How big is your house?

[mazakaal]

Approximately how many square feet is your current house?

 

If you want, you can post whether you think your house is a good size, too big, or too small for your family.

[TraceyS/FL]

2750, but with the same number of rooms we had in CA with 1800. Living room with sitting area, kitchen with dining, laundry off dining/kitchen, 3 bedrooms, and an office/school/guest/craft room that could be another bedroom - but it used to be the garage in the house so it's huge.

 

Obviously the rooms are just bigger here - mainly in the bedrooms. That was a big selling factor to us because that is where we were cramped there.

 

It would be tight for use to go back to the smaller 1800, i'd want to make some floor plan changes. But this house i'd rebuild almost as is if something happened to it. Minor changes in the master bathroom and closet area.

[dawn of ns]

780 sq ft. We're family of four with a cat and dog. It's been manageable up until this year when we got more formal with homeschooling (and so needed more space fo ork and books). We're looking for a new home now, probably around 1600-2000 sq ft. If we weren't in the position to buy I think we could still mke it work although it would be hard.

[Danestress]

Our house has the right number of rooms (in fact, I wish it had another bedroom) but the rooms are bigger than they need to be, and there is a lot of hallway/foyer space that serves no real purpose. I like the house, I like the location, and I would buy the house again. But I would have loved a slighly different configuration.

[Tree House Academy]

3130 of living space. It is perfect for a family of 4...but sure is a lot to clean.

[dawn of ns]

Ours is a bit over 2000, which is too large for our family of three. I think there's going to be a huge shift toward building smaller homes in the future. We're counting the days to our "final migration" back north to NY; I think the new house will have about 1600 sq feet, not counting the basement. My dh thinks it's funny how excited I am about having a basement.

 

I can't wait until we have a house with a useable basement. It's somewhere to retreat when teh weather gets too hot!

[threetreasurs]

Our house is just the right size!

[Jenny in Florida]

We have slightly less than 1800 sf, and we don't use a lot of it. For example, my daughter has her own bedrooom, but she is away for the entire academic year. So, her room literally sits there with the door closed most of the time. The master bedroom is far larger than we need, so we end us using it as storage/the dumping ground for things that have no other home.

 

I argued in favor of a smaller home when we moved this last time, but was over-ruled.

[fivetails]

I can't wait until we have a house with a useable basement. It's somewhere to retreat when teh weather gets too hot!

 

Yeah until the fuzzy stuff starts growing through the cement walls! :cursing:

 

I don't know how big this place is - it's rented and I never measured it:tongue_smilie:...typical old 3 bedroom pmq with a (fuzzy) cement basement.

[Cindy in FL.]

Ours is between 3600-3800 for a family of 6. We have 4 bedrooms including 2 masters. Our 4 boys are upstairs in the second master and we have a spare bedroom for guests and the other has the foosball table and a futon in it.

 

Our house is bigger than we need, but I love it. We have a lot of large gatherings with church folks, etc.

 

Cindy

[Melinda in VT]

We have around 950 sq ft for a family of six. I frequently have dreams in which I discover extra rooms in the house.

 

I'd like a fourth bedroom, since personalities and age range make it tough for all three boys to share a room, and our daughter is almost 9 and will eventually need a boy-free room.

 

A second bath would be nice.

 

But right now I really want a family room, to make it easier and more pleasant for our kids to have friends over.

[3lilreds in NC]

We have approx. 1900 sf for our family of 5, along with a large dog and 4 cats. I would like one more bedroom, a real laundry room instead of a closet (:glare:), and a library or school room. This is my ideal, mind.

 

This house *should* have plenty of room for us, and I know we have too much stuff. I really would like one more room. Actually, I think if I had a real laundry room, this house would seem nearly perfect.

[Tracy in Ky]

Including the basement our house is 3,000 sq ft. I'm never quite sure how to respond to the 'size of house' questions. Upstairs is 1,500, downstairs is 1,500. :001_huh: Are you supposed to include the basement? It is partially finished, and we have a classroom, family room, play area, sewing area, laundry area, and storage room/workshop area down there.

[Pamela H in Texas]

too big in many ways though we've filled up the space. I REALLY want to downsize though. A fifth wheel or one of those tiny tenth houses is more my speed. I just THOUGHT I wanted a big house.

[Firefly]

I voted more than 4000 (it's about 5K). It's really too big for us but it's a great old house that we love (there's a pic in one of my albums). It was built in the late 1600s, 6 fireplaces, wide plank floors, lots of nooks and crannies and charm! It is a chore to clean though!! :glare: We all pitch in but between the house and the property upkeep (along with two barns), it was really a place made for someone who has a lot more kids (read: farm hands) than I do! LOL

[Paula in MS]

We have 3,600 SF with 1 child. It is too large. I think for our family size 2,500 would have been roomy. We actually bought our house for the lot which is gorgeous. We have 4 bedrooms, 2 of which we don't use at all. We have a foyer as big as a bedroom that has absolutely no purpose. We do have a sunroom that I love and also a finished bonus room that I use for school and crafts, so that is really good. We also have our read alouds in the sunroom. It is really hard to clean. Too much vaccuuming.

 

Paula

[Kari C in SC]

We have about 2600 sf with 4 people living here. We had 5, but my ds has left for the army. I think it is just right for us. We came from 1800 sf and that was getting too small. We have 5 bedrooms here that works out great. 3 are used as actually bedrooms, 1 is my dh's man cave and my ds old room is now a craft/guest room. I love having a living room upstairs and downstairs. It has taken me some time to get my two younger kids to realize they CAN go downstairs without me or vice versa. The only thing I would really, really like to add is a screened porch off of my dining room. I had this in Florida and I miss sitting out there so much. Someday we will get it put in, just not sure when.

[Renee in NC]

We now live in an 1800 square foot doublewide. I was really excited because we moved from 1300 square feet (8 people), but I think we somehow "lost" room in the move. The doublewide's rooms are 12 feet wide and we have only 2 closets. No pantry anymore, either. I hope we can get one of our sheds moved as we really need some storage space!

 

I do have 5 bedrooms now, so that is nice (we had 3 before!) Even if they are small, it is good not to have to put 4 in one room.

[Renee in NC]

We have around 950 sq ft for a family of six. I frequently have dreams in which I discover extra rooms in the house.

 

I'd like a fourth bedroom, since personalities and age range make it tough for all three boys to share a room, and our daughter is almost 9 and will eventually need a boy-free room.

 

A second bath would be nice.

 

But right now I really want a family room, to make it easier and more pleasant for our kids to have friends over.

 

When we were only 6, we lived in a 800-900 square foot singlewide. That was tough! We only had 2 bedrooms, though (but we had all boys.)

[Quiver0f10]

I think ours is @ 2400, which is fine for us, but I wish the layout was different.

[mazakaal]

I voted more than 4000 (it's about 5K). It's really too big for us but it's a great old house that we love (there's a pic in one of my albums). It was built in the late 1600s, 6 fireplaces, wide plank floors, lots of nooks and crannies and charm! It is a chore to clean though!! :glare: We all pitch in but between the house and the property upkeep (along with two barns), it was really a place made for someone who has a lot more kids (read: farm hands) than I do! LOL

 

I peeked at the photo - your house is gorgeous!

[mazakaal]

We have around 950 sq ft for a family of six. I frequently have dreams in which I discover extra rooms in the house.

 

I'd like a fourth bedroom, since personalities and age range make it tough for all three boys to share a room, and our daughter is almost 9 and will eventually need a boy-free room.

 

A second bath would be nice.

 

But right now I really want a family room, to make it easier and more pleasant for our kids to have friends over.

 

 

I can empathize. We used to live in 750 sq ft with a family of 6. I used to joke that dd learned to walk so late (17mo) because she never had to walk - she could roll twice and she was across the room.

 

Hope you can get into a bigger house soon.

[Scarlett]

2300 sf for our family of 3. I wouldn't say 'too big', but I can see that we could definitely get by with much less. 1800 would be fine still I think. My niece (20 yo) is living with us and it still feels fine.

 

Before we got this house when ds was 2, we lived in 1100 sf for 14 years. That was getting tight....but mostly because dh is a pack rat and would get rid of STUFF.

[Laurie in VA]

Ours is 3010 and I believe it's too big for us. We moved out here from the city and fell in love with this house and the 1+ acre yard, but we don't need so much space. For a few years we didn't even use the upstairs (3-4 br and a bath), nor did we use or lr and dr downstairs. We have a nursery attached to the mbr and that is where my DDs slept once they were out of our bed.

 

Now they sleep together upstairs, even though they couled each have their own room. We use the lr as a "library" and the dr as the main school room, which is really nice. Still, I'd rather have something smaller as I have never, ever felt totally "at home" in my own home!

[Tammyla]

I voted but didn't include the basement or garage in the sqft count. (No one does here, but it's nice to have extra.)

[Tess in the Burbs]

Our house is ~2200 sq ft but has 3 bedrooms with a loft. the 'dining' room/living room was one big room that we use as family room/library/piano area. the real 'family' room is the school room.

 

our last house was 2300 sq feet with 4 bedrooms and a third floor bonus room with a 1/2 bath. that house felt so much bigger b/c of the 4th bedroom AND third floor. but it was only 100 sq ft more on the record books.

 

our townhome was supposedly 1400 sq ft but it felt more like 1000.

 

layout matters way more than sq ft!

[Guest Tonya in CO]

Our house is 3500 square feet. It's perfect for a family of 7! We moved here just 3 months ago. Our house before this was 2000 square feet, which was going to be way too small when our 5th child arrived. I'm enjoying the bigger house tons, but still trying to get used to everything being new.

[Scarlett]

layout matters way more than sq ft!

 

 

I agree....good layout= good flow. Organization, Peace and Harmony will follow. ;)

[melissel]

So true about the layout. We have about 1700 square feet (about 500 of which is garage). I think it's a good amount of space for a family of four, but it's a...raised ranch? split level? The kind where you walk in in the middle and go up to the main level or downstairs. I hate that everything is on the main level. Without some kind of white noise in the girls' rooms, they can hear everything that goes on in the living room. I loathe my kitchen. I fantasize about those big, open kitchens everyone has these days. Ours is almost totally enclosed and has very little cabinet space :ack2: Nothing like feeling locked in your kitchen! And our second bathroom is downstairs, so neither kids ever wants to go down there. Thus, we still have arguments over the bathroom!

 

If we have to spend the rest of our lives in this house, we definitely could. But...I'd really rather not!

[King Alfred Academy]

594 sq ft...it's the Little Tiny Baby Pretend House!

 

There are 4 of us and it can be really small at times, but we are managing.

[JennifersLost]

Right about 3,500 square feet. Like someone else said, the number of rooms is great, but it's too big. There is a lot of unused space because of it's configuration. Basically someone took a normal split level house and added a two story addition to the back of it, half the size of the original house. It could have been done better.

 

It's good for us right now with the kids all home and all their instruments and both dh and I working at home. This won't be our last house, though. We'll end up in something much smaller.

 

Thank God we have a high-efficiency furnace and lots of new windows!

[Parrothead]

We have just over 1000 sq. ft. It is small for us and the lay out is bad, but it is a rental and we won't be here forever.

[amyable]

We have a raised ranch/split foyer: about 1200 sf is finished (so the entire top level and about 1/3 of the lower level.) I hate to sound ungrateful, especially when I think of people in other countries living with larger families in one room huts, but I am going NUTS in this house with 7 people because it's too small and poorly laid out. We are hoping to finish off the unfinished side of the lower level which would give us another bedroom and a storage closet (so maybe 1700 sf?). I am sincerely hoping it's enough to keep me from entirely losing my mind. :willy_nilly:

[mom31257]

We have a good layout and good space. It's a ranch with a bonus room over the garage. It's a split bedroom plan. We have the kid's bedrooms, a bath, and linen closet on one end. The living room and large eat-in kitchen are in the middle. We have no formal dining room, but I think we have larger bedrooms and closets because we don't. Our master suite,a relatively large laundry room, and stairs to the bonus room are on the other end. Our master bedroom closet is almost 100 square feet and was a big seller for me.

 

I had hoped the bonus room could be half school room, half play room, but we have a hard time regulating the air up there. It's most comfortable if you keep the door closed. With my son being in Kindergarten, his school work isn't nearly as much in length as my daughter's. He's not content to stay up there as long as necessary, and I don't want him downstairs with the door closed where I am. So we do school at the kitchen table and in the living room. My dd does some at a desk we have set up in her room, as well.

 

My dream house wouldn't be much bigger. I'd trade the play room for one more useful to me. I'd like to have a school room and a small guest bedroom with a bath. All of our family lives elsewhere.

[rafiki]

.

[LisaKinVA]

Approximately 900 sq. ft. 1 bathroom, 3 Bedrooms, familyroom/office, kitchen countertop... no kitchen or eating space.

 

Yeah, for a family of nearly 7, it's a bit tight (we're well past cozy). Hopefully, next week, we'll hear something about our loan and if we can still move forward building a better home that we can be in for the next 10-30 years.

[Jill- OK]

...1501-2000 camp.

 

(I think ours is around 1800; different paper work has different numbers)

 

I like it. I'd do a few little things to add some space, some breathing room here and there (enclose the back patio, convert the garage into a 'rec room', finish the little attic for an office), but for the most part, I love it.

 

I've lived in bigger houses, but the layout was bad. The space is used well, here.

 

(ETA: This is for 7 people)

Edited November 5, 2008 by Jill, OK

[HRAAB]

2,400 sq. ft. for a family of 7 (actually 6 now that oldest has moved out). It's plenty of room. And as I'm finding out with so many things in my life, it's more than I need. We could easily get by in a smaller home.

 

What would be hard for me to give up though is our 1.5 acres. I could live in a much smaller house if I still had a little room around me.

 

Janet

[LauraGB]

I voted "obligatory other". Our living space is about 1700 sq feet for the four of us, a dog and a cat. There is also about a 1500 sq ft space attached that I have to maintain and clean for 3 additional people. Both spaces are open to one another for a grand total of 3200 sq ft. The 1700 is a bit tight, but probably due to layout. Either way, we fit nicely into it, but could use more space. The problem is that 3200 sq ft is a lot to clean, so I would not opt for that much space if it were just the four of us (and the pets).

[Diana in OR]

Ours is 1850sf for the 4 of us. We could (and have!) gotten by in much less space, but I feel this is just right for our family. The family room and dc bedrooms are upstais, and the master br and living room are downstairs, so we can spread out, but yet still talk to someone on the other floor.

 

Also, as I am the chief maid around here, I wouldn't want it any larger--it seems to be about the right size to keep up with the housework.

[Rhonda in TX]

I struggle with housework and it's just too much for me. We were looking for a 2400 sq. ft. one story when we found this one. It was a great deal and DH liked the spaciousness. I'm now wishing we had stuck with our original plan.

[Annie Laurie]

We have 3780 sq ft. I love most of it, since we hs we're here a lot and it's nice that we can spread out and do our own things without disturbing each other when we need to. We have some space we don't really need though- there is a study when you walk in that's off the foyer, but it's become a home for the piano and other than that it just collects junk. I plan to change it into a rec room type space for teen ds and his friends soon- tv, dvd player, his playstation can go in there, a sofa and some chairs. We also have a formal dining room we didn't need, we don't do formal entertaining.

 

But I love the big space we have for our schoolroom and that every kid has their own room. The next house will be a little smaller I think, but I'll look for some of the features this house has.

 

We moved into this house from a 1200 sq ft house. I hated this house at first, it felt big and impersonal after my cozy little home. There was very little storage space in the old house, and I had my last three littles all in a row and wasn't up for moving so we stayed squeezed into the old one for awhile. I do appreciate all of the storage space in this house so much after having only small bedroom closets in the old one, no linen closets, hardly any drawers in the kitchen, and no laundry room.

 

Anyway, I think layout and storage space count for so much more than square footage.

[Desert Rat]

We're at 1490 sq ft for 4 of us and because our layout is so awesome and we have a great, big kitchen we also use a playroom/school room, our house is just right for us!

[angela in ohio]

2700 sq ft

 

We just moved from a house that had 895. We have two empty rooms, LOL. I miss my old house, as I really enjoyed its low cost, but we needed more room for entertaining.

[Sarah CB]

Ours is 4700 sq ft but it doesn't seem that big. I love the house and I think it's perfect for us. We use all of the rooms (well, except for the rifle range) and there is lots of room for us to spread out. I have four dc. The only drawback is the amount of time it takes to clean :(

[chaik76]

About 1200sf. It's too small. I knew it would be too small when we moved in, but it's what was available.

[chaik76]

Ours is 4700 sq ft but it doesn't seem that big. I love the house and I think it's perfect for us. We use all of the rooms (well, except for the rifle range) and there is lots of room for us to spread out. I have four dc. The only drawback is the amount of time it takes to clean :(

I want your rifle range!

[Chris in VA]

It's Big, Baby. Brick, too.:D

[Alenee]

We just moved last year from the 'burbs to an old one story with daylight basement on 1+ acre. Went from 2200sf to 2560. We have 5 bedrooms, 3 on the main, 2 in the basement. Top is about 1300, bottom 1200... We love it! It is big though.

[Strawberry Queen]

We have just over 1000sqft. But, that does not include the basement which we use daily. I just love my basement.:001_smile: