House size

[momto2]

We are thinking about moving to a smaller space. So is 1700sqft a good size for a family of 4.

[MominIN]

We just added onto our house last year - taking it from 1200 to a little over 1700 sq ft. It feels downright roomy to this family of 8. I think a lot of it is what you are used to, but I think 1700 sq. ft. for 4 people would be fine.

[Parrothead]

We went from 990 to 2400 and have too much space. We have a room that is not used. I think anything over 1800 would be too much for us. 1700, depending on floor plan, would be plenty big.

[Just Another Jen]

We're at 1200 sq ft for 8 of us now. We are adding 400 sq ft as livable space. I think you'll be fine.

[ChristusG]

We're a family of 4 (soon to be 5) and it has worked for us. Although we have about 1900 sq ft.

[....]

We're in 1000 square feet for 6 people and it's horrible. We have 4 women in this family, tho....and they ALL seem to want some personal space. :glare:

[Desert Rat]

We're at 1490 for our family of 4. I think it's perfect. Layout is everything though.

[dm379]

We had 1650 sq. ft. before and it was great, especially since we had tons of storage outside where we put a lot of junk dh won't get rid of. We have 2500 sq. ft. now and it's too big.

[....]

We had 1650 sq. ft. before and it was great, especially since we had tons of storage outside where we put a lot of junk dh won't get rid of. We have 2500 sq. ft. now and it's too big.

 

We're actually moving into a 3000 sq foot house in a few weeks and we are going to be swallowed up. We own next to nothing. Our house is like a big hotel room. :D

 

Minimalism, anyone? :lol:

[ChrissySC]

In 1600, we have a family of five. Oldest has moved out, but now a family of four. We had to move a few walls a few years later, but it opened up the great room to the kitchen. Big, big difference ...

[Mejane]

We went from 990 to 2400 and have too much space. We have a room that is not used. I think anything over 1800 would be too much for us. 1700, depending on floor plan, would be plenty big.

 

:iagree: Our previous home was 1200 and felt too small. This one is 2400 and feels too big. 1700-1800 would be juuust riiiight. :)

[3lilreds in NC]

Our old house had 1850 sf, I think. It was fine for 4 of us. It felt too small when Schmooey came along. I know I have too much stuff, and with homeschooling, it was a little overwhelming. I think you will be fine!

 

(We did move to a larger house when we moved last year, and I love it. I don't want to downsize. I don't want anything bigger, but I like this house a lot.)

[Koerarmoca]

We had 6 + 2 cats in smaller before we moved. I feel our new house is too big its very echo-y with out having big house furniture.

[lionfamily1999]

:lol:

 

We're fine in 800.

 

It really depends on the family ;)

[flobee76]

I think it depends on how many bedrooms you have? We have about 16-1700sq ft and it works for our family of 5 (no pets). It's a 3 bedroom-2bath, and if we have another girl, I am not sure how it would work. The rooms are quite small.

[*Inna*]

Our family of 5 live in 1000sqf home comfortably. The only thing I would add is a second bathroom.

 

I think a lot depends on the layout of the house. We have friends with a house twice as big, but it feels small.

[RoughCollie]

I researched this once, and the rule of thumb I found was that a house should have at least 400 s.f. of living space per person to be comfortable.

 

We have 1800 s.f. for 6 people and it is barely adequate. 600 s.f. is in the basement, which is used only for laundry and watching Red Sox games because my kids are too old to need a play area. The rooms in this house are tiny. The bedrooms hold a twin bed, chest of drawers and a night stand, except for the huge 12 x 12 master bedroom which holds 2 tiny nightstands, a king-sized bed, and one chest of drawers.

 

We lived in a 2800 s.f. house before we moved here, and it was the perfect size for us for 14 years.

Edited April 9, 2011 by RoughCollie

[Crimson Wife]

We were fine as a family of 4 in a 1450 sq. ft. townhome but we really needed another bedroom when we had a 3rd child.

[kokotg]

We have just under 1900 for 5 people, and it feels pretty good...I do like that we have an area in the basement that we can finish when the kids get older if we need to. Depends on how it's laid out, of course...in our house way too much square footage is in bedroom space for our needs, so we use the master bedroom as a schoolroom/playroom.

[Pretty in Pink]

It really depends on the layout of the house. We had all six of us in just under 1400 SF at one point and that was our favorite house. The floorplan was completely open, lots of big windows throughout, and when we had hardwoods installed it really opened up the entire space.

 

We are now six (soon to be seven) in 1800 SF. This house is fine, but it doesn't feel any bigger. The extra space is in the master bedroom, laundry room, and 3rd full bath (really? 3 full baths? in a 3 bedroom house?), so the extra space is sort of wasted space.

[joannqn]

I researched this once, and the rule of thumb I found was that a house should have at least 400 s.f. of living space per person to be comfortable.

 

I can't imagine being able to fill a house double the size of this one. This one is too small, but doubling it? WAY too much house!

 

I agree with others. Floor plan is a huge factor. How much stuff you have or feel you need is another huge factor. Our previous house was 1250 square feet. It was plenty big enough for our family of 6 (plus 4 cats and 1 dog), though it needed another bathroom. The house we are in now is 1300 square feet but the layout makes horrible use of that space so it feels much smaller than the previous smaller house. Still, we are making it work.

[Rhonda in TX]

We went from 990 to 2400 and have too much space. We have a room that is not used. I think anything over 1800 would be too much for us. 1700, depending on floor plan, would be plenty big.

 

I also think it really depends on the floor plan. Storage space would be important, too. If it uses space well, then it is absolutely big enough.

[melissel]

We're at 1490 for our family of 4. I think it's perfect. Layout is everything though.

 

Truer words were never spoken. We're a family of 4 in 1700 sq. feet, and it's plenty of space, but I hate the layout. Think hard about how you'll really use your space before you buy!

[lionfamily1999]

Agility can be an issue too :p

[sarawatsonim]

:lol:

 

We're fine in 800.

 

It really depends on the family ;)

 

:iagree:

We are in a 750 sq ft apartment with 4 people. I like a small space, it gives me an excuse to buy storage things from Ikea.:tongue_smilie:

[mom2scouts]

Our house is only slightly bigger than that and we are a family of 7.

[Nestof3]

It's 600 more sq ft than we had for five (our son moved out in Dec). :D

[lionfamily1999]

:iagree:

We are in a 750 sq ft apartment with 4 people. I like a small space, it gives me an excuse to buy storage things from Ikea.:tongue_smilie:

The bigger places would feel like living in a museum :lol:

[leeannpal]

Truer words were never spoken. We're a family of 4 in 1700 sq. feet, and it's plenty of space, but I hate the layout. Think hard about how you'll really use your space before you buy!

 

I so agree with thinking carefully about the layout. Our house is about 1400 sq. ft. for the three of us, but the layout makes it seem much more cramped. The house is going on the market soon because of an anticipated move overseas, but if I were buying again soon, layout would be the first thing I would look for.

[kamom]

We're in a 1500 sq ft home. It would work great, very open layout, except for the kids bedrooms are very crowded, have no closets and we have only one bathroom. We are adding on because of that.

 

It sounds like it should work great for you.

[QueenCat]

Layout is so critical. We have about 2400 sq. feet, and I can't imagine going back to much less. Probably because the boys are older, and need their own space. And dh is working on his masters, so he needs a quite area at night to study. Plus, we like a big kitchen and plenty of space to entertain. I used to think we'd downsize when they move out but I doubt it. I want two guestrooms so there will always be a place for both of them at holidays, if they can come visit with their families. I don't want them to have to go to a hotel room like I do since my parents downsized (they went smaller but more expensive, so it wasn't about money). And the next house will have a bigger dining room. It really does also depend on your family's desires and needs.

[Mabelen]

I agree layout is everything. A house that size works very well for us, but we have plenty of outdoor space and good weather year round. The only thing we miss on occasion is a 4th bredroom for guests.

[Georgiana Daniels]

We'd be swimming in a house that big!

 

LOL, we've gotten used to the sardine approach with 5 people in just under 1100 sq feet. Sigh. Looking forward to moving if our place ever sells....

[Mimm]

We have 1800 and it's plenty big for us, we could do with even less space if we needed to.

 

Edit: As far as layout goes, we have three small bedrooms and two good sized living areas. This gives each child their own room, but gives people lots of space to hang out in as well. It works for us.

[journeytolily]

I researched this once, and the rule of thumb I found was that a house should have at least 400 s.f. of living space per person to be comfortable.

 

 

I've seen this too. But somewhere else I saw a different formula for families with children. It was 800sf for 2 (parents), then an additional 200sf for each extra person. I guess alot depends on how you define "comfortable".

 

I used to believe that I needed a big house. But when we had to move from SC to MI, in order to have a mortgage we felt we could live with, we had to downsize. Our SC house had 2000sf for the 5 of us; this house has 1250 sf, which includes a finished family room in the basement. In addition, there's about another 500sf of basement for laundry and storage. We are hoping to add one more baby, so that will be 6 of us, plus 3 cats.

 

We're comforable here. We have only 1 bathroom, but will be adding a half bath upstairs this summer. If you watch House Hunters International, you can see how small the homes are in many other parts of the world. Sometimes my jaw drops at the bedroom sizes of homes in Great Britain and Europe. So much smaller than the average here in the States. Small/large - it's all relative.

 

I think if the floorplan is a good one, you will be fine.

 

Veronica

[rafiki]

.

[DarlaS]

We're at 1490 for our family of 4. I think it's perfect. Layout is everything though.

 

:iagree:

 

Layout matters a lot. If a bunch of that is open living space, that would get annoying real quick.

 

We have about 2000 sf and managed to squeeze in 5 BR & 3 full baths along with a (fairly) open kitchen/dining/living area. We went from 1350 sf to this with an addition five years ago that also added a family room.

 

That room is a bit awkward and more like a large (11.5 x 28') hallway/foyer. It's okay, and it works for us, but sometimes I wish we could have done it differently--like left off the family room and made the bedrooms bigger or added a few more feet in width, and put in one more wall so we would have a small foyer and a room sectioned off for office space/library etc (We weren't homeschooling at the time).

[Julie Smith]

We have a family of 4. I find our 1000 square feet to feel a nice big size. I think of it that way, but always have to remember to say we have a small house, that is small compared to the other people I know.

 

I would like a second bathroom, and more closet space. (Our bedroom closet is not even 2 inches wide). Our bedroom is tiny considering the size of our bed. :$ But I find for US that the bigger the bedroom the more dirty laundry we let pile up everywhere. With less then one square meter of floor space you just can't let it pile up.

 

WE do have a basement in addition to that 1000 square feet. But right now it isn't usual able for much. We keep the computer servers in the basement, and the washer and drier. The ceiling is to low for my dh to stand upright in most places. It is also very icky.

 

We also have a walk up attic. Even my dh can stand upright, but only in the center of the room. We just spend time tearing down the walls. (Previous owners pur up walls using cardboard. Then large family of squirrels moved in. We found so many walnuts. Once we refinish it as a play room/spare kid bedroom the house will seem even roomier.

 

1000 square feet for our family of 4, seems big to me. Sometimes I even feel bad cause our house is so big we can't fully make good use of it all.

[jewellsmommy]

We are 4 ppl + 1 big cat, 1 small dog, and 2 ferrets in a 1700 sq house. That does not count the half converted garage though. But, the garage is dh's project space, elliptical machine, and laundry. We have plenty of space. I really like our layout.

 

ETA: I could make less space work pretty easily. Dh, on the other hand, is a clutter hound, as is both the children.

Edited April 9, 2011 by jewellsmommy

[Melinda in VT]

Agreeing with everyone else who said that layout makes a huge difference.

 

We did family of 6 in 950 sq ft (with storage and washer/dryer in basement). I just about went insane. The number of bedrooms didn't work well for us with the gender split and age differences of our kids.

 

Now we have double that, and feel very comfortable.

 

I looked at a house for sale the other day that was 3000 sq ft and didn't seem like it would work for us. Huge, huge bathrooms. Wide, wide halls. No good space for a home office. (Both DH and I work from home, so we need at least a corner to put a desk each.) Only three bedrooms. Wide open floor plan, which I like, but this one lacked any walls to put bookshelves against.

[momto2]

Thanks everyone, for making me feel normal. People look at me like crazy when I say I don't want to live in a big house. The average sq ft in my area is 2800. Everyone keeps telling me I am going to hate his house.

 

All I need is a decent living space, three bedrooms and two bath. and ofcourse I have the basement to store whatever I want to.

 

Living minimal is always good for everyone and the earth.

 

I think I have found my dream house, it need some work, but I can manage. I am very happy

[Paintedlady]

We live in an 1800 sq. ft.old home (built in the 1800's) with an unfinished basement, almost no closets and no garage. While it's doable for us as a family of 4, I'm often frustrated by the lack of space. It might be totally different in an 1800 sq. ft. home that had adequate closet space and a garage though, so that's something to keep in mind. I guess my official answer is it depends. ;)

[Tutor]

I also think it really depends on the floor plan. Storage space would be important, too. If it uses space well, then it is absolutely big enough.

:iagree:

 

We were in about 1800 sq feet with 6 people previously and it felt like we were on top of each other. Now we are in about 1400 sq feet, at it seems so much roomier, but it has everything to do with the layout.

[Jenny in Florida]

We have about 1800 now, and it's more than we need (and more than I want to clean). We're moving at the end of the month to a home with about 1500 square feet, which should be plenty for us (two adults, two teens, two cats and a small dog).

[AuntieM]

We lived in 1500 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, no basement for several years. If I had two kids and a husband that didn't need a home office, I'd move back into that size house in a heartbeat!

[Hedgehog]

We did family of 6 in 950 sq ft (with storage and washer/dryer in basement). I just about went insane. The number of bedrooms didn't work well for us with the gender split and age differences of our kids.

 

Yes. I can relate. :rolleyes:

 

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: People.. I have yet to see anyone who has less space than we do! 2 adults, 4 children - 6 people - in a 825 sq.ft house. It is squished, but somehow we manage!

 

That sq.footage is all the living space we have, with no basement. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, kitchen, lounge diner. We have an integral garage (it's actually too small for most British cars at 141 sq.ft) which we use to store the bikes and scooters, a couple of the kids' outdoor toys, a few garden chairs, and DH's tools.

 

 

LOL, we've gotten used to the sardine approach with 5 people in just under 1100 sq feet. Sigh. Looking forward to moving if our place ever sells....

 

I would love to move to a bigger house. The thought of having an extra room especially for our homeschooling.. another bedroom.. or two..!

[ScoutTN]

We live in 1400 (also a family of 4) with a big dog on a 1/4 acre lot.

I wish we had just a bit more space and double the lot. 1700 would be nice.

[PentecostalMom]

We went from around 1000 to 1700 to 2200 and now have a little over 3000. I think this house is TOO BIG! We had adequate space with 1700, but if I would prefer (for my forever home) around 2000. I think 1700 is great for a family of four!

[happypamama]

I think it has more to do with the flow and layout of the house than the square footage. Our last house was around 1600 square feet or so, and it was okay with four of us, would have been a bit tight with six, but it could have worked.

 

This house is almost 2400 square feet, so we do have a lot of space -- huge kitchen/dining area, separate playroom, separate office/sewing room, and a separate room for art/homeschooling, plus a large hallway that makes a decent library space. I do like all that space, but it is a lot to keep clean and tidy. And we do have areas that aren't used much, and/or that just don't flow well. Plus, there are strange issues with heaters and windows, so it's not always easy to arrange furniture. Bigger isn't necessarily better.

[Susan C.]

Our current home is 900 sq ft., still 4 people, and it's fine. We do have a full basement, but it's not finished yet.

 

It works because of the basement, because you have storage. Storage is everything!!

 

We're at 1490 for our family of 4. I think it's perfect. Layout is everything though.

 

:iagree:

 

We had 1650 sq. ft. before and it was great, especially since we had tons of storage outside where we put a lot of junk dh won't get rid of. We have 2500 sq. ft. now and it's too big.

 

The storage thing again!

 

It really depends on the layout of the house. We had all six of us in just under 1400 SF at one point and that was our favorite house.

We are now six (soon to be seven) in 1800 SF. This house is fine, but it doesn't feel any bigger. ...the extra space is sort of wasted space.

 

I also think it really depends on the floor plan. Storage space would be important, too. If it uses space well, then it is absolutely big enough.

 

Four of us lived in a 900 SF apartment for six years, BUT we filled a storage garage and space at a storage facility. The apartment had the perfect layout, a large family area that had enough room for our office. Three bedroom larger units actually didn't work layout wise.

 

Closet space, space for bookcases/wall units, layout, storage (basement/attic) and a garage make all the difference.

 

We have almost 2400 SF now, I like the two living areas, the kids (almost grown) can have friends over, and I have a space separate from them. The bedrooms are good size (older kids need larger bedrooms) with large closets, the master is huge (too huge) with a very large walk in (good thing, no attic storage). And we have an extra office/homeschool/extra room which helps too.

 

1800 SF of the perfect layout with lots of storage might work, though with older kids, we may get in each other's way.