tell me the benefits of having a small house/ how big is yours?

[snickerplum]

We just moved to a new state and are looking for a house. The house we're selling "back home" is 3500 sqft and 4 bedrooms plus a private school room. We loved having that space, but I'm having trouble finding a house that size for what we're wanting to pay. Most of The houses that we've seen seem to be exactly the same layout on the main floor. It's really odd (not the layout, but how similar they all are). I've found a very (very) pretty house but it's only around 1750 sqft, 3 bedrooms, no master bath (I love my master bath). But it's soooo pretty. The owner must have been an artist because each room (and hall) is beautifully hand painted.

All that to say, do you think I'd go nuts in half the space I'm used to? What do you like about having a smaller house? We have 4 little ones and I became used to sending them to play elsewhere in the house when I needed a minute to catch my sanity. I don't know if this house has an "elsewhere" I can send them to. :-)

I need your thoughts!

[maize]

Our home is just under 1700 sq ft. There are 8 of us, and while I sometimes wish for more space I see benefits to what we have. Mostly I appreciate not having all my budget tied up in paying for a larger house and associated costs (utilities!).

 

Are you moving somewhere where you will all be holed up inside much of the year because of extreme cold or heat? It makes a big difference if the kids can play outside at least some of the time.

[linders]

1. I like a master bath also. It doesn't need to be large, but I don't want to wade through "kid stuff" for my needs, nor do I want them poking around my things. Are there 2 bathrooms so you can at least have one that is "yours"?

 

2. Bedrooms. I gather you have 3 girls, 1 boy, so I assume at some point this would mean the 3 girls share a room. Is one of the rooms large enough?

 

3. Although the hand-painting sounds lovely, how well will it stand up to 4 littles? How easy will it be to cover when you need to repaint?

 

4. What is the storage situation? 1750 sq ft can be okay if laid out well with good storage.

 

Best wishes!

[Guest]

I can't find many benefis, unfortunately. The living area of our home is about 1300 sq feet with seven people, and it's doable but tight. Lots of downsides like limited storage, too.

 

Maybe an upside is how easy it is to clean up? But it is hard to keep clean because everything is piled into wherever it fits and anh mess looks much bigger and more cluttery, much faster.

 

Sorry?

[Ali in OR]

We have 1800 sq ft for 5 people. We needed a single level and it's hard here to find one any bigger than that. Things I like: smaller mortgage/paid off faster, lower property tax bill, lower utilities bills, family togetherness, faster to clean. Would love to have my own space for crafting, etc. But from our house searches I know that extra bedroom costs another $30k--it's not really worth that much to me. We do have a great layout, a master bath, attic storage, and a big garage. Almost every square foot is used well.

[The Girls' Mom]

Layout is much more important than square footage I've found.  We've lived in houses ranging from 1200 to 3000 sq ft.  Our current house is just barely 2000 sq ft and is probably the most efficient layout that we've lived in.  We built it, and spent a ton of time pouring over blueprints, and even tweaked this one before building to get rid of any wasted spaces.  We could easily raise 3-4 more kids in this space.  

That said, ours is a two story.  The kids kind of have their own floor.  We have two and a half baths.  Those two things make the space very livable.  We also made use of every attic space and under the stair space for additional storage.  We also have a great outdoor space that we use when entertaining (large wraparound porch)

[marbel]

We moved from about 3000 sq ft to 1500 [ETA: 1300].  For our family of 4, it seems very small, even after almost 8 years.  Part of that is the layout - it is a split level.  There is almost no place in the house where one can not hear everything else going on.  (That is an attic bedroom that is uncomfortable in winter and summer.  My son likes it though.)   If I get up before everyone else, I can't do laundry, use the sewing machine, or put away dishes without waking up the rest of the family (except the boy in the attic).   If my husband and I have to talk about something when the kids are home and we need to be sure they don't hear, we have to go in the bathroom, close the door, and turn on the fan. 

 

But I know larger families than ours who live happily in smaller homes.  So just 'cause I can't see an upside to a smaller house doesn't mean they don't exist.  And, if it's the house you can afford, it's the house you can afford, right?   That's how we ended up in this (to me) miniscule place.  I don't like it, but it serves its purpose.

[Night Elf]

Just something to keep in mind about a small house with little public space. In my old house, I had a large downstairs that had two living rooms, a dining room, and a kitchen and a half bath. We could all hang out downstairs and no one had any need to go upstairs. We spent a lot of time together when the kids were young. Now we're in a house that is just under 1800 sq feet for 5 people. There is only one u-shaped public space, a living room, kitchen with dining area. Because there is no where to go, everyone spends a lot of time in their bedrooms. It's more of a chore to get everyone into the living room to do something together. Also, noise is a factor. The back bedrooms can hear the tv in the living room if it's too loud. I don't vacuum or do laundry while anyone in the house is still asleep.

[tm919]

Our house is about that size, and we only have two children. Four children would be a stretch!

 

Disadvantages: (1) I actually find our small house hard to keep clean, because one toy left out is taking up (relatively) a lot of space on the floor. There's really no place that we can just sweep the mess under the rug, metaphorically. There is less surface to clean, but any clutter is a nightmare. (2) As strange as it sounds, the weather makes a difference. We are outside a lot during the spring, summer, and fall, so I hardly notice then that our house is small, because the outdoors is big. It means we are at the mercy of the weather to get outside though, since inside is not a lot of fun.

 

Two advantages that I didn't see above: (1) Those "big" house bills - painting, siding, new roof, new windows, flooring - all come to less when your house is small. There's just less square footage and you can choose more expensively. (2) When your kids move out, you don't need to downsize if you don't want to do it.

[LucyStoner]

Maybe an upside is how easy it is to clean up? But it is hard to keep clean because everything is piled into wherever it fits and anh mess looks much bigger and more fluttery, much faster.

 

That's a too much stuff for the space issue, not a space issue.

 

I have 4 people living here FT, 2 people living here PT and 1 extra person just here all the friggin time and it's an uncluttered under 900ft. Big closets and two bathrooms do help.

 

I do cheat a little though. We have a small storage unit for Christmas ornaments, camping gear and things will will want to have out when we have a house again. It's what we'd keep in the garage or shed if we were not in an apartment.

[Wheres Toto]

We have 4/5 people in 750 square feet.  I don't see any benefits at all, except maybe it being easy to keep track of the kids and monitor their computer activity. 

 

I don't think ours would be as bad if we had more storage space but we have no attic, no basement and only a detached (buggy, small critter living) garage.

 

[Guest]

That's a too much stuff for the space issue, not a space issue.

 

I have 4 people living here FT, 2 people living here PT and 1 extra person just here all the friggin time and it's an uncluttered under 900ft. Big closets and two bathrooms do help.

 

I do cheat a little though. We have a small storage unit for Christmas ornaments, camping gear and things will will want to have out when we have a house again. It's what we'd keep in the garage or shed if we were not in an apartment.

Trust me, we purge regularly and I'm very, very minimalist by nature. Having this age spread, homeschooling, several work at home businesses, one room dedicated to an office, and also living in inclement weather with tons of snow and rain gear? I pare it down, but you cannot comfortably go below a certain point. There is a lower threshold for clothing, educational materials, foodstuffs, business accoutrements, etc. Add in pets and a few hobbies, and I have a home that is challenging to keep as clean and airy as I like it. I probably make it sound worse than it is, but I'm faced with cleaning it up this afternoon for a birthday so I'm grouchy ;)

 

No space takes more than five minutes to tidy - it's not cluttered. But any small mess seems immense because we are right on top of one another. We barely fit on our couch or around our table.

 

I really dislike small spaces, especially with a big, young family. You just have to do the best you can, though, and financially it is the best move as long as we can stand it!

[lllll]

..

[Minerva]

We are four (sometimes five) in a 900 square foot house with a big outdoor space. The space is well laid out and the most functional house I have ever lived in. I love living in a small space and like keeping our stuff to a minimum. My kids share a bedroom, and this is fine for now, but might become an issue we have to work around in a year or two. 

[LucyStoner]

Trust me, we purge regularly and I'm very, very minimalist by nature. Having this age spread, homeschooling, several work at home businesses, one room dedicated to an office, and also living in inclement weather with tons of snow and rain gear? I pare it down, but you cannot comfortably go below a certain point. There is a lower threshold for clothing, educational materials, foodstuffs, business accoutrements, etc. Add in pets and a few hobbies, and I have a home that is challenging to keep as clean and airy as I like it. I probably make it sound worse than it is, but I'm faced with cleaning it up this afternoon for a birthday so I'm grouchy ;)

 

No space takes more than five minutes to tidy - it's not cluttered. But any small mess seems immense because we are right on top of one another. We barely fit on our couch or around our table.

 

I really dislike small spaces, especially with a big, young family. You just have to do the best you can, though, and financially it is the best move as long as we can stand it!

It's not a bad thing to have too much stuff for your space, it sounds though that you have a life that isn't conducive to living in a small house.

 

I wouldn't want to live in a large house as I like the proximity we have to each other physically and I refuse to have a lot of space and tchotchkes to clean because I have better things to do with my time (or I am lazy, take your pick!).

[Spryte]

I love our small house.  :)  1300 perfect square feet.  We can afford more, but ... We don't want it.  We homeschool and DH works from a home office, so we are here quite a bit.  There are four of us living, working and doing school here.  We bought it when our family was smaller (2 adults and our now adult child), but it still works.  I don't want to sell, move, buy something else.

 

It may be the layout of our house, but we don't have issues with being in each others' space, overhearing conversations, etc.  We have 3 bedrooms on an upper level, 4 (yes, 4!) bathrooms, living room, eat in kitchen, office/studio, garage, laundry room, and a fabulous though postage stamp sized yard that has a large deck, patio that we designed and had installed, raised garden beds, and a beautiful fountain that DH designed and built.  We are walking distance to the library, stores, playgrounds and parks, and an old town area of our little town that hosts summer concerts, etc.  Love it here.  

 

I am the artist here, and we have a lot of hand painting on walls - the kids know not to tape things to those walls, but other than that, no special care.  

 

 

[Carrie12345]

I see no benefit to my tiny house.  If it were better insulated with a different floor plan, I'm sure I could rave about lower heating costs, but it isn't.

 

People like to say it's easier to clean.  It's not.  It's constantly dirty because there isn't a single square foot that gets a break.  And there's no getting a break from other people.  I'm upstairs in my bedroom and can hear my 4yo bouncing around, the television program dh is watching, and the sound of dd washing dishes on the first floor.

 

That isn't to say every small house is set up this badly.  But I crave a lot more space.

[LucyStoner]

I love our small house. :) 1300 perfect square feet. We can afford more, but ... We don't want it. We homeschool and DH works from a home office, so we are here quite a bit. There are four of us living, working and doing school here. We bought it when our family was smaller (2 adults and our now adult child), but it still works. I don't want to sell, move, buy something else.

 

It may be the layout of our house, but we don't have issues with being in each others' space, overhearing conversations, etc. We have 3 bedrooms on an upper level, 4 (yes, 4!) bathrooms, living room, eat in kitchen, office/studio, garage, laundry room, and a fabulous though postage stamp sized yard that has a large deck, patio that we designed and had installed, raised garden beds, and a beautiful fountain that DH designed and built. We are walking distance to the library, stores, playgrounds and parks, and an old town area of our little town that hosts summer concerts, etc. Love it here.

 

I am the artist here, and we have a lot of hand painting on walls - the kids know not to tape things to those walls, but other than that, no special care.

I want to duplicate your house and live next door.

[Amira]

I SO much prefer a smaller house. I've been stuck in a huge house for the last 18 months and I cannot stand it. We'll be back in 1000 sq ft for the five of us, including two teenagers, later this year and I am insanely excited about the smaller space. 200 sq ft per person is my preference.

 

I spend so much more time cleaning a larger house. In a small house, it's easy to divide up the cleaning between the family members and I don't have to do much at all. Here, I spend a lot more time to barely maintain the place despite my not cleaning anything having to do with my teenagers.

 

I do like to make sure there's a private space for everyone, but we've always been able to do that no matter the layout and we've had a crazy number of layouts. We have more introverts than extroverts in the house, including me, but none of us need wide open private indoor spaces- even a closet will do. Sometimes we've rigged room dividers with giant wall maps and PVC pipe constructions.

 

We find it easy to keep our stuff pared down because we move so often. We improvise and do without a lot of things rather than storing them for later. We've almost never had storage in any smaller place we've lived so we either use it or get rid of it. And we don't replace it later. I have never once regretted having a smaller space and less stuff. Not one time.

 

I also feel cozier in a smaller house. I like to have my family near me even if we're not all in the same room.

[Spryte]

I want to duplicate your house and live next door.

Please do! Can I come gaze at the amazing painting occasionally? :)

[TranquilMind]

We just moved to a new state and are looking for a house. The house we're selling "back home" is 3500 sqft and 4 bedrooms plus a private school room. We loved having that space, but I'm having trouble finding a house that size for what we're wanting to pay. Most of The houses that we've seen seem to be exactly the same layout on the main floor. It's really odd (not the layout, but how similar they all are). I've found a very (very) pretty house but it's only around 1750 sqft, 3 bedrooms, no master bath (I love my master bath). But it's soooo pretty. The owner must have been an artist because each room (and hall) is beautifully hand painted.

All that to say, do you think I'd go nuts in half the space I'm used to? What do you like about having a smaller house? We have 4 little ones and I became used to sending them to play elsewhere in the house when I needed a minute to catch my sanity. I don't know if this house has an "elsewhere" I can send them to. :-)

I need your thoughts!

I did it.  We moved to less than half of the space.  The problem is storage.  I do love having a low mortgage payment though.  The bathrooms are easy to clean too - you can barely turn around! 

 

I love the single level now that I have had knee issues and a couple of surgeries.  I would never want to be doing stairs now. 

 

Do not be distracted by the decoration of the space because you are paying top dollar for that.  Look at THE SPACE, no matter how ugly  - in fact, the uglier, the better, because the price will be better. Does the space and layout work for you?  If so, you will like it when you paint it beautiful colors.  If not, then move on. 

[snickerplum]

I'm noticing that in the larger houses SO much space is wasted in huge bathrooms, closets and master bedrooms. Sure, I like my room to be nice and spacious, but I don't need a sitting room in my bedroom. Meanwhile the other bedrooms are tiny and the family room is small. Weird. In some houses you could create two more bedrooms out of the closet space. To each his own I suppose. :-)

[Guest]

I'm noticing that in the larger houses SO much space is wasted in huge bathrooms, closets and master bedrooms. Sure, I like my room to be nice and spacious, but I don't need a sitting room in my bedroom. Meanwhile the other bedrooms are tiny and the family room is small. Weird. In some houses you could create two more bedrooms out of the closet space. To each his own I suppose. :-)

Definitely check out the Assortment blog. She lives in an optimized, tiny home, and just designed floor plan s for several others. Small homes thatre beautiful and well planned are fabulous - it just so happens that very few actually are. Building yourself, however, is a great option :)

 

http://www.assortmentblog.com

[solascriptura]

My house is about 1700 sq. ft. and I have 4 young kids that are rapidly growing.  We will be trying to find a new home this year.  We have made use of every space and I am a minimalist, but that space can only do so much.  I am thinking about 2200 sq feet would be about right for a family of 6 because the thought of a house that is 3,000 sq. feet scares me.  How long does it take to clean a house that large?? 

[solascriptura]

Oh, one benefit of having a smaller home is that you won't need to worry about downsizing once the kids are out of the house.  

[luuknam]

We (wife, 7yo, 4yo and I) rent half a duplex, so about 800 sq ft I think?

 

It's too small for my comfort, BUT, that's partially because we're renting it. We're not allowed to put shelves all over the walls. We can't put locks on the interior doors. The bathroom doesn't have a lock, which is probably a good thing since there is only one bathroom, and neither of the bedrooms has locks. Sometimes I really wish I could just lock myself into the bedroom, but the kids will follow me. The only way to get a break is to leave the house, which in WNY isn't always a great option (read, winter). Plus, since it's a duplex, we have only one driveway, which means that during winter the neighbor blocks our car in since no street parking is allowed at night. Alternatively we could block him in, but that would mean getting up earlier.

 

I love the low rent. If I had more money I'd live in a bigger house though. Like others have said: layout matters. We have heater vents in the walls that mean certain parts of the walls can't have furniture in front of them, which makes the little space we have seems like even less. I just want another bedroom, and more counter space and cabinets in the kitchen. And more bookcases, but I don't think there is a house big enough to have as many bookcases as I want (well, maybe a chateau with a built-in library).

[kroe1]

It is not the kids who will drive one crazy in a small space, it is the old people. If you are anywhere near the phase of life that you will need to care for elderly relatives in your home, then get a big space with wide hallways and doors plus ways to escape the noise. (Old people listen to very loud tvs 24/7 and with lights on at all hours. ).

 

Good luck with your decision.

[Splash]

I prefer more space.  Also the wonderful hand painted walls will eventually need to be painted over as it ages so I wouldn't count that as a selling point personally.  I need open, light larger spaces to be comfortable and struggle with SAD during winter months.  I think around 2400 is as small as I'd be comfortable in with our family size. 

 

Good luck finding the right home.  We used to move all the time so I know how hard it can be in some areas to find the right house.

 

[LMD]

We're currently building/renovating our less than 800 sq/f place. There is 6 of us, dh & I and 4 kids under 10. We do have it on 20acres.

It's tight, storage and cleaning/putting away as we go are the biggest issues. Dh designed it cleverly so everything fits nicely.

[pehp]

I adore my small house. The main living area (3 BR, tiny kitchen, dining + living room, 2 baths) = 1150 sq feet.  That's where we lived entirely until a couple of years ago when we had our basement finished, which added about 700ish (maybe a bit less) of space, so we're at 1800-1900 of usable living space now.  I feel like I live in a mansion now! The basement has a bathroom, a couple of closets, a laundry area, and an open room that is den + schoolroom w/ built-in bookshelves. 

 

It's all in how you use the space, honestly.  And the light--we have so many windows I never turn on lights, in any room except the bathroom (no window), during the day.  It's VERY bright in my tiny house!   We live on my family's farm, and my children can roam outside (within the boundaries of our yard, that is).  

 

I never plan to move, ever. Ever. 

 

ETA: On the practical level, cleaning is not difficult and heating bill is very reasonable.  

[BigMamaBird]

In the interest of full disclosure, we live in 2000 sq. ft. house now, so not a small house.  But we spent 9 years in a 900 sq ft trailer.  I believed I was miserable, but now that I look back there were a lot of advantages to living in a smaller home.  

 

Keeping it clean was SO MUCH easier!!  We now have a two story home with a basement and it is just so much more work to schlepp stuff from one floor across the house to another room.  In our trailer, we were literally just steps away from any other room and cleaning was a breeze!

 

It was also much easier when we had infants.  Now, a baby is upstairs, down the hall and completely out of ear shot.  We have to be very intentional about carrying around the monitor if we want to hear what's going on.  In the trailer, the walls were paper thin and the crib was always within earshot, if not sight distance.  

 

We also had much less storage space.  It was basically just a closet in each room, a very small coat closet in the living room and an outdoor shed.  We HAD to keep the clutter down and carefully consider if we had room for something.  We've only been in the house three years but our basement is quickly filling up with stuff that, to be honest, we really don't need. 

 

Of course, for four of the nine years we lived there it was just Dh and I, then three years with only one kid and then only two years with two kids.  So we really weren't overcrowded in that space.   It would be more difficult for us now with #4 on it's way any day.  But we could do it if we had to.

[Liza Q]

We live in a small space - a coop apartment that is about 1,000 sqft. We have three bedroom, 1.5 baths, a living room large enough to call one end the dining are, and a foyer large enough to house two desks and three bookcases.

 

The big pro has been affordability. We paid off our mortgage a few years ago and it was never that big, so we have been able to manage on one income. That pro extends to so many areas - Disney World Vacations, helping our kids with college tuition, buying a new van cash.

 

The con has been dealing with 2 children with Sensory Issues. what I would give for a sound-proofed basement or attic!!

 

Storage has been a small con - we keep very little and pay for a storage unit in our building which keeps my apartment looking neat, not overstuffed.

 

Easy to clean is a small pro as well. A lot less floors to mop and toilets to scrub!

 

 

[VeteranMom]

We have 5 people living in 1800 sq feet of space.  I don't recommend it!  It was easier when the kids were younger, but as they are getting older it would be nice for them to have their own rooms.  Also, the rooms get cluttered pretty quickly and I always feel like the house is a mess.  We went from 3000 sq feet to 1800 sq feet.  I would do things differently- if I could have a "do over".

[skimerinkydo]

You will have to decide if the space will work for your family. Consider how you use your space. Storage space is important.

 

We have 1750 sq ft with 6 people.  3bdrm 2 1/2 bath. living/dining room and smaller back living room. The bedrooms are larger than average- two large closets in master bedroom, one bedroom has a walk-in closet. Storage space above the rafters in the garage. With the storage we have it has been "just" enough space. I wouldn't go smaller by choice.  I wouldn't want too big - I like to see my family.

 

This house has felt smaller as the children have grown older. Four bedrooms would be better because three teen girls in one room is crazy. But they will survive. At one point we looked at moving or adding on a room but the cost did not justify only needing that extra space for another 4 years.

 

Now that they are teens and one is going off to college the smaller mortgage is good - we have more room in the budget for college.

 

I'm glad I have my own master bathroom- the girls raid my bathroom enough as it is and I would hate to have to share a bathroom with them. One girl actually uses the half bath downstairs in the mornings because she doesn't like sharing.

[Jackie]

Our family is much smaller, just DH, DD, and I. Two years ago we chose to move from a 3200 sqft house to a 1100 sqft house. About 125 sqft of the house is my DH's office, so we live in about 1000 sqft. I love it and would never, ever go back.

 

It does require good use of space. One of my favorite things about the small space is that it forces a bit of minimalism, though. A lot of stuff/clutter drives me crazy, but there was so much space in the larger house that we seemed to constantly acquire without ever purging. It was such a relief to do a massive purge when we moved here. Because we have both less stuff and less space, cleaning this house is so much quicker and easier and I never feel overwhelmed by it anymore.

[scoutingmom]

Haven't read them all.

 

We have 6 people (and 2 cats) living in about 850-900sqft.  1 bathroom.  Awful layout (although it looked good when we first moved in - with fewer kids mind you - it is very hard to arrange well.     Technically it is a 2 bedroom, but it does have a 'loft'  (personally I think attic with stairs to it....) and my son has his bedroom there.

 

So I can't think of much good in having a small house.   Well, not THIS small for this many people.   1750sq ft would be luxury.   That said, 3 bedrooms might be interesting with 3 girls and 1 boy....

[ksr5377]

We have 6 people in 1400 square feet, 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.  While I appreciate the lower costs how quickly it can be cleaned, I can't wait to move.  It's the clutter that really gets to me, and it's not because we have too much stuff.  I really dislike how if the kids are playing in the living room, the living room looks trashed.  At my friends (much larger) home, her living room is large enough for kids to be playing with legos on one side and for us to easily walk to the couch on the other side.  So if you were to stop by it looks great, the kids are playing but haven't destroyed the entire room.  In my living room with the same amount of legos, it would take over the entire floor.  The same with kitchen counters.  If I have 2-3 things on my small counter top it looks messy.  Hers is twice as long so you still see all that open space which makes it seem tidier.  I have thought that if we both worked and the kids were in school I wouldn't mind it so much - I think there's something really getting to me about ALWAYS feeling like it's cluttered.  

 

 

[SKL]

I would be thinking, 5-10 years from now those girls are going to need to spread out.

 

It's nice to have them all snug together when they are little, but it's not sustainable as they grow up (unless you have no choice, of course).

 

I share a house with two other adults as well as my 2 kids.  Our house is a typical middle-class home, maybe slightly larger than average, but because we have 3 independent adults here, it is a fairly compact situation in some ways.  This does not bother me personally.  I am a "less is more" kind of person.  It works fine for us, for now.  But we're about to embark on an expansion so the kids will have some personal space as they grow up.

[catz]

We downsized from about 3000+ sq ft to about 2000ish at our current house. I think it is great. Less to clean. Less room to have extra stuff. We still have too much. I like the layout of our current house better too. We also live in a much nicer neigh rood in terms of walkable destinations and much closer to stuff, so that has been great as well. We do not have a master bath, but we do have 3 bathrooms, so that is not a big deal at all to me.