|
Post by peasapie on Jul 6, 2019 15:03:23 GMT
When I moved from a roomy, suburban home to a 1000-sq ft. apartment in NYC, I felt the same freedom you are describing. Letting go of all those "things" we don't really use, and only keeping the essentials, was a vital part of it. Maintenance was the other significant benefit!
|
|
|
Post by chaosisapony on Jul 6, 2019 15:47:06 GMT
I'm at 1300 square feet. When I was house shopping I was hunting for something a bit smaller but I do quite like having this much space. The only thing I would change is that I would like a garage or some kind of shed. One of these days I'll have the money to change that.
|
|
PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,749
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
|
Post by PLurker on Jul 6, 2019 16:56:17 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. What we don't do got out critters! I'm staying put probably longer with that being one of the reasons. Aussie had free reign of 100+ acres and takes advantage of it. He is getting older maybe he'll slow down soon. Doubt it, I think Aussies just run til they're done. My DS is able to commute to college from here and save $$$ so that's another stay put a while reason. And I can't decide where exactly I want to go and what to buy or rent. Mulling it over while the boys, human and dog, do their thing.
|
|
|
Post by mimi3566 on Jul 6, 2019 18:04:12 GMT
Currently living in 250 sq ft RV for the past 3 months. Sold our 1600 sq ft house prior to our 2,000 sq ft house new build is completed so moved into the RV until done. I LOVE it!!! It's so easy to keep clean, but it's a constant battle of purging and organizing. If something new comes in, something has to go out. If forces you to be organized and stay on top of it, which for me is no big deal as I like a neat, cleaned organized home.
|
|
|
Post by FrozenPea on Jul 6, 2019 21:56:28 GMT
I cannot wait to downsize! We have just over 3,000 sq ft and 4 bedrooms. We have one kid left at home our 20yo ds. We don't need all this space but it's paid for and it's a great location with 2 acres. We always thought our girls would live near by but they both moved out of state and aren't returning. So we do't need the room for family get togethers. Hopefully, dh will get the new job he applied for and we will move out of state and into something smaller. I would be happy with 1,500 sqft.
|
|
sassyangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,456
Jun 26, 2014 23:58:32 GMT
|
Post by sassyangel on Jul 7, 2019 0:13:57 GMT
I have an 1100 sq ft house. I don't mind the size - its fine for two of us, but its a 1932 and i'd love it if the space was better utilized and more logically laid out. There is a lot of wasted space that could be much better utilized.
|
|
sassyangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,456
Jun 26, 2014 23:58:32 GMT
|
Post by sassyangel on Jul 7, 2019 0:16:28 GMT
Currently living in 250 sq ft RV for the past 3 months. Sold our 1600 sq ft house prior to our 2,000 sq ft house new build is completed so moved into the RV until done. I LOVE it!!! It's so easy to keep clean, but it's a constant battle of purging and organizing. If something new comes in, something has to go out. If forces you to be organized and stay on top of it, which for me is no big deal as I like a neat, cleaned organized home. That's actually a great idea. We are debating demolishing our home and putting a new one on the block, but were wondering what we'd do during the build. Living in an RV with all our stuff in storage sounds like a good interim idea. I'm going to look into it.
|
|
|
Post by 950nancy on Jul 7, 2019 2:04:51 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. I think I could get rid of stuff, but I do like square footage to relocate to during the day. When I see people on HGTV look at smaller 2 bedroom homes, I get claustrophobic. I have five bedrooms and I have been in all of them today. Our house is about 3,000 square feet and I am good with that. We lived in a one-bedroom apartment 30 years ago (900 sq feet) and I really struggled with the lack of space for me (not my things).
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on Jul 7, 2019 2:13:19 GMT
We currently have a multi-level with 2500 SF. We are looking to downsize next year to a one level townhome. I hate yard work.
I think I'd like 1800 SF or so.
|
|
janeinbama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,176
Location: Alabama
Jan 29, 2015 16:24:49 GMT
|
Post by janeinbama on Jul 7, 2019 2:16:25 GMT
We have moved up from 2100 to 2700 SF. We were not looking for a larger house, just LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. DH really lost out on the outside garage storage. It is one story,so we plan to age in place here.
If we were to ever build, I think we could be comfortable at 1800 - 1900 SF +-.
|
|
seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,467
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
|
Post by seaexplore on Jul 7, 2019 3:34:59 GMT
The home we currently live in is 2656 sq ft. 4 bed, 2 bath, office, open floor plan. I LOVE it but wish we had one more bedroom (master, kid, kid, shared office in the 4th bedroom) so I could have a craft room and DH could have his own office. We "share" but I have a mess in there and have to take my stuff out to the "play room" which is in the actual dining room or to the pool table which is where the dining room was relocated to. LOL. We have an oversized 3 car garage that can fit 2 cars, a motorcycle, a 23' boat on a trailer and still have room for shelving and a small work space. No basement. I am so envious of those of you who have basements! Also our attic is not finished so we cannot store anything there. Everything is stored in the house so we have lots of closet space. We designed and built (all the manual labor ourselves!) this house.
The prior was 2120 sq ft. 3 bed, 2 bath, office, dedicated dining room with doors on it, nook, living room, etc. We had storage below the house but not a basement. The house was on a hill so small space- kayaks, bikes, etc can go there. We also designed and built this one.
I could go for a smaller home- down to a 3 bedroom if we didn't have kids. I don't think I could go below 2000 sq.ft. I could NEVER EVER live in a tiny home or an RV! Where would I keep all my craft stuff (that I actually DO use!)?
|
|
MsKnit
Pearl Clutcher
RefuPea #1406
Posts: 2,648
Jun 26, 2014 19:06:42 GMT
|
Post by MsKnit on Jul 7, 2019 5:56:22 GMT
My house is 1,050 sq feet (3 BR; 1.5 Bath) built in 1961 - perfect size Our’s is 3bed, 1 bath. About that size. Though, there is a finished family room in the basement. I would like to either go smaller or same sq footage, eliminating a bedroom and adding a bath. We have 4 critters at present. The big dog needs the space. If we only had a small dog or a couple of cats, smaller seems more manageable.
|
|
|
Post by Basket1lady on Jul 7, 2019 10:07:30 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. I think I could get rid of stuff, but I do like square footage to relocate to during the day. When I see people on HGTV look at smaller 2 bedroom homes, I get claustrophobic. I have five bedrooms and I have been in all of them today. Our house is about 3,000 square feet and I am good with that. We lived in a one-bedroom apartment 30 years ago (900 sq feet) and I really struggled with the lack of space for me (not my things). This is my mentality. I don’t know that I was in the guest room yesterday, but I was all over the house, including the basement. I don’t go down there every day but I store my fabric there since I don’t want the sunlight to fade it in the studio. Plus, you really can’t get a house without a basement here. We actually went larger (4,000 sq ft to 4,500 sq ft) when we moved 2 years ago. The space just fit our needs better, even though the kids are in college now. DH and I each have our own office, I have a large studio space, and although the yard is small, we overlook a land preserve so it seems much larger. We we really don’t need 5 bedrooms, but I do like the common spaces to be larger. I just breathe better with more space!
|
|
|
Post by Patter on Jul 7, 2019 10:20:57 GMT
950nancy and basket1lady, I too like more space to move, do things, etc. Only one of our girls lives at home but she will move out in December/January most likely. I already have plans for her room too as I did with her sister's rooms. I hope to stay here and never move again.
|
|
mallie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,253
Jul 3, 2014 18:13:13 GMT
|
Post by mallie on Jul 7, 2019 12:43:45 GMT
The smallest house we ever lived in was about 500 sq feet. We were young, owned nothing other than clothes and our car (house came furnished) and the walls were all white with lots of windows. It was actually fine at the time. Now, we have too much stuff -- my dh's collections and my craft stuff. Also, possibly due to knotty pine house, I have become claustrophobic over the years.
The next smallest house was about 700 sq feet and it was a nightmare because every flat surface, including the ceilings was paneled in knotty pine. The warmth of that wood made it feel like the walls were even closer than they were. And that knotty pine? UGH! I used to have nightmares that snakes and monsters were coming out of the knots in my bedroom.
Our current house is about 2200 sq feet). It could be smaller by about 100-300 feet. We certainly do not need 2 dining spaces or a living room that is so large. But it was hard to find a happy medium when we were house hunting. If the houses were smaller, all of the rooms got smaller and I definitely feel claustrophobic in smaller rooms.
The other issue I found when we were looking is finding a space large enough for my craft room. The 10x10 or 10x12 standard bedrooms are just too small. And that is even after I have purged madly. And I really do use the space, I reallly do crafting. And I do it using a large table and I need space around that table to move around. Right now, I am using two of the bedrooms -- I basically keep most of the supplies in one room and one cabinet and my big table in another. I have my table angled so that my back is to the door and I am facing the window. Otherwise I feel claustrophobic.
If I were living alone, my dream would be a small cottage about 500-750 sq feet with vaulted ceilings and big windows and a separate she shed/workshop in the back for my craft stuff.
|
|
|
Post by tentoes on Jul 7, 2019 13:32:59 GMT
My husband and I raised 4 kids in a 1200 sq foot house. No problem. I think it's just what you get used to.
|
|
|
Post by belgravia on Jul 7, 2019 13:41:20 GMT
The three of us plus our dog are in 4100 square feet. It feels like the right size for us, but it is a LOT to look after. I’m a SAHM and my husband travels a ton for work so the housework falls to me. I definitely feel like I can’t keep up a lot of the time. The yard is big and high maintenance as well. I fantasize about moving to a downtown loft that’s about 1200 square feet! Maybe one day
|
|
|
Post by AngieandSnoopy on Jul 7, 2019 18:12:16 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. I'd prefer larger too but not as larger as you, Patter. Couldn't afford the heating bill! My house is around 1,200 square feet and would love the square footage the OP MOVED from! I wish I had one bedroom for sewing and one for paper crafts...
Main thing in the size is wasted space because it was built in the 60's as a rental cabin and was added onto. I do NOT need 3 bathrooms. I wish the original one was part of the kitchen since the kitchen is tiny and the added cabinets take away from the living/dining space.
|
|
|
Post by anniefb on Jul 7, 2019 18:22:34 GMT
Mine is around 1200 square feet which is a pretty good size. Could probably do without my study though and slightly less to clean!
|
|
|
Post by roundtwo on Jul 7, 2019 18:35:05 GMT
We've lived in a variety of sizes throughout the years, ranging from 600 sq ft to 3500 sq ft. The houses that worked best for us were not necessarily the biggest but in how the space was designed. For instance, one of the bigger houses had silly little hallways that would have been much more useful if they were part of the living space.
Another thing that I noticed - the smaller the house, the more time the kids spent outdoors. Sometimes we only had room for one tv and they don't have the same taste in shows - because there wasn't the option to go to another room to watch tv, they would go out and shoot baskets or pucks or ride their bikes. I think that is a big reason why they aren't big tv watchers now as adults - they still spend most of their free time outside.
|
|
|
Post by Clair on Jul 7, 2019 19:49:24 GMT
We live in a 150sq ft house. It’s plenty big.
I live along the coast in so cal. Windows are often open and we spend a lot of time outside. Outside living areas that can be used year round too. Also, the house is configured very well - I have a beautiful kitchen and baths. Nothing feels tight or small.
If I lived in an area where there was weather that required heat or air conditioning all the time or where the weather is bad I believe this house would start to feel small.
|
|
|
Post by refugeepea on Jul 7, 2019 20:20:58 GMT
I think I could get rid of stuff, but I do like square footage to relocate to during the day. Yes! me too! Although it's around 1500 finished square feet, our home is on different levels. The only rooms I don't go into daily are my two children's bedrooms. I also have a husband who wants to hang onto things. I love having that space to put things I don't want to see. I also love having the other side of the basement for storing things I don't want ruined.
|
|