House Size?

tmrtink

There is a post on 12-24 about house size and I was just wondering, how big is your house? The poster over there wasn't saying this in any way, but I was reading some of the responses and just think it's so funny that some people have 2500+sqft homes that they feel their families are growing out of. I know to each their own, but it wasn't too long ago (when my parents were growing up) when NO ONE really had homes that big! Most were small post war homes, the biggest of which were usually only about 1400sqft! Families were usually larger, with multiple siblings sharing a room. Just find it fascinating on how much things have changed in such a short period of time.

pastalady

I had the big house before (3000 sq ft) and I am so over it! So much cleaning lol! Now we have a 1200 sq ft house and we are no longer house poor! In fact, we moved so that when I sell my business (hopefully soon!) I can be a SAHM. It is funny how it has changed over the years but I think it is changing again, alot of my friends are moving to smaller homes now.

LUCKY41010

Our house is 1800 sf we are growing out of it but Dh works out of the house and it is a ranch I would love a bonus room and it would be perfect

EveryNameIWantIsTaken

We live in an apartment with 1020 sq feet.  We're hoping to buy before too much longer and really I'd just like a third bedroom and some storage space whether that is a garage or shed or whatever.

JDCSKF

1580 sq feet.

I feel like it's just right with two kids, however DH will not have an office if we have more kids. When I feel like we are growing out of our house, I really start to evaluate what we need and don't need. My dad grew up in a 2 bedroom house with 5 siblings. They upsized to a 3 bedroom house and had girls in one room and boys in the other. They all grew up just fine.

Plus, I can't imagine cleaning a house any bigger then the one I have, and I'm too cheap to get a house cleaner.

Temp174496125006552

Our house is just shy of 2300 sq ft.  But 400 sq ft of that is the basement that we had partially finished two years ago.  That's notreally usable space for me.  It's DH's 'man cave'.  I would love a few more hundred sq feet - mostly a family room attached to the kitchen and a kitchen that's double the size of the one that I have right now.

My house is fine for us size-wise, but it's lacking in storage space...which makes me feel that it's smaller.  I know that probably doesn't make much sense, but it does to me.

Emily_Ann

Our house is less than 1200. However, we are closing in our garage this year, and that will add another 300-400 sq. ft. probably. We are not outgrowing our house yet, but we plan to have a large family and I work from home. We also plan to add another garage, a laundry room/mud room, and another dining room in a few years.

Temp174496125006552

JDCSKF:

My dad grew up in a 2 bedroom house with 5 siblings. They upsized to a 3 bedroom house and had girls in one room and boys in the other. They all grew up just fine.

I am the oldest of 5 kids and we only ever had 3 bedroom houses until I was in 10th grade, when we moved and I got my own room.  Until then, my parents did the same thing your DH's parents did (boys in one room, girls in the other).

krt100706

We live in a 1940's ranch home with about 1100 sq ft (3 bed, 1 bath).  Now with our DS, I feel like it is a shoebox.  There is no storage space as all the rooms and closets are tiny.  It would be great if we had a real master bedroom, another bathroom, family room, and dining room.  We plan to move in the next year or so and don't plan to get anything over 2500 sq ft as that should be perfect for our growing family - anything much bigger and I will not want to clean it!

burgle

We currently live in an apartment with about 500 sqft.  It is small, but it fits the three of us alright.  We are trying to purchase a house with 910 sqft.  I wouldn't know what to do with a 1200 sqft house!

Bella427

Ours is 1200 sq feet and a lot of people seem to think we can't possibly have 2 kids in our current house.  But, I know plenty of other families in the past made it work with less space!  When DH says we need to move, I say we need to get rid of more stuff and make room where we are.

Daisy77

Our house is just a little over 3,000 square feet and while I would never say that we are growing out of it, we definitely need some stuff to GO. 1/3 of our lower lever is a storage room where I keep decorations, keepsakes, things we don't use on a daily basis (like our folding table and chairs), stuff to sell and right now it has a lot of DH's tools and such.  When we build our shed later this year I'll get 2 full shelving units of space (tools are going OUT of the house), so damn excited for that:)  It's a great thing to have but it is f.u.l.l. The other 2/3 is our family room and DD#1's room (they each have their own room).

I'm not sure how big my parent's place is but it always seemed like it sure could hold a lot, lol.  Mom is *still* cleaning out closets!  However, she was kind of a packrat back in the day and I am trying really hard to not carry that on!

amm826

Our apartment is 1200 square feet which is perfect because there is the third bedroom for guests to stay in.  I'm not crazy about the layout, it is a more open design so the living/dining/kitchen area is all open.  We would probably be okay with 2 kids with that size but we'd need a storage area, currently there is a tiny storage closet off the patio and we are storing some of our things in totes along the walls of the bedrooms!  

citygirl_

Our house is teeny tiny.. 2 bed, 1 bath - 895 sq ft!  We're selling it and moving out to the 'burbs... 1200 sq ft would feel like a mansion, lol!  

mandymack

I totally get what you mean, the homes get larger and larger!

We live in a 101-year old Craftsman Bungalow that has just under 1,300 sq.ft. and is only 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom.  The reason we love it so much is because the living room, formal dining room and kitchen/breakfast nook are HUGE and wide open, perfect for entertaining and hanging out it.  I could care less about bedroom size and our one bathroom is huge.  It's perfect for us! 

 

jenifairies

Ours is 850 sf. We have way too much stuff in here. It's also a pretty crappy layout, zero storage space (not even a garage, shed, or even a freakin coat closet). We hate it here.

We're looking to buy this summer/fall and want in the 1600 range and plan to stay for awhile. I cannot imagine complaining about 2500 sf! That is insane.

dionnemd10

i have no idea how big ours is with finished square feet, but we have 3 bedrooms upstairs and just finished our guestroom in the basement.  so nice to have room!   i like to think very little of our home is wasted space-some homes you get the "formal" rooms that get used what 2 times or less per year?  functional space please.  

taylormillgirl

I'd guesstimate around 3000 square feet. With a family of five, we use every inch of it. Could we live in a smaller home? Yes, easily. But I enjoy the space!

wheelsonthebus

Our house is just over 1200 square feet. It's a 1955 Ranch. Whenever I complain about it being too small, I just think about the cleaning!

HarrietNJMommy

We have 2600s.f., but that doesn't include our basement at all, which is the same size pretty much as our floor plan.

We are getting tight on space, but we have 3 kids, and we would like to have an office/study/crafts room. We would also like a bigger kitchen. But it's a nice amount of space for us. It's not too small.

Andrewsgal

We have a 1900 square foot house and will not have another child until we get a bigger house. We have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a playroom. We would like two more bedrooms to have one for each child and a guest room. I am thinking a 2500 sq foot house would be a good fit for us.

JCM

We have 4,800sf.  Our master is down stairs along with LO's room.  Sometimes I can go a good week without heading up stairs.  Sometimes I feel like it is just too big but it is nice to have the spare rooms for when DH's family visits us from England which is 3 or 4 times a year.

turtlecrawl

We have a little over 1000 sq ft, with 3 small bedrooms and 1 tiny bathroom.  We make it work, but we definitely don't have enough room for all the toys and stuff.  We're currently looking for a new home and would be happy with 2000 sq ft, so long as it has a play/bonus room and bigger closets!

ariel06

We have about 1400 sf.  We honestly just need a better layout (and an additional bedroom), not more square footage.   I would love more storage. 

Chrisy-Wyobride

We live in the city in a bungalow....it's 1050SF (2bd, 1ba) upstairs.  But we also have a full finished basement--so another 1000SF.  In the basement we have a bedroom, playroom, small office, storage room, bathroom, laundry/craftroom.  Technically we could make our house 5bedrooms but really we only use 2 as bedrooms (upstairs)...but only the one in the basement is good sized--my girls share a tiny bedroom.  But we  do use pretty much every inch of the 2000SF.  If I moved to the burbs I'd want at least 3000SF.  But we have 3 kids, I plan to have at least 1 more & I plan to work at home.  If I was a WOHM & had one child--we could easily get by on less than 1000SF.  SAH has made me want much more toys, etc because I have to entertain 3 kids 13hours a day! )  

MrsGeek

I know!  We have a  1225ish square foot home.  It's just mind boggling when people say they need more space at 3000 feet because they're getting a second kid.  Whaaaa????

safy

I grew up in a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC, so talk about small, it felt like living in a box. Strangely enough though, I currently have a 2600 sq ft home (including finished basement) and with 2 kids, sometimes it feels like we are growing out of our home, BUT only because whoever designed this house put 2 of the bedrooms in the basement and our kids aren't old enough to move down there yet, so we're all stuffed together upstairs.

JAM2000

Its amazing to me because our house (3 br, 1 and 1/2 baths, kitchen, dining room, living room, TV room, basement, garage) would be considered a starter house nowadays, but 50 yrs ago when it was built, people had 2 or 3 kids here w/o additions, etc. 

Its amazing though what people think they need an actually do need.

ToBeMrsT

1500 sq ft--- we could definitely use a bigger house.  2500 would be really nice.

sparky88

We have a two-story 1000sq ft home (3 bed, 1 bath) w/ unfinished basement & laundry.  It is fine w/ 1 baby but I would love more space when we have a 2nd.  Since we live in the city we have a tiny yard-- and I often feel that our house wouldn't feel so small if I could get out and run around outside w/ DD more often.  Set up a swing set, that sort of thing.  

My ideal home would be in the country (3+ acres) and about 2000sq ft. We are happy here for now but will def. move once we get moving on baby #2 and 3.  

jen5-03

Ours is 1500sq ft. We converted our study into a 4th bedroom so that SS has his own room on the weekends.

I wish I had a bigger kitchen. And one more public space since right now the house is all bedrooms or it's the open living room/eating area/kitchen so you can't really get away from anyone.

I grew up in a 2400 sq ft house with just my mom and grandma. Way too much space there for just 1 kid, but it'd be more comfortable for the family I have now.

 

cp760

Ours is about 2,000 +/- if you include the finished lower level. I think it's perfect (and more then enough to clean). My only wish would be to have a separate office and that the kids rooms and kitchen were a little larger, but overall I think it's the perfect size. Two of our boys share a room and they love it (for now, at least).

hayleydeee

908 square feet

 Sometimes I do get a little jealous of people who live where there is a lower cost of living. We could have a big house... if we lived in one of those places. But I guess the trade off is being in such a great place, and we make the small house work. 

ByGrace

We have 1200 square feet, and a weird lay-out such that we don't even use about 500 square feet of that (it's a finished basement). 

I've been shocked by how many people assume we will sell this house before baby  number 2 arrives.  We will eventually sell and move closer to where DH works, but for now we love our house and neighborhood, and really, how much space do babies take up?

DarcyLongfellow

I haven't read the replies, but the size house you need depends SO much on how good the design is.

If you have a newer house, you probably have a lot of square footage wasted in a huge master suite, a great room bigger than anyone could ever use, a huge foyer, etc.  But not enough bedrooms, or bedrooms that are too small.

Our house is 2300 square feet -- three bedrooms plus a loft area we use as an office (no door).  We could have little kids in this house, but it is so, so open, that once DD (and any future kids) get to late elementary or middle school, we're going to want to move just so we're not always on top of each other.

MrsPreK

3000 sq ft

I grew up in a HUGE old farmhouse and have always loved big houses. DH grew up in a smaller home. 

I should also state that we are not house poor (thankfully) and built our home

SweetSweetHam

I saw that post and thought the same thing. We are ~1200 sq ft now (no basement), and we really feel squished. We are moving to a 2300 sq ft home, and it is going to be pretty empty for a while before we can get enough furniture to fill it. I can't imagine our family of 4 being too big for our new house.

babypuplove

We live in a post war home (1946), and it is small.  We do have an addition that includes a family room, office, and 1/2 bath, but it is still only about 1700 ft total (I think that includes our huge unfinished basement.).  We have 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths.  It is small, but for us with only one baby right now, it's fine.  Plus, it has a ton of character and a big front porch, which I fell in love with when we bought it.    I would love a larger kitchen and an actual master bedroom, but that can wait until we move in a year or two. 

I agree that people didn't use to have all of the space people want today.  Families spent more time together...eating dinner together, watching tv as a family (not each person in a separate room), etc.  Now everyone wants their own large space within the home, and we all collect so much more "stuff." 

To us, our location is more important than having a huge brand new home.  We like to be close to the city, the metro, and want to be in a great school district.  DH works in the city and has no desire to commute for hours each day.  Also, I love the feel of the old neighborhoods as opposed to the brand new construction ones an hour outside the city. 

jakesbride2be

We live in a 1250 sq ft. house. 4bed2bath. It fits the four of us well. I wish we had more storage space, but I'm not complaining otherwise. Both of the kids have their own bedroom and we have a guestroom, exactly what we wanted when we were looking at homes. I was raised in about a 1000 sq.ft house and it fit my family (4) well too. Some people are ridiculous, I don't even know what I would do with double the space I have now!

cactus5

Our house is just under 4000 square feet. It is plenty big now-but we plan on filling it up. My husband and I have talked about adding on to it as well. Oh, and I would kill for a basement!

gatogrrl

Ours is a 1600 square foot town home.  We are finishing the basement this summer to bring it to just over 2000 SF, which I think will be just the right size for us.

 To me, it is more about layout than square footage.  A well-designed home (not that the one we currently own is, particularly) can feel so much bigger and nicer than one with a lot of empty space.