zookeeper
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,909 
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Post by zookeeper on Jul 6, 2019 4:10:44 GMT
My dh and I just left a rent house that was almost 1900 sq feet to an apartment that was 1205 sq feet. We surely had to downsize and get rid of a lot of extra stuff. However, I do feel much more freedom and less stress about taking care of more square footage.
I am shocked at how much easier it is to clean the apartment and put things in their place. I really think that I could live in under 1000 sq feet. it would be so freeing!!!
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,744
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Jul 6, 2019 4:23:47 GMT
Me too! (I think)
I just started a thread that contained that same question after seeing the mansions for sale.
I think it'd be harder for me to live in huge house. I'd feel so lost.
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Post by kelly316 on Jul 6, 2019 4:29:31 GMT
You are my hero! (Read that again.) I keep downsizing every ten years.
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Post by tryingtobewise on Jul 6, 2019 5:07:43 GMT
Oh I prefer small too! My current house is about 1750 sf and I’d like to downsize to 1000-1200 in about another year.
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Post by Lexica on Jul 6, 2019 5:48:21 GMT
This is my thinking too. I want a much smaller house. Especially since I have cats that I am allergic to and vacuum daily. I am looking so forward to having a single-story house too. Smaller is better in my view.
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MaryMary
Pearl Clutcher
Lazy
Posts: 2,975
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Post by MaryMary on Jul 6, 2019 5:51:18 GMT
I went from 3300 sq. ft to 1800 a year and a half ago and I LOVE how easy it is to clean. I could totally go smaller when the kids are gone. I would honestly love a tiny house somewhere beautiful someday.
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sueg
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,055
Location: Munich
Apr 12, 2016 12:51:01 GMT
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Post by sueg on Jul 6, 2019 5:55:44 GMT
Our apartment here is abut 980 sq. ft and it is just wonderful for the 2 of us. There is enough space for living, but not too much to clean.
We do have a cellar in the basement for storage as well though.
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Post by Patter on Jul 6, 2019 10:35:44 GMT
I couldn't do it. I like large as do my parents who just moved into a 4,600 sq. ft. house. I think their old one was 4,200.
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Post by jassy on Jul 6, 2019 10:49:49 GMT
I also love small. We've lived in a 1300 sq foot 1929 craftsman bungalow for 25 years - have raised two sons in this space! A small house keeps me organized, keeps my possessions minimal, and I think has played a part in keeping our family close - I guess literally and figuratively.
My friend lived in a home much like ours for many years with FOUR kids - yep that was tight. They bought their large, sprawling dream house when the kids were a bit older but still under the roof. My friend hates it - she said she feels like she is always cleaning and like she never sees her kids - they are just all off in their own spaces, or the finished basement and the family is rarely together in their own home.
There is a lot to love about the simplicity and togetherness that a small home brings.
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Post by KelleeM on Jul 6, 2019 10:52:20 GMT
Currently there are 4 of us living in 1500 square feet. It seems perfect for us most days and downright claustrophobic other days. I think when it’s just two of us it’s going to be amazing. I’ve been watching a lot of tiny house videos and as adorable as they are they are definitely not for me!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 22:11:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 11:12:00 GMT
I don't know the square footage of our house but it's tiny and I hate it. I love space, high ceilings and huge windows. This place feels constantly cramped and dingy. Maybe it will be better when we've had all the work done and the storage is all sorted?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 22:11:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 11:19:13 GMT
We currently live in a 1400 sq ft house. It is borderline. I think the main problem is that some stuff just does not have a home so it lands on our bookshelves. The floors are clean. The shelves are not.
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Post by refugeepea on Jul 6, 2019 11:26:40 GMT
I could totally do it with two people! Our first apartment was smaller than that. With two kids likely never moving, I'm mostly happy with our house. It's probably 1500 square feet finished and 500 unfinished. I like having two separate living spaces. A garage and another bathroom would be nice. We have a lot of stairs and two bathrooms on one level.
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Post by refugeepea on Jul 6, 2019 11:30:48 GMT
I’ve been watching a lot of tiny house videos and as adorable as they are they are definitely not for me! Same here! Have you seen the TV show Life in Pieces? There are a couple of episodes with the son and his girlfriend living in a tiny house in the backyard. It's hilarious when they host a party. I COULD do a tiny house just for me. I've been hinting strongly for years I need one of those or a she shed in the backyard. 
I'm also more practical. Rather than finding some special company who makes tiny houses, hauling it here,......
I'd rather just live in a camping trailer. Although a converted school bus would be awesome. |
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Post by lisae on Jul 6, 2019 11:51:14 GMT
It would be tough to go quite that small. We each need our space and our hobby stuff takes up a certain amount of room. Living space right now is 1,650. What I'd like to do is have that amount of space without the basement and storage building that hold all kinds of stuff we are holding onto that could go.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 22:11:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 12:13:29 GMT
Our current house is 1900 sq feet (with husband and 2 teens) and we are moving in a few weeks into a house that is 3500 sq feet. Mostly we bought larger because the area we are moving has very limited hotels and family/friends will need a place to stay when they visit - and as a Pastors family I know we will be entertaining alot so a separate place for kids to play and hang out made the most sense for us.
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Post by Karene on Jul 6, 2019 12:27:56 GMT
We've lived in our 1100 sq ft 1-1/2 story house for 30 years. It has been the only house we have ever owned. I don't mind the size, but since it was built in 1860 it does not have storage. Only the master bedroom has a closet and there is a hall closet. It think the bathroom used to be a closet because it definitely wouldn't have been there originally.
We do plan to move when we retire in a few years, but hopefully off the main street, to a bungalow in a less expensive town. We don't want anything bigger, just in a quieter area.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 22:11:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 12:45:09 GMT
I so look forward to going small again!
Right now we are in temp housing and it is 2600 sq ft. I seriously hate it. Cleaning these floors takes forever!
We sold our 2000sq ft home in Dec. 2017 and full timed in our 240sq ft travel trailer for 8 months with 5 people before renting on post to get our daughter in college.
My other daughter came home so i’ll Have 2 going to the dorms in 7 weeks and we are looking to upgrade to a 5th wheel and go back on the road with our two youngest.
We could easily do 1000sq ft home comfortably when we settle down. There is a clause though with that, we want land.
I could not do a tiny city house. I don’t like being cooped up in a home.
I used to want a big house but after living in a t.t. I loved how little cleaning was needed and realized how little amount of things we actually need and use.
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,666
Location: Ohio
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Post by StephDRebel on Jul 6, 2019 13:22:29 GMT
I'm completely shocked at how our downsize has been working out. We went from 3200 to 950 sq foot. We do have laundry and some storage space in the basement, but so far it's the best thing we ever could have done.
I did a massive purge and have a donation tote already started again.
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carhoch
Pearl Clutcher
Be yourself everybody else is already taken
Posts: 2,991
Location: We’re RV’s so It change all the time .
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Post by carhoch on Jul 6, 2019 13:31:41 GMT
Next spring we will got from 2500 sq feet to 320 sq feet  we are going to live in our Motorhomes and travel for the next couple of years , I cannot wait  |
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carhoch
Pearl Clutcher
Be yourself everybody else is already taken
Posts: 2,991
Location: We’re RV’s so It change all the time .
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Post by carhoch on Jul 6, 2019 13:34:57 GMT
I so look forward to going small again! Right now we are in temp housing and it is 2600 sq ft. I seriously hate it. Cleaning these floors takes forever! We sold our 2000sq ft home in Dec. 2017 and full timed in our 240sq ft travel trailer for 8 months with 5 people before renting on post to get our daughter in college. My other daughter came home so i’ll Have 2 going to the dorms in 7 weeks and we are looking to upgrade to a 5th wheel and go back on the road with our two youngest. We could easily do 1000sq ft home comfortably when we settle down. There is a clause though with that, we want land. I could not do a tiny city house. I don’t like being cooped up in a home. I used to want a big house but after living in a t.t. I loved how little cleaning was needed and realized how little amount of things we actually need and use. We are going full time in a 32 foot classA next year ,see you on the road 😁 |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jul 6, 2019 13:44:18 GMT
Our house is about 2400 sq ft and I would really like it to be bigger. Especially the kitchen. We have several friends that have really large houses with a lot more rooms than ours (theater room, play room, second kitchen/bar area, outside living spaces, etc). I would love a house like that, but I do often wonder about the cleaning. I’m ok with the number of rooms we have but would just like them to be bigger. I think that would lead to less cleaning/having to reorganize and shuffle things around.
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peaname
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,389
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Post by peaname on Jul 6, 2019 13:49:42 GMT
I’m jealous! I can’t wait to downsize. I think when you have a lot of space you are not forced to be intentional with your belongings and I would love to be able to rethink what I have and keep.
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ddly
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,947
Jul 10, 2014 19:36:28 GMT
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Post by ddly on Jul 6, 2019 13:50:59 GMT
My house is 1600 sq ft and it’s perfect! I have lots of storage in the basement if needed but only utilize about half of that. Twice a year I purge. I don’t have too muc, but DH does. He’s currently going through his photos and I think he’ll go from 2 foot lockers plus a few boxes to one. I wouldn’t mind higher ceilings and another bathroom but I’m okay as is. I’ve lived here 23 years and don’t ever plan to move.
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Post by disneypal on Jul 6, 2019 14:01:43 GMT
My house is 1,050 sq feet (3 BR; 1.5 Bath) built in 1961 - perfect size  |
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Post by refugeepea on Jul 6, 2019 14:18:45 GMT
We have several friends that have really large houses with a lot more rooms than ours (theater room, play room, second kitchen/bar area, outside living spaces, etc). This is why I wouldn't mind going larger. My ideal home would have a second kitchen in the basement that could be set up as a MIL apartment. If I lived in an area where there was things to do and I had extra money, tiny living would be much easier. I'd love a theater room to banish my husband to where he can listen to everything at a loud volume. Also, winter sucks! If I had all the money in the world, there would be an indoor pool for sure! I would not want any more yard space. Our 0.19 acre lot is the perfect size.
ETA: I'd also love to have my own bedroom! I have no issues coming up with lots of ideas for a bigger sized home where all the square footage would be used!  |
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Post by Skellinton on Jul 6, 2019 14:34:33 GMT
I don't know the square footage of our house but it's tiny and I hate it. I love space, high ceilings and huge windows. This place feels constantly cramped and dingy. Maybe it will be better when we've had all the work done and the storage is all sorted?
Our house is just over 1200 square feet and we have high ceilings in the living room, dining room and kitchen. We also have lots of windows and natural light. We do have the open concept for the aforementioned rooms which I know some people hate, but we love, so that definitely makes our house seem bigger then it is. |
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Julie W
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,209
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Post by Julie W on Jul 6, 2019 14:37:35 GMT
Congrats!
I prefer less space, less stuff. Our last house was 1500sf with some unfinished storage space in the basement. We lived in a 1250sf apartment for a year, before buying our current house which is just over 1,000sf, 3BR, 1 BA no basement and a tiny one car garage.
It's DD13 and me, and two dogs. I am good at purging and getting rid of things, she is not. But I think we could still do with less space. We recently looked at a loft in our downtown area that was 2 beds, 1 bath 862 sf. We want to live in that type of space someday, but can't right now because our little corgi boy loves to go outside in a yard A LOT everyday. If we could find a loft condo with a little attached yard that would be ideal. But we felt we could have made the 862sf work.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 22:11:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 14:38:48 GMT
I so look forward to going small again! Right now we are in temp housing and it is 2600 sq ft. I seriously hate it. Cleaning these floors takes forever! We sold our 2000sq ft home in Dec. 2017 and full timed in our 240sq ft travel trailer for 8 months with 5 people before renting on post to get our daughter in college. My other daughter came home so i’ll Have 2 going to the dorms in 7 weeks and we are looking to upgrade to a 5th wheel and go back on the road with our two youngest. We could easily do 1000sq ft home comfortably when we settle down. There is a clause though with that, we want land. I could not do a tiny city house. I don’t like being cooped up in a home. I used to want a big house but after living in a t.t. I loved how little cleaning was needed and realized how little amount of things we actually need and use. We are going full time in a 32 foot classA next year ,see you on the road 😁 I loved full timing. The greatest thing was the mentality of other full timers. It is an instant community. When we started out I thought it would be lonely however I met plenty of other homeschooling families and it is a unique way of life. Good luck and enjoy the journey! |
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Post by Skellinton on Jul 6, 2019 14:48:02 GMT
Our house is just over 1200 as I said above, but it is perfect for us. I have a large spacious kitchen and the living area is perfect for having people over. We have a really nice yard too, which was important to us when we bought the house.
We had 4 people in here when we bought it new over 20 years ago, but now it is just us and the cats. We do have 3 bedrooms, one is my scrapbook room and one is my husband’s office and fishing stuff room. The only downside is that since we took over the other bedrooms we don’t have a spare bedroom.
I can’t imagine wanting to or having to clean a larger house. When we bought our house I was very intentional that we would not be moving or needing more or less space or having something we wouldn’t be able to or want to take care of in our twilight years. I fully intend to live here until we are put in a home or taken out in a pine box. It is the perfect size and location for us.
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