Just Wondering...

[kjdkek]

I was just wondering... how big is your house and how many children do you have? We are contemplating moving into a smaller house. Five bedrooms down to three bedrooms, with 5 children. Are we crazy??? What do you think??

 

Erin

[Vicki]

We only have 3 bedrooms and we have 5 children, only 4 still live at home. We do have 2 bathrooms. Our home is only 1600 sq. ft. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my house. I don't think you're crazy. It's not been a problem for us.

God bless,

Vicki

[Hen]

We have 4 children ( plus 1 extra during the day for homeschool) and we have 2400 sq. feet, 3 bedrooms. Before this, our house was under 1,000 sq. feet- so this house seems spacious to us!

[Aubrey]

4 dc, 3 bed, 2 bath, 1100 sf, no garage/shed/outdoor space.

 

I think you're most likely crazy, lol, but a lot depends on the ages & genders of the dc & the square footage & layout of the house, plus outdoor space.

 

GL!

[Danestress]

I was just wondering... how big is your house and how many children do you have? We are contemplating moving into a smaller house. Five bedrooms down to three bedrooms, with 5 children. Are we crazy??? What do you think??

 

Erin

 

I've had three kids in everything from 900 sq. ft. to 3,600 sq. ft.

 

My favorite was probably the house that had around 2,200. It was easier for me to clean than our current house. but I have mor privacy here, and I do love that. My room is downstairs, and a feel a sense of "retreat."

 

I do think how you feel will depend on personality, ages of children, and climate.

 

I didn't mind 3 kids in 900 sq. ft. because we were in Southern California and spent hours of everyday outside.

 

I personally hated sharing a room growing up. I love the sister, but I hated sharing with her, and would like my children not to have to do that unless they enjoy it (right now, my twins do in fact enjoy it, so that's great).

[Ria]

Our house is approximately 3300 square feet, not counting the basement, 2 1/2 baths. We've put on two additions...when we bought it it had approx. 2400 sq. feet. It was a 4-bedroom Colonial, but we turned our master suite into two more normal-sized bathrooms, so now it's a 5-bedroom house. We have six children; two of them are sophomores in college. The house is on an acre lot in a neighborhood; we also have an inground pool (here before we bought the house...we love it!).

 

Property values have skyrocketed here, so we will not be moving to anything smaller until we are old, lol.

ETA: Our house is 30 years old. We've lived here almost 15 years now.

 

Ria

Edited October 27, 2008 by Ria

[dawn of ns]

760 sq ft with two kids who share room.

[Melissa B]

1160 sq. ft. - 1 bedroom / 1 bath (We converted both the loft and sunroom into bedrooms.)

 

4 children - love the small house ( but wish the converted rooms had closets)

[Kim in Appalachia]

we live in an old Victorian. It has 3 bedrooms, but they are large bedrooms with no closet space. We have 2 bathrooms. We have 5 kids.

 

The house has a great layout, making it easy to find a quiet place (well, most the time).

 

We lived in a 2600 sq ft, 3 bedroom house before this, and it would have worked fine. I think layout is important, as well as storage space. And bathrooms, 2 is good, 2 1/2 to 3 would be better.

 

We also lived in a 1200 sq ft house, but at the time only had 2 kids. The house would have to have been expanded to work, but the layout was not great, plus the bedrooms were small. It also only had one bathroom.

 

Also important is the size of the bedrooms. They need to be large enough for a couple of twin beds (we have a bunk plus a single in one bedroom). I have seen houses where all of the space is in the "Master suite". Nice, but a waste when you actually have kids.

 

HTH

[tadbhoward]

We have 3 kids, all girls, and live in a modest 3 bedroom/2 bath house. In January, to save money, we will be moving to a 2 bedroom 1 bath house that will be less than 1,000 sq feet. :001_huh: I figure it is worth the financial freedom that will come with it and in a few years my dh will be out of seminary and we will be ready to move.

[tnmomofboys]

Three years ago we moved from a 3200 sq ft house to 2000 sq ft with a poor layout. We have 2 teenage ds. We gave up having a room just for homeschooling, which I do really miss. We have our stuff in book shelves scattered thru the house and spend more time searching for things now. But, the biggest challenge has been not losing the sq ft but getting rid of things that filled up the other house and having rooms that serve several purposes. It never feels picked up. Cleaning is quicker and having a low house payment feels pretty good.

[rafiki]

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[rafiki]

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[TravelingChris]

We move a lot since we are military. We got this house when there were supposed to be only two children living here full-time (oldest was supposed to be in college except for Christmas and short vacations). It is 2200 sq. ft. and the layout and space were fine for four people. They ae not at all fine for five. Now I don't have a usable dining room table since my office has been turned into my daughter's bedroom. That room is never neat since she doesn't have hardly any room in her closet so clothes go everywhere. The main problem with this house , though, is not enough closet space.

 

We are looking at larger houses in NoVa. I will not accept anything as small as this. It needs at least one extra room for an office/school/fitness room. A house we really like is huge but it has an equally huge utility bills we couldn't afford. (It has six bedrooms).

[3lilreds in NC]

We have 3 kids, 3 bedrooms, about 1900 sf. I think the house is big enough but that I have too much stuff. :D I would love to have a school room and an actual laundry room instead of a laundry closet, but other than that, our house is fine. I don't *love* it, but that has more to do with its being in NC instead of MI, I think.

[Marie in Oh]

4 bedroom, 2.5 baths, 2400 sq ft. It seems just right, though down the road we will add an extra br/office.

[PariSarah]

We've lived with one kid in a 900sf apartment, and it was fine. It was a well-designed 900sf. Small bedrooms/bathrooms and large common areas are what made it doable. (That, and PARIS just outside. :D)

[Pamela H in Texas]

I think it just depends...layout and personality are probably the top considerations. When I was a kid, we had an 1800 sq ft house with 5 kids (4 teens and a little). After awhile, my father made the formal dining area into another bedroom. It seemed perfect to us. Still seems fine in my head.

 

When I was a young adult, we had foster kids. 5 kids in 1100 sq ft worked too. Of course, the kids were very little which probably helped a little.

 

Now I have over 2400 sq ft 4 bedrooms, an office, 3 baths. The master bedroom is a schoolroom. The only complaint we have is that my daughter has to use a closet not in her room though she doesn't have a lot of clothes. But we only have 2 kids at home. It wouldn't cost us any less to live in a smaller home as we got this one as a foreclosure for a good price. The house next door is half this size and going for $17K more than we paid.

 

But I do look longingly at smaller places sometimes. I have a friend who lives in a 5th wheel and it seems PERFECT for two people (just a few more years for us). And then I saw that link with the itty bitty houses. We actually saw one at Home Depot and thought it would be perfect for us when it is just the two of us. I'd love to REALLY downsize like that.

[mrsdash]

We've got 5 kids who live here (8 all together ) , 4 Bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths.The house is 1850 sq.ft.

I keep 6 kids here during the day as well. I need 5 more bathrooms,at least!!

[Harriet Vane]

I would gladly downsize if I could.

 

I have a four-bedroom, 100+yo fixer-upper. The amount of work it takes to keep it clean and tidy is killing me.

 

I grew up sharing space with siblings. We didn't always get along but on the whole it was fine to share a room. There was even a period of time when three of us were in one room. After the baby stopped waking so frequently at night there were four of us in one room. It was fine.

[Renee in NC]

We lived in a 1300 square foot house with 6dc (3 bedroom, 2 bath.) Now we live in an 1800 square foot trailer with 5 bedrooms and are expecting our 7th.

[Titus.Two.Five]

6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. 4,600 sq. foot

We have 5 children at home (we have 9 all together ;)).

 

You do what you need to.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Titus.Two.Five

[JFSinIL]

Whereas we have five bedrooms and four kids, hubby grew up with six kids in four bedrooms - three girls in one room, two boys in one room, oldest son in own tiny room (there were two girls in between oldest son and next two boys.) They had big bedrooms for the shared rooms.

[Nestof3]

Our house is $1,000 sq feet. 3 bedrooms, five people.

[CalicoKat]

I was just wondering... how big is your house and how many children do you have? We are contemplating moving into a smaller house. Five bedrooms down to three bedrooms, with 5 children. Are we crazy??? What do you think??

 

Erin

we just moved from a 3 bedroom house to a 5 bedroom. It was really cramped in the 3 bedroom because the two kids rooms were small. Plus the shortage of storage space was frustrating. Mostly though we realized that homeschooling in the dining room wasn't working. Constantly putting up and down for the various activities in that room was wearing on us. Even though there was a family room and living because we didn't have an extra "office space" for dh who works from home. So when he was working from home our living space shrunk hugely.

 

Consider outside spaces too--we weren't able to use our front yard because of a busy street. And the backyard was pretty small.

 

The old house didn't have a basement either. It was 1800 sq. ft.

[Lacie]

We have two kids and live in a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath mobile home right now. It is a parsonage so we didn't get to pick the size. It has been nice though. The boys have their own rooms and we have a guest room. We have lived in alot smaller... During most of our oldest's first year we lived in an RV. That RV was small enough you could park it in the living room of our house (if you could find a way to get it in there....). I would like something a little smaller, but not as small as the RV. But I would love for the boys to still have their own rooms, atleast until they get a little older.

[kjdkek]

I am thinking we might give it a try. We have 5bdrms and 3 baths in 3100sq ft now. A small backyard and yes the kids can play out front but there are so many cars in the neighborhood so they have to stay in the driveway or the yard, which is small. The other house is on almost an acre, there is a lg wood storage building that could be used for a clubhouse. No close neighbors (we love that). It has 3bdrm and 2 bath in about 1800sq ft. It also has a huge family room that is like 600sq ft. The rooms are small but doable, I think. We have 5 kids ages 12B, 10B, 5B, 2G and 1G. We were thinking that the 2 older could share and the 3 younger. (My 5 yr old doesn't care because he still sleeps in my room :D)

It is just a rental house so I guess if we are not happy we can move eventually. Thanks for all of your responses. I really long for that cozy feeling we used to have in a small house.

 

Erin

[Melinda in VT]

That sounds doable.

 

We have four kids (3 boys and a girl) in a 3 bed/1 ba poorly designed 900 sq ft space. We have very long winters. I regularly have dreams that involve me discovering an extra room that we have somehow never noticed in our 5 years here. :lol:

[elegantlion]

We have 2000sf. 4 bedrooms plus a sunroom, no basement. We could do with less space, but we utilize all the rooms.

 

Ds has a bedroom and a playroom. Dh takes one of the rooms as an office, and the dog has claimed the sunroom. We do school in the formal dining room.

[cathmom]

We have an almost 2100 sq ft house. It has 4 bedrooms, but the master is 2 rooms. I have thought about dividing it to make 5 bedrooms.

 

We have 7 dc, but one is away at college. Currently, the girls are in one room, the twins in another, and the 5 yo by himself (sharing with the college student when he's home). The baby sleeps with us. Eventually we will probably put the baby in with the 5 yo.

 

We have 2 bathrooms.

 

I would love to split up my girls and give them each their own small room. However, I dont' think that will be possible, unless we put all four little boys in a big room and give the girls the smaller ones.

 

I also would prefer a different layout than what we have.

[Jennifer in MI]

We moved a year ago from a 1400 sq. ft., poorly laid out, 4 bedroom, 2 bath. (Most of the sq. footage was in the master bedroom - it was RIDICULOUSLY large!)

 

We now live in a 2400 sq. ft. house 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath. I love the space. I thought it would be more difficult to keep clean because it's bigger, but that's not been the case. Things don't get a dirty because things are spread out more.

 

I think it depends on layout. We certainly could've lived in the 1400 sq. ft. house if it had had a better layout. I would've much prefered larger living space and smaller bedrooms, like our current house.

 

We have 6 people in our family.

[Mountain View Academy]

Currently in 3100 sq ft 4 bed, 2.5 bath, 2 living areas and a game room.

 

We had a 2000 sq ft 3 bed, 2.5 bath before. This was much easier to keep clean.

 

We will move again and when we do, I'm going to downsize. I don't need 3100 sq ft. I think I'd like around 2000 - 2400 depending on how it's arranged.

[clwcain]

1300 sq ft

3 bedrooms, but we have turned one into an office and my f-i-l lives in the third. So all five of us (me, wife, & three kids) are in one bedroom.

 

And while we do have two baths in the house, only one of them works for showering. So three adults, three kids, one shower/bath combo. It gets fun.

 

And, for a while, my brother was living with us this past summer, too. So it was 4 adults, 3 kids for about 12 weeks.

 

It can be done. It helps that we have a garage and a large yard. It also helps that my wife and I have become very good at getting rid of "stuff". We purge our possessions about once every quarter.

[beansprouts]

We share three bedrooms and one bathroom on half an acre of land with three children and a dog. Our home is a raised ranch with a finished basement totalling about 1400 square feet. Plus we have a two car detached garage. The only thing I wish we had was a second bathroom. Other than this, I *love* my home, and have no desire to move elsewhere.

[tmkclscroggins]

We just moved into a new house that' 4200 sq ft. We didn't really want a house this size but at the time, my mom was living with us and we needed the room. We also got a great deal since this was a foreclosure. It's much better insulated than our older ( 2000 sq ft) house. So far, our electric bills have been cheaper.

 

Is this too much house.....yep! It's arranged well and our 3 kids have their own rooms. So, for the money, it was fine. I would have preferred about 3000 sq ft.

 

In our family, my mother-in-law could move in with us at some point so they'll be plenty of room for her to have her own space.

 

 

melissa

[iquilt]

We have a 5-family in 1900 sf, ranch house with 3 bed/2 full baths. I love our layout, we have our own school/play room right off the kitchen and we recently built a deck out back, giving us more living space when the weather is nice out. If we went any bigger I'd want an extra bedroom for company, but we do OK now with company, the kids all bunk together and the company gets ds's room while they are here. I don't think I'd go smaller but I also don't think I'd go bigger.

[Jami]

We're a family of 5 (soon to be 6) in an 1800 sq. ft. ranch house. 3 bedrooms. It works pretty well. I'd love a basement or F.R.O.G. type space for a playroom. If I only had to keep books, beds and clothes in the kids' rooms it would work better. Especially when the girls' room has another girl added to it sometime in the next year.

 

I've lived in a 3100 sq. ft. home, three-stories. And it was nice in some ways, having a distinct room for everything--homeschooling, office, play room, etc. But it was also a lot to decorate and clean, though it did stay less cluttered.

 

I think 2200 sq. ft. would probably be about perfect and a 4th bedroom for a play/guest space. But hey, it's a good rental price and we don't have to worry about selling anything any time soon. :001_smile:

[Nakia]

We have 3 girls, 3 bedrooms, and 1000 square feet. No basement or garage, but we do have a nice large outdoor storage building. It is cramped, but that's just what we can afford. So we make do.

 

Do what you need to do!

[battlemaiden]

Lay out and storage mean everything!!!

 

7 kids, 2000 sf, 4 bedrms. It feels too small, but I think it is because the main living area is one big room. There is nowhere to go to get away. We have three boys in a room, three girls in one room, a baby/guest room, and a master (where the baby sleeps most of the time).

 

We could use more storage and a place for a child to work on school quietly.

 

Jo

[dani3boys]

Our house is 2200 sq. feet including partially finished basement. We have three bedrooms upstairs and one guest bedroom downstairs. During the winter our house feels too small!

[Desert Rat]

We're a family of 4 in 1490 sq. ft. We have plenty of room although I'm very good at keeping on top of clutter and getting rid of stuff.

[swellmomma]

I don't know square footage, it is a 3 bdrm/1.5 bath duplex, so the size of a townhouse pretty much. I have 4 kids living here 2 boys and 2 girls so they share rooms (well the girls will once baby is big enough). The kids bedrooms are very tiny. I have decided that as soon as I finish clearing out the basement I am creating a family closet down there because there is no room for dressers in the bedrooms, plus bunk beds(the boys room doesn't even fit a single properly so the bunk beds seem cramped). The kids have no place to play in their rooms due to furniture cramping up the place. If the bedrooms were bigger this house would work much much better for me, but right now is cramped.

[klmama]

If a smaller house is what you want, you'll make it work for you! I know a family with 10 dc, and they live in a 3 bedroom home. The parents have the smallest bedroom, all of the boys share a room, and all of the girls share the other.

[CAMom]

I have 1482 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. I have 3 living children.

 

I really wish we had some more room or, at least, a better configuration. My 12yo dd is having to share a room with her 3yo brother. No fun for her.

 

Now that I think about it, maybe what I need is a different configuration of kids so that it was more practical for them to share space. I could be that the house is fine.:lol:

[amyable]

5 kids, two adults in raised ranch/split foyer -- about 1200 sq feet finished, and around 400 sq feet unfinished that we hope to turn into an extra bedroom and a storage closet.

 

Right now it's 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (well, really one and a half because the shower in our master bathroom hasn't had walls for years :lol:). I'm ashamed to say, it's killing me. There is just not enough well planned space. Other than the kitchen -which is supposed to be "eat-in" but not for a family of 7 --and bedrooms, there are just the two big rooms (dining/living and family). There's no place for getting away. The bedrooms are small and/or poorly laid out for so many kids.

 

We are really hoping that adding a 4th bedroom downstairs will help. It's better than putting four (very strong personality) girls into a 9x9 room.

 

I think small can be done, but if you have a choice you really have to take your personalities and the layout of the house into account (as others have said).

[Cornerstone Classical]

We have 9,378 sq ft. 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Two story with a full finished basement on 2.5 acres. We have 3 children.

[Nakia]

We have 9,378 sq ft. 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Two story with a full finished basement on 2.5 acres. We have 3 children.

 

 

That's amazing! How do you keep all the housework done?

[laughing lioness]

We live in a 4x4 farmhouse- 4 bedrooms (one is a study) and open first floor- 1 1/2 baths. 5 kids, though oldest dd is away at college, only 4 closets in the house.

Its a good size but wish I had another bathroom and more closets and that the walk up attic was finished.

[jonesloonybin]

We have 9,378 sq ft. 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Two story with a full finished basement on 2.5 acres. We have 3 children.

 

WOW! Really?? Over 9000 sq ft?? :eek: Do they even make houses that big?? :lol:

 

We live in a 3 bed/2 and a half bath house with a loft area that is the playroom. Our school room is the formal living/dining room. It is 2100 sq/ft. The bad parts are the Masterbedroom is too big and the family room is too small. We cannot even fit a full size couch in there. Overall I think this is a fine size house but some layout changes should be made. Our lot is VERY small and the backyard does not even really have grass but we are renting and the owner does not want us to do anything to the yards. I really wish we had some better outside area and a fenced yard.

[Laura Corin]

Our new house is about 1800 square feet: four bedrooms (enormous luxury to have a spare room/study), three bathrooms (one more than I think we actually need), a dining room/entrance hall, kitchen, sitting room and tiny utility room.

 

Laura