Who else wishes they had a bigger house?

sweetsunnyc · November 2013

I bought my house 5 years ago with the idea that I would sell it in a few years- It was a starter home for sure. Now, 5 years later, we are still living in it and not in the position to move at least for the next year at the very soonest (we live in a HCOL area). Originally, it was just my daughter and I, but then I met my husband who had a daughter as well and we had another daugher last december. So now there are 5 of us living in 1300 sq feet and it is making me nuts. I feel like we're on top of each other. Don't get me wrong- the house is very nice, just too small.

Anyone else wish they had more space? I guess that I am just looking for other ladies to commiserate with

sweetsunnyc · November 2013

kdc2007 - Yes, my MIL would probably send us a ton of crap too- she means well There are a few things that I could do.....I try to use the space efficiently, but I could definitly do a decluttering project myself. The smaller girls share a small room, so that's a challenge. If we stay there longer we may have to swith the girls rooms.

mexicolombiana · November 2013

Yep. Our house is 3 bedrooms 2 bath but it's small I think it's about 1300 Sq ft but I'm not sure if that counts the basement or not. The space isn't terrible but there is no bathroom upstairs which is awful and we really just share the one tiny bathroom on our main level. The other bathroom is in the basement and I hardly use it. We never shower down here because it's too cold.

Also our kitchen is very small and enclosed. Our living room/dining room area is decent and thankfully we have the basement as an overflow space for our kids to play. we also have a little den down there for us to watch tv. Without the finished basement I feel like our house would be awful.

We just bought our house 2 years ago but we bought in the best possible neighborhood so we will have to deal with the size for now, but I'm in the same boat! We have friends who live in these nice big houses in the burbs, but then again they're really far away and I hate the burbs!

thedash · November 2013

The size of our house isn't too bad but I really wish we had a better layout. We're in a three story townhouse and it's so inconvenient. The kitchen is also not at all open to the living space. We may look for something else in a few years with two goals - better layout and shorten DH's commute.

lujain · November 2013

We currently live in a 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home, 1200 square feet. It's just me, DH, and our 4-year-old, and it feels a little small. We just sold this home and are moving into a detached home: 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2100 square feet. We are excited! It will be awesome to have a private driveway so parking will not be a concern anymore.

We lived in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment growing up (with my mom, dad, and sister), and it did not feel small at the time.

Sometimes I watch the Duggars and they talk about how many people they crammed in a small space before they built their huge house. Josh's wife, Anna, was one of 5 girls. The 5 girls shared 1 bedroom and 1 closet. The 7 kids total shared 1 bathroom. So things could be worse!

Karla CS · November 2013

We have a 4 bed/2 bath house, and approximately 1400 sq feet. Our living areas are great sizes, but the bedrooms are super teeny-tiny.

I love the four bedrooms since it allows us an office and guestroom, but I hate that they're so small. We will never be able to fit a desk in the baby's room, we couldn't even comfortably fit a rocking chair in there as it is.

82Sonia · November 2013

Yes, every single day. We bought at the absolute height of the market in a high COLA so we won't be getting out anytime soon. We're in 1200 sq. feet but at least we have 3 bedrooms.

jf198400 · November 2013

Our house is decent for a starter townhouse- 3bed, 1.5bath, 1500 sqft, good living space and closets. Our problem is we have no basement and no garage (although we do have an attic) so storing all our stuff is an issue. Our double stroller, wagon, and tricycle permanently reside in the back of my minivan because there's nowhere else to put them.

We bought in 2009 and our house is currently worth about what we paid for it. We are hoping to move in another year and a half so hopefully we'll have more space (and a private driveway) by the time we have baby#3. In the meantime we are fixing up our kitchen a little so I can try to enjoy the house better and also make it easier to sell.

jess9802 · November 2013

Yes. We are renting a 3br,2ba house that's 1378 sq ft. With a teenager and a toddler we're bursting at the seams, and while DS could share his room with another baby, it would be tight and not a workable solution long-term, esp as SS has indicated a desire to live at home and go to college here (which is fine with us). So at some point we'll need to make the jump to a 4br house and ideally it will have a second living space that can be used as a rec room or something.

DTNZ4Ever · November 2013

Yes! We are in our townhouse still that we bought in 2005 so we have lost a ton of money and are really stuck. I like the size of our house wish we had a bigger dinning area since its tight when we have friends over. I also wish we had a nice back yard ours is post aged stamp size with a steep slop so DS can't play back there. Luckily we have a finished basement which is DS playroom and we had a 2 story living room which we were able to make a 3rd bedroom so that has helped. However we won't get that money back anytime soon but makes it livable.

mrsseguin · November 2013

I think about it all the time! We have a 3 bed, 1 bath 1000sq ft home. It's small, and it's getting quite cramped...and were having our 3rd baby in January! We have a basement, but it's not finished, so it's just all of us on the main floor, all the time.

I go back and forth all the time about moving...more cleaning, bigger mortgage, plus the fact that I HATE moving. I moved 13 times in 18 years as a child. I think once we are able to finish the basement, it will be 1000x better. We plan to add another bedroom and bathroom.

mhickey426 · November 2013

We are currently in the process for selling our home for that reason. We have been in our townhouse for 3 years. Its 1890sq ft with a ton of steps and jut a small deck. I love my house and always knew we would move one day but this is just a little sooner then I expected. We have our dd and a boxer so more room and a yard would definitely help. We are able to make the move so we are doing it. Hopefully, we will go into contract with our current house in a few weeks. I am super excited about finding a new place but not excited about the actual move. We have so much stuff but I plan on throwing a LOT out.

Samiantha101 · November 2013

I have a 5 bedroom house, and honestly, I'm wishing we had bought a 1500 sq ft ranch. A lot of our space is wasted. We have a basement and a garage for storage. In my opinion it's too big for the three of us.

daisy662 · November 2013

I think it's all about floor plan. We have a 3100 sq ft house and though it's big, it's not in the right spots. We have a family room and formal living room. While our family room is a good size, I would prefer it be larger with no loving room.our bedrooms are tiny and our kitchen is not huge. We have a bonus room which will ultimately be a playroom but it is upstairs and it is the whole upstairs , all bedrooms are on the first floor, so I am guessing kids won't use it much for a while. Living in Florida, we don't have a basement so all our storage is in our garage which is a 3 car with no room to park cars. We built this home 2 years ago and I love a lot about it, but hate a lot about it to. You just don't know what works or doesn't until you actually live in it.we had looked at some smaller homes that probably would have had more live able space for our needs. Oh well, we aren't moving anytime soon that is for sure!

plus12012 · November 2013

My DH wishes our house was bigger. It's about 2800 sq. ft. 2 story with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. I think it's just fine. If anything I wish we had our laundry room upstairs and could turn the big laundry room downstairs into storage. He wants a formal living room, great room and hearth room downstairs. We already have a living room, dining room and office and I think that is more than enough space since it's usually only the three of us.

DaisyJanie · November 2013

We just went from 900 sf to 1900 sf, and it's awesome. DH still says our storage space is limited (we did have a big attic at the old place, just a small one here). I'm glad we didn't go TOO big with our new house, and it's definitely a change having to clean 3 bathrooms rather than 1 (I swear they get dirtier faster than the 1 we had - how does that happen?!). Our old house was supposed to be a starter house that we would sell when we were ready to have kids - we were there 3 years longer than expected, and we still own it, we decided to rent it out rather than sell due to the market around here.

rubber_chicken · November 2013

My DH wishes our house was bigger. It's about 2800 sq. ft. 2 story with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. I think it's just fine. If anything I wish we had our laundry room upstairs and could turn the big laundry room downstairs into storage. He wants a formal living room, great room and hearth room downstairs. We already have a living room, dining room and office and I think that is more than enough space since it's usually only the three of us.

What's a hearth room?

WBMom · November 2013

Every morning! We have a 1300 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. It's a well laid out house -I wish we had an extra bedroom so the girls did not have to share. Or a slightly larger bedroom so they were not crammed in it. We so need another shower. Sigh - maybe in the next couple of years after daycare costs lower.

mae0111 · November 2013

We moved a few months ago to our "forever" home. We were in a 3 br 1.5 ba 1400 sq ft 2 story home that was built in the 1930's. It was a solid home, but it was chopped up and old. We tried to renovate and add on, but to do what we wanted would have been cost prohibitive, and still wouldn't address all of the issues we had.

Our new home is 4 br, 3.5 ba, 3100 sq ft home. It's laid out very well, but needed a lot of cosmetic stuff done and some repairs (built in the late 80's and never touched...). I agree, it is tough to keep it tidy. Our nanny helps with that, which is awesome. But we were tripping over ourselves in our old house, especially after DD2 was born.

sweetsunnyc · November 2013

Thank you eveyone for the respones- Happy to see that I am not the only one that has issues with the space. The saving grace of my house is that we have a lot of storage space, plus a HUGE backyard which we spend a lot of time in during the summer. I go back and forth on selling- we are not in a position to save up a large down payment right now as my husband is trying to start his own business and finances are tight....we bought in 08 when everything crashed, so my payment is low. We could add on, but I still don't think that it would equal the space that we need. Guess I just need to suck it up for now and make the best of it!

Katelobster · November 2013

I live in a 2 bed, 1 bath, 1000 sq ft house built in the 1920s. I love it, but DH is adamant that we can't have a second child until we have a bigger house. We live in the city and I LOVE being able to walk to so many things and the fact that our mortgage payment is so cheap.
But is sucks not having a garage and having to scrape ice off my car at 6:30 AM in 10 degree weather. Our basement is great for storage since we have limited space upstairs, but running up and down the steps constantly gets old, especially with a toddler who cries and beats on the door every time. Our living room is pretty small by modern standards (maybe 15x12?) and gets filled with toys. I know we can't afford a bigger house in this area though (3 bed houses go for way more than 2 bed) and the thought of moving to the burbs depresses me, so for now I'm happy with it.

SoMoNY · November 2013

Every time I wish for a bigger home I'm reminded that means more to clean.

I would like to bump MB out over the attached garage and do a small bump-out by FDR. The extra space would be nice and it should be a better option over moving.

Biggest thing I hate about my home is the lack of storage; no basement because of water table and limited attic space because that is where the CAC equipment in. Extra storage space would make me over the moon happy!

plus12012 · November 2013

rubber_chicken said:

My DH wishes our house was bigger. It's about 2800 sq. ft. 2 story with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. I think it's just fine. If anything I wish we had our laundry room upstairs and could turn the big laundry room downstairs into storage. He wants a formal living room, great room and hearth room downstairs. We already have a living room, dining room and office and I think that is more than enough space since it's usually only the three of us.

What's a hearth room?

It's a small room off the kitchen - kind of like an all season sun room with a fireplace.

KayteeGee · November 2013

daisy662 said:

I think it's all about floor plan. We have a 3100 sq ft house and though it's big, it's not in the right spots.

Ditto this.
Our home is pretty big - nearly 5K sf, single story - 4 BR, 4.5BA but the rooms are MASSIVE and it's not ideal. Like we have 1 "normal sized" bedroom, so our master is ridiculous, DH's office ridiculous and the guest room is ridiculous and each BR has an en suite bath, so the only way to divide them involves significant plumbing issues (we are actually getting yet another architect to come check it out). I'd much prefer we had 5 BR so DS could have a playroom, right now half of our living room is the playroom - so toys are all over the "public" areas of the house.

We also have no basement, so one of our garage bays is totally storage.

I also ditto the cleaning - seriously, that's why i have a cleaning lady - I am NOT maintaining 5 toilets - even if no one uses them you still have to clean them.

AND the clutter. We thought we would NEVER fill this home... and it's brimming. Sadly, I think I would fill up any size house because I guess I'm just that person...

I don't mean to complain, we are fortunate and I LOVE my house and neighborhood, but bigger is NOT always better... it's all about the layout... and ours is not ideal.

blushingbride_08 · November 2013

Only if it came with a cleaning lady.

skibunny59 · November 2013

I'm pretty happy with the size of our house. We live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch. 1440 square feet. No basement but we have an attic and a garage. The only thing I wish were different about our home is I wish it had more closet space. DH and I have to share a pretty small closet. He actually has most of his clothes in the extra bedroom closet. Honestly, it's just DH, DD, and I right now and DD's clothes don't take up much space but I worry about when we have another child and both kids get older and need more space for their clothes and shoes and stuff.

I like our house though. It's a great size for us and it's in a good neighborhood and we have a huge yard. Honestly, I'm not interested in a bigger house. Bigger house = more housework.

danigirl7181 · November 2013

We just bought a 1700 sq foot house in May. That is not including the half exposed basement that is redone. We were in an apartment before that. The basement has a large laundry/work room and a storage room. We got really lucky. I like the house more and more as we make it our own. We have painted every room, put new carpet in the bedrooms, and laminate in the other rooms. We are taking the paneling (build in 77) off the walls in the basement right now, there is drywall behind them, and painting. I want to redo the bathroom upstairs next year. I love our house!! I only wish we had a bigger back yard, only downfall.

diamondduck13 · November 2013

We are in a ~l000 2bdrn condo, no yard, no storage (we rent a storage unit to help that), a tiny enclosed kitchen and small living room. It was perfect when it was just me. Add a husband and baby and it works, but sometimes I'm desperate for more space and not having a yard for our kid is sad. But we're underwater on the mortgage and the commute would be horrible for any place we could do, so we don't even know where we would want to go. So that makes staying in the condo easier.

82Sonia · November 2013

Samiantha101 said:

I have a 5 bedroom house, and honestly, I'm wishing we had bought a 1500 sq ft ranch. A lot of our space is wasted. We have a basement and a garage for storage. In my opinion it's too big for the three of us.

Careful what you wish for! We do just fine in our small house but what I wouldn't do for more space even if it was wasted.

SunAndRain · November 2013

We moved from a 1650 sq foot house that I would have been happy to stay in to a 2750 sq foot house because DH wanted more space. We have one child and four cats. It seems like we keep filling it up with more stuff...and cats.

Our friends have two kids and live in the same 1650 sq foot layout of our old house. They fit fine.

Your space does seem tight. But I grew up in NYC where space came at a premium. And after living overseas a couple times where most of our stuff stayed in storage, it because clear to me that you don't need much "stuff" at all. I prefer to get out and enjoy our community. But...DH has to have space for his "stuff"....

SunAndRain · November 2013

Also, SIL is expecting #1 and I know she put a ton of stuff in to a rented storage unit to make room for baby. Would that be an option for you? IMO if you don't use the stuff in a year or two, I'd sell or donate it all.

dizzycooks · November 2013

Our current house is or second so while technically not our starter home, it is small. 1700sq ft 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, an upgrade from our 2br townhouse, but still much less than most people we know. I have no desire for sow thing hugged so much as I'd reconfigure what we have or just move the third bedroom upstairs. I have zero desire for a larger mortgage or more to clean.

IrishTraveler · November 2013

We downsized this year from a four-bedroom, 2.5-bath home with 2,700 square feet to a four-bedroom, two-bath ranch with 1,500 square feet. Honestly, the old house was too big, the mortgage was too big, and I didn't enjoy cleaning for half a day on the weekends. We got rid of quite a bit of stuff to make the move, but what disappeared isn't missed. We gained a huge backyard with the move, and we're happier in this house even if it is a bit "cozier." DH even said to me the other day that he doesn't want to be in a two-story home again. Amen to that! I love not having stairs to climb up and down very time I need something from a bedroom.

2-Step · November 2013

Yes and no. We have about 1600 sq feet, but the basement room is kind of disconnected from the rest, with it's own bathroom. It's great as a guest room and my office, but we don't use it as living space much. Our biggest problem is just finding the best way to store stuff, We are planning to put in a garden shed next summer so we can finally unclog our garage and we are trying to make efficient use of the space we do have. We do a lot of camping, sports, snowboarding, biking, skateboarding etc, so our garage is jam packed all the time, which is frustrating.

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