earthmother Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We just bought a house and its 1350 square feet (no attic or basement). It seemed big enough for the 5 of us initially, but now we can barely find the room. We need to simplify so any suggestions would be appreciated. Just wondering if any of you have smaller homes with the same size of family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have a family of five in a house that is about 1000 sq. feet. My only suggestion is to get rid of everything you don't love/use/need. That's the only way I can stay sane in our little house. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba2nite Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Okay as a real estate professional I get asked all the time for my opinion on what house size for a XX sized family. So here are my observations. It many countries outside of the US it is perfectly normal for a family including extended family to live in less than 400 sq ft. As americans we are used to bigger is better. This is not always the case. I have learned that square footage does NOT necessarily equal to useful space. I would take a small well laid out floor plan over a large but poor floor plan anyday. I often tell cleints to "humor me" and look at a smaller home becuase it has a wonderful floor plan and also tell cleints to not get hung up on the squarefootage and instead look at the functionality. By US standards, most people find that 400 sq feet per person in the house works for them. Again, these are US big is better rule of thumb. Does this mean that your family will live in the home better if you have 400 sq ft for each person....NO....just that there will be a lot more "stuff" and it will not seem so tight. I am in the camp of less to clean and weeding through what you do not need. We sold our old house which had more square footage for a home with 300 less sqaure feet becuase the new house was laid out so that we would use every single room...instead of living in only two rooms of our old house. Now we use every inch with none wasted. We have six of us living in the house fulltime...with the two older girls coming and going making it 8 when they are home...it does get a little tight with 8 and I tend to get a little more grouchy... I find as long as the space is clean and organized then I can tolerate my space. DH and I work out of the house and each have our own office. His is outside (guest house...aka guest shack) and mine is the size of a large closet. We live in CA and the house is 2000sq ft and the shack is 275 sq ft I would love to have more space and I joke about it becuase one of my ongoing reoccuring dreams is that I find a room I never noticed before and cannot believe I found extra space that is unused. As usual I wake up in a funk that my new room was just a dream. My husband thinks I am a nut case....but hey I am! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) Our house is 1050 sq. ft. We do have an attached garage with a storage area in the back of the garage. That is where I store out-of-season clothes and hand-me-downs in rubbermaid containers (along with camping gear, luggage, etc.) Is it possible for you to buy a small storage shed to do something similar? Edited to add: We did have 6 living here but now there are 5. Good luck! Once you settle in and everything finds a home I think you'll feel better. Edited February 23, 2009 by PollyOR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba2nite Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oh yes my suggestion.... for kids as soon as they are old enough....mine were 2.5.... bunkbeds where they sleep on top and play underneath..some places call them loft beds. It can really make good use out of a small kids room. Also multifuntional furniture. Couches that can be pull out beds. Ottomans with storage inside. Tables with backets underneath. eliminating freestanding showers if you have a tub in the bathroom and converting it to a shower over tub and making the old shower into a huge closet (if it is next to a hallway you can split the storage half hall closet half bathoom closet. Pull down stairs in a hallway to have access to your attic....even a small low roof line can have hidden storage space to store items. Gotta love the pull down stairs. Underbed storage for adults...low plastic bins like the ones you store wrapping paper in are great for this purpose. For us if it cannot serve a dual purpose it is placed on the look for something more efficent list.... and ya gotta love craigslist for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I would love to have more space and I joke about it becuase one of my ongoing reoccuring dreams is that I find a room I never noticed before and cannot believe I found extra space that is unused. As usual I wake up in a funk that my new room was just a dream. My husband thinks I am a nut case....but hey I am! I have dreams like this too. We currently have 6 of us living in <1000 sq ft. We do have a roughly finished basement, but it is mostly used for storing stuff associated with our business. We are hoping to add on approx 700 sq ft plus mudroom this summer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have 5 people (soon to be 6), 4 cats, and 1 large dog in 1250sq ft. You'll figure it out. When we first bought this house (before kids) it was large for us. We've grown and our stuff has multiplied with the addition of kids and animals. We are always having to declutter and rethinking placement of things to make it work. You get creative when you have to. While I do feel cramped here, I know it would work better if we had less clutter and the money to buy better storage/furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 My house is about 600ish square feet with a full basement. Three of us live here, but my son is rarely home. I think it's a bit too small, or else I just need help with creative storage solutions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 594 sq ft. (no garage, no basement, no attic) for 4 of us. The boys have loft beds. Thankfully, they planned the space well...large closets, lots of cabinets, ect. We also live a climate that allows the boys to be outside most of the day and that is very helpful. Unfortunately, no laundry facilities or place to eat...we have a table in the LR...which works since the kitchen and LR are actually on big room. It gets to me some days, but generally I don't mind it. It's simple and doesn't take a lot of energy to keep clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oh my, I am going to rethink complaining about lack of space! We have 1500 sq ft for 5 of us plus a lazy basset hound. We are looking for something in the 2000-2500 range as soon as we sell this house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba2nite Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oh yes and one last thing..... scale.... Scale of furniture in relationship to the space a room has to offer is HUGE! Furniture that is the wrong size for a room can make or break it...there is lots of newer style peices that are small scale and will make a room seem much much larger. Much of the furniture out on the market are constructed for large track mcmansion type of homes and can eat up a room... Okay i think I am really done now! Looking forward to reading others comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caitlinsmom Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have 5 in 12oo sqft. We have awesome storage and keep everything simple. Basically I live by the rule unless I love it or it serves a specific purpose (ie more storage) I dont buy it or I donate it to someone else. :D I love our small house but sometimes its a bit clausterphobic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) We just bought a house and its 1350 square feet (no attic or basement). It seemed big enough for the 5 of us initially, but now we can barely find the room. We need to simplify so any suggestions would be appreciated. Just wondering if any of you have smaller homes with the same size of family. We lived for 12 years in 1000 sq.ft. with 7 of us. No garage, no shed, no basement, no attic, no charm.....only one tiny bathroom.... If you have any extra money set aside for the endeavor, and can get to an Ikea, I'd suggest going in and browsing their displays. They have a whole house set-up in a teeny tiny amount of space, and even if you don't buy the Ikea products it can give you a multitude of ideas for how to use the space you have more wisely. (ETA: As someone else mentioned, the scale of your furniture will make a major difference, that's where IKEA really shines!) Other than that, I echo the others who've said to pare down what you own to the bare minimum. Whenever I started to go crazy in our little house, I would purge everything that wasn't nailed down. For a while I'd be ok again. Another thing that helped was to pay special attention to our little yard, making sure that it had nice cozy places to sit/lounge, and things to keep the kids occupied outside (and out of my hair) as much as possible. Edited February 23, 2009 by Julie in CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomesteadMommy Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We're a family of 7 and our house is just a little under 1000 sq. ft. I love our house only draw back is lack of storage. There are only 2 small closets in the whole house and none on the main floor. It's 159 years old and back then they didn't need lots of closet space! LOL I'm working at another sort and toss binge to reduce clutter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katemary63 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We've got 4 in a 1000 sq. ft. brick ranch, no garage, no basement. We had 5 and up to 6 for a couple years before my oldest graduated college and my son moved into an apartment. We only have 1 bathroom. I have to say that the single bathroom is the worst thing about this house. I HATE it. We often have 2 or 3 inline hopping up and down in the hallway. What I do to maximize space in use the vertical. We have tall shelving units and lots of wall mounted shelves. The other thing has already been said....get rid of it. All of it. There is so much stuff that we have that we really don't need. Give it away or sell it. I keep very little stuff. I have learned to hate STUFF because more of it decreases my quality of life by making my house cluttered and cramped. I don't even like to shop anymore. What for? My house if full. LOL. We have made the choice to be here in this tiny house on a big farm. We could have a great big house and less land.....but we love the farm and so far, think the trade off is worth it.....most of the time!:D ps. We moved here from a 2600 sq ft. home w/ garage and full basement, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, sunroom, office, etc. So I do know what I'm missing and sometimes I do dream of finding hidden rooms in my tiny house and being overjoyed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlockOfSillies Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 The big thing for us has been to go vertical with our storage. Floor-to-ceiling closet space, built-ins, etc. We gutted our space-wasting '50s closets and put in custom. Use every vertical inch of space you can. And make sure the shelves fit the stuff you store and vice versa. Take the time to find the right size/shape of boxes and bins. And purge, purge, purge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have between 750 and 800 sq ft. We put holiday stuff in tubber wear and store it outside, in the shed. No attic and I'm not crawling in our crawl space, lol, so most of our stuff is stored in whomever's closet it belongs too. We also use space under our dining room table, under our beds, above our closets, etc. It's amazing how many places you can store things when you need too. Mostly, don't keep it if you don't need it. IOW, if you have twelve boxes of seasonal clothes to store... downgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlotteb Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 There are 4 of us, and we have a house around 1200 sq feet. I definately want to upgrade in the next few years. I would love a basement or another type of spare space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 1020 with three people here. It is small because we came out of about 1600 sq. ft. I refuse to get rid of some of the bigger items because this is a rental and we will move again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have 5 people in 1000sq ft. No attic/basement/garage. We do ahve a tiny porch to keep bikes/scooters. Echoing purge and vertical storage....speaking of I need to do some purging. I can't WAIT for spring - not for the sunshine, but b/c it means I can purge more clothes:lol: My 2 lo's are still in toddler beds which are small, and we are looking for a set of cheap bunks before dd3 grows out of her bed. Now, all 3 dc are sleeping in one bedroom and playing/schooling in the other - that keeps the mess to a dull roar and maintains a small amount of floor space for play. The bedroom is packed with 3 beds (even though two are toddler sized) and a dresser. We store stuff under beds, above the kitchen cabinets, etc...I have books "shelved" in unique spaces. We have hooks on the wall by the front door for coats and bags so I can use the front closet for sewing stuff/kitchen stuff/misc. junk that really should be purged. My home is not pretty, it's functional - and it will be that way until I either win the lottery and buy a McMansion or move my last dc out of the house - I'm not holding my breath.:tongue_smilie: The only thing I really wish for is a huge kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPair Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 4 people, 4 dogs in 1500 sq. ft. house with almost no closets (old house). Our basement is for storage only, which really helps, but no living space there. Garage is shared with the neighbor and is more like a shed (think Model-T or carriage parking) and is for storage only. Our house is way too cluttered right now, but it still feels pretty big to me. We always lived in small apts. before. Our last was the tiniest town house (I called it the mouse house), but we had closets. Closets make a huge difference in the way a house looks and feels. That town house was really cute and easy to keep picked up and neat. Every room is multi-purpose in our house now and it shows:001_smile:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have 5 people in a little over 1000 sq ft. We recently moved from a place that was a little less than 1000 sq ft, but this place feels much bigger, mostly because our old place had two large bathrooms, a large kitchen, two small closets (for the whole apartment) and no back door. Our apartment now has storage space under the stairs and a back door and three bedrooms. I'll trade an extra bathroom and a big kitchen for all that any day. My best suggestion is to get rid of more stuff, including furniture. We have never owned couches, for example (we've never missed them, either). Renting a storage unit might be worth the sanity it saves if you don't have much storage space in the house. A trip to IKEA might be useful for lots of storage ideas, although I often feel like a house with lots of creative storage feels crowded, even if it's neat. Getting rid of stuff is the only thing that really helps me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) We have 6 people and one large dog living in 2700 s.f. I used to daydream about how to configure this house differently so it would work better for us. The architect must have been single because he had no idea of how a family would have to utilize the space. Then it would be too big. I'd be happy in a smaller home that had 5 bedrooms. The dog counts as a person -- his size is the reason I can't have an island in our kitchen. He takes up the island space when he supervises me in there. RC Edited February 23, 2009 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 and have learned to be happy with either one. I learned that the more storage I have, the more junk I hold on to. As I get older I'm trying to keep things more simple. I've been throwing out a bunch of stuff that I used to think I needed. LOL! Right now we live in a medium - large sized old bungalow built back in the WWII era. It is 1644 sf, soon to be 1850 sf when my attic studio is finished. There are four of us plus one dog and one cat. I feel blessed and have no complaints about the size. We have tons of projects to complete though and that takes time and money. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I have to say that the single bathroom is the worst thing about this house. I HATE it. We often have 2 or 3 inline hopping up and down in the hallway. ps. We moved here from a 2600 sq ft. home w/ garage and full basement, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, sunroom, office, etc.! I totally understand the one bathroom thing. :001_huh: Oh, your previous home sounds lovely. Sigh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaik76 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Not including the bathrooms we have 1200 sf. I actually wish we had more rooms...not necessarily more sf, just more rooms. The best place I ever lived was only 700sf, but it was so well designed that our stuff fit really well. I'd move back there in a heartbeat (if only it wasn't 1000 miles away!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We just bought a house and its 1350 square feet (no attic or basement). It seemed big enough for the 5 of us initially, but now we can barely find the room. We need to simplify so any suggestions would be appreciated. Just wondering if any of you have smaller homes with the same size of family. We have about the same square footage with 6 people, 2 cats, and 2 large dogs. No attic, but a creepy crawlspace under the house. No garage, either! The 2 smaller bedrooms have standard sized closets. Under the staircase, we have the hot water heater and our washer and dryer (separate units, but we stacked them). The master bedroom has nice sized his and her closets (but not walk-in), and the master bath has about half a closet. My kitchen has a total of 9 cabinets (of varying size) and 4 drawers. What saves us is the loft off of the master bedroom. It has a 9' long closet that serves as jumbled storage and a pantry. The dog crates are in there, along with all of my scrapbooking and sewing supplies and most of our extra school supplies. Unfortunately, because it's really the only available flex space that's cut off from the main area, it also becomes the graveyard for miscellaneous items. Shelves and shelf organizers are ultra important here. There's a low bookshelf on the staircase landing. We're still working on shelving in the loft closet and things improve every time we add one. The bathroom closet has those baskets that attach to each shelf to make use of wasted space. We have plastic drawers in all of the bedroom closets. There are baskets everywhere- for clothes, toys, school supplies, towels, food stuff, diapers, fabrics, extra toothpastes... We bought the house when there were only 5 of us, and we knew it was going to be tight then. After almost 4 years and another baby, we're doing our best, but I'm getting to the end of my rope real quick. I'm sick of feeling like everyone is on top of one another and spending half of my time trying to keep things organized. If we planned on staying in PA much longer, we'd have added on to the house by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We just bought a house and its 1350 square feet (no attic or basement). It seemed big enough for the 5 of us initially, but now we can barely find the room. We need to simplify so any suggestions would be appreciated. Just wondering if any of you have smaller homes with the same size of family. We lived in 1338 square feet (8 of us) before. It was laid out well - lots of storage and lots of open space. Now we live in a 28x70 trailer and it is laid out BADLY. I feel that we have less room (and very little storage) now. The place we will live when we move is about 1200 square feet, but again it is laid our well, so will be comfortable there. We will also have one less at home by then!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We are five living in an 1,100 sq ft house -- no attic/basement. There are 3 bedrooms, one bath, an eat-in kitchen, and a family area that is half playroom and half living room, and an office that is really just the small part of the L-shaped family area. Aaron has his own room (the second largest), the boys share the smallest. Since most of the toys are in the living area, the smallest room works for them. Sometime this year, we'll probably swap the boys' rooms. It is pretty tight, and we own the smallest house of everyone we know, but it really is enough room. We are just getting rid of a lot of stuff right now. I think it really is the stuff and not the people that take up so much room. Sure, it would be nice to have a larger house, but we only have 2 more years on this one, and our mortgage is so small. I could not imagine taking on a new mortgage when my husband is 50 years old. BTW: We have a detached garage and also a shed -- both structures my husband added to the property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oh yes and one last thing..... scale.... Scale of furniture in relationship to the space a room has to offer is HUGE! Furniture that is the wrong size for a room can make or break it...there is lots of newer style peices that are small scale and will make a room seem much much larger. Much of the furniture out on the market are constructed for large track mcmansion type of homes and can eat up a room... Okay i think I am really done now! Looking forward to reading others comments. This is very true. A friend and I toured Lincoln's home last week and we commented on how large the rooms seemed once we were inside, but how from the outside, the home didn't seem large enough for such large rooms! It was all in the furniture scale. Sofas and chairs were tiny. Desks were the size of a child's school desk. I bet if I lugged my tv armoire and Lazboy chair and ottoman and my 6.5 foot sofa in there, the rooms would shrink! My living room is 15 x 12 and I have two tall book cases, one shorter book case, a digital piano, chair, ottoman, sofa, tv armoire, end table and coffee table. The only thing I'd like to not have is the coffee table, but it's on wheels so I can shove it out of the way when I need the floor space. My daughter's room is 7.5 x 9.5. She has a book case headboard captain's bed, but we really need some help with storage in there. OH, and Crate and Barrel 2 and Restoration Hardware have apartment-size and smaller scale furniture, but they're a bit pricey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Much of the furniture out on the market are constructed for large track mcmansion type of homes and can eat up a room... We know! We've been looking for a couch -- just something rather comfortable to sit on when we all sit in a room together. We've seen these huge couches with drink holders and huge puffy arms. It's very difficult to get a couch that isn't super-size OR formal, lean furniture. We're looking for something in between -- not home theatre-ish since we never all sit around and watch the television. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Youngs Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Pre-economy going to the crapper, I had 2400 sf for 5 of us. It was honestly, too big, and we had to much stuff. After AIG laid off hubby, we sold our house, by an act of God, and are now living with my parents in 1400 sf. It is packed tight, but we only kept our necessities out of storage, and my parents moved stuff around so that we would have some space and privacy. The garage has an insulated door, carpet and a heater, so our couch and table that seats 8 is out there and we use it every day. We school out there, the boys play out there, it probably adds 150 sf to out usable space. I want a smaller house after being here! It's easier to clean, you know where everything is, and everyone has to be calm, because there is no where to freak out inside. ;)If you need to be loud and obnoxious, you must go outside. The boys think it's awesome~:glare: We sold everything that we did not love and use daily, so now all of our belongings fit in a storage building. When we moved from Texas, we filled up a semi, including one car. Honestly, we sold or donated 2/3 of our stuff and I feel great about it!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoRJDont Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have 1552 sq ft for a family of three. We have an attic and a garage and absolutely no space. The house was poorly designed to begin with, then redesigned by Rube Goldberg. Two of the four bedrooms have closets that were cut down to half their original size. The kitchen was remodeled and enclosed. WHY???? The cook top and ovens turned into a range so now I have a gas line stub sticking up from the floor. It's plenty of space, more than enough. I know it is. We just have to purge a bunch of stuff we don't love, use or need. My dad was a pack rat, and my husband is too. The garage is packed to the rafters with stuff my dad shoved in there while he was still alive. Then we packed it even more when we cleaned out his room after he passed away. Now my husband has packed the room back up with his garbage. A family of three DOES NOT need a garage, attic and two 12 x 10 bedrooms for storage! I be prefectly happy to clear them out and seal them up until I could figure out what to with them other than store junk. ~M ~M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We live in a 1080 sq. ft. house. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. There are 4 of us and 1 on the way. The rooms are small, but they have closets and we tried to use them as well as we can. The girls sleep in a bunk bed (well, actually they like to sleep in one bed and play in the other). I bought plastic bins that go under the bed for most of their toys - it works great. What we loved in this house that it has plenty of built-ins. The third bedroom is an office. The walls are lined with built-in bookshelves and cabinets. It's been a great help and everything looks neat and organized. I think it's all in the perception. I know people who live in an enormous houses and still complain about the lack of space. Try to scale down the furniture and arrange it with maximum efficiency. We had hosted a huge parties inside and outside on the patio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthmother Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 our house probably seems smaller than it is because of poor layout. Long narrow hallways, tiny tiny kitchen, few closets, and bathrooms as small as public stalls. my friend helped me move in and she always complains how 2800 sq feet isn't big enough for her family of 3 and after dealing with my house she vowed she'd never complain again. I do agree that I should use vertical space as there are vaulted ceilings here-and I'll check out IKEA. thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Now we're in about 2000 with 4 teens. However, we do have 5 bedrooms, so even though some of my living spaces aren't as large as I'd like (I'd prefer a large living room and kitchen, and small bedrooms), everyone does have their own space. Also, dh has a huge shop outside and he added a room under there for a school room (now oldest dd's bedroom). He also filled my laundry room with cabinets that he built for next to nothing - that stores my cleaning supplies, beach towels, extra toilet paper/paper towels, etc. We have 2 baths, and they are normal, small baths - nothing fancy. We have no walk-in closets, but there ARE closets for each person plus one hall closet. The upstairs bedrooms are small. Our room is pretty large and so is ds' room. However, we have NO attic storage. Dh can store stuff in the shop, but it isn't climate controlled so I keep that to a minimum. I don't keep stuff. I'm one to throw out anything I am not using. Now that I've looked at the tiny house link, I know dh and I will probably build something MUCH smaller when the kids are all gone. I am loving the idea of having only 8 or 900 sq feet of energy efficiency (can't go much smaller because I'll be having my kids/grandkids over). I think we'll go for a LARGE kitchen/den with 2 small bedrooms and baths. And we will definitely plan to build-in a lot of items that will make life easier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have a family of five in 3200 sq.ft. It's our forever home. We bought it when the market was really low and we worked very hard on renovating it (we are not finished yet). Tons of space, great location and we have a little over 2 acres that abuts a great 22 acre pond that the kiddos love ice skating on. I can't imagine living anywhere else. We went from living in a 900sq.ft. home on 1/3 of an acre (it felt like a postage stamp) to this one 7 years ago. I didn't even have enough furniture to even furnish it:) We were minus one child there but, it was a very tight fit. We made it work by going vertical. The rooms had a floor to ceiling bookshelf or two. I placed matching wicker baskets in some of them coordniating them for each room, we utilized every nook and cranny. I turned 1 closet into a complete shelving system. We put shelves in the 1 car garage along the whole side for storage. It was a cozy little home, much easier to keep clean that's for sure:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Right now we have a family of 6 in our 1500ish sq ft house. And dh has his office in our house taking up some of that space. It is definitely big enough, though I'd love some good outside storage so we didn't have to keep bikes and surfboards in the house. They kind of clutter things up a bit. When my kids were younger we had all 6 of us in a 750sq ft house. That was difficult. I guess, compared to that, 1500 sq ft seems pretty big. We're looking to move and the house is, I think, around 1300-1400 sq ft. Other than the size of the bedrooms (which I've expressed concerns about in another post), I think we'll be fine there. It does have a garage for all those bikes and surfboards. I haven't read all the responses, but I have to agree with some of the other posters about America's 'big house' mindset. Here in England our house is considered a very large house. Americans have just gotten used to big houses. They haven't always been the norm. Just today, for current events, ds and I read an article about this http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13145388. In 1980 the average hosue size was 1570 sq ft. By 2005, the average was 2235sq ft. You can make the most of your space with good storage solutions, good use of the space you have (floor to ceiling shelves, loft beds with storage underneath, etc), and a minimalistic lifestyle. I love Ikea for workable furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Year Round Mom Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We have a small house, too, 1100 sq ft for 5. But our floor plan is so open that it feels much larger and homier (is that a word?) than our neighbor's bigger house. Whenever we get that dream house, an open floor plan is a must! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 We are a family of 4 and were cramped in 1480 sq. ft. Now we have 3130 sq feet (with an open floor plan in the living/kitchen/dining areas) and we are finally comfortable and spread out. Our house never feels too small, but it doesn't feel too big either...unless I am cleaning it. Then, ugh! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaC Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 We have 450 sq feet but do have an unfinished basement. There are 4 of us all total, dh and the boys are over 6 feet tall. we also have 2 German Shepherds, 4 cats, and a cockatiel, all strays. It is very tight in our house. We have 2 small bedrooms, 1 bath, a kitchen and a living room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 One of my recurring dreams is that I find a room I never noticed before and cannot believe I found extra space that is unused. As usual I wake up in a funk that my new room was just a dream. Hey, I have this dream, too! Whew, what a relief, I thought I was the only one. We are a family of five (mostly) happily living in less than 900 square feet. Our three little girls share one bedroom, and hubby and I have the other. I like sharing my room with him -- snoring and all.... :001_wub: At times, we DO feel that this is a small home. But we've tried to focus on the advantages: Easy to chase twin toddlers around in -- I never lose my children, I just trip over them. Easy to clean -- all five spaces in only 20 minutes. Easy to feel comfortable/connected in -- it's impossible to be alone here, because there is just nowhere to go, except to the library, LOL (this togetherness is not always a negative factor in a family home). Like I said, it's a small living space, BUT we do have a walk-up attic (nice for storing off-season clothes), an unfinished basement (food storage, sewing corner, tool bench, and laundry), and a large detached garage (everything else). The storage in the living area (two bedrooms, a living/dining room, a small bathroom, and a kitchen) is next to nothing, but the up, down, and outside storage spaces are a huge plus. It's a bummer you don't have a big shed. Can you put up a shed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 We currently have 780 sq. feet but as of Friday will have 2000. I. Can't. Wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 There are 7 of us living here now, used to be 8 before my son joined the Marine Corp. We have about 3200 square feet, but I do not like the lay out at all. I think it's time to rethink space and get rid of a lot of stuff. We have three bedrooms upstairs, a larger one my 2 dds share, and a smaller one for my 10yo ds. We converted the third one into a library. The master is on the main floor, along with a small galley kitchen, a living room, and a sunroom that we use for a dining room and schoolroom. We have a finished basement with a big multi-purpose room (TV, game systems, weight bench and weights, etc.), and a bedroom my 22yo ds and 15yo ds share. There is a bathroom on each floor. The house needs some work (carpet, bathrooms and kitchen updated, etc.), but we fell in love with the land it was on. We have 2 pastures, a big garden space, trails up the mountain and a huge barn - not to mention a beautiful view of the mountains (we can see Tennessee from our front porch). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) We just bought a house and its 1350 square feet (no attic or basement). It seemed big enough for the 5 of us initially, but now we can barely find the room. We need to simplify so any suggestions would be appreciated. Just wondering if any of you have smaller homes with the same size of family. 2600 w/o walkout basement ballroom, 3200 with. The floor plan is FABULOUS--I am super, super picky about that, but it "lives" like a bigger house, despite the fact that we can have nothing in the basement except for ride-on toys. The only thing that stinks is no linen closet--I have an IKEA wardrobe in the hall (which is 6' wide--it's a hall/landing combo, about 6' by 6') instead. Also, my only other storage are two closets are 6' and 3' wide, so I have EVERYTHING that I need to store in that space. (Stuff in an unheated space would mildew here.) I'm going to be totally spoiled when I build my new kitchen. When I say "I", I mean ME, with my own hands--I'm going to be building the cabs and everything. A covered porch will become my 260 sqft kitchen addition within the next 2-3 years. Then I'll have exciting things like, say, DRAWERS for silverware! The existing kitchen will become my homeschooling room. We have 4 bedrooms (one for us, one each for the 2 kids--though if we have more, they'll have to share, and a guestbdrm/hubby's office), 2 half baths/1 three-quarter bath/1 full bath (about to turn into 1/0/2...), a HUGE living room that I love (14x26 ft!), a playroom/office for me room (11x26 sqft), a kitchen/dining room (14x17'), the ballroom basement (I teach from there), a laundry room, and a sauna that we almost never use. The ktichen/dining will become dining/homeschooling. There is and will be no formal separate dining room, though in Phase 2 of our addition plans, the dining room will move out of the homeschooling room into the current 2-car garage, along with a very small more formal sitting room as the living room is quite informal (and has the TV, will be open to the kitchen, etc.). Phase 3, if we ever get it, will involve turning the old master into a libary and adding a new master and 2 kids' rooms and a bathroom for the foster care sibling groups we hope to adopt. :-) Phase 4 would be another garage, for when my parents move into the guesthouse they're building on our property. My brother's probably going to live over the garage that will replace the current one for us, temporarily, because he needs light support in living, so it will be quite the family compound--only smaller and much poorer! :-P Our house in NM was 4000 sqft. We paid half the going rate 'cuz of all the repairs it needed. There was NO garage, though, so I devoted a bedroom to storage. Living in both, I have to say that it is easier to clean and keep the better 2600 sqft layout than it was to try to clean the 2400sqft of the original main house--by a ton. (There was a guesthouse and a loft and a new laundry that we finished there....) I'm also much more firm about not storing unnecessary things here because I want my storage to STAY in my storage closets and not overflow into other closets. Going from 4000 sqft to 2600 furnishable sqft was a challenge, though. The slide, etc., that I had indoors went out, we got rid of some furniture that we inherited, and even the kitchen table (going from 2 to 1 dining area!) had to go outside. But this is a much easier house to maintain. THe relative lack of snow adds to it, of course! Edited February 24, 2009 by Reya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julpost Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 We're a family of 7 living in about a 1700 sf house. It does feel a little tight but we make it work. We have 3 bedrooms in the upstairs (it's a raised ranch) and my oldest ds has the downstairs as his bedroom, it used to be the family room. He feels lonely down there though so he's actually going to move back upstairs into the smallest bedroom and my other 4 dc have agreed to share the larger 2nd bedroom. Well only 3 dc agreed, the 4th one is too young to share an opinion. I'm happy we'll get our family room back and I like that we'll all be sleeping on the same level again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamnkats Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 We're in 300 sq ft. (what is it with the US and their lack of metrics?) Not a typo - we're in a 32ft travel trailer. Family of six and one small Yorkie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 We're in 300 sq ft. (what is it with the US and their lack of metrics?) Not a typo - we're in a 32ft travel trailer. Family of six and one small Yorkie. You MUST share more! Please tell us more about your day, your lifestyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 While I do feel cramped here, I know it would work better if we had less clutter and the money to buy better storage/furniture. You know "IKEA" just came to my mind when I read this thread. Their furniture are geared for optimal space use and their prices are relatively reasonable. If this is not an option, check "Freecycle" or "Craig's List" for deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Well, one thing that we have done a couple times is to make the largest bedroom the room for the kids and all their toys. We have three boys, so this often frees up a bedroom and eliminates the need for a separate toy area. I've had master bedrooms that were also the tv room and smaller masters that were just for rest and I prefer the later. We're in an apartment right now that is about the size of your house. I'm in the midst of finishing unpacking, taking what I can to the thrift store and also boxing up books that I don't need this year. I'm hoping that I can pull it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.