What is your home like? (GTKY-ish)

ct103 · March 2012

Last week I was inspired by KacyChicago's GTKY post about where we all live (thank you Kacy!). Now, I'm curious about the actual roof over your head (apartments, condos, houses, etc). Here's why...

DH and I currently live in a large 1bd 1bath apt (917 sq ft) and it's very nice. When I was pg we just planned on the baby sleeping with us until we found another place. Although we're very satisfied with our place, it certainly isn't "future proof" for our family plans. I've even thought that if biological children don't happen, we'll be adopting for sure. If that's the case, I want the social worker who does our home study to see that we have a family-sized home.

I'm also VERY sick of moving. We've never lived anywhere longer than 2 yrs in our adult lives, so I'm ready to move somewhere and stay. I used to think that we would only move to bigger, more expensive places when we absolutely had to. Now, I'm ready to just move into a family home and stay. However, I am afraid of moving into a place with more bedrooms and having them be empty for a long time before we're finally blessed with a child. That would make me so sad.

What do you think of your home? Is it "future proof" for your family plans? What are the benefits to having a larger, family-sized home when it's just the two of you? Do you rent or own? Please give me as many details and opinions as possible! TIA!

lovelainie · March 2012

Our house has two bedrooms and one bathroom. I think our square footage is somewhere around 1200 sf.

I like our home just fine right now, but it's always been the plan to move eventually. We'll be happy here for several more years--possibly longer if we don't end up with children.

But if we have more than one kid, and probably even if we don't, we'll be trying to sell our house and move into our 'forever home' within the next five years or so.

delino · March 2012

We own a 1500 sq ft, 4 bedroom, 1 bath Cape Cod style home. We lived in a teeny tiny 1 bedroom basement apartment for 3 yrs together, DH lived there for a about 6 or 7 yrs before I moved in, and before that I lived with my parents. So we definitely have room to grow in our home, but believe or not, I have filled the rooms. We have 2 bedrooms downstairs and 2 upstairs. Our master is on the first floor and the second BR is used as the office as well as where the cat's litterbox is and where I have my vanity. Upstairs, one bedroom is set up as a guest room and the other as my fitness/game room. So while we have 4x's the bedrooms we had in the apartment, we've filled them and will have to rearrange when baby comes.

JellyTwoPointO · March 2012

We have a two bedroom, one bathroom single story house with a full but unfinished basement and hardwood floors. The house is in desperate need of some repairs, but it's more than safe to live in. (Dishwasher doesn't work, I keep finding new leaks in the basement that we're constantly trying to stay on top of, but the biggest issue is in a bad storm, a bit of our siding came down on the side.) The house would be fine for one baby, but even two babes of the same gender would be tough because the rooms are small. It's definitely not where I want to stay, but it's very hard to sell a house in our area right now, so it's what we've got.

keft514 · March 2012

We got an amazing deal on a gigantic house, so we have a LOT of room to grow. We have almost 4200 sq ft with 4 bedrooms and three and a half baths. Yes, it is just the two of us, but I guarantee that we spent less than most of you! We live in about 3000 sq ft of it and rent out the huge finished basement (with a private entry) that has a large bedroom, full bath and another large room for whatever (currently storing some boxes). We have WAY too much room, but to be honest, the house isn't very kid friendly. It is baby friendly and teenager friendly, but not toddler friendly. The spindles on the staircases are too wide, etc.

We live in a really nice, but modest, quiet neighborhood. Love it!!

ShellBear+ · March 2012

We bought our house a year ago and it's definitely where we want to be for a long time. It's plenty big, 4 bedrooms and 2300 sq ft. with an awesome backyard. We bought this house with starting a family in mind and hopefully that happens but we love it nonetheless. I don't think you need a big house to have a baby, plenty of people don't. I understand wanting that though. You can always move later.

ashleyl31 · March 2012

We own a three bedroom, two bath home. We can live here comfortably with one child. After that, we will need a bigger house. Both of our extra bedrooms are full, but need to be cleaned out. One is my office, and the other is just full of junk. My hope is that this summer I can get the junk room cleaned out and ready for a baby (hoping that it will be sooner rather than later...).

TA110980 · March 2012

DH and I rent a condo (the owner is our friend). 1 bed, 1 bath, just over 800 square feet. We've definitely outgrown it, but are staying put for a few more months until we relocate for DH's job. We would have definitely moved to something larger by now if I was still pg, or moved into our old place (which we own - 2 beds, 2 bath, 1600 square foot condo - but it's a long commute from work and is currently rented out).

I can't wait to have a house with a yard - we've been in SoCal for way too long, where concrete patios are the norm! I want our next place to have at least 4 bedrooms - 1 master, 1 office, 1 guest and one for our (fx) rainbow baby. With a nice yard for our dogs.

I know people that have had children and made it work in a 1 bedroom apartment, but I don't think I could handle that for too long. At the end of the day, I figure each family has to do what works for them (budget-wise, sanity-wise, etc.).

katharine25 · March 2012

We have a 1400 sqft single level 2-3 br (one room is very small which will be the childs room) 2bath home on 1 acre on land (backing up to forest) with a walk out partially finished basement and a detached 2 story 1800 sqft garage (finished an converted to music studio). I designed the layout (when we bought it, it was actually a 4br and really awkward) and it's the perfect place for 1 child and still be able to have a guest br (we often have visitors). It could handle 2 children if we finished the basement as planned as a guest suite. I like that it's small, it's manegable and efficient. We moved from the city though where space is a premium, so really it feels huge to us. We love that our children will be surrounded by nature and have the outdoorsy "free" experience.

We plan on being here for at least 10 years. The size of the house doesn't bother me as the land more than makes up for it (and it helps DH has his "man cave"). The only thing that could get me to move would be a big cross country move to warmer weather.

orangegoggles · March 2012

We own a center hall colonial with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. I absolutely love our house but it took a lot of work to get it where it is now. We bought it as it was in foreclosure and the owners had really let it go. We had to replace all the flooring, bath fixtures, and kitchen. I love the layout of my house as the mainlevel is essential a large circle where each room connects. It reminds me of my house growing up and us kids would run around in circles.

We assumed that we would have kids by now when we bought it a little over 2 years ago. It is about 2700 sq feet so we have a lot of space with empty bedrooms. We've made one into a spare bedroom and one an office. The other room is "the baby room" and the eternal optimist in me doesn't want to do anything with it until we have a baby. It is incredibly depressing though after each loss that I rarely go in there.

keft514 · March 2012

Jessiebug81:
We live in a single story 3 bed/2ba patio home. It's about 1500 sq ft with a cute backyard. Perfect for us and our two dogs but we definitely plan on trying to find a bigger place once we have a little one. We were so excited to spread out when we got out of our apt but very quickly outgrew this place. As is we'll have to get a storage unit to make room for a baby b/c every closet we have is packed! Our hope is that not long after we have a baby, we'll be able to move back to SC.
I love this house though. It was the first big thing we did together after we got married and we've put so much work into decorating and working in the yard. We love it here but can't wait to have a bigger family home with a big yard for kids and pups to run around in!

Good idea with the pic! Here is mine!

JuddandJessica · March 2012

We built a house three years ago and it's currently larger than we need right now. It's definitely our longer term house. It's a five level tiered house with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, living, dining, den, loft and family room. 2,200 square feet.

Having two extra bedrooms didn't hurt at all until I had planned out the design of the nursery in one of them. They've always just been two guest bedrooms. They are on a floor by themselves and I hardly even go up there. I get a little sad in the one now because all I can picture is where the crib would go and such.

peloquinJ · March 2012

We own a 3-bd 1 bath house and it is ~1,000 square feet. We use the smallest bd for an office and the other extra room as a guest room. Since we have no family in the area that comes in handy for us. The bedrooms are all small so we actually have a TV in the guest room since there is more room for it there. We use that TV for movies generally, but watch regular TV shows in the living room. We plan to live in it for awhile and I think it would be feasible with one child, but it would be tight with two once the younger one got a bit older. Plus I would like a larger yard with room for a pool at that point. I don't really think there are any cons to it at this point and it doesn't feel empty since all the rooms have a purpose. I think it would be different if when we bought the house we had planned right away for a nursery, but since we had it for two years before starting TTC it just feels normal.

ecmleo · March 2012

DH and I built our house just before we got married. It is a 4 bed/2.5 bath center hall colonial (about 2500 sq ft). It is not huge, but is plenty big for us. We do not have a family room, but plan on finishing the full basement into a large family/media room. I do love our house, and hope that I do not need to move in the near future. Since we built it, I have a master closet that is the entire top of our 2 car garage (I don't think I can find that in another house).

ErinE683 · March 2012

Our place is a 1,000ish sq foot condo. It's a third floor walk up, and being the top floor means there's no one above us. It's a 2 bed, 1bath. Not huge, but pretty nice considering we live in an expensive city. Great for one kid, then we'll probably try to sell when we have a second one. It's not our forever home, but living in the city means we'll most likely never have a super huge place. And since it's worth soooo much less than when we bought it 4 years ago, we're just making ourselves comfortable for now, hoping things get better!

jinxycat24 · March 2012

DH and I bought our house after being married for 1 year. We moved from my 1 bedroom/1 bathroom condo.

It's a single story house, 4 bedrooms, 2 bath and is 3000 sq ft. One bedroom is the master, 1 is a guest, 1 we made into a den and 1 will hopefully one day be a nursery. Right now we use it to store furniture that doesn't work in any of our other rooms. We have a huge backyard which our dog loves. When we first moved in it felt so big and I thought we would never fill it. Well 2 years later it feels like home and is fully furnished (except the one day nursery). I love our house and think it will be great for our family one day.

edinger3 · March 2012

Our house has 3 bedrooms & 1 1/2 baths. Needless to say, we can have 1-2 LOs before we would have to move. I understand the feeling of empty bedrooms. The mid-sized bedroom is set-up as a guest room. It's also the room where we crate one of our dogs. The smallest bedroom is our office. I think that helps knowing that the empty bedrooms have a purpose other than being empty. We live in a ranch style home, so it's great that I don't have two floors to clean! We also have a basement that sectioned off into a laundry room, "man cave", & storage area. If you need anymore details, you can always PM me. Hope you find what you're looking for!

smcjmk09 · March 2012

We live in a 3 BR 2 bath single family Cape Cod. We used to live in a 2 BR 1 bath condo and considered starting our family there, but decided to wait a bit, buy a bigger family home that we could grow in a little longer. We decided to buy the house first, get used to our mortgage and the home maintenance and then start trying for the babies. We feared that if we started the family and had a child while in the smaller place we'd never find the money to move later and feel stuck there. While I'm older than I wanted to be when starting a family, I love the choice we made and I wouldn't change a thing.

The house we have now could definitely be a lifelong home. It's smaller than the newer style "McMansion" type homes but we absolutely love it. It's about 1,400 sq ft, but it's more like 1,800 if you count our finished basement. We have a fairly big yard, and a great little neighborhood. No one can decide for you, but for me I'm so glad we went with "house first, then baby".

ETA: I should add that we have a completely empty bedroom next to the master that will be the baby's room once we're blessed with a child. It doesn't make me feel sad at all though, it makes me feel hopeful for the future. I can't wait until it's time to turn it into a nursery!

And just for a PIP... here's our cute lil Cape.

HopingforChange · March 2012

We rent a 1400sq ft. 2bd/2ba apartment. It has a balcony as well, which we really like. We are not wanting to buy a house anytime too soon because I just got a job yesterday (lol) and because DH's job might require a lot of relocating. We think we would be totally fine with one or two kids in here. DH would have to move his office area into our (massive for an apartment) living room to make room for the nursery, but that is fine with us. We like this apartment and are in no hurry to move out, and we are not going to a three bedroom as we don't want the hassle of moving and as we don't want to pay any more in rent!

ct103 · March 2012

Yay! Thank you for all the replies! And the pictures are beautiful!

I'm definitely keeping my eyes open for a new place. My mom and I actually went driving around today looking for open houses or good neighborhoods. The last neighborhood was promising, but I still have some concerns about it.

If we do end up having a rainbow baby while still in this apartment (not likely) then the crying infant will be the perfect "f**k you" to our upstairs neighbor. She thinks it's appropriate to play loud hiphop and bounce a basketball in her place all night long. Just wait until our screaming baby keeps her awake!

I truly believe that to find the perfect place we're just going to have to stumble into it. I'm willing to consider manufactured homes (they are VERY nice in my area, and an excellent bang for your buck) but DH won't consider it yet I guess this story is to be continued!

Thanks again!

KacyChicago · March 2012

ErinE683:
Our place is a 1,000ish sq foot condo. It's a third floor walk up, and being the top floor means there's no one above us. It's a 2 bed, 1bath. Not huge, but pretty nice considering we live in an expensive city. Great for one kid ...

I could have written this myself ... Except we rent from the condo owner. It's nice living in a private building, as the neighbors tend to stay the same, meaning we've made a few friends here.

It was definitely OK for having one child, but I would want a house by the time we have two. That's the biggest draw as far as moving goes ... I want a house and a yard, so I totally get you there!

And I'm glad I inspired you, that means a lot! I got a lot out of asking where everyone lived, and it put a whole new perspective on some things!

EDT: And I don't have a picture of the outside, really, so here's our living room. Ha.

LEP424 · March 2012

It's great to see everyone's homes!

We own our forever home. It's a 2500 sq.ft. colonial on an acre. We have 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Two of the bedrooms are funished with old bedroom furniture and the third has a couch and all of our clean laundry I'm yet to put away I don't feel like the house is too much space other than when it's time to clean.

Here's a picture of our house:

Mrs.DeliaMarieP · March 2012

I love our home. It is future proof, a colonial. When we bought it, it was only a three bedroom ranch. We did an immediate renovation, which knocked out two of the bedrooms, knowing that we were going to do an addition. Then, a few years later, we added a second level to it (when I was pg with DS).

Now, we still have DS in the nursery room, and his "big boy" bedroom is perfectly ready and available, but I don't want to move him into it until I am pretty sure I will be moving a baby into the nursery. Right now, I am not ready to make that move and leave that room empty. So, as far as I am concerned, he will stay in there until he outgrows his toddler bed, at which time I will either get over it and move him to the other room, or put away the crib and still keep him in that room.

I am considering turning the "big boy" room into a spare bedroom for now (right now there's a bunch of junk lying around in there, and a brand new twin mattress set). Basically, that room has always been the "junk" room, so I am okay with leaving it empty because it has never been full.

We finished the second level addition 3 days before DS was born, so we never lived in it without him here as well, not sure how I would have felt having the empty rooms. I think I would have felt fine about it if I hadn't had any losses in this house. For instance, even if we moved into a new house now, I don't think it would bother me to have empty bedrooms, I just can't bear to leave the nursery empty yet, because DS has always been in there, and I was anticipating moving a baby into that room in May.

I think it would be advantageous to have the space available when ready so you don't have to worry about moving once you have already had children, as it is a lot more stressful. Plus, economically, now is the time to buy if you can. Plus, for us, even if we could never have had any children, and if we can't have any more of our own, we plan to adopt.

ETA: wow, that got long, sorry...can you tell what I've been thinking about the last few days?

danaunclaw · March 2012

We're actually in limbo right now. We were living in a 3 story 1,800 square foot town home. We're building the home we plan to be in until we're old. It's actually our dream home plus some. We went a bit nuts accidentally. It's around 4,400 square feet with an additional full 2,200 square foot basement that we'll finish in a couple years or less. The top two floors have 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a game room, bonus room, family room, formal living, formal dining, study, etc. The game and bonus rooms can be used as bedrooms as well, and maybe even the study in a pinch Once we finish the basement we will be adding a large bedroom, 1.5 baths, living, dining, workout, second kitchen and media/theater. I think we'll be good with a slew of kids there. We actually designed it with kids in mind.

The house is on the lake and every time I go there I get sad that out son won't get to play there, but also excited that we WILL somehow have kids to enjoy it all.

Now we're living in a temporary 3 month rental home. I'm not thrilled with it.

Spruce14 · March 2012

Dh and I bought our home a few months before we got married. It's a 1500 sq. Ft Levitt ranch ( anyone familiar with these? Fireplace in the middle...) it was a 4br but we opened up the first floor and now have 2 br upstairs. We knew if we decided to stay we would want to expand. The second br has the chimney in the middle from the central fireplace - stupid design. We actually called the architect when we found out I was pg cause we got excited to expand in time for baby...that excitement ended but once I get through this I will be calling him back. The expansion will bring us to 2000 sq.ft with 4 br which will be a perfect size for us to stay here as long as we need to. And if anyone wants a good laugh...our taxes are 11k a year. Vomit. The downside of living too close to NYC.

minicheezburg · March 2012

We rent a townhouse. It has 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom living room and a connected dining/kitchen with full basement. I love it! It is te right size for us and if we got blessed with a bring home baby the spare bedroom would easy turn into the nursery.

I would say if we actually got blessed with getting a bring home baby we'd be good for a while until we started on baby # 2. At the rate we are going I think that we will be good here for a while. I have also thought about the whole what if we end up not being able to conceive thing and end up with empty rooms. I am not sure that I could handle that so we are more of the we will get it when we need it type.

kpowers982 · March 2012

We own a 2 bed 2 bath townhouse that is 1266 sq ft. It's definitely future proof, except for the short time while I was PG and the OB thought it was twins, we were kind of freaking!

katharine25 · March 2012

Spruce14:
. And if anyone wants a good laugh...our taxes are 11k a year. Vomit. The downside of living too close to NYC.

I feel you on the taxes- what county are you in, Nassau? (I guess re: Levitt house) I think the tax portion of my home is higher than my mortgage payment! We got a huge reduction in our appraised value last year when the house was just a shell, my fingers are crossed they forget to re-assess post renovation.

CNYBride05 · March 2012

ct103:
What do you think of your home? Is it "future proof" for your family plans? What are the benefits to having a larger, family-sized home when it's just the two of you? Do you rent or own? Please give me as many details and opinions as possible! TIA!

We live on the 1st floor of a 2 family home in Cambridge (we rent). Our landlords live above us and they are great! We have 2 bdrms, both good sized, 1 bath, a living room which connects to a dining room, and a kitchen with a dishwasher (must have for me) and walk-in pantry (LOVE!).

We have access to a very small backyard with a patio and hammock. At one end of our street is an amazing bakery/cafe and at the other, about 1 block away, is a pond (and the water supply for the city) with a 2.25mile trail around it - great for running/walking. We are about a mile from the nearest subway stop, but buses are abundant within a block of our house. I have a car, SO has a Vespa which he rides year round. If we could afford to buy here, we would in a heart beat!

This house would be fine with 1 kiddo, but tight with 2 I think. We contemplate buying a little further out, but the Boston area is ridiculously priced for real estate (and we are both social workers, so not raking in the dough!), so we'll keep renting for now.

lmb5109 · March 2012

We just sold our one bedroom condo in Chicago at a huge lose, so now we are renting a 2 bed/2 bath condo and love it. I work from home and now I have an office and a room when we have a baby.meven though the baby would sleep next to us for the first few months.

We'll buy in two years or so when we can have a good down payment.

What is your home like? (GTKY-ish)

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