Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months

Let's talk square footage

I am apartment hunting and am trying to imagine how much square footage the 3 of us really need. I will also be watching my niece soon, if that makes a difference, and once we are out in this new place, we will TTC #2. So, for 4.5 people, how big of a place would suffice?

How big is your place? Do you have a playroom area there as well? How many people live there? Anything else I should be taking into consideration size wise? Thanks for sharing all of this info and helping me plan a little better :)

Re: Let's talk square footage

  • We have about 1400 sq. ft, with 4 of us, and we're running out of space. We are putting a playroom in our unfinished basement, because we're out of space upstairs. To me though, it's not as much about sq footage as it is about how the space is used. I have seen smaller houses that I think would better suit our needs than ours, just because of the layout. Look for lots of storage, that's the most helpful thing, IMO.
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  • We have a 1000sq ft home.  It has 3 bedroom and 1 bath.  It is me, DH and DS.  It feels VERY cramped.  The way our house is laid out, we spend 95% of our time in the living room/dining room area, and with all our furniture, it is small.  If I were you, I'd go with something with at least 2000 sq ft. 
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  • to be totally honest, i think the bigger the space, the more you fill it!
    that said, we have 2800 sq ft and we are good, with extra...
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  • We lived with four people in 600 sq. feet in our first apartment! DH, DD, SIL, and me all in a one bedroom!  Some of the best times in our lives, too!
  • I have about 820. It's 2 bed, 2 living room (basically a dinky one that we use for our table because the kitchen's too small, and the converted single car garage). It's the 3 of us and 2 big dogs. We are so cramped. I also babysit a 16 month old. With him, I have to have a pnp set up (in the living room) an extra high chair in my tiny kitchen, and a double stroller that takes up half of DD's closet. Our computer desk is in the second living room.

    We are moving before TTC#2. I'm hoping for at least 1200sf - it just depends on what we can find. I'll take more though! I think 1600 and I'd be set for awhile. I also think it depends on your 'stuff' level and the layout of the place. Half my bedroom is taken over by craft stuff, DH's tools are in the living room, DD's crap is everywhere,..

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  • Hi!  We are in a 940 sq.ft. apartment. It is the three of us.  DS bedroom is half bedroom/half playroom(we just took the single bed down that was in there because he needed more room).  I would think you would need more than that. 

    Our last apartment before DS we lived with my sis and her bf and it was 1230 sq. ft- 3 bedroom.  I am thinking that is more what you would need.  Maybe I am wrong though.  

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  • We have 1700 sq ft and I feel like we are out of room, storage, and I am suffocating. Our next house will have a minimum of 2500 sq feet for 4 of us.
  • We are in 2100 sq ft and completely out of space. Part of the problem, as pp mentioned, is we have absolutely no storage.
  • We are about to be four, with about 1700 sq ft. We have 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, an upstairs sitting area, and a large living room. This feels perfect for us :)

    I agree with the pp that said a lot of it has to do with the layout. For instance, when we were looking out houses we saw some that were similar in size but would maybe have the living area broken up into two smaller rooms rather than one large one. We really wanted one big space for DS to play in. 

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  • I agree with pp, it's not so much about the # of feet as the layout of the home.

    My house is about 1600 square feet and it's just me and DS and I feel like we have NO room.  Downstairs we have a small living room and a big kitchen and a bathroom, but no dining or family room. So all of DS's stuff is cluttering up the living room.

    Then upstairs we have 3 bedrooms.  I have one of them as the computer/playroom, but it still feels cramped because it's not that big and there is a couch in here too.

    I would definitely look for a place where you can have an actual family room or playroom, especially if you are going to possibly have 3 kids there at some point.

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  • We are building a 3000 sq ft house for what will evenutally be four or five of us.
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  • I would look for an open floor plan if you're going to be entertaining two toddlers.  When I lived on my own in Dallas proper, I lived in a little under 1000 sq ft and it was a place where I could spread out a *little* bit. Not much though.

    If it were my H, myself and a LO in our early years,  I'd look for at least 1800 sq ft. for an apartment.  No less, for sure.

     

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  • Our condo is about 1000 sq. ft. and we are bursting at the seams.  It's on the market, but unfortunately we'll be bringing baby #2 home here.  We'll be pulling the condo and re-listing at the end of February, and hopefully it will sell quickly after that! 

    Based on what we currently have, I imagine we'd want/need at least double...so about 2,000 sq. ft. for a family of 4, plus our 2 dogs. 

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  • Were in a 3bed/2bath 1800 sq foot house and its starting to get a little cramped with us 3 and 2 dogs.

    I think we will manage if its a girl but if its a boy and I loose my studio we are going to have to start looking in the next 2-3 yrs.

    We were shooting to stay for 3-4 yrs and then probibly a 2500+ sq ft home

    Keep in mind we also live where real estate is cheap too

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  • 1200 sq ft and it's getting tight.  There are three of us, 2 cats and a baby on the way.
  • imageKellyOsu23:

    Were in a 3bed/2bath 1800 sq foot house and its starting to get a little cramped with us 3 and 2 dogs.

    I think we will manage if its a girl but if its a boy and I loose my studio we are going to have to start looking in the next 2-3 yrs.

    We were shooting to stay for 3-4 yrs and then probibly a 2500+ sq ft home

    Keep in mind we also live where real estate is cheap too

    Me too! But I'm still po' folks. :)

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  • We have a 1900+sf ranch with 4 bdrms and 2.5 baths. Good storage but not a lot of main living space unfortunately.
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  • wow! you all need lots of space.  I lived in a 395 square ft studio for 2 years and only moved because I didn't like the vibes once my hedgehog died.  (imagine, I am like 100 times less Phoebe Buffay  than I used to be)

    I can live in little places! 

  • 3800 sq ft. 5 people. 2 adults, 6yo, 17 mos old and 4 mos old. We have a play area and a guest room. We are not cramped but more space would be cool. We cannot go backwards though!
  • We have 3,000 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (2 full, 1 half).  3 bedrooms, the living room, kitchen, dining area, 2 bathrooms and our laundry are upstairs (main level).  1/3 of our lower level is a storage room with the utility room in there as well.  The remaining lower level has the half bath, DD#1's room, and a large playroom/family room.  We have 5 people living here, but plenty of floor space if friends want to crash!

    We certainly don't require this much space, but sometimes I need it.  It's nice to send the noisy kids to the lower level while I fold laundry and watch Grey's in our room:)  We have also held some family events where the space was nice to have as well.

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  • Wow, I'm amazed at how big your spaces are!  I live in an 800 sq. ft apartment/condo and it feels fine for us.  (Plus, spaces here are just small no matter where you go!) The only issue is that I would *like* a bigger kitchen because cooking for holidays is really difficult and there's literally no counterspace.  We also have stuff in storage because there is also very little closet space.  We are hoping for at least 1500 sq ft for our next place and for us that will be huge!!  
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  • We moved from 900 sq ft to 2200 sq ft in July and it is HEAVEN!!!!  Our new house has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, LR, DR, Kitchen, family room and a game room in the basement.  The game room is DS' playroom.  We spend the majority of our time down there.  I love having a separate room for DS and all of his toys.  We have a good bit of storage as well.  I don't anticipate us running out of room, even after we  have #2.
  • We live in a 1600 sq ft townhome. The only thing I wish I could change would be for the finished basement/family room to be on the main floor. We've converted it into a playroom for DS, but it's cut off from the main part of the house and it's not always convenient to go down there during the day.

    Other than that, I feel like we're fine space-wise. We have plenty of room for the 3 of us and our two cats. Once we have #2 and he/she is running around, we'll probably want to upgrade a bit. We are planning on moving in 3 years, market-pending, so that should be pefect timing.,

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  • we are about 2700 square feet. 3 BR, 2full and 2 half baths. We are laid out over 4 floors but spend the majority of the time on the living/dining/kitchen floor.

    We don't have a dedicated playroom but when we shopped for a home we specifically looked for a house with large sized rooms. Our living/dining is a large room and out BRs are very large compared to most BR sizes so that DS will never out grow his BR.

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