BlsdMama Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Love? Hate? I can't decide. Our house is divided right down the middle. In the front we have a sitting area, the computer, and the dining area all in one open place. In the "back" of the house is the living room. It's so weird. We can send the kids off to watch a show. In a lot of ways I actually liked all being "forced" to be together in the same space. DH loves it. It cuts down on the noise, which can, you can imagine with our tribe, be loud. I love the layout for school and M-F. I hate the weekends when I'd rather we all be crammed in one itsy bitsy space. We're working on finishing off the basement and we texture this week. It will give us an additional living room/TV space. :( I think I'm going to hate it. Just one more place where we can separate as a family. Am I crazy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 We're a family of introverts, so we appreciate our separate spaces. But I don't think you're crazy at all. :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Are you introverted or extroverted? What's your dh? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 We moved from a cozy one level ranch to a two story with completed basement with a layout much like you describe (cross country move - not preference). Even as an introvert, I did like the cozier space. The basement was enough of a separation of kids when I needed some peace. I have to admit though, being able to separate children into different zones on the same level during homeschooling has done wonders for the bickering. If I could afford it, I would go back to a ranch again with cozier space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtomom Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I like having space to be apart. I don't think it's weird to be different. Though I do think it's probably harder for a person who needs/desires space to go without than for someone who likes lots of togetherness to have space. It's really heard on me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I like space delineated for activities. For instance desk far enough away from TV, dining area separated from living room, etc. You may come to like the basement when the older teens want friends over and watch something or play games without the young ones being there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I have less than half the children you do, but with several people, I do find that having multiple separate spaces is really helpful. Some of my children are introverts (as are DH and I), and some need to be able to work without much distraction, and sometimes they just want to do different activities. Guitar playing is a great activity but hard to do with small people running around, and it's also very noisy to people who want to read quietly. I find that the children have no problem being in the same room when they want to be. Yes, it's noisy when all of us are together, but having the TV in one room, guitars in another, toys in a third, etc. doesn't seem to push them apart. They spend a lot of time together, anywhere from a pair of them (and you never know which two it will be) to all five. I wouldn't worry about it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I'm the opposite. :) I love separate spaces. I don't like an overly open plan for a house. Gimme walls! With that said, I think finishing our basement was a waste. (Nobody else thinks that here.) I have a very nice built-in aquarium down there, but it's not beneficial to me because I am never down there. I go down twice a day to feed the fish and that is practically all. There is also a little workout room that seemed so good in theory, but in reality, I don't want to exercise down there because it feels like a cave. I prefer to exercise in my bedroom, even though it is cramped by comparison, because I like the windows in my room. dS16 loves the basement finished; he calls it his den. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 (edited) I can't see the ages of your kids (no sig lines on iPhones), but if they're not yet teens, you may love those extra areas in a few years! The only way you're crazy is if you don't start early on assigning cleanup duty for each room so your housework load doesn't increase too much with the new living space. Edited January 17, 2016 by Seasider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 I can't see the ages of your kids (no sig lines on iPhones), but if they're not yet teens, you may love those extra areas in a few years! The only way you're crazy is if you don't start early on assigning cleanup duty for each room so your housework load doesn't increase too much with the new living space. Well, three of the rooms in the basement are bedrooms, one is a bathroom, and only one is a living room, so lots of folks down there to clean. All older kids are in the basement. We have windows in the hall and in one bedroom and then just got done installing full size *large* windows in two more south facing rooms (bedrooms) down there and when we did wiring we did an insane amount of recessed lighting fixtures because we just knew if it was dark, we wouldn't go down there. And because we plan on one of the bedrooms to be my sewing/computer room at a time in the future. We've got three teens right now but they like to be in the thick of everything and play boardgames with us, so maybe we need to have more people here? (But we live out in the country - about 20 minutes from where we are active with classes, mock, etc.) so we better make this an attractive visitation site if we plan on people driving, lol.) I don't know if I'm an introvert or extrovert. Can I be both? I suspect I'm an extrovert - I like to be alone with my thoughts in a group. I like to read on a couch while they all watch a Star Wars maathon - the plans for today. I like to play a boardgame while everyone eats around me. Alone, actually alone, feels lonely after much more than a half hour bath. Or, like now, everyone is gearing up for the marathon in the living room, blazing fire, teen watching a show in the dining room, kid setting up a backgammon game for the two of us, and me responding to posts. It just feels cozy. Then I think about half of them down the basement watching something not with us, away, and it feels like intentional separation, and I'm just not a fan. Hm. I'm just wondering how I can make it attractive for all of us. My best plan is kill the tv in the upstairs living room. We mostly read up here because of the fireplace - so it's cozy. If the TV is downstairs then we'd still watch as a group, but more intentionally? We're not big TV people and haven't had access to regular TV for a while. Now that we can stream we are finding ourselves watching more TV than our usual - I hate it. Hate. Hate. Hate it. Maybe the basement just represents more TV. Sigh. Right now if you don't want to watch with the consensus then you go read, or play a game, or something else functional. Maybe it isn't the space I'm worried about.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I love separate spaces. We were temporarily in an open concept apartment and it was just too noisy even with carpeting. People had to go to their bedrooms for some peace. If I tried loading the dishwasher, they'd have to pause their movie. I never realized how much noise I made in the kitchen, or that I LIKED working alone in there. Our kitchen is next to the LR/DR in our current house. Even though there is no door, the walls really reduce the noise level. I can listen to music and it doesn't disturb anyone. I use my family room as a dance studio. I love that it's separate and my family can still use the kitchen and LR/Dr during class without distracting anyone. This layout also allows me to use the FR/Studio as a huge guest room when I need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I wish we had more. We are far too "cozy" where we live now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 You know, I thought about it a little more. There are only four of us. We fit comfortably in every room. If I had a larger family, I'd want at least one room that was comfortable for everyone to hang out together even if that meant losing some walls. I'm guessing you don't get a ton of true silence anyway, so maybe preserving that isn't even an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I love having many separate spaces! The problem seems to be convincing people to use them! I swear wherever I am, everyone is within 10 feet of me. The youngest has a speech therapist that comes every couple weeks and even though the olders have several choices of where to be/things to do- they always seem to be right.there. I would hate to have an open concept house, I need to have my own space sometimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I can go either way because I'm an introvert in a house full of introverts. We have a large living room and we're all together doing our own things...quietly. So I'm 'with' them but I have my space too. Last night we had a football game on, I was sewing, dh was reading, one kid was playing a video game online and another was online chatting with a friend. The only thing you could hear was the tv on low volume. I'm a weirdo...I like my family nearby...would rather we are all in the same room than everyone scattered throughout the house. Of course that makes NO sense because if we're all doing our own thing it really doesn't matter where we are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I love having separate spaces. :-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Separate spaces please!!! We are in a tiny house that is open concept and I hate it. I miss my old farmhouse with actual rooms. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I'm the opposite. :) I love separate spaces. I don't like an overly open plan for a house. Gimme walls! With that said, I think finishing our basement was a waste. (Nobody else thinks that here.) I have a very nice built-in aquarium down there, but it's not beneficial to me because I am never down there. I go down twice a day to feed the fish and that is practically all. There is also a little workout room that seemed so good in theory, but in reality, I don't want to exercise down there because it feels like a cave. I prefer to exercise in my bedroom, even though it is cramped by comparison, because I like the windows in my room. dS16 loves the basement finished; he calls it his den. I love separate spaces too. About 3 years ago we gave the boys each their own rooms (they had shared before) and they love having a place that is just theirs. We do have a finished basement (we finished it ourselves.) DH has his office down there and a gym, and a large pantry/storage area. And then there is another space for a ping pong table. Dh uses it most. Dawn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I love them and desperately miss the extra spaces we had in one of our previous houses. We had a full basement, PLUS an attached full one bedroom apartment. I loved having a place for the kids to be wild and rambunctious with out it echoing throughout the house. I loved dh having an office (he works from home) that was so far removed from our main living area that we didn't have to be conscious of our every noise during the day. Right now we spend a lot of time in our smaller less separate spaces. I hang out upstairs in my office area (really just an open loft area at the top of our stairs) and the girls pretty much live in their bedrooms. This is because dh cherishes his TV and quiet house, which really limit what we can do downstairs. His office is right off the living room, and our dining and kitchen are open to the living room area, so unless we are very quiet, there isn't much use of the living room during the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 We're introverts here so separate spaces is preferred. Dh hangs out in the living room with the XBOX, the kids are all in their own rooms and I'm in the schoolroom/office. It works well for us. What I really like is that my kitchen/dining is together but separate from the living room, so no awful smells and I don't have to listen to DH "saving the world" while cooking dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 You know, I thought about it a little more. There are only four of us. We fit comfortably in every room. If I had a larger family, I'd want at least one room that was comfortable for everyone to hang out together even if that meant losing some walls. I'm guessing you don't get a ton of true silence anyway, so maybe preserving that isn't even an issue. :D This we have upstairs: And we put a couch in front of the big window so there is "hanging out" space. I think maybe you guys just figured out why I love this space so much - it's because we can all do our own thing in one space? The downstairs basement is good sized but it will all revolve around the television. It has a really large "entry hall" I guess you'd call it? (It's really just the size of the space so that we could put walls around the furnace. But it's big enough for a lamp table and a set of chairs, so maybe that would be a good way to put another "space" within a space. I like hearing about what works for everyone. It helps me think. :) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 ladybugs Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I can't even begin to imagine your life with so many children! That room you have upstairs is amazing but I think it wouldn't even fit into the biggest room I have in my house! Having said that, I didn't think I would like having a closed off kitchen but I LOVE it. I honestly don't see what the appeal of having an open kitchen is. I keep heat and smells in there and in the summer, the rest of my house stays cool. In the winter I will go in there just to get warm. :lol: My family of 4 tends to congregate all together regardless if that is what we intend or not. Right now is sort of odd as I wanted to reply to this thread and I am in a different room then my family, but normally we are all doing things in one room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 I can't even begin to imagine your life with so many children! That room you have upstairs is amazing but I think it wouldn't even fit into the biggest room I have in my house! See how the rooms are different widths? Sunday morning, a sawsall, and adventurous spirits shortly after we bought the house.... They were once two small rooms. :D Then a generous donation from the Taco Bell contractor guy, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I love the booths! I bought a Pizza Hut booth at an auction one time. I think it is so fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 See how the rooms are different widths? Sunday morning, a sawsall, and adventurous spirits shortly after we bought the house.... They were once two small rooms. :D Then a generous donation from the Taco Bell contractor guy, lol. Just goes to show how a little creativity goes a long way. This would work for me as long as I can do the bills in my own booth. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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