# What is a reasonably sized house?



## Juliacat (May 8, 2002)

I firmly believe, as most people in this forum do, that the trend of giant houses even as families grow smaller is ridiculous. I firmly believe that a smaller house, a smaller mortgage or rent payment, less stuff, and more simplicity leads to a happier, more fulfilling life.

But I still think my house is too small.

I don't plan on moving, but if I could have whatever I wanted, I would want a bigger house. Our house is 680 square feet with three people living in it--sometimes four when my mom is here, and would be four if we were to have another kid. If I could have whatever I wanted, I would want a house similar to this one but at least 800 square feet. I even think 1500 wouldn't be completely unreasonable.

How many square feet per person do _you_ think is reasonable for a house?


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## [email protected] (Jul 11, 2007)

There are four of us in 1000 sq ft., 2 bedrooms 1 bath. This size would be fine if we could convert some space into a third bedroom (we have opposite sex kids and I am sure at some point they will want/need more privacy). I'd love to have a bit more space - not more than 1500 sq ft - since we do often have guests and like to entertain.

I like that we use all of our house everyday. I know too many people with big houses that have rooms that never get used. What a waste.


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## klg47 (May 20, 2003)

This is something I struggle with. Our apartment is 750 square feet and we have 3 or 4 people living here (dh was a truck driver and is now living in another city for a job, so he doesn't really live here much), and another on the way. I definitely like that it's easy to clean up our place, but I also would like more space.


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## Leta (Dec 6, 2006)

It depends on the number of people and their ages.

I think that, for an average family of 4 or 5 people, it would be difficult to live in 1000 sq. ft. or less.


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## PeacefulSeams (Apr 10, 2006)

We are 3 people living in a 950 sq ft house and I want to go smaller. My DH disagrees with me. He wants a larger space. The way I see it, smaller = less stuff. less stuff=less cleaning=happier mom.


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## Krystal323 (May 14, 2004)

sorry...but 680 square feet for three people sounds outrageously small to me! the house i used to live in was 1200, and that was okay for 4 of us. now i've moved into a 1000 sq ft apt, and baby makes 5, and it feels horribly tiny. i am all about minimal stuff, but i like to have empty floorspace and places to retreat to other than just *couch-bed-kitchentable*, yk? maybe i'm spoiled...?


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## klg47 (May 20, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zenenlightened* 
The way I see it, smaller = less stuff. less stuff=less cleaning=happier mom.









But for most clutter-impaired people, smaller = more stuff packed into less space = FAR more difficult to clean = insane mom!


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## mom0810 (May 19, 2006)

I think 1500 is the bare minimum. But I might be in the minority. We have a 3500 sq foot home with a couple of acres of property, but it is really too much space. We can't bear to move though because what we bought it for 12 years ago would not even buy a shack here anymore! We would now pay the same price or more for something with 1200 sq feet, higher taxes, and no yard. So I guess it makes sense to stay.

I think 1500 is about right for 4, if you want the bare minimum and still to have storage space.


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

Interesting.

We lived in a 1,000 sq ft home with 5 people and 2 dogs. It was too small. Much or our stuff I had in our storage shed so we wouldn't have clutter. It was only a 2 bedroom house.

We live now in a 1,700 sq ft house and its good. Though I feel the floor plan stinks.

I think floor plan makes a house livable. Some small house work due to great floor plans.

I am a person who just cant have stuff crammed into ever corner, I need bare space other wise its too claustrophobic for me.


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## snv1492 (Jun 9, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Juliacat* 
How many square feet per person do _you_ think is reasonable for a house?

How long is a piece of string?

If you are using the space, it is reasonable.

It is not less reasonable for a family of 4 to live in a 2500 sq foot home than it is to live in a 1000 sq ft if they have a grand piano and a pool table and regularly host 30 people for thanksgiving dinner.

Everyone has a different amount of stuff, and different scheduled. Maybe you can do with one hall bathroom if everyone doesn't use it at the same time. But if everyone needs to leave the house at the same time in the morning, you might need two or three bathrooms.

Depending on your climate, you can spend a lot of time living outdoors, but not everyone can do that.


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## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

We are moving here: www.newberryplace.org, where we'll have about 1000 sq ft for the (soon to be) four of us. I think it will be plenty of space since we'll have other common areas for us to hang out in if we get too cramped. I'm excited about downsizing.


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## Sihaya (Jul 3, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ani'smommy* 
We are moving here: www.newberryplace.org, where we'll have about 1000 sq ft for the (soon to be) four of us. I think it will be plenty of space since we'll have other common areas for us to hang out in if we get too cramped. I'm excited about downsizing.









Oooh, I'm jealous of you. If only I could convince DH to move to GR (I grew up there).

We just downsized from a 950sqft apt to a 650sqft one. We have an unconventional setup to make it work for us and I like it so much better in the smaller space. 1000sqft is way too much for just the two of us. Once this baby is two, the apt complex requires us to move to a 2br (about 1000sqft I think) which is where I intend on staying until we can get our own place. Ultimately, we'd like either a yurt or tiny house of no more than 700-800sqft. More than that just attracts clutter.

As for our setup, we don't have a dedicated bedroom, sleep on a mattress on the floor that rolls up during the day, our only table also folds up, our only "couch" is a futon. Because so much of our stuff can be folded up and tucked away, I never feel like we have "stuff crammed into every corner."


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## phatchristy (Jul 6, 2005)

Honestly, I think to be more accurate you have to include your basement size if you have one.

It makes a HUGE difference. I have a friend who "says" she has an 1800 square foot home. Well, in reality she has an 1800 square foot first floor and a 1800 square foot FULL basement.

Honestly, that's 3,600 square foot of space. She has her laundry room, a full pantry, a "bar area" and TONS of storage down there.

Compare that to our home. We have 1800 square feet total. No basement (here in FL it's a rarity...see it's a little swampy







: ). The attic gets hot, so you can't really put anything, other than some Christmas stuff, in there.

So, in my book, down here in FL you can't keep a lot of stuff. But, for us, 1800 is just fine. I think, as we get older and my DS doesn't cosleep anymore it will work out just fine. Right now, our extra bedroom will be his when he's older.


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## wannabe (Jul 4, 2005)

I think that apart from floorspace, the division fo the space matters, too. I would hate 750 sq ft divided into six rooms, but into four (incl bathroom) it's great for three people.

We're in a 750 sq ft 2 bed apartment, and it's just a tad too small for us, and two kids. It's fine for us and one kid. I think we need another 100-150 sq ft room to be a second bedroom, and to house a couple of the bulkier kids toys (rocking horse, dollhouse). We currently have 2 x 150 sq ft bedrooms (one is a 'grownups room' and one for sleeping). Our kitchen and living space is all one (about 350 sq ft), and feels plenty big enough.

I like to have a space for the computer, bookshelves, craft box that's away from the main area, so I don't need to supervise closely while we're in our main living space. It also is our guest room, and since we have guests for a month at a time, we need the room! Actually, I'd also like the third room/second bedroom so that I can get away from people when we have guests.

So, my answer would be that I need about 600 sq ft in at least bedroom, kitchen/living and bathroom, plus another 100-200 sq ft room per extra person. If my kid/s were teenagers I'd like a bedroom per person (my husband and I would share, and we'd have a study/library). 1000 for 4 would be great.

Quote:

It is not less reasonable for a family of 4 to live in a 2500 sq foot home than it is to live in a 1000 sq ft if they have a grand piano and a pool table and regularly host 30 people for thanksgiving dinner.
Not if they're heating, cooling and cleaning the space those thirty people use once a year all year round. And it's not just the time but the resources that cleaning uses.


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## snv1492 (Jun 9, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *wannabe* 
Not if they're heating, cooling and cleaning the space those thirty people use once a year all year round. And it's not just the time but the resources that cleaning uses.

I didn't say that you needed to build specific rooms for entertaining and use them only for that purpose. But if you have the space and use it, then there is nothing wrong with it.


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## Malva (Nov 2, 2005)

I think it depends on the layout. Bedrooms can be small. Entertainment rooms aren't needed. So you're left with needing a largish living room.

I personally feel like my 800 sqf place is really spacious for the 4 of us because we have a large living/dining room. The tv and computers are in a small room to the side, and the tiny kitchen is separate. The layout makes a big difference.


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## Alkenny (May 4, 2004)

We just moved from an 840 square foot mobile home to a 2600 square foot (I included the finished basement! We're 1500 up and 1100 down.) house.

Honestly, we could get by with just this 1500 up, maybe even less since this living room is huge and long. So 200-300 square foot per person is a good 'guesstimate' for me.


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## vermontgirl (Aug 15, 2006)

We just bought a 1700 square foot house. It is VERY reasonably sized. In fact, I consider it to be small and cozy.

Anything under 1000 square feet for a family sounds unreasonably small to me. We are moving from a 750 square foot apartment to our new house. It will be quite the change. I have been feeling a bit cramped.


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## tamagotchi (Oct 16, 2005)

We just bought and moved into a 1200 sq.ft. house and it seems huge for the three of us (two adults and a toddler). We are still not using one of the rooms at all. However, we do have a baby on the way. I think this house will be a good size for a family of four when the kids are a little older. In the meantime we'll need some extra room for my mom (who wants to come stay for a few months and help with the new baby), and it will be nice to have room for other guests, too.


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## AlexisT (May 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *klg47* 
But for most clutter-impaired people, smaller = more stuff packed into less space = FAR more difficult to clean = insane mom!









:
Our current flat is maybe 750 square feet (good sized by London standards). it's too small. I need at least 1500, I think. Enough for a nice big kitchen and, oh yes, dream on, a utility space with washer and dryer! I'm a pack rat--we've got hundreds of books crammed in here. (DH isn't much better: when we moved from our old flat there were stacks of Star Trek magazines and boxes of Amiga bits under the bed.) I can't live without books; giving them away/selling them is not an option. When I was in my early teens I decided I was too "grown up" for all my kids books and put them in the basement. Eventually, of course, they got dumped. When I got older I realised how monumentally stupid that was and as a consequence I now hoard.

I don't need one of those 4000 square foot monstrosities, especially since they seem to have so much wasted space (some of the rooms are pointlessly large and the space just doesn't seem to be efficiently used in general). But I need some space.


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## gottaknit (Apr 30, 2004)

We downsized from a 1400 sq ft house (2200 if you include the leaky basement) to 720 sq ft (no basement or attic) nine months ago. Our old house felt empty since we didn't have "enough" furniture or use all the space.

The new house is fine in the summer, since we spend a lot of time outside, but I felt a little crazy in the winter. Main problems are the pets and toys - they are always underfoot.

We are expecting a baby girl now, and we know the kids (one boy one girl) will want their own rooms eventually, so we'll either be adding on or moving. We only have one functioning bedroom, the other is only 8x7ft with no closet, and we use it mainly as a walk-in storage closet/office and away-room for the dogs.

I think it all depends on floor plan for the most part. This house would be fine if we had just one kid or two same-sex kids, and no indoor pets. I think anything over 1500 sq ft is just unneccessary, unless you have a big family (more than 4 kids?). Once you get over 1500, you're looking at little-used, formal rooms like "dining rooms" and "living rooms" that sit empty or just store furniture most the year.


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## Nikki Christina (Mar 27, 2003)

we just moved from 1000 sq ft. size being the main reason

now were in 1550.. its great
i wouldnt call it perfect..Idealy we'd have a 4th bedroom, my kids rooms would be just a tad bit bigger & their bath just a bit bigger.
all other rooms are perfect size i think


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## fruitful womb (Nov 20, 2004)

Our family of 6 lives in a 1 and a half bd 1 bath house. It sits on an acre of land, 1700 sq ft and paid 52k for it. The three kids sleep in the half bedroom while we co-sleep with our newest baby. We lived here for 4 years.

We've gotten rid of A LOT of clutter. Life is simple and it works for us. Although I wish we had a bigger place sometimes.

Dh and I want to take courses on sustainable energy efficient homes at
Cedar Valley College. We'll start our own business and promote energy saving homes.









I do not envy my friends who have 2000+ sq ft homes because they're always complaining about how high their utility bills are.

We ultimately want to build a straw bale house and harvest rainwater.


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## liam's mom (Jun 18, 2003)

our house is 1700 square feet--4 people and two dogs live here. quite honestly, we could use one more bedroom, but the size is just fine.


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## artgoddess (Jun 29, 2004)

much depends on lay out, but I think 250 to 300 sq feet per person is good size.


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## Snowdrift (Oct 15, 2005)

We have 1500 sq ft and it is way too big. We figure that in coming years we will grow into it though.


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## mightymoo (Dec 6, 2003)

I'm pretty happy with 1700 square feet. We could lose a bit and still be okay, I mean if DS's room was a little smaller, our room could be smaller. If it wasn't so broken up, we could lose a bit downstairs too.

I feel this is pretty reasonable sized. I prefer larger sparsely furnished rooms in general - I don't think extra space is bad, if you don't fill it up with stuff.


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## lucyem (Apr 30, 2005)

I think layout is very important, as is your clutter and lifestyle, more so then the actual square footage. What is reasonable to me is not necessarily going to be reasonable to you. We have 2 home offices for example as both my husband and I work out of the home. Thus we need more space then the average family where people work outside of the home. I do agree that houses seem to get bigger and bigger these days with a lot of wasted and/or unused space which eventually gets filled with stuff.


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## koofie (Sep 23, 2003)

We are in a 2 br condo with 1400 sq ft and it is a great space. I would be more satisfied if we had a yard though. It is a pain to have to walk up and down just to take the dog out (poor thing is 15 yo with arthritis) and there is nowhere for a garden. We'd also like some workspace for tools and such - ideally a detached garage. We could easily get by with 1500 - 1800 sq ft, but with the other things we want (like land, a large wraparound porch, a playroom, a basement or cellar for storage, and a house with history) we haven't found what we like for much less than 2000 sq ft, and we can't afford it now anyway


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## KMK_Mama (Jan 29, 2006)

Our house is just over 2,000 sq ft. If we had one more bedroom it would be perfect.


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## glorified_rice (Jun 5, 2005)

There are three of us and we have 1850 square feet total including the basement which is mostly finished. It is just fine right now, but we would need at least one more room if we ever had another child. (We have a huge garage/shop though, which really helps with storage)


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

We are a family of four with a 1700 sq foot house. We only use two bedrooms at the moment. The third bedroom is for my IL's when they come for extended visits. It seems a little too big of a house. Probably due in part to a huge greatroom that is most of the house, with my girls sharing one room off to one side and dh and I in the other room off the other side. The third bedroom is down the hall. We hardly use our huge master bathroom and I think it's a waste of space. We have a garden tub, separate glass shower, separate toilet room and two sinks (and a make-up counter!). We mostly use the kids' bathroom because it's easier to just clean one bathroom. We bought the house to sell soon after as an investment but ended up keeping it long-term. I think 1200-1500 feet would be ideal.

I agree about the clutter-- if you can keep your house simple and reduce clutter a little space goes a long way.


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## lovesdaffodils (Jul 11, 2007)

Our house is about 1300 sq ft, 3 bdrms 2 baths. There's currently two adults and one toddler and it feels HUGE. I could see us comfortably having two adults and two teens. I think more than two children would feel really crowded though. Part of our house was added on a few years ago (before we bought it) so the layout is a little awkward. With a perfect layout, I could see 1300 sq ft fitting more people comfortably.


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## Justmee (Jun 6, 2005)

Our current apartment is 1076 sqare feet. It is a good size for us now, but it's getting a bit cramped (toys everywhere, the girls' room is pretty small, the office / toyroom / playroom is a bit cluttered). We have a small storeroom upstairs and that does help.

We are moving in a few months to a 1500 square foot apartment which will be our "forever home." It is 4br, bigger living / dining room, extra bathroom. I really think it's all in the layout. Our apartment now has no wasted space, but I just would like to seperate the "office room" from the "toy room." When we move will will be able to have 2 bedrooms for kids + a playroom (and the "office" will just be a corner of the playroom (biggest bedroom so plenty of space). I can't wait to have teh toys out of my living room!


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## AlexisT (May 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gottaknit* 
I think it all depends on floor plan for the most part. This house would be fine if we had just one kid or two same-sex kids, and no indoor pets. I think anything over 1500 sq ft is just unneccessary, unless you have a big family (more than 4 kids?). Once you get over 1500, you're looking at little-used, formal rooms like "dining rooms" and "living rooms" that sit empty or just store furniture most the year.

I think this REALLY depends on your lifestyle. We always had a separate dining room, and we used it quite a lot--every Shabbat and holiday, and whenever we had company. I would always want a dining space that wasn't in the kitchen (in fact I would prefer no eat in kitchen and a separate dining room to only a kitchen-diner). And my grandma had a living room and then a den downstairs, and the living room got used all the time--it was where people would sit and talk (it helped that the living and dining rooms where nearly open to each other; we'd finish the meal, then move to the living room). Her house wasn't huge--it was your typical 1950s split--but it was good to have that separation. The TV watchers were separate from the gossipers.


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## Juliacat (May 8, 2002)

The house we lived in before this one was 1100 square feet for just dh and me and our cat, but the layout was terrible! So I agree with the layout bit. Our current house is way, way nicer even though it's only about half as large. The only problem is that our living room is the size of a walk-in closet (and our walk-in closet is...well...we won't go there







).

There are some wonderful, thoughtful responses in this thread. Thank you.


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## MamaMonica (Sep 22, 2002)

1500-1600 sq. ft. seems reasonable. We have two opposite gender kids that need separate rooms as they get older for privacy. Also, I absolutely need my own art space where no one else clutters it (sanity issue!). In winter when we're all indoors some empty space to run around helps keep everyone sane.


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## notneb (Aug 31, 2006)

We're a family of 3 or 4, depending on whether DSS is at our house or his mother's, and we are very happy in a 900 sq ft 2 bd/2 ba apartment right now. DH, DS and I share a room, and DSS has his own. When DS is older, he and DSS will share a room. We're looking into buying, though, because we want to have 1 or 2 more DC and so will eventually want a larger place, and the market in our area is very buyer friendly right now. We've looked at a few houses and the one that we think will best meet our present and future needs is a 1200 sq ft. 3 bd/1 ba house. 3 bedrooms means that no more than 2 DC will share a bedroom, and we will have a guest bedroom until as-yet-unconceived DC #3 is ready to leave our room. The living areas are set up there is a somewhat separate family room that can be a computer room/toy room.


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## AngieB (Oct 25, 2003)

We are a family of six and our house is 1370 sq. Ft. It is a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom with kithen/dinning/ living room all together. Right now it is a perfect size. We have a very open floor plan and I think that helps. Plus we spend lots of time outside. We are planning to convert the garage into more living space as the kids get older. We have 3 girls and 1 boy. Right now ds has his own room and the dd1 & dd2 share a room and dd3 still sleeps with us and all of her toys and clothes are in our room. There is a 6 year age difference between dd1 and dd2 so we would like to give dd1 her own room soon and then move the two youngest into a room together. I think the most important thing is that a house has to fill the families needs and if it is not working out it's ok to go a bit bigger or make some changes.


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## Stace (Jan 4, 2007)

We're currently renting a townhouse that's around 1200 sq ft, and it's too small for the three of us (plus two cats). Part of that has to do with the layout, but part of it also has to do with things I had to compromise on. For instance, we only have one full bathroom and then a half bathroom - I prefer two full bathrooms. My washer and dryer are stuck in a closet in the full bathroom, which is small to begin with...doing laundry is not a happy occasion. We don't use our second bedroom for much other than storage and the occasional guest, though if we didn't have problems with keeping the temperature regulated in there, we'd use it a lot more.

I can't do much with the living room because of the layout, so we have a lot of space that feels wasted. They would have done a lot better with making the kitchen smaller (because there is a TON of wasted space in there) and making the living area larger. The closets in the master bedroom are ridiculously small, and it's hard to reach back into the sides, so their full potential isn't used, either. Same thing with the linen closet.

We're about to move to a new place that's 1500 sq ft, and while it's still not what I would call ideal, the layout is a lot better than what we have now. I'm one of those people who likes plenty of open space; small rooms look more cluttered and make me feel claustrophobic. Ideally, when we buy a house, we'll have upwards of 1500 sq ft; 2000 sq ft would probably be about perfect for us.


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## shayinme (Jan 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lucyem* 
I think layout is very important, as is your clutter and lifestyle, more so then the actual square footage. What is reasonable to me is not necessarily going to be reasonable to you. We have 2 home offices for example as both my husband and I work out of the home. Thus we need more space then the average family where people work outside of the home. I do agree that houses seem to get bigger and bigger these days with a lot of wasted and/or unused space which eventually gets filled with stuff.


ITA w/this. I live in a 3000 sq. ft Victorian and at times it feels small. In part because there are very few closets (2 to be exact) and if it were not for the attached barn/garage we'd have very few places to put stuff. Also in our case, dh works from home so out of the 4 bedrooms, 1 is a office; plus 3 of the bedrooms are attached with no hallway seperating them and with a 15 yo and a almost 2 yo, I realize that we really don't have as much room as we originally thought.

So a poorly designed house with more space can be worse than living in a smaller but better designed house/apt with closets, etc. A good layout is key.

Shay


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## EviesMom (Nov 30, 2004)

My ideal would be 1000 square feet well designed for a family of 4-5 plus pets. For more people in the house, then I'd add a few hundred per person. But... I'm coming from an urban apartment-dweller perspective where I can't imagine over 2000 square feet for even a big family.

We live in about 700 with 3, soon to be 4 plus pets. We could not manage with this space if dh still worked from home, and my WAH business has a storage locker for all the products I sell. Err... and I'm typing this from our "master bedroom" which is literally the size of a queen size bed with niches for alarm clock, etc. in the wall. Somewhere between 1000 square feet done well in layout and 1500 with average layout seems reasonable to me.

My parents who probably have 2000 square feet and 4 adults living there just seems cavernous, cluttered, and isolating, but that's the people and hoarding of stuff moreso than the space I suppose.


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## passionfaerie (Oct 4, 2005)

We are a family of four living in a 900 ft sq 2bd 1 bath house. I would like just a bit bigger, mainly another bedroom since we have a boy and a girl and will eventually need it, but mainly I would just like to make use of the space we do have. I don't think a 1200 sq ft house is too small if you plan out your storage areas.


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## boingo82 (Feb 19, 2004)

It's all about the layout and your family's specific needs. Also, to be fair you must count unfinished basements as well as finished, because you can still stash junk down there.
I say this because I live in 1300 sq ft with no basement (slab on grade) and no attic (flat roof) and no garage so we REALLY only have 1300.


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## aurinia (Jun 16, 2007)

We have a 2000 square foot colonial (5 bedrooms, 2 full baths, partial unfinished basement, no attic) and part of the reason we're selling it is that its just too large for the four of us. Right now we're only using 2 of the bedrooms and we don't ever use the upstairs bathroom or the formal dining room. We're going to be looking for something between 1000-1500 square feet, and that should be plenty for us. I don't think we could go any smaller, though, because we want to have at least one more child AND we have two huge dogs (they should probably have their own room, come to think of it...LOL) who are always underfoot already.

Edited to add: Square footage doesn't include the basement...the only thing we have down there are two washers and two dryers. Can't use it for storage because it gets too wet...gotta love those old houses!


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## wannabe (Jul 4, 2005)

Quote:

The three kids sleep in the half bedroom
They wouldn't have fitted in some of the full bedrooms I saw today! or most of the main bedrooms, either, actually.


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## Starr (Mar 16, 2005)

We have been debating the "right" size house for our family for the past 6 months. In the end we decided to stay put. Right now there are 3 people and the house does seem a bit excessive, but it is laid out perfect for us. I mean literally the floor plan is ideal in room configuration and also sunlight (this is a huge deal for me). Our house is 1650 SF plus a full basement (unfinished) and an attic for storage. I usually host several holidays and didn't want to sacrifice that by downsizing, so instead of starting from scratch we are going to tackle the house like we just moved in and finally paint and decorate it to our likes.


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## BetsyS (Nov 8, 2004)

We have 1700 square feet. It's alternately too big and too small. We have 2 and a half baths, and we don't use one of the bathrooms (the baby just takes baths in our bathroom). One bedroom is ours, one is the baby's, and one is a guest room/office. My dh works from home, so he's in that room the most.

Where it is odd is that our master bedroom is tons bigger than our living room. We play in the bedroom, because it's so big. We don't need that much space. I'd love more in the living room, though. And, we have a dining room, which we use, well, to dine. That leaves wasted space in the kitchen, though, where there is a really small (too small for a decent sized table, too big for anything else) eating area.


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## jtbuko (Sep 28, 2006)

We live in a 1280sf townhome in an area surrounded by McMansions.

Someday we would like either a bit more space, a better layout (could easily downsize with a good layout), or a garage or solid storage shed for storage.

In driving around our area DH and I have come to conclusion that the line between reasonable and irresponsible is crossed when a home intended to house a single family requires more than one central air conditioning unit for cooling.


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## momuveight2B (Mar 17, 2006)

To me a reasonable size home is one we can support on one income or less that way we have more time together as a family and the freedom to pursue other interests.


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## gottaknit (Apr 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momuveight2B* 
To me a reasonable size home is one we can support on one income or less that way we have more time together as a family and the freedom to pursue other interests.

Perfectly stated.


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## cjanelles (Oct 22, 2005)

I cannot IMAGINE living in a house smaller than at least 1800 sq ft, and that would be a tight squeeze for me and my family of 5 (me, DH, teen son, 10 yr old dd1, baby dd2).

We currently live in a 2100 sq ft house, and we use every square inch. We have a 4-bedroom, 2-bath house, so everyone has their own rooms (even though the baby sleeps with us right now, she does have a nursery).

I am in a constant state of decluttering and trying to "live simply", so we're not over-stuffed, but we sure do use all of our space and sometimes wish for more. I suppose that the individual rooms could be smaller and still functional, but I really, really appreciate my space. At this point, I think that if we sold this house and bought anything smaller, we'd really have a hard time adapting.


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## amyable (Dec 24, 2006)

We live in an 1100 sq ft raised ranch/split foyer type house (about 1500 if you include the unfinished space downstairs). There are supposed to be 2 full baths, but for at least the past 6 years the shower has not worked in the master bath and right now there aren't even walls (lol, blame it on a DIY husband who has no time to DIY







)

In Sept we will be 7 people living there, and while we are making it work, it is poorly laid out for us and we feel we will need to move within 3 years or so. Part of the problem is we homeschool and there are only so many books/school items/projects I can declutter, and part of it is we have 4 girls and the next is a boy who we want to have a separate room eventually. Fitting 4 girls in any of the bedrooms will be difficult, even with bunks (poor layout - windows/closets, etc in bad places).

I really think we could make 1500 work with a different layout, and a garage would be nice.







I love to have "private spaces" though, so my *ideal* for a family of 7+ would probably be 1700 or a little bigger (only if my kids would help clean







)


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## Gr8ful Momma (Jul 16, 2007)

I have a 1400 sqft home with 5 people in my family. I would really like it to be closer to 1600 sqft that way when our next sweet baby arrives (currently TTC) he/she would have a room and the boys would have somewhere to play.


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## veggijessie (Aug 21, 2006)

We are putting an offer on a 936 sq foot house today!!! But it has a great layout 3 bed and 2 bath fenced yard and 1 car garage. It also has 2 porches that we can expand. I think that it will be great for a couple of years or until we have 2-3 more kids!


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## njbeachgirl (Oct 8, 2006)

i really liked reading about everyone's different living situations.

dh+baby+me are in a 2000sf+unfinished basement+walkup attic, 4 bed, 1.5 bath house. we got a great price on it because the previous owner was building a new place and needed cash.

advantages:
-the rooms are huge which is great for entertaining-kitchen alone is 300 sf!
-we have a nice sized home office (154 sf) which is also an exercise room and ebay room. i used to work at home so it was nice to have a large area for all my design crap.
-enough room for 2 separate bedrooms for kids upstairs (we are planning 1-2 more kids).
-laundry area is behind louvre doors in the kitchen so I don't have to go in the basement come laundry time
-loads of storage (though we are pretty decluttered)

disadvantages:
-lacks a downstairs coat closet. Didn't people wear coats in NJ in the 1930's?
-sucks to clean
-heating and cooling costs are ridiculous (we also have high ceilings)
-instead of a huge master bedroom which we really only use for sleeping, I would love a reasonably sized bedroom and another full bath. the only bathroom on the upstairs floor is barely big enough to turn around in.

in conclusion, DH loves this house so we are staying a while. (it has a bar with working beer taps and TVs. I will never convince him to move







) I would prefer to downsize because I don't like leaving such a big footprint ... I feel we have much more than we need. a smaller home=a smaller mortgage=pay it off sooner. I think a smaller mortgage would be just great, worth more than having a lot of space considering I am a sahm and it's not easy getting by on one income. Also, I am lazy and cleaning this house is a major job.


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## scrapadoozer (Jun 10, 2004)

We are a family of three living in an approx 1500 sq ft 2bed 1ba home with no basement and no attic. It's plenty of space for us. The house has lots and lots of closets so that certainly helps. We could go somewhat smaller but we have no interest in going larger! We love our reasonable mortgage & utilities!


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## abharrington (Jun 30, 2007)

we (dh + dd + me) live in a 850 sq ft 3 bed 1 bath ranch w/ full unfinished basement. we love it, for now, but know we will only be here 3 more years (till school is done). i wish the dining room (really just an extension of the kitchen) were bigger...our table for 6 is a really tight squeeze.

i also agree that layout is EVERYTHING. i don't mind the small bedrooms...tons easier to keep clean and neat. but i wish the kitchen/dining room/family room were more 1 open, connected space. we could, and may (during residency - - prob in a big city) go smaller but a better layout is a must. i'm not convinced dd needs her own room (at 6 mo, she sleeps with us) it more so just holds all her nursery stuff.

what a great (and tough) post. i am constantly thinking our home is too big, then too small, then we have too much stuff and so on. all of our family live out of town, but come to visit lots, so a dedicated guest room is something that truly gets a lot of use.

i would love a slightly bigger kitchen/eating area, so comfortably seat 6 - 8 (we have people over for meals several times a week) and a second bathroom. other than that, we love it.

my sister and her husband have a 1900 sq ft 3 bed, 2 bath w/ a separate office and in some ways, it feels much smaller. there is tons of wasted space and little storage. i would not trade it for my house in any way.

thanks for sharing...i love hearing (and imagining) where you all call home.


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## AlexisT (May 6, 2007)

one thing that people didn't mention is outside space... how much you have and how usable it is can make a big difference. If you don't have a garden, or you live in a cold/wet climate and can't use it much, your inside space feels even smaller.


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## majikfaerie (Jul 24, 2006)

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's situations...

We just moved from a 650 sq ft apartment, (which was adequate, but sometimes I felt like it was a bit cramped) to a little one-room cottage with a loft bedroom, which is a bit smaller, but is on several acres of land with rainforest. We are just 2 adults with one preschooler, but we both work from home, and I find this amount of space to be just fine.
Of course, we dont really have much stuff, all of our posessions fit in one van-load.

So though we've moved to a smaller space, we have a lot of outdoors, so it feels bigger. and its still a big move up from the last 9 years, which were spent travelling and living out of a backpack!


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## Penelope (Jul 22, 2003)

I read recently that the ideal you should shoot for, ecologically speaking, is no more than 500sf per person.







We've *never* had that much space. Our tightest fit was 4 people in an almost 900 sf condo, and it would have been fine with one more room. Now we're in 1400 sf, with a big yard, and it's plenty of space, although we could stand to declutter. I don't have an office, so I've taken over the dining room table, but we eat in the kitchen or outside during the summer, and it's ok. I could stand one more bedroom, but it's not a necessity.

Dh said he wanted a lot more space in our next house, and I said, "Who do you think is going to *clean* it??" Long pause...


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## Juliacat (May 8, 2002)

I asked dh the other day what kind of house he would like, given realistic affordability, and he said a house like ours but with a bigger living room and one extra room. That would probably make around a 1000 square foot house, I reckon. I think that is probably reasonable. But, it's funny how everyone thinks their house would be fine with one extra room. It never ends









I have never lived in a house with a basement.


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## Rebecca (Dec 4, 2002)

We are moving from our 1500 sq ft home (with full finished basement) on an acre to a tiny seaside island cottage, about 1000 sq ft with no basement and hardly a yard (it might be 20'x20'). There's a barn we can convert to living space, so there will be room for dh's home office (he works from home) and downstairs we can convert a third of it to shed housing the freezer, generator, snowblower, etc and the rest for a living room for the boys as they get bigger and want to hang out with their friends.

My folks live across the street and will allow dh to use one of their 5 bedrooms for dh's office until then.

Our new cottage will have 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom upstairs and the downstairs is basically one open room with a staircase going upstairs. It was built in 1770 (or earlier) and my great grandmother was born in it in 1906. It'll be nice to have it back in the family.

But we're still worried about the lack of personal space. Our current home has lots of little rooms and places to get away. The new one will have hardly any. My saving grace is that the kids will go to school (ds1 starts halfday K and the 3 yr old will go to preschool 2 mornings/wk).

I'm looking for colonial style furniture with dual purposes if anyone has suggestions.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

since dh and i have been on our own (end of my senior year), we've been in about 1000sf- 2 seperate apartments, one of which felt super small because we always had roommates (once it was dh and i, in one br, a sil and her 2 kids in the other br, my sis and dh's bro each sleeping on a couch in the living room)

our apt in germany was just under 850, and while it was good for the 2 of us, it would have been too small with a baby- we used the extra room for all of dh's army stuff, desk and computer and file cabinet and my craft table as well as the dog kennels. we had a small storage room in the basement, maybe 50-60 sf, and thats where we kept all the christmas stuff, dh's army gear, stuff like that

our house we're renting now is a 2br 1 bath with a den/family room thats about 1000sf, and its perfect for us and the babe on the way and the dogs, except for the lack of closet space.

i dont think its that easy to decide what is a good size, since every family is different. the only thing that bothers me is when on home shows (i watch too much hgtv, lol) a couple has one baby, declare their house is too small, and move into a 4000sf house


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## aggie11381 (Jan 21, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momuveight2B* 
To me a reasonable size home is one we can support on one income or less that way we have more time together as a family and the freedom to pursue other interests.


This was our starting point for finding a house. We wanted something with a decent monthly payment (ended up at 22% of DH's income). Then we looked at neighborhoods we liked. We also looked for a split floor plan with the bedrooms separate from the master, a central open kitchen, and one story. We really didn't look at size, so the house ended up too big for just the two of us at 2200 sqft. We have two rooms we don't go in and we don't use the formals. However we have no intention of moving once we have kids and we do feel really comfortable with room to grow.

My MIL made some comments about not showing off with the house, it's too big, etc. I find their house a little crowded (would never mention it of course!) It's all a matter of perspective about what you find important I guess.


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## Thalia (Apr 9, 2003)

How do you calculate square footage? Do you just take the footage of the major rooms, or do you include the entire space (hallways, too)?


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## boingo82 (Feb 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Thalia* 
How do you calculate square footage? Do you just take the footage of the major rooms, or do you include the entire space (hallways, too)?

Entire space - usually, the outside dimensions multiplied. So you also include space taken up by walls in many cases.


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## ILoveMyBabyBird (Sep 2, 2006)

Oh I am glad I found this thread because we are looking into buying a house in the fall, and these opinions have really put my ideas into perspective. We currently, dh,ds and I live in a 1550 sq ft. double wide and it seems to be about the right size, although I don't really like the layout. We have a huge mbathroom, that I realized I only use and a rather large laundry room that could be a bit smaller, and we have one spare room that is really the junk room as we don't have an attic or basement for storage. I would like to buy a house w/the same amount of footage, but a different layout. Oh and we must have 2 toilets, awful when pg and needing to pee, kwim?! When dh and I were first married we were always needing to use the restroom at the same time, w/just the two of us, so 2 toilets are a must have for us.


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## SABE (May 22, 2005)

We're a family of 5 in a 1400 sq ft house, no basement. It's a good size for us right now.


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## tree_hugger (Aug 22, 2004)

I agree with the previous posters who've said its all about the layout.

We are five people in 1100 square feet, with a very small amount of storage space in the garage.

We have four bedrooms, one bath and a dining room. We also have a kind of unusual way of using the rooms - the dining room is my office, the lounge functions as a combined lounge / dining and one of the bedrooms is DH's office. Then DH and I have a bedroom, DS1 and DS2 share one and DS3 has his own room (even though he sleeps with us at night he naps in there during the day).

Our last home was about 2000 square feet with a terrible layout and it always felt cramped and suffocating, where as this home is perfect for us.


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## hollyml (Jul 12, 2007)

Our house is about 1200 sf, a bungalow with 2+ bedrooms and 1 bath. (The "plus" room is our home office/craft and giftwrap storage/music practice/catchall room, and it has the coat closet in it since there isn't one near our front door.) We've got attic storage space and a tiny detached garage-turned-workshop. (We park in the driveway.) The layout of the house is really very good, but it is just a little bit small for the four of us.

I want another bathroom, and as soon as DD is fully potty trained I'm going to REALLY want another bathroom!







: And I'd also like one additional bedroom, so that the kids can eventually each have their own room and so that they'd have a little more private/semiprivate play and study space. Because of the layout of our house and the small size of our lot, we'll have to add mostly up rather than back, so that means more square footage to account for a stairway, and we might end up adding a little more space to what is now the office to turn it into more of a "family room" just because that would make sense floorplan-wise. So I can see going up to around 1800 sf without feeling like the house was too big. And I am definitely not a fan of too-big houses with rooms that never get used!

Before we bought our house, DH and I lived in a townhouse style apartment that was probably around 900 to 1000 sf. Two bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, with a large storage closet and a shared laundry room next door. It was a perfect size for just the two of us, although the downstairs did get pretty crowded when we had parties. The living room was kinda cramped for the amount of furniture and stuff we owned.

That apartment was built in the late '60s IIRC and when we moved into a late 1920s house it was interesting to me to notice the way the allocation of space has changed over time. Our house isn't THAT much bigger than the apartment and the number and type of rooms is very close to the same. But in the 1920s home, the bedrooms are small, the closets are tiny, and the living and dining rooms are relatively spacious. Whereas in the 1960s home, the bedrooms and closets are spacious and the "common area" rooms are cramped. I dunno, it says something about the meaning of "home" in our culture and the way our lives and expectations have changed.

Nowadays, of course, in newly built homes everything is gargantuan.







: I used to read a shelter mag that had a regular feature on "small houses" -- I believe they defined "small" as anything under 2000 sf. Some of the featured homes were little vacation cabins or quirky custom places, but there were lots of things that qualified as dream homes for me.







Those were usually right around 1800 sf.









Holly


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## KariM (Mar 13, 2004)

For me, it's all about layout, less important is the square footage.

When we were a family of three we lived in an 1800 sq ft house that seemed cavernous and was more than we needed.

We're now a family of four and live in a 1200 sq ft house that seems too tiny. It's not, it just has a less than ideal layout due to the age of the house (build in the 1880s). Ideally we'd knock out some walls and open it up a bit, then I think the footage would work well for us.









If were house shopping again, I'd give some serious thought to how we live and how we use space. Then I'd search around for a house that matched or build one to suit us (ideal situation).


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

We recently bought a 19th century farmhouse and it is 1400 square feet. We moved from 2100. I have plans to eventually enlarge the kitchen and add a master bedroom with bath on the first floor (for my old age. lol) I would like at least 600 more sq feet. I would like a large kitchen-family room for all my future grandchildren with enough room for them to move my wheelchair around the kitchen when we bake cookies.







I would like french doors leading to a huge garden so my nurse can wheel me out there and I can watch my chickens. I have penty of land, but I would like some more room indoors, esp for having large family gatherings. Our barn is bigger than our house.


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## TeaLeaf (Jun 19, 2007)

DH and I live in a less than 800 sqft house and have a babe on the way. After combining two households when we got married into this house we felt the pain. The house is great if you're single or starting up/first home couple with a child, but for us, two established adults... argh!

Lately we've had plenty of time to think about what's a reasonably sized home. We purchased a plot of land out in the country and are working on the drawings. The main question we keep in mind is how are life will be when we move in? Are we going to entertain a lot, when do we do what on a daily basis and how we use each room, are we going to have many visitors from out of town, how sustainable can we afford to be, etc. After all those questions, it became pretty clear what was essential and what was not.

Since we are not royalty, we figured we'd do without a formal dining room and a formal living room. We make the plain vanilla dining and living area larger than the usual variety to make up for that, but at least we'll use those areas daily. We go on the premise that we're not going to be buried with our furniture and want to use them until they turn to dust. Ultimately, with bedrooms and a special interest area/room, all we need is about 1800 sqft of inhabitable quarters and we'll use every inch of it (that doesn't include garage and unfinished basement.)

Looking forward to move in next year







:


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## Mavournin (Jul 9, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Thalia* 
How do you calculate square footage? Do you just take the footage of the major rooms, or do you include the entire space (hallways, too)?


Quote:


Originally Posted by *boingo82* 
Entire space - usually, the outside dimensions multiplied. So you also include space taken up by walls in many cases.

How do you figure for multiple floors though? I have three full floors and a full basement. I was once told to only calculate the first floor for square footage - but that seemed like cheating given that we have three times more living and storage space than that.

In any case though, I would love more space. My house sounds big, but it's really only modest size. I have a 100+ year old twin, so it's narrow with extremely narrow stairwells and hallways. The one bathroom is gnat-sized. I can literally touch the opposite walls at the same time. With a family of 5, it gets difficult. And few closets. We do have four bedrooms, and that is a great blessing. My ideal house has similar bedrooms but has closets, a second toilet, an eat in kitchen and a larger yard. Ahh... that would be heaven.


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## hollyml (Jul 12, 2007)

Different appraisers and assessors and builders and the like calculate square footage in different ways, actually, which is why it's hard to get a consistent number! The simplest way is to measure the exterior footprint of the house and estimate that way. If your house is a rectangle 30 feet by 50 feet, with two stories, you've got approximately 3000 square feet (30 x 50 = 1500, x 2 stories = 3000). But that's going to overstate the living space because it doesn't subtract the space that's inside the walls, and it counts the stairwell space twice when that's really only one "living area". Some appraisers use some sort of rule-of-thumb adjustment formula to account for that.

Another way to do it, and appraisers often do this if they have access to the interior of the house, is to measure all the rooms and add up the area of each. So if you have a 15x30 living/dining room, a 15x20 kitchen, two 12x12 bedrooms and an 8x10 bathroom, you've got 450+300+144+144+80 = 1118 square feet. Of course I'm ignoring hallways and closets and such in this example but you get the idea.

There's no real consistency about whether you count unfinished basements, attached garages, and similar areas that aren't technically living space.

But I will say I've never heard of just not counting upper floors at all!

Holly


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## Ruthiegirl (Jun 25, 2004)

We have 1800 sq ft plus a full unfinished basement and attic. We are a family of 4, soon to be 5.

We go back and forth about the house. I want to downsize to something smaller, but the neighborhood is great and we love living here. We have a nice sized yard, a huge vegetable garden, we can walk to the YMCA, we can walk to the river, all these things have kept us here paying for a biggish old house.

We have a lot of unused space. People come over and ask if we are moving. And then they ask where all of our stuff is.









Oh, and our layout rocks. Nice big living room, big dining room, no formal rooms. It is all very good space, just a lot of it.


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## Thalia (Apr 9, 2003)

Thanks for the help with calculating square footage. Our two-bedroom apartment is just shy of 850 square feet. Which is good to know, because although it is not huge, it doesn't feel tiny either. When we are looking to buy next year, it's good to know that 1600 square feet will be double our current space!


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## olliepop (Jun 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momuveight2B* 
To me a reasonable size home is one we can support on one income or less that way we have more time together as a family and the freedom to pursue other interests.

ITA!

We currently own a 10 year old house w/1250 square feet and we're about to purchase a 85 year old house w/1300 square feet. Everyone assumes that we're getting a bigger home (yeah, it's 50 sq. feet bigger) but we're really moving for location. Our current house is perfect for our family of four and if we could take it w/us we would.

Our friends and family don't understand why we're not upgrading to bigger digs and definitely can't comprehend why we're buying such an old house. It has so much character, as does the neighborhood we're moving to. Everything is within walking distance, tons of mom and pop shops, parks, library, etc. Right now we have to drive to everything, even to the park to ride bikes. The most important reason for moving is the fantastic school system. People don't understand why we're even thinking about high school now b/c our children are "only" 7 months and 4 years old.

I have friends who have McMansions and can't afford to furnish rooms and can't afford to heat and cool their house. I just can't understand that. It's all about appearances.

To answer the OP's question, I think anything between 1200 -1500 sq ft is comfortable for a family of four, at least ours.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Ours is 1100 sf, which has been perfectly adequate for three. We're adding a fourth, though, which is going to mean eliminating the study, which is a bit of a bummer. Our other issue is storage--we have no basement, attic, or garage. I am going to have to chuck a lot of stuff and be creative.

Having only one bathroom has become slightly more of an issue since DD potty-trained, too! ("Mama, I neeeed to gooooo!")


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## boingo82 (Feb 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *olliepop* 
Our friends and family don't understand why we're not upgrading to bigger digs and definitely can't comprehend why we're buying such an old house. It has so much character, as does the neighborhood we're moving to. Everything is within walking distance, tons of mom and pop shops, parks, library, etc. Right now we have to drive to everything, even to the park to ride bikes. The most important reason for moving is the fantastic school system. People don't understand why we're even thinking about high school now b/c our children are "only" 7 months and 4 years old.

Congratulations! It sounds awesome! I too prefer an older home with character. And I agree that 1300 sq ft is perfect for a family of 4.


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## marybethorama (Jun 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momuveight2B* 
To me a reasonable size home is one we can support on one income or less that way we have more time together as a family and the freedom to pursue other interests.

That's why I love our house.

That said, I wouldn't mind ONE or ideally two more rooms. Our house is 1200sqft plus a basement and while the layout is okay, I wish it were just a little bigger.


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## momaste (Oct 9, 2006)

We're in 920 sq ft/ 2bed 1 bath (no basement, garage is the family business so no outside storage) for three of us, and I could go smaller. We're trying for a second child and with a family of four, it will be just right, I think. The big concern for me is if we have a girl next time around, we'd need to come up with separate space for the two kids (DS is, of course, a boy) as they grow. In that case, the size of our house wouldn't be so much at issue as the layout - we'd need an extra bedroom.


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## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

I think it's difficult to quantify "ideal living space" in terms of square footage alone. In terms of comfort, I agree with all those who said it's about layout, not square footage. A poorly designed 2000 square foot home can feel small, and a well designed 1000 square foot home can feel large.

Also, environmental impact is not always tied to square footage, and I think a lot of people overlook this. A brand-new 1200 square foot house that is built by a subdivision developer on recently razed land and that requires a driving commute to get anywhere can easily have a greater environmental impact than a 2000 square foot historic home that has been recycled through multiple generations and is within walking distance of everything. Even a 3000 square foot can have minimal environmental impact if it's a straw bale home with solar power.


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## *LoveBugMama* (Aug 2, 2003)

Threads like this always makes me crazy!!







:

I have NO idea how big the houses you are talking about is. Here in Norway we don`t use squarefeet, we use squaremeters... Does anyone know of a place online where I can get help to translate?

My home is extremely small. 1 bedroom, 1 tiny bathroom, 1 livingroom/kitchen in one. The livingroompart is so small there is barely room for my couch, a chair and a tv.









It`s 32 squaremeters.


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## boingo82 (Feb 19, 2004)

Just type it into google....


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## Justmee (Jun 6, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CrunchyTamara* 
Threads like this always makes me crazy!!







:

I have NO idea how big the houses you are talking about is. Here in Norway we don`t use squarefeet, we use squaremeters... Does anyone know of a place online where I can get help to translate?

My home is extremely small. 1 bedroom, 1 tiny bathroom, 1 livingroom/kitchen in one. The livingroompart is so small there is barely room for my couch, a chair and a tv.









It`s 32 squaremeters.

To get a ballpark estimate you can just take off the last number (works better with smaller places). When I need a specific one I go to google & write ____ square feet = square meters.

I know my 100 sq meter apartment is 1076 sqare feet, and the 140 sq meter apartment I am buying is 1500 sq feet.


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## sabrinat (Jul 21, 2005)

We live in just over 1700 sf. and are a family of 6. I'm pretty sure it's too small, but I love our neighborhood and prices have gone up so much in our area that moving would mean almost doubling our mortgage and I'm not sure I'm willing to do that right now. We might add on in the future as an alternative. I think if our kitchen was configured differently where you could have a table in there and I could turn the dining room into a playroom it thing would be a world better .


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## Ceinwen (Jul 1, 2004)

We're three (soon to be four) people in a three bed/one bath house - just under 1000 square feet.

I think it will continue to be fine for the four of us, but if we plan on having even one more dc, it won't work - we'll need more bedroom space.

Mostly because dp and I have separate rooms. He has severe sleep apnea, and no one can bear to even be on the same floor as him when he's sleeping (he's been relegated to the basement bedroom).









This time next year, we'll be adding a second toilet/sink to the laundry room downstairs.


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## *LoveBugMama* (Aug 2, 2003)

Thank you!!









Then I will have to say that 344 squarefeet is a little on the small side for me and my son. (6 YO) But just a little. An extra bedroom would make it perfect. So, 450 squarefeet or so would be just perfect!


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## Aguazul (Sep 16, 2006)

Our apartment is 800sf. There are 5 of us (girls 13 & 9, boy 11, DH and myself). Two bedrooms. It is hard. But our main problems are that we have too much stuff and I have no organizational skills. I almost hate being at home because it is too overwhelming. So I avoid it as much as possible. But that is not the way I want to live. The thing is, until I get the unnecessary stuff out and learn how to organize, even if we had a larger place it would still be crowded and junky.


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## ~PurityLake~ (Jul 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Juliacat* 
I firmly believe, as most people in this forum do, that the trend of giant houses even as families grow smaller is ridiculous. I firmly believe that a smaller house, a smaller mortgage or rent payment, less stuff, and more simplicity leads to a happier, more fulfilling life.

I totally agree with that.
I've often stated that myself.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Juliacat* 
But I still think my house is too small.
Our house is 680 square feet with three people living in it--sometimes four when my mom is here, and would be four if we were to have another kid. If I could have whatever I wanted, I would want a house similar to this one but at least 800 square feet.
I even think 1500 wouldn't be completely unreasonable.
How many square feet per person do _you_ think is reasonable for a house?

Our home is ~840 sq ft home with two bedrooms and one bath-
for 4, sometimes 5 people
and 5 pets: one 60# dog, two cats and two birds
(which, of course, includes the dog kennel, cat beds, cat scratcher, and two large bird cages).
Therefore, I believe number and type/size of pets is an important factor, as well.
Our home is essentially 3 living areas (including the 2 bedrooms) plus one bathroom.

1) We cosleep with our two daughters, so would just need a slighly larger bedroom than we have now for sleeping purposes.
At some point, years down the road, they'll share a room.

2) My 10 yr stepson is here often and regularly.
He currently resides in our 2nd bedroom which he graciously shares with the cats and dog (and all their stuff)
and is where I keep my extra kid toys, photos, a computer, our files, etc (I guess an office, as it is).

3) Our living/kitchen/dining room is a total of 13 ft by ~ 25 ft.
It seems far too small considering the dining area is in the kitchen and houses our two birds' cages and our dining table with four chairs.
It's very hard to maneuver around the table to access my birds' cages for maintenance purposes and to interact with them (as in let them in and out).
A loveseat is the visual separator of the kitchen/dining from our living/entry.
Our living room contains two loveseats, two chairs, a computer desk, an entertainment center (that holds our tv, vcr, dvd, diapers, books and baby toys), and the floor is covered by toys, pillows and blankets most of the time.

*We have one large bathroom that includes a washer and dryer.*

Considering our setup, I think our home is far too small and I really wish, not for more stuff, but just more space for the little bit of stuff we do have.
If I were to guess, I'd say ~200 sq foot per person.
In our case, that would be a 1000 sq foot home.
Pets are a different matter, depending on their requirements.
I believe my pets require a total of 30 sq feet for their housing/feeding needs to be properly fulfilled.
This of course, is exluding any potential future yard/outdoor space.

Hobbies are another factor.
Some people may wish for a hobby/craft room for all to share, creating a need for another 100 sq ft (a 10 by 10 room).
And for gardeners, a greenhouse would be a lovely addition.

So for me, my ideal home would be *between 1200 and 1400 sq foot*.


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## ~Megan~ (Nov 7, 2002)

I would like a well organized home that was about 1500 square ft. I'd like lots of closets for storage definitely.


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

1200-1500 is perfect for 4 we are 3 in an 840 with no garage. it is tight.


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## crunchy_mama (Oct 11, 2004)

Our house burned down so we are rebuilding right now. We did have 1150 on a basement, but now will have 1750 on a 1150 basement. We wanted to upgrade as we did not plan on kids when we built and upstairs only had 2 bedrooms(1 moderate size 15x12 and one small 10x10). Currently we have 2 kids and plan for 4-6. I honestly wish that we had only made half a basement before, but we have it now. We only had 1 room finished before and now will not have anything finished. The only thing downstairs is mechanical stuff in-hotwater heater, c/h/a, breaker box. The basement will hopefully be finished in about 10 years when we have more and older kids and a need for more bedrooms.

We expanded the upstairs to add 1 more bedroom- so one for us (although the kids still sleep with us) and one for boys and girls. We made a great room; instead of a very, very small dining room we had(where we couldn't even invite company over) and pretty small living room. We expanded the kitchen as well as I spend a lot of time in there and now will have a pantry and laundry area, before I didn't have any cabinet or closet for sheets and covers. For the most part though I don't store a lot of things. I think if I don't have the room then I don't need the stuff and I definitely do not like to use the basement to store a bunch of crap.


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## ~PurityLake~ (Jul 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *crunchy_mama* 
For the most part though I don't store a lot of things. I think if I don't have the room then I don't need the stuff and I definitely do not like to use the basement to store a bunch of crap.

First I want to say congratulations on being able to rebuild your home.
That must have been a very difficult, traumatic experience.

I also hate to store things (other than photos) because I think it's too easy to collect crap.
We like to freecycle, but not enough people are picking things up from us.
If I had more/any storage, I know it would be much worse and we'd have even more unused crap.


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## treefolk (Nov 19, 2005)

It is all about layout. We are moving from a completely open cabin (about 1600 sq. ft total I guess) to a 150 yo house (with not one closet) but so says the realtor it is 2000 sq. ft. I don't believe this for a second. We need to get rid of literally 1/2 our furniture. It's 2-3 bedrooms (tiny) 1 bath, 1 living room, one dining room. I'm loving it though. Like the scale, I'm not interested in #'s. Closets to me are only an excuse to shove unwanted things in . We have maybe 1/2 of an armoire of clothes that actually need hanging, none of the kids clothes needs hanging. A coat closet might be nice, but not a big deal.

For our family of 4, 3 bdrs. were wanted. My 7 yo dd is a collector of tiny things and likes to make up hours of stories with them. My 4 yo ds is a destroyer and will tear through a room like a tornado. My dd rarely sleeps in her own room (ironically she usually likes to sleep w/said destoyer) but she gets VERY anxious if she does not have a safe closed place for her things.


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## OakBerry (May 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vermontgirl* 
We just bought a 1700 square foot house. It is VERY reasonably sized. In fact, I consider it to be small and cozy.

Anything under 1000 square feet for a family sounds unreasonably small to me. We are moving from a 750 square foot apartment to our new house. It will be quite the change. I have been feeling a bit cramped.

That's what we have, about 1700 sq feet, 3 bedrooms. And there are only 3 of us. But, we may have another child, I want to get a dog, we like to have people stay over, an dh uses one of the bedrooms for a home office.
For me a bigger space does not = more clutter. I like having the extra open space.


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## ~PurityLake~ (Jul 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OakBerry* 
For me a bigger space does not = more clutter. I like having the extra open space.

I like extra open space, too.
And it's true more space doesn't necessarily = more clutter.
Sometimes more storage = more clutter, though.
All those tiny nooks and crannies to stuff things away in and forget about.


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## 59046 (Jun 24, 2006)

Our house is 2100 square feet and I love it. It is just enough room to have a lot of people over and still feel comfortable. I know that is not usually a requirement, but we do have large groups over for bbq's (40-50) and since it rains sometimes, people are inside a lot.

Three bedrooms means one parent room, one boy room and one girl room if we have 3-4 children.

Two bathrooms means quicker showering because they can both run at once, and the opportunity to use the toilet while someone is showering or taking a bath in the other bathroom.

We only have one dining area. I think a dining room seperate from where you have a kitchen table and chairs is silly.


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## AlexisT (May 6, 2007)

It isn't silly if you have people over a lot, or make holidays, or what have you. I always loved having somewhere to eat that was out of sight of the dirty dishes.









I need more space for all our books. Simplify, shmimplify, books are an essential possession.


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## Girlo (Oct 14, 2004)

We have an 1850sq. foot rambler and it's just about perfect.







My only wish would be for another bedroom and a powder room.

I wouldn't want to go much smaller than where we are now. It's nice having wide spaces for ds to run around in and to spread out his toys (train sets and stuff).
I have a hard time relating to families with one or two kids who feel they need to have 5000sq. feet + in order to breathe. Too much for me.....


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## Red (Feb 6, 2002)

We have 1000 sq ft for 7 of us and a BIG dog.

One bathroom.

Truly, slightly bigger space would have helped. Or the basement being a usuable space.

Not that the older kids have moved out, it's plenty for the 4 of us. (poor doggie died)


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## mrsc (Oct 24, 2006)

I think todays homes are built way too big. The problem with most homes is not having enough sq. footage but a bad layout.

Our house 1,025 sq. ft.3 bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 baths. We are a family of 3 at the moment. I think it's the perfect size. There's no basement(as we live in Louisiana). The only storage we have is the attic and an 8x8 shed. The shed holds just our lawn equipment. We have close to an acre of land. If we don't have room for it we really don't need it.


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## clane (Aug 5, 2005)

Jennisee said:


> I think it's difficult to quantify "ideal living space" in terms of square footage alone. In terms of comfort, I agree with all those who said it's about layout, not square footage. A poorly designed 2000 square foot home can feel small, and a well designed 1000 square foot home can feel large.
> 
> We have that poorly designed 2000 sq ft home. One room upstairs is a loft and therefore only exists to house dh's computer and junk. It's the second largest room in the house. I am taking up the "hobby" of drywalling to claim some more space for the girls (dh can have the little room!). Our front opens up to the staircase, and a narrow hallway (too narrow for shelves, table, bench, anything useful in a foyer). The builder put these stupid cutouts between all the rooms, so we are limited in placement of hutches, shelves, anything over 3 ft tall?! And the house has a huge stinkin front window, opening to the stairs (think about late trips up/downstairs and having to be decent all the blasted time and the fact that it is 95+ deg here and like a sauna unless I blast the ac...).
> 
> ...


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## jenangelcat (Apr 17, 2004)

Deleted by user.


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