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1200 sq. ft house = simplified life or nightmare? - Page 2

post #21 of 89
10/20/10 at 1:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pepper44 View Post
We are a family of 4 in 1000 sq feet and I hate it. Maybe I depends on layout? Our bedrooms are so tiny. We have two kid sized dressers for our entire family and we have to sit on the bed to open the drawers. We have a tiny kitchen table and you can barely fit the chairs. Our bathroom doesn't have space for a trash can. I feel like we're just surviving here, not enjoying life. It's claustrophobic and miserable!

We have no attic space except a few feet for like 3 boxes. No basement, no big closets, and only a laundry closet that the washer and dryer are crammed in. It's horrible.
pleeeeeease start a thread about this! with photos or a floor plan sketch or something! i'm literally salivating at the thought of problem-solving this house.
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post #22 of 89
10/20/10 at 1:45am
Hmm..well I think it's doable, after all in many countries people live in smaller spaces than that.

I personally would not want to do it...I find small spaces make me feel claustrophobic, even thinking about it. We have 3 kids; I used to have an approx 3000 square foot space and even with that, it felt cramped to us.

We now have an approx 6000 square foot home and I love having more space.

Fitting things into a small space doesn't always mean life is simpler, it can just be more cluttered and confined. But yes it can be heaps simpler as long as you pare down your possessions to a minimum, in which case it will work.
post #23 of 89
10/20/10 at 1:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peppermint Leaf View Post
I am a realtor -- and I can tell you that a lot depends on how the 1200 sq ft as layed out... I have seen 1200 look like 800 and I have seen it feel like 1800.

Open plans are best with this sq ft and best not too duplicate rooms -- ie
2 eating areas (kitchen and dining) and not having a living and family room makes the whole space feel larger.
I haven't read all the replies, but I totally agree with the above. We're in our second <1200 sq. ft. home, and it really is all in the layout. The main floor in our old home had such a weird layout, and it was never really comfortable, no matter how we rearranged furniture. (The bedrooms were nice and big, though...) In this space, the main floor is all open, and it is wonderful. We sacrificed a bit in bedroom space (due to adding an extra bathroom on the top level), but we do most of our LIVING on the main floor anyhow.

We have two little ones and a third on the way. Our home has three bedrooms, all of them fairly smallish. Right now the girls share a sleeping room and the third bedroom is a playroom, but we'll adjust as they grow depending on their needs.
post #24 of 89
10/20/10 at 2:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by clutterwarrior View Post
Hmm..well I think it's doable, after all in many countries people live in smaller spaces than that.

I personally would not want to do it...I find small spaces make me feel claustrophobic, even thinking about it. We have 3 kids; I used to have an approx 3000 square foot space and even with that, it felt cramped to us.

We now have an approx 6000 square foot home and I love having more space.

Fitting things into a small space doesn't always mean life is simpler, it can just be more cluttered and confined. But yes it can be heaps simpler as long as you pare down your possessions to a minimum, in which case it will work.
----------

we are in 4000 sq ft - and it feels just right --- but dh is pushing to downsize -- but once again it would depend on the layout. For me its about having some personal space or I also get claustrophobic !

We rented a cottage this summer that was about 550 sq ft and I couldnt stand it -- it just felt like we were on top of each other all the time.
post #25 of 89
10/20/10 at 3:54am
I agree its totally how its laid out. Suprisingly our apartment is well laid out (I love the kitchen area, even if the washer/dryer is there too!) and it seems a LOT bigger than it is. I was very suprised to learn the actual square footage of the apartment.
post #26 of 89
10/20/10 at 8:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by doubledutch View Post
pleeeeeease start a thread about this! with photos or a floor plan sketch or something! i'm literally salivating at the thought of problem-solving this house.
Oh I would love to! Do you live far from Kentucky? Please come over!

I'm not sure the best way to convey how awkwardly laid out it is. Pictures don't do it justice. It seemed ok until we tried to put furniture in it. In the living room we have a couch, a piano, and the tv and I rearrange it all the time trying to find a better space maximizing arrangement...
post #27 of 89
10/20/10 at 11:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thriftyqueen View Post
You really need to decide this for yourself. I personally like my space, but I have a lot of hobbies and we love to have people over. My DS has friends over all the time and 1200 square feet would feel very tight to me. Other people live in less space and love it.
This. 1200 sq ft is just too small for us. I like having a formal dining room (we do use it quite often!) with an eat-in kitchen, and I use the formal living room as my music room. But I applaud anyone who can live in small square footage!
post #28 of 89
10/20/10 at 11:36am
Small kitchen suggestions:

We have a very tiny nyc apartment with little countertop space. After living in this space for a couple years I figured out it really helps to store nothing on the counter tops. All appliances, cutting boards, etc. are in the cabinets and we limited how many appliances we kept. We also limited the number of glasses, mugs, dishes and bowls to just one meal's worth for our family. We don't have any drawers so utensils are kept in two stainless steel caddies on top of the fridge. Limiting tupperware type items helps too as it seems lots of kitchens are stockpiled with these things. We invested in a few collapsable tupperware bowls. I store spices in the freezer and we probably take more trips to the grocery than most because we don't have any pantry space. I added steel basket/shelf type things that slide into the cupboards but hang beneath them to store odds and ends.

It's a little tight for more than one person to be using the kitchen at once, but hubby and I take turns prepping meals. I actually like my small space --it's a quick clean!
post #29 of 89
10/20/10 at 11:57am
This is a timely thread for me right now. We are moving from a suburban home (1400 sq. ft. plus basement, so really more like 2000)--it has 3 bedrooms plus a basement guest bedroom, 3 bathrooms etc. Very comfy for the 4 of us. But we are moving back to the big city and will be renting a much smaller home (1000 sq. ft--2 bdrms plus an attic, with basement only good for storage). We are super excited about the location and have been decluttering like crazy, which feels great. But I am a little (or more than a little) stressed about making everything fit! And we will have a small kitchen which I do not love. I can really see both sides of the equation. I LOVE our current house for entertaining, and we have had a number of big kids parties which has been fun. But I do find that a) it takes a long time to keep it clean, b) it lets us store a LOT of crap that we don't really need.
So it will be interesting...I have actually started a blog about it
post #30 of 89
10/20/10 at 3:46pm
We have five kids and live in 1200 sq ft. I don't have a problem with it, neither do the kids. I think if we had a garage, my husband would be cool with it too.

We use every room of the house, but not in a traditional manner. And I am pretty much minimalistic.

I'm sure you can do it!
post #31 of 89
10/20/10 at 3:56pm
thats like 2x the size of my house!
post #32 of 89
10/20/10 at 5:35pm
Here are some things I would look at (for my own family):

Is there room for DH and I to each have a little nook of our own? We both need some time and space for being alone every day.

Is there room for a workshop somewhere?

Is there space provided for storing bulky things?

(The lack of bulk storage and workshop space is really cramping our current living space.)

Is the yard livable, a place where we will want to spend much of our time at home?

Kitchen and laundry areas workable? They don't need to be large, just not awkward to work in.
post #33 of 89
10/20/10 at 5:46pm
we live in an 1100sqft home with only one child currently. I 100% believe it would be perfect for 2-3 kids easily... and our layout is crap that makes it feel a bit smaller than it is! with a better layout, it would be really great. It might get cramped in the teenage years when they accumlate things they love like stereos and sports gear or what have you, but I have 0 doubts about being able to make it work if we wanted to stay here.
post #34 of 89
10/20/10 at 7:10pm
OP: You'll be fine!

It's so refreshing to live simply in a smaller space, so long as that is an ambition of both you and your DP.

We are a family of three (hoping to be four), plus a dog and cat living in 1000 square foot apartment. I love that I can vacuum the whole place using one outlet and be done in twenty minutes!

We have a large open concept living room/kitchen/dining area, which we spend most of our time in when we're home. We have a small bedroom that is DD's that we hardly use at all. She sleeps with us. It's mostly used as a guest room right now. We have a larger master that is our family bedroom.

If we stay here long term and have more kids, then we'll flip the rooms and make the smaller room the family bedroom, with pretty much only a king size bed squished in it, and turn over the master room to the children, especially as we'll be homeschooling and so will use that room as a playroom/classroom.

We have a tiny closet (reach out and touch both sides easily without stretching) that I've made into a super cozy office for me (I'm a writer).

We have a small concrete patio out front that we spent a lot of time on in the summer, playing with water and soap and sidewalk chalk. We have many parks nearby that are busy with other young families who don't have big yards. It's a fabulous way to live!
We also have a busy library nearby, and a free family drop-in space that has lots of the big-ticket items that we don't want to fit into our small home: play kitchen, art easels, sand tables, train table, etc.

I think a vibrant local community with busy, fun parks nearby is essential if you live in a small home with no outside space.

When we had a large house, we spent a lot of money on maintenance and a lot of time on upkeep. This is by far a better way to live. I would, however, LOVE to have a yard and a garden. If we move to a house again, I would love the same square footage, but a big yard!
post #35 of 89
10/20/10 at 7:43pm
post #36 of 89
10/20/10 at 8:02pm
We are a family of four (me, dh, ds1-6 and ds2-2) living in a 1200 sf house and I really love it. The overall layout is nice. Our kitchen is not small, but when we bought the place it had few cabinets and little counter space, but we were able to add a pantry (an old storage cabinet that we had had in the garage previously that my dh added more shelves to) and use an old table as a work space. We have enough space for everything and as I (slowly) work to declutter, I'm discovering that I love the space more and more.

We don't have a basement (CA), but we do have a 2-car garage (which is currently piled with crap that will someday be decluttered, giving us even more usable space eventually). We also have a lot of outdoor space, which I appreciate.

The space starts to feel small sometimes on days when we don't get outside, but I think that would happen in 1200 sf or 2000 sf. A lot of people I know have much bigger houses, but I love having the space I have.
post #37 of 89
10/20/10 at 8:08pm
We are permanently living in a 8x36 travel trailer, so I guess that figures out to be 288 sq. ft. And we utilize every sq. ft. we have

Its me, my husband, son and 3 dogs.

You learn how to trim down and how to organize. My husband hates that I bought "tubs" to put things into. He even has a tub of "I have no clue what to do with this stuff tub." LOL

The hard part for me is not having any pantry space. My pantry is 2.5 feet wide by 4 ft. tall. And it holds all the spices too.

You can do it if its what you want to do.
post #38 of 89
10/20/10 at 9:36pm
We are 5 (two teens and a tween) + 2 large dogs in 968 sq feet. We have a pretty good sized yard though.
post #39 of 89
10/20/10 at 10:11pm
I feel like the thread title needs a third option, like "really huge" or something. Maybe I just have spent too little time outside urban areas but to me >1000 is for the superrich. I feel sort of presumptuous that we have moved up to 1200 now that we are in a lower col area.
post #40 of 89
10/20/10 at 10:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lolar2 View Post
I feel like the thread title needs a third option, like "really huge" or something. Maybe I just have spent too little time outside urban areas but to me >1000 is for the superrich. I feel sort of presumptuous that we have moved up to 1200 now that we are in a lower col area.
Living in a large house does not necessarily correlate with how much money you have.

We have a big house but we are not super-rich and not even rich!

We are just fortunate to have been able to live in a very large house, but it is on a main road with traffic noise, there are houses on both sides of us too close to our house, so there are drawbacks.

Also this house is in desperate need of renovation, which at the moment we cannot afford.
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