Big family in regular size home?

[Pamela H in Texas]

I hate using adjectives that may not be true to others.

 

Anyway, I'm considering moving (would prefer to wait til Spring or later though); but as part of my decision process, I would love to know how other larger families make less room work. I am having trouble with things looking cluttered, especially my kitchen and dining area, the very center of the house (in more than one way).

 

We have several organizational things we do. We have baskets by the front door that hold all the shoes. We have basic routines for bathing, getting the day started, etc. We're working on ending the day better (but haven't gotten into our groove since adding the last three children). Everyone does chores (well, except Monkey who is just spoiled rotten). This week, I made these cute clothes pin using chore charts, one for each of the six young kids (ages 4 to 8). I like that I can just load them three times per day and everyone can see what else the need to do. We have color coded cups, one per day per person (except my husband). I'm hoping to fix my "drowning in clean laundry" issue this week. We do have storage we pay for.

 

The house I found is double the sq footage in ways that would benefit our family. I just am unsure. If I could make our home now work, I'd prefer it.

[*~Tina~*]

It just works. I live by the philosophy that you have to work with what you have and be grateful for it :001_smile: There is always someone with more...someone with less. Plus I've always heard...the more space you have...the more stuff you have. Less stuff for less space helps make it work! Think words like...cozy, togetherness, declutter, simplify. More "room" that would bring more "stress" would not be worth it to me.

[Stayseeliz]

We are 6 people in 1000sqf. It feels cramped some days but not always. I get rid of things constantly but I don't worry about a little clutter. Being vigilant about things like laundry, etc helps a lot. Making sure the kids know that if something is left out more than twice it goes bye-bye, teaching them to put things away and not letting extra "junk" make it's way into the house helps a lot too!

 

I love my little house. We're thinking about building on in the next few years but we're riding it out as long as possible.

[Catwoman]

I'd buy the larger house, assuming that you can afford it, and that it's equal to your current home in all other ways (like being in a good neighborhood, a convenient location, quiet street, nice yard, or whatever other things are important to you.)

[Renee in NC]

We're 8 people (and 9 for school breaks) in about 1500 square feet. I like to say we rented the worst house in the best school district we could afford. I struggle with clutter and we have very little storage, but it's worth it. I don't want a ton of our income to go to housing either, though, so we would go with smaller if it were cheaper.

[Halftime Hope]

Pam, a very creative acquaintance of mine had a larger family in a small historic home in Coral Gables, FL. This family had six or seven kids at the time I knew them and probably went on to have more.

 

The house they lived in had lovely old hardwoods everywhere, so anything they added had to fit the decor. They added shelves around the perimeter of the main living spaces, maybe a foot or sixteen inches below the ceiling, and she had a combo of books (many, many books) and bins for storage that lived on those shelves.

 

They also built tower shelving units and bolted those to the wall in a number of sopts, most notably in unused corners.

 

The key to her keeping everything from looking cluttery was the pretty bins. Anything that looked junky was housed in an opaque fabric bin or in a pretty basket.

 

That gave her a lot of storage in otherwise unredeemable space. I'm sure they must have had stools so the littles could safely reach things up to a certain level, I just don't remember those. : )

[Halftime Hope]

Re. having a bigger space. Will you need a bigger space as the little bodies grow bigger? We lived in 1150 s.f for about ten years, and at one point, dh and I realized that we would need to move, because our kids would soon have bigger bodies, and what barely worked when they were fairly little wouldn't when they were bigger. We had three kids (both genders) in an 11x14 bedroom.

 

I can see making it work if the square footage is laid out so that it will work, but ours wasn't. We needed another bedroom and prefered to upgrade to two full baths instead of 1.5.

 

If you think that you will need more space in time, then getting it whilst prices are lower might be the way to go.

[speedmom4]

I struggle with this issue a lot. Currently I have three teenagers plus a ten year-old. Their bodies and hormones make living in a smaller home difficult at times. But the affordability of our home keeps us here. This summer I went to Ikea and redid my daughters' bedroom to organize the space they have and make it pretty. I was surprised that once I bought several bookshelves and baskets their room looked so much bigger. They love their room now! I think the key is organizing what you do have and to make it look nice since that will ultimately make everyone happier.

 

Good luck!

 

Elise in NC

[Pamela H in Texas]

Thanks for the ideas y'all.

As I read, I would nod some. But most of me was arguing, "but..." in favor of the other house.

And then I was thinking "another person for my side" when someone said the bigger house.

I really have to change my mindset....I think.

 

In our other house, we just had the four of us in 2400 sq ft. So yes, we filled it up a bit (as we came from a small townhouse), but it was still VERY clean looking, not quite minimalistic, but pretty much so. This house (a little smaller than the other) also would work if it were just the four of us. But then we added the three. And then Monkey. If we stayed with "just" the 8 of us, I think it'd work fine also. It is when you add other foster and/or adopt kids to the mix that the house seems to be getting awfully small (btw, it isn't *small* in terms of typical homes, just in terms of our family size). Currently we're a family of 11 and 2000 sq ft is quite cozy. Those last three bodies (especially, because they have the energy that only 5-8yos have!) have made SUCH a difference. Even though they are likely moving to a different family for adoption, there will be the next children, whether fostering or adopting, also. Unless I can commit to quitting (and I can't), we just seem to need more room. I need a house as big as my heart and arms (has to be both as my heart could love more kids than my arms could possibly hold--I simply don't see how Michelle Duggar does it).

[Catwoman]

Thanks for the ideas y'all.

As I read, I would nod some. But most of me was arguing, "but..." in favor of the other house.

And then I was thinking "another person for my side" when someone said the bigger house.

I really have to change my mindset....I think.

 

I'm not sure why you think you need to change your mindset. :confused:

 

If you think your family would be more comfortable in a larger home, why are you so hesitant to make the move? If it's a financial issue, that's certainly understandable, but if it's just the idea that you should be content with what you have.... well.... I have never really bought into that idea. If you want a bigger house and you can afford a bigger house, get a bigger house.

 

Personally, I can't fathom the idea of 11 people in 2,000 square feet. I would think 4,000 square feet would be pretty tight quarters for 11 people.

[KungFuPanda]

We rebuilt out bathrooms last year. My master bath is tiny with very little storage. My mom saw it and asked "but where do you put all of your stuff?" My answer was that my bathroom stayed clean BECAUSE there was nowhere to put extraneous stuff. A very narrow tub edge means that I DON'T put stuff on the edge of the tub. I DO have a wall rack with space for what we NEED in there, but there is no room to pile extra junk. It's physically impossible to have 5 bottles of anything lining my tub, so it never happens and it's easier to clean and maintain.

 

You can expand this to your whole house. Do you have room for what you NEED? If your living room is too small to hold seating for everyone, or your closets/dressers can't physically hold a few week's worth of clothes for everyone, or your cabinets can't hold the amount of dishes you need for a typical family meal, or if you dont have room for everyone to have a bed then YES . . . you might need more space. However, I'd be hesitant to sink hard-earned money into room to house STUFF you don't need. It's just too expensive when decluttering might be the answer.

 

Your kids are very young so this might not apply to you, but I've known people who move into bigger houses when they have older teens. It gave them more space for a few years, but then those teens moved on in life and they ended up downsizing or maintaining a too-big house during their retirement years. It makes no sense (unless you just LOVE house and yard work.)

 

 

[Catwoman]

...However, I'd be hesitant to sink hard-earned money into room to house STUFF you don't need. It's just too expensive when decluttering might be the answer.

 

Your kids are very young so this might not apply to you, but I've known people who move into bigger houses when they have older teens. It gave them more space for a few years, but then those teens moved on in life and they ended up downsizing or maintaining a too-big house during their retirement years. It makes no sense (unless you just LOVE house and yard work.)

 

 

I don't love house and yard work, but I do love my space and my stuff. :D

[chickenpatty]

We will soon have 10 people in 2000 square feet, plus an 11th who stays with us on weekends. We don't have a lot of excess belongings (i.e. toys), so that helps keep the cluttered feeling to a minimum. I can't stand clutter - I'm even looking forward to putting the Christmas tree away to have the open space again.

 

We don't have a lot of storage or closet space, so we've had to be really creative with building shelves & cabinets, etc...

 

Personally, I'd rather have it a *little* cramped than take on a bigger house payment. Plus, we'll be done paying for this one in three years. Woohoo!