAHA!!!! I feel the same - mine works from home, and there are days when I wish his office was elsewhere! :lol::lol:

 

We needed the space, so we bought a ranch-style house out in the country. The kids have 10 acres of play space, lots of nature to explore, cows to hand feed (and get slimed), and we closed in the garage for my Mother who also lives with us. For now, it works, but there are days when the crazy 1970's brick floor in the kitchen makes me want to throw a temper tantrum and the old wallpaper borders and faux paint treatments that are everywhere drive me batty. I have to close my eyes and remind myself of the three reasons for my sacrifice. :tongue_smilie:

 

I can't WAIT until the kids are all grown and we can move back into a cute little something or other in town with hardwood floors and a yard that's small enough for me to manage by myself.

 

I have pitched my husband an $18,000.00 budget for hardwood floors, new appliances and refinished kitchen cabinets in this [old] house. It would make me SO happy, and, as I told my husband, it's the best way to add value to our house! :D

[mhg]

Been there, done that....

I bought our first home based on charm. It's a 1920s home with all the charm you're describing. I have a LOVE hate relationship with it.

 

Firstly, once you've lived in such a cutie, it's hard to shop for much else.

We've been house hunting for years (literally) as my husband wants more acreage (we have 1 acre). And, I've "turned down" a number of houses just because I just LOVED mine better and all the "old" perks that go with it (the old yard, the big beautiful trees, etc.). Now....fast forward to having children in it ten years later......well, the NO storage (older homes have NO storage (little closets, etc.), the cold, drafty-ness (tend to be poorly insulated), etc. are much less tolerable. Mine also has a 2nd story, which has pros and cons also.

 

Another "issue" with my house is the many windows -- because MOST rooms have huge (old) windows (the non-insulated wood ones that you have to scrape and paint every few years and that don't retain a shred of heat and that you are quote $14,000 to replace/upgrade every one in the house to the thermal-retaining ones in the same style of the house).....i digress.......anyway, because of the many windows in every room, I have few walls on which to put any furniture (unless I BLOCK a window, which looks weird so I've avoided).

 

Another issue, our home doesn't have central heat and air (just window units/space heaters) BECAUSE......when we bought it, we planned to put central heat and air in. Well, because the pillings (under the house that hold it up --- it's crawlspace foundation) are unevenly distributed then the three people that quoted me Central H&A quoted me 16,000, 21,000 and $24,000 respectively. Soooooo....you see why we STILL (after 9 years) haven't done this.

 

So, while it's charming and cute and I still love driving up to it and it's homey-ness, those old-related issues are starting to wear on us both.

 

Also, the outbuilding situation (is there at least storage out there). You did say it has the basement....but.......hmmmm, what an quandry. If you're planning on having more little ones, what about the stair concern and hauling them up and down and such.

 

Try to imagine yourself in the both years from now.......

Picture yourself hauling that space heater in that bathroom to supplement the coldness while the kids' bathe and then having to stay in there as you don't know if the baby will try to put the electric space heater in the tub, etc. And, other IMPLICATIONS of both choices.

Where are you going to do your school? Try to anticipate some of these situations, and imagine how you'll feel about whatever decision THEN. Think about that hindsight 20/20 and try to anticipate it.

 

I can relate.....the charm HELPS you get over the other issues for a nice, long while......but, then again you may luck up and have an oldie without such age related degeneration.

 

I mean....look (pics) how charming my backyard VIEW is.....(hard to leave it).

 

Good luck on your decision!

[DaffodilDreams]

I've found larger footprints are so overrated! Beautiful and smaller would be wonderful.

[staceyobu]

300 square feet isn't enough of a square footage difference to really even matter to me. I'd be looking at layout instead. Does one have a much better kitchen? Better bedroom situation, etc? If the only pro for the bigger house is the 300 extra square feet, I would not even consider it. We have three kids in just under 2000 square feet and I feel that we could easily add a couple more. So, I think you'd be fine with the house you like more!

 

For the record, we now own our third home. I have bought one house that we didn't *love*. It was big and new... but didn't really have any character. I really, really regretted buying it in the long run. We now live in a much older home that we chose over building from scratch. Yes, our bathrooms are tiny, our closet space is horrid, the kitchen needs to be gutted. However, I like this house much more than the nondescript, large, new box we lived in previously. Sometimes, you've just gotta go with your gut even if the numbers don't add up. ;)

[Alyce]

You can do a few things that will make your plain house look better like adding shutters or painting a different color if you want. Add a pretty front door and make a beautiful flower garden down your walkway. Do some landscaping around the front and you'd be surprised at how well it will look.

 

If you think, even just a little, that this might be your last house, you don't want a two story house. I was young when we bought this one and now that I'm getting older I realize that in another 10 - 15 years I won't be able to go up and down those steps. (Yes, this is our permanent home - just paid it off)

 

The other house is a 20's house. If you mean that it was built in the twenties it's going to need a lot of repairs if they haven't already been done. I have a house that was built in the 50's by a very OCD man. The floors are all hardwood and the walls are tongue and groove wood covered with plaster. As I said earlier it is a two story. They second story was added later and the walls are hard board. The problem is that there was very little insulation in the house so my husband has had to go through the attic and into as many little holes as possible to get insulation in. It's been messy but most of the open wall spaces now have insulation in them but obviously not the outside walls. It has helped a little. When we first bought the house it did not have central heat or air. It had an oil furnace that heated the water year long and heated the house through radiators in the winter. Horrible way to heat and hugely expensive. We found the radiators gave out little heat. We got a hot water heater put into one of the closets. After about 12 years of fooling with oil heater it finally gave up. We eventually got central heat and air but it is still expensive to cool and heat. The rooms are odd shaped and small and there are very few closets and bathrooms are tiny. Just enough room for one person. We do have 4 bedrooms, 3 of which are fairly big. The windows we are gradually replacing. They are old and let out a lot of heat and air which makes our bills go up. We have 24 windows and not are all standard sized.

 

We recently had our bathroom and kitchen renovated. The plumbers were fuming and it cost us extra. Since the house was so old the newer pipes didn't fit the old pipes so they had to splice this to that to get all the new fixtures in. At least now things will be easier to buy because they are universal. We tried twice to repair pipe under sink but never could find anything that would fit exactly. Thankfully Dh can do some plumbing type work. When we got a new counter top all the outlets had to be raised because when this house was built the back splash was lower than on today's back splashes. That was more extra money we had to spend. There are parts of this house I love but if I knew then what I know today I would not buy it. To expensive to renovate. We do have some large rooms but they are oddly shape. The living room is rectangular but the one side is open to the dining room area. The fireplace is at the short edge of the rectangle. At the other end half the wall is taken up by a doorway leading to small foyer where steps are located and leads into another room that I have yet to figure out how they used it. What I'm trying to say is that I like to re arrange my living room every once in a while but don't have a lot of choices with the way this is laid out. The other problem is that the kitchen cabinets were built of wood and designed by the owner. Problem, One was built specifically to house the refrigerator. They are taller now so we can't use this area any more. If we could it would give us a nice little place for a breakfast nook. They also didn't have washers and dryers then so I have no where to put them. Dh rigged up a way to put the washer in the kitchen and for awhile we had the dryer on the porch. Now they are both in the kitchen. The older house might look cute and quaint but how functional is it now or will be in future. There were 4 cutesy features that caught my eye and probably accounted for why we bought it. 1) it has a screened in back porch which has now become our storage shed. 2) It has a closed in sunroom next to living room problem to hot to stay in long because no air goes there. In fact the last roofing company accidentaly stood on one of the brace bars that hold it on to the house and it slipped out and fell and of course shattered. Thankfully it was there fault so they had to replace it but it's also not very weather proof so there really isn't a lot you can do there. 3) It has a built in the wall ironing board however board is now bowing due to all the steam and dont know how we're going to replace it. 4) The house was once advertised as a funeral home. Because it's such a small town they didn't do much business. On the last day they did get a body in but took it to their main location in another town and got the body ready for a funeral so it was never really used as one. We were friends with the son of the man that opened this home up for that reason but didn't know it at the time. Came up in a conversation we had later. He had been in it and told us what they were using each room for. Makes a cute history. That part is fun but doesn't out weight the other issues we've been dealing with.

 

As to the inside there are so many cheap things to do with the bigger plainer one that will make it feel like your own. Something as simple as paint. I just recently had 5 rooms repainted and they look wonderful and completely changed the look of our house. Bought some new curtains. Looks like my house now. I have a couple of the vinyl sayings put up on a couple of my walls and they add a nice touch too. When I repainted my bathroom I went with a bright purple that scared my husband (it is really his bathroom too) so we compromised. I found this cute wall border at Wal-Mart. I took some white paint we had from another project and gently dipped in a natural sea sponge and pressed it on the walls all over it giving it a speckled look. The white on the purple looked really great. I did that half way up the wall. Then I put the border overlapping that and the solid purple. It is such a neat look and was so easy to do. You could do something like that almost anywhere. My friend had done a wall in her dining room like that in multiple shades of brown.

 

And if you do get a large chunk of money you can always get a new roof. A lot of people here get metal roofs and they come in so many colors now. They really make the house look different.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Alyce

[Carrie12345]

I agree that 300sf probably isn't enough to give up "pretty", unless the floor plan REALLY puts that 300sf to excellent use. If it gave me 2 more small bedrooms and and extra bath (or even half-bath), I'd be all over it!

 

I do think of my current home as "pretty" IF we were to put some money into cosmetic repairs, but it doesn't work for my family anymore AT ALL. It frustrates me every day, and I'd gladly put function over looks at this point, providing the alternative was a *true improvement in function!

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I didn't vote because like you, I chose the older, prettier house, and I love all the woodwork and beautiful details.

 

However, I'm really regretting not having more room, especially the fact that we can only fit one car in the garage and one of us always has to dig our car out of 5 feet of snow. Our house has large bedrooms, but no family room, and I'd really like a family room. The kids play in their bedroom so that I can maintain some semblance of order in the living room.

 

But, when I sit in my living room, in the peace and quiet of the evening, I love looking around at all the old wood and the beautiful, unique window, etc. I know I wouldn't have that feeling in a vinyl-wrapped big box house.

[Renee in NC]

I would go for location over everything else. When we move, we will rent a smaller house in a better neighborhood. We will *not* live in a lower income neighborhood ever again (if we can help it.)

[Luckymama]

I didn't vote because I think the functionality of the rooms and space is more important than the size. Can you host a gathering? Is there a place to keep all the toys so you aren't crazy looking at toys everywhere? How about your books? Do you need a separate space to work or sew? And what about the yard? Do you want a garden? Are there good trees? Is there a nice outdoor area for playing?

 

When we moved I had a few must haves: two bathrooms, a place for toys, space for a garden and fruit trees, somewhere for 12 people to sit down for a holiday meal, and a place for dh to work from home half-time. Oh, and I wanted a two-car garage because I was getting too old to keep scraping windows in the winter ;)

[nono]

I voted for the multi-story house. I don't like living all on one level.

 

But space is nice...

 

As for being old and living in a 2 story home, my parents lived until their late 70s in a 3 story home. Only when they moved to a 1 story condo did their physical health fail. Within two years, my Mom had a stroke, my Dad died, and my Mom is now resides in a nursing home. (Other than that perspective, I agree with all of Alyce's points! :) )

[mlktwins]

We just bought a new house in September. On the outside, it is not the prettiest house in the neighborhood. We have siding and would have loved brick or stone front. However, it is in a great neighborhood with lots of kids (we didn't have any kids in our previous neighborhood) and I love the interior floor plan. I live inside the house so preferred the great interior over the not my favorite exterior. That being said, we are able to fix up the inside the way we want it. We can add landscaping and will put in a new front door and change the shutter color to spruce up the outside a little. I came from a small house (3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths with no basement). I went for space.

 

Good luck with your decision.

[Laura Corin]

Growing up in a country with limited space, I like the look of taller buildings. The house we are in is more sprawling, but I loved the older tall farmhouses that we also saw.

 

Laura

[grace'smom]

I'd make the decision based on how much extra money you have during the year. For example, does the older home take oil heat? That's expensive where we live... We have friends with a beautiful, older home. We wished we had one instead of our big box house until we found out what their heating bill is in the winter- and how they had to pay SOOOO much money to rip open all their walls and change out the wiring (depending on how old the house is you may want to change the wiring for safety) and install insulation. These were hard, plaster walls too with lead paint.

 

Just know that the older homes require much more money on a year to year basis in the beginning, because there are often a number of (often expensive) things that have to be fixed. Do you mind that sort of thing? Some people don't like the upheaval of home repairs. Some people really don't mind at all. It just depends, but factor in a good amount of extra cash for "just in case."

[lionfamily1999]

Size doesn't matter, with a few exceptions (number of bathrooms, number of bedrooms, storage space, cabinets in kitchen).

[Quiver0f10]

I'd also think about layout. You can have a lot of wasted space in 2100 sq feet or do a lot with 2100 sq feet.

 

fwiw, we have 12 people living comfortably in 2400 sq ft.

[TKDmom]

Have you ever read The Not So Big House? She makes the case that a smaller house with little nooks and such are more comfortable than McMansions with lots of open space. I'd probably go for the smaller house if it had all the details that I loved.

 

As far as bedroom space, our kids' bedrooms are 10'x10' and they are too small for 2 sets of buk beds. We could probably do it if the windows and closets were laid out differently, but I've been mentally rearranging furniture in my minds for weeks, and I can't get both of our bunk beds into one of those rooms. I'd love it if their rooms were more like 12'x15'. I'd be willing to give up one of the common rooms in the house to get those big bedrooms. My dh grew up in a tiny 3 br 1 ba house, but the upstairs bedrooms were huge and they comfortably had 3 teenage boys in one room.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I have never loved any of the homes we have bought. Least of all our current home(which I hope sells next week!). It was big, boxy and boring. Cookie cutter all the way. We did some landscaping but it would be another 20 years for that to all be looking great. The HOA limited architectural change....and I had a great idea for the entrance but they would have said no!

 

So if I ever buy again it will be a house I love when I see it. No matter how small inside I will deal with it :-) I too want a house I am proud to say is mine based on how it looks. And when the kids leave home I can do smaller LOL!

[Tammyla]

I'd go with the one I loved, but older homes have their own challenges. The square footage you mention isn't enough to worry over, at least for me.

[justamouse]

you can have a huge space with nowhere to put things and it will be a disaster. You can have a small space that is well thought out according to function and have it be an amazing place to live.

 

Old timers knew how to design space to reach it's maximum function-ability.

 

However, when it comes down to it, it's all about location.

[Sherry in OH]

Which one has the best yard? By best, I mean most suited for the way your family would use it. Which is most conveniently located?

 

Layout is very important. A small, well designed home is much more livable than a large home with lots of wasted space. Built-in storage is essential in a small home. Our previous home had lots of charm and no storage. The smallest closet in our current home is larger than the only closet in our previous home. It was great for two people, workable for three, and unmanageable clutter with four. I miss the hardwood, high ceilings, and crown molding, I do not miss bureaus in the dining room (nowhere else to put them) or boxes stacked in corners.

[speedmom4]

I would choose the older home. I love the sense of history and charm. I love the details that a new home doesn't usually have. There would be no choice for me.

 

God Bless,

[Suzanne in ABQ]

We're looking at homes (we can't buy anyway...), and I found a house I just LOVE. It's has all the features we've been looking for, and is so beautiful (1920's, lots of woodworking, smooth stucco, just plain stylish). It is also has a 670 sq ft foundation. :glare: There is a second story, plus a full basement, so number of bedrooms wouldn't be an issue (2010 sq ft total, which doesn't sound so bad...). This would be a house I would be proud to say is mine, based on appearance. :001_smile:

 

OR, a boring, plain (i.e. modern, rectangular, vinyl siding) house that doesn't make me smile, with a larger foundation, likely not a second story, and hopefully a full basement, giving maybe 300 more sq ft total.

 

Which do you choose, especially if you're hoping to have several kids?

 

ETA: We wouldn't have the money to fix the things we didn't like in the plainer house, like boring siding or flooring.

 

 

My main concerns would be 1) how old are the systems in the old house? How is the plumbing, wiring, heating, etc? How old are the windows? Are they double pane? How well is it insulated? These are common problems with old houses. And, 2) How easy is it to clean? I hate surfaces and materials that collect dust or water deposits/scum. So I choose fixtures and flooring that are easy to clean.

 

Colored paint goes a long way in making a plain box fun and pretty, and it's cheap. I'd probably go for the plain house just because it's much newer, and hopefully "works" better than the almost-a-century house.