How big is your home?

[caitlinsmom]

What is your homes sq footage?

 

How much space would you ideally want?

 

We live in a 1600 sq ft rental.

Due to the bad design I feel cramped here. It's a decent sized home in what I could consider a starter home sq footage. I would love to go back to what we had last year just so I could breathe a bit easier. (I have a very large personal bubble)

 

It got me thinking, I know my current home is big for some people and more closet like for others. Ideally I would like to have about 2000-2500 sqft so there was enough space to spread out in a big way (for us anyway). I would like dedicated space for books and school stuff since they seem to take over every space we have right now.

[armymomma]

I am really spoiled in our Army housing. It is is large. it is too large. I am starting to look at post Army homes now. Our last home we owned had 2700 square feet with 8 kids. A little tight but it worked.

[violamama]

We own a townhome. Someday we'll have a house with acreage, preferably a rambling old thing with a barn we can use for our hobbies.

 

I'm sure I've whined about it on here before. We are staying in it for another year or more even though we don't like it for three reasons; we are already changing other big life things (adopting, new job), we are busy and having no yard is sometimes nice, and it is saving us lots of money so when we do buy a house we can get our last house and not just another in a series.

 

For those of you tempted to buy now with low rates, think of us and buy only if it's fine with you that you live in it forever (and ever and ever).

[Hannah]

We have 135 sq metres (1450 sq feet) indoors, plus an additional 25sqm (270sq m) roofed entertainment area and a carport.

There is an open plan sitting, dining, kitchen area. Three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and study/schoolroom.

It is completely adequate for our needs. I do want to add a garage instead of a carport for storage. We have a shed now, but it is too small.

 

ETA: Our house is in a conservation area, so there is lots of space here. We get visits from antelope and smaller animals in our garden. The birdlife is fantastic.

[Guest inoubliable]

950 sq. ft.

We love it.

 

We've lived in small apartments and we've owned a 1500 sq. ft. home. I don't think I'd go back to a larger home just for the sake of more space. We honestly don't need any more space. We probably will end up with more sq footage when we buy, though, because that's what is available.

[Night Elf]

We downsized 8 years ago from a larger house. Our current home is less than 2000 sq. ft., probably between 1800 and 1900. It sure seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. I'm not happy with the space or layout. We are cramped for space. I'd love a home about 2500 sq. ft. but at our age and our children's ages, that's just not going to happen. We're stuck and are making do.

[nmoira]

1188 square feet, two floors plus an unfinished, unplumbed basement

[Caitilin]

1988 sq ft is what we have now with 8 people. I'd like another 500sq ft if I had my druthers.

[Dandelion]

Our house is 3000 sq. feet finished (a little more when you count an unfinished room in our basement). We also have a few outbuildings that came with the property (a huge shed and a barn). Our lot is 5 acres. It's perfect for us.

 

We need lots of room, but if it was any bigger, it would be too much to clean. ;-)

[Joshin]

Our home is technically listed as 2400 square feet, but 700 of that is unfinished basement so only 1700 sq. ft. is living space. it's perfect for us and we looked around a lot before deciding on this as our "forever" home. We have four bedrooms, 3 up and 1 down, and two baths. Downstairs has a wet bar, rec room and bedroom. We liked that arrangement because a mini-fridge and a microwave/toaster oven turns the basement into an apartment in case one of the boys decides to live at home during college, and it has a separate entrance so they can come and go if they choose that option. They just have to give the rest of us access to the root cellar and laundry area in the basement!

 

This is the biggest home I have lived in since I was a kid. It affords me and DH our own separate offices (mine doubles as a school room and rarely as a guest room), and the boys have their own rooms. Sometimes it seems too big for just the four of us. Our previous homes and apartments were all under 800 square feet and it was cramped with the four of us.

 

DH knows, though, that if I outlive him I'll probably sell and build myself a tiny house or cabin and live somewhere with lots of garden room and dark skies. By tiny I mean less than 300 square feet -- like those Tumbleweed Tiny homes!

[jeninok]

We just moved from 1000 square feet that was poorly laid out and 100 years old, to just over 2000 square feet, but to me it feels much much bigger than double our old house. The layout is much more open, and it has 9 closets vs the 3 small ones we had before.

 

I would not want to go any bigger, this is the perfect size for us to live in forever. We also went from a tiny city lot to an acre, and that makes a huge difference in how cramped we feel IMO.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Our house in TX was a 4 bedroom with 1800 sf and 1 LR/DR. After the move, we are still in a 4 bedroom but with 2200 sf and 2 LR/DR (and I use the formal LR/DR combo for a "homeschool suite." :D) It's just about perfect except that I would like the kids to have significantly larger bedrooms. Ideally, I guess I'd like about 2500 sf for our family of 5.

 

I am really spoiled in our Army housing. It is is large. it is too large. I am starting to look at post Army homes now. Our last home we owned had 2700 square feet with 8 kids. A little tight but it worked.

 

LOL Where are you stationed!? I must know! I've spent almost my entire life in the Army (born in and then married in) and I've never seen large quarters, definitely nothing I would think of as too large!

[BakersDozen]

We're in 1800 sq.ft. with 4br/2ba. It works great for us and I have no desire for a larger house, however if there was a way to put another bathroom in our current home I would be very happy!

[KungFuPanda]

Ours is just under 2000 living space. This doesn't count the basement that we use only for storage and laundry. It's a good size for us. I turned the family room into a dance studio because we didn't need a LR and FR. Even the smallest bedroom is a good size, so we use the whole house all day. We could easily scale back to a single level with less space because there are only 4 of us. We have no compelling reasons to move that make it worth the hassle of moving, so I don't see us going anywhere.

[LarlaB]

Our house is big, especially for 4 people. Its just under 4000sf; 5br, 4ba 2750sf on the main & upper floors....1300sf in the basement. We are in process to rent out the basement as an apartment (1 BR & 1BA downstairs). So all in all, the main & upper floors are very comfortable for us- still more room than we need and more than I want to deal with, but nice to have space for guests and large groups.

[Venia]

Our current house is a little over 2000 sq.ft. with 4 bedrooms and three baths. Its a great layout and perfect while the kids are growing up. We would not go any bigger though; its just too much upkeep inside and out. With the right floor plan, we could downsize by 500 sq.ft. and still be happy as long as there was more land to roam around the house.

[readinmom]

1900 sf. We've lived here for quite some time. We talk about downsizing because we have been reading articles about wasted space, rooms that are not used. We all wind up in the same room, it seems. :glare:

[Guest]

We currently have 1500 sq. ft. but are selling to get more space. We want at least 2,000, but preferably 2,200-3,500 sq. ft. for six people.

[swellmomma]

Right around 1000 sq ft but because it is a 1930's home with additions, there is several spots in the house counted in that 1000 sq ft that are not really functional spaces, so I would say it is closer to 900 sq ft. With 4 kids and a minizoo. We only have a dug out cellar turned basement so it is not a usable space for anything other than storage. I wish we had a little bigger, or had a basement suitable to create a play space for the kids. Our old house was only 1200 sq ft and seemed huge compared to this one. I think something between 1200-1500 would be perfect for my size family. But by the time I got into that I would be down a few children and thereby be fine with the size I am in.

[Freckles]

Our house is between 3500-4000 sq ft. We have 4 bdr/5 baths in the main house with 2 living rooms, dining room, large laundry room, and office. We have the main kitchen that I can't wait to replace and a small kitchen in the other living area. There is an attached mother-in-law suite with a LR, BR, and 1 bath. It is in the process of being renovated. Well, the whole house is in the process of being slowly renovated. It's a family home. I don't own it, but I don't rent either. I call it a rambling, rambling, ranch. It sits on about 3/4 acre. It's a very large lot for our area of L.A. I would absolutely love it if it was done being renovated. We own a 1350 sq ft home in Texas. It was a little cramped for the 4 of us.

[LucyStoner]

I am a small house person. I like the feel of smaller cottage sized houses. When we buy our next house, we will be looking for something just under to just over 1000 sf with some sort of cellar for food storage and a shed/garage for bikes and camping gear. We are a small family and I like the closeness that comes with not spreading out to our own rooms all the time. We are also pretty light on the personal belongings. My husband and I have more than enough space for all of our clothing together in one small dresser and 1/2 of a small closet. All of my sons' clothing fits in one dresser. Ideally, there are two bathrooms but beyond that, I can deal with pretty small spaces.

[Laura Corin]

No idea - British homes are not sold like that. Here's a sample ad. The room sizes are given but it's not usually aggregated, so people don't talk in those terms.

 

We have a large house by local standards: four bedrooms, two shower, one bath, 2 1/2 reception.

 

ETA: it's a good size now, but we will be moving to a smaller one with less land when the boys leave home.

 

Laura

[DaffodilDreams]

2600 sq ft. I think I would like a bit smaller. Dh would like a lot smaller.

[Melissa in Australia]

I had to convert from metric 180/0.3048² = 1937.50 square feet. We feel like we live in a palace. we have 4 br, plus an outside sleep out, plus a small room that is currently used as a sewing room, plus a bedroom that we currently use as a dressing room, plus an absolutely massive lounge room.

 

I hope you guys are not cheating by not counting your basements :toetap05: Houses in Australia don't have them. We include our laundry and storage in our house size.

[Mom in High Heels]

Our current army quarters are 1400 sqft (3 beds, 2 baths, LR, DR), but we're looking at houses at our next post that are around 3000sqft. James Bond wants 4000sqft, because he grew up in a huge house (about 5000sqft), but that's just too big (plus, I don't want to clean that!).

[Pawz4me]

About 2750 square feet. It's nice because with four people and four pets there's enough room to spread out. We're all introverts and need our space. It's not so nice when I'm cleaning. DH and I will definitely downsize when the boys are grown and gone.

[GSOchristie]

We have 2400 sq ft, my opinion is...too much to clean! I told dh the other day that I wanted to buy two of those 400 square ft houses that come in a box and you put together, one for sleeping and one for school/play :). Our house before this was 1600 sq ft and though it was cluttered with large baby toys, I could clean it top to bottom in two hours. This house takes forever! It has 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms, a formal living room (which I don't allow my kids to even enter because it's my buffer zone. It always stays clean so when dh's clients come in, they can't see the chaos that is our real life :)), school room, enormous kitchen, and playroom. The kitchen floor alone takes me 30 minutes to sweep and steam mop, and I have to do that several times a week. I think I would like to seriously downsize and live more simply :/.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Our house is right at 2000 sq ft (4 bedrooms but we use office as a 5th and two baths).

 

My "ideal" is one of two things:

 

1) a few hundred extra sq ft for a 2nd living area and bathroom, maybe even one more bedroom

OR

2) like a double tiny home (thinking we wouldn't all fit in an actual tiny home). Every time I pass the place on the freeway that shows these, I dream....

 

Is it strange than 400sq ft is just as much my dream as 2700 sq ft?

[Lanny]

Our single story house has approximately 4700 square feet of construction. That includes a 2 car garage and an inner patio (my favorite part of the house, because of the fresh air and light).

 

We thought more people would be living here than are living here when we designed the house.....

 

We have no heating or airconditioning equipment (or utility bills to operate those things). If we lived in the USA, we would need to be in a much smaller house, because of the costs of running heating and air conditioning.

 

Our house has tile floors. There is no carpeting in the house. So, the floor can be washed with water and there are far fewer problems with allergies.

 

When we moved in, the house seemed huge, but after almost 9 years, it does not seem huge...

[jennynd]

3600 sq-ft. too big to clean.

[AdventureMoms]

1100 sqft, 5 people. In a perfect world I'd like about 1300 sqft I think. One more bathroom on the main level (24sqft), a broom closet (16sqft), maybe a guest bedroom (80sqft), and a living room that is just a little bigger (80sqft). Then it would be perfect. We've talked about opening up the main floor, which would help the cramped living room issue. We could actually do a fairly small addition that would address all but the bedroom and bump us up to 1200 sqft.

 

I admit to being confused when I hear friends with 2 or 3 kids complaining that 2000sqft + just isn't big enough. Layout is a huge thing though and our house is pretty efficiently laid out.

[LaxMom]

Ours is around 2500 sf, but that includes the finished attic that we use as, well, an attic. So, our living area is probably somewhere around 1600. It's fine. There is room for everyone to have personal space - the boys share a bedroom, I'm talking about just being able just have space around you when you need it - and it's not so much to clean.

 

Other than some design oddities, I think it works well with 3 kids, homeschooling, animals, and the rest of life in general. When we're empty nesters, though, I'll be looking to major downsizing.

[Isabella]

Our house is right at 2000 sq ft (4 bedrooms but we use office as a 5th and two baths).

 

My "ideal" is one of two things:

 

1) a few hundred extra sq ft for a 2nd living area and bathroom, maybe even one more bedroom

OR

2) like a double tiny home (thinking we wouldn't all fit in an actual tiny home). Every time I pass the place on the freeway that shows these, I dream....

 

Is it strange than 400sq ft is just as much my dream as 2700 sq ft?

 

 

 

Not strange at all, unless I am, too!! We have 2100 ft, and it's quite adequate for 5 of us. But some days I yearn for a big old double story mansion with sweeping staircase, and lots of large rooms. Other days I'd love a little country log cabin that is basic and simple and tiny!

 

I figure the best way to achieve it would be to buy each of those, and go stay in each as the desire strikes! Yes, that's in the world where I win lottery or something!

[Parrothead]

The house we are currently living in is 2250 sq. ft. We don't use roughly 500 sq. ft of it so ideally a house about 1700 sq. ft would be enough house for us.

[nono]

3000 sq ft which sounds huge, but doesn't seem it. Then I remember that we have two offices counted in that space (one being mine which is also our school room).

 

Any size is a lot to clean for me, but what I do love is that it is easy to deep clean with a bit more elbow room. I can completely break down a room and have space to temporarily store everything from that room and still maneuver for the day while the deep cleaning is proceeding. I also like that we've been able to repurpose rooms as our family has grown without outgrowing the space. In 10 years, I'll probably feel differently. :)

[Amira]

The last several places we've lived have all been about 1000 sq ft, some a little more and some a little less. I don't care much about the size, but more about the number of rooms. We have 3 bedrooms and 1 bath right now for five people, and will soon be moving to 2 bedrooms and 2 baths temporarily. I'd be happy with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths in about 1200 sq ft, and it would be nice to have an unfinished area for storage. But we're going to continue moving often with little choice in housing, so I have to be creative with whatever we have.

[Wheres Toto]

750 square feet and I hate it. No attic, no basement, only a detached garage with no heat, no electricity and not critter-tight.

The worst thing is never being able to get quiet. You can hear tv's and children no matter where you go. I don't read nearly as much as I used because I can't concentrate even on light and fluffy.

 

I would like 2000 square feet.

[UrbanSue]

We own a three-unit building and we live on one 1200 sq. ft. floor, for the most part. The design is bad in some ways--we would be more comfortable in the 800 sq. ft. apartment we had a few years ago and we've had one other house that was in between in size and also better designed so felt a LOT bigger.

 

BUT, here we have lots of storage and our dd has the laundry/storage area partially fixed up to play in (nicer than it sounds). Right now we have lots of rental income which is the only way we could possibly buy on one salary where we live (in New Jersey). And in two or three years when one set of tenants move on, we will take over all or part of their unit which will give us a comfortably large house so we'll end up with more like 2000 sq. ft. That will be more space than we need, actually. We might rent out a bedroom still or something.

 

Good design is so important. Almost doubling our square footage will be good but the layout will still be really awkward.

[Live2Ride]

We live in a 1400 sq ft home. I'd love to have one more room for a school area/craft room. I don't want a big house though-more to clean, lol. Plus our two are teens and before long they'll be older and moving out. I don't want to be saddled with a big house to care for and pay utilities on....

[TravelingChris]

WE have about 3500. I would have liked a little bigger. But this size is fine. I don't like small houses. We are a family of ADHDers and we need the space. Now that there are only three of us here full time, it is fine and I think it will be fine when it will be just the two of us two. But with the way the economy has been, I want to make sure I have enough room for all the family.

[Stayseeliz]

We have just over 1000sqf now for 6 people. It's too small but we have no mortgage. With 4 kids I'd like closer to 1800-2000. But I don't want a huge house. It's just more to pay for and clean.

[Danestress]

3600 square feet, too much if which is hallways and foyer. We could live in less with a different design.

 

I need a lot of space and peace, so I really love my downstairs master looking out over the garden, and I love that bonus room upstairs. I can't stand hearing a tv running, so we put it up there and the downstairs remains quieter.

 

I could live alone in a tiny house. I would avoid living with another person in less than 1000 feet. We had three kids in 900 square feet, and it was tough but we did manage.

[dm379]

We have about 2,000 sq ft. I would rather go down by about 500 sq ft. It seems like the more space we have, the more we buy to fill it up and I really don't like having a ton of stuff. We once lived in a house that was 3,000 sq ft. and it was just way too big.

[8circles]

We have about 2500 plus an unfinished basement for the 6 of us.

 

Everywhere I've lived in the US it was standard to list square footage without including basement or garage.

 

I'd like closer to 4000 but I don't think it'll ever happen.

[Butter]

Our household is 4 adults and 4 children. 3 generations. We are in about 1800 sq ft. We are moving to Texas and planning to buy around 3000 square feet or so.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Our is just under 2000 square feet. I think the size would be fine if the rooms were more practical. The bedrooms are very large. I trade some of the bedroom space and our hardly used sunroom for another bathroom (we have one full and one half) and a family room.

[hsmom2011]

n/m

[mlktwins]

We have about 5,000 sq ft above grade and a big unfinished basement. 7 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. The family who owned before us was big and finished the attic space into 2 bedrooms and a full bath when they built the house. If I get behind on the cleaning, it is not much fun. But...I've mostly been able to stay up with it so far and do a bit each day. DH helps too. The thing I love about it is that one of the 2 attic bedrooms is our school room. We have a guest room up there too. The boys each have their own room, a big playroom next to their rooms (so the toys are not spilling all over the house) and I have a dedicated craft room :001_smile: . It is too big for us, but wouldn't change a thing. We got a great deal, are in a good neighborhood with a pool, etc. We came from a 2,300 sq ft (including 2 car garage) 2 level house with 3 bedrooms and no basement. Way too small for DH and I once the boys came. The funny thing is we still spend a good amount of our waking hours in the same space.

[SailorMom]

Being military, we've lived in quite a few houses, and I've decided that with kids about 2000-ish sq feet is great (active boys, bad weather). Without kid, I'd be fine with less than 1000.

More important than actual sq ft to me is having:

Two separate living areas (a living room and another room that the kids can romp around in).

A nice master suite

Good storage in the kitchen

No Carpet!!!!

[Dory]

2900 sq ft and it's just about perfect. It's small enough that I'm forced to let some junk go and organize my life a little and big enough for us all to have our own space somewhere when we need it. It doesn't cost much to upkeep and we built it pretty thick and well insulated. I grew up in a 5000sq ft home and I find a house that size too big. A person could be cleaning all the time just to stay on top of a house that size.