Feeling in the Minority

[chely7425]

So, a recent discussion of house size among my friends has me feeling like a weirdo.  We are 5 people in about 1300 sq feet.  The layout is wonderful and we could easily add one more child.  I think down the road when our kids are older/bigger one more bedroom and maybe 1800-2000 square feet would be nice but definitely not NEEDED.  We do *need* a fenced yard/outdoor space.  But a lot of my friends are freaking out over 3000 sq feet being too small and needing 5500-6500 sq feet to have enough space.  I don't get it... what would you even PUT in that big a house?!?

[Jenni1894]

And who wants to clean a house that big!?!?!

Ours is about 1600, and we are comfy.  Nice big yard, fenced in but falling apart.  lol  

I wouldn't like not being able to hear my kid (I fear the silence! lol) or see them in a house much bigger!

[texmama]

Yup, same here, we are definitely in the smallest house of all our friends and family.   We are very happy in our home.  But *every* time we get together with SIL, she asks when we're moving to a bigger house, seriously, every. time.  We have no desire to move, so it comes off as pretty rude to me.  Last time she mentioned it, I just asked her if she was offering to pay for our upgrade ;)  We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, and a wonderful layout, but I guess it's not up to today's standard size.  

[chely7425]

I am seriously just confused by it... even with like, more kids I don't think we want a ginormo house.  3 or 4 beds, good lay out, a basement or rec room would be pretty cool... but seriously?? 6500 sq feet?!?

[treeoflife3]

Don't worry, you still have me <3

Seriously though, 3 thousand square feet being too small... we have three people in an 1100sqft house right now.  if we had 3k, we'd essentially have enough space for our 2 year old to live in this current house alone.  what little kid needs a whole house worth of space?  people do NOT need a thousand square feet per person.

I would NEVER live in a 6k sqft house unless we were living with many more people.  and I'm not cleaning the whole thing.

[ArtsyMomma]

We currently have the smallest living space of all our friends, and the most kids! We have about 1000 sq feet and 6 people. At times I've loved the cozy feeling and it was easy raising toddlers because I can always see them - we have a great layout, but it's really too small. We are moving into a 1800 sq ft house, and looking to the future we are wondering where we will put future children! We love the house, and the land, but there are 3 small bedrooms. We assume with one or two more children we won't have enough space for more beds (bunkbeds aren't an option, low ceilings). So this is our forever house, but eventually it will need an addition, or we will need to convert the sunporch into a bedroom for the adults. 

[chely7425]

Yeah, I know people need a certain amount of space... but I don't think ANY sized family needs 6000 square feet... maybe if it was a multi-generational home so there were more separate living areas?

[scottishmommy]

I grew up in a huge home. It was at least 4,000 sf not including the attic and basement. The only advantage I can see is that my parents can easily host their growing family for holidays. There usually 10 adults and X number of small children staying there over thanksgiving and Christmas. I don't particularly like house guests, however, so I'm totally happy with a smaller home. Right now we have three adults and a toddler in a 1,300 Sf apartment (no yard). It seems plenty big to me! We have by far the largest apartment of any of my friends. Most of them live in less than 800 sf. I can't imagine having a home that's larger than 2,000 sf. That would be beyond opulent!

[ArtsyMomma]

Originally Posted by chely7425 

Yeah, I know people need a certain amount of space... but I don't think ANY sized family needs 6000 square feet... maybe if it was a multi-generational home so there were more separate living areas?

Oh, I agree! I don't think I would want to maintain that much space! It would be too much to take care of. Imagine the heating bills!  We are considering building a 'guest house' for MIL to come live in, she will need care eventually and she is all alone. But with the guest house, and our house we wouldn't hit that amount of square footage. Maybe if you throw in the garage and barn too? LoL

[clutterwarrior]

Our house is fairly big if you include the size of the basement and garage. We sort of inherited this house, so it wasn't that I chose to have such a big house.  And it is a LOT of cleaning, I feel like I am always cleaning, I get to one of the house and basically have to turn round and start again! 

[ChristyMarie]

Originally Posted by chely7425 ...............I don't get it... what would you even PUT in that big a house?!?......

Stuff. 

I think people are like goldfish - we'll adapt to fill whatever space we have.
 

[bignerpie]

Originally Posted by ChristyMarie 

I think people are like goldfish - we'll adapt to fill whatever space we have.
 

I love this!!!! It is so true. When my husband and I bought our 1200 square feet house it seemed so big, but we quickly filled it up. Now I'm in the process of getting rid of most of that junk! We have a toddler and a baby on the way, and I feel like we have plenty of space. Our house sits on 2 acres, and we all love to be outside, so we have plenty of room to "stretch out."

The funny thing is, my husband works on big, custom houses, and by big I mean 20,000-50,000 square feet! The kind of houses that have basketball courts in their basements and the maid's quarters are bigger than our entire house! The worst part is, it's always an older couple with no kids! Two people in such a big house seems like such a waste.

[Drummer's Wife]

5-6K sq ft is huge!  There is a house I dream about that is for sale down the road that is in that range with a pool and hot tub and all sorts of fancy additions inside.  However, even with four wild kids, I don't know what we would realistically use all that space for.  We have about 3k sq ft now, and we probably only use 1/3 of the house the majority of the time.  Even with teenagers who have friends over, I'm not getting why anyone would truly need that much space.  I don't get how you grow out of a house that's already twice as big as the majority of homes, even with a larger family, anyhow.  Maybe they want to build a skate park inside? LOL!

[doubledutch]

Originally Posted by chely7425 

But a lot of my friends are freaking out over 3000 sq feet being too small and needing 5500-6500 sq feet to have enough space.  I don't get it... what would you even PUT in that big a house?!?

it's just me and my two kids in 1350 sq ft, but i could easily fit a partner and another kid or two.  the "kid room" is the 500 sq ft finished attic so there is plenty of space for more up there, and the 850 main floor is a nice little house, with a 10x12 bedroom, open kitchen-dining-living and a spare little room that has the piano, books, fabric, yarn, storage, etc.  it works great for us.  there is plenty of space.  so i am right there with you!

(of course, a second bathroom would be nice, lol)

[ChristyMarie]

Originally Posted by bignerpie 

I love this!!!! It is so true. When my husband and I bought our 1200 square feet house it seemed so big, but we quickly filled it up. Now I'm in the process of getting rid of most of that junk! We have a toddler and a baby on the way, and I feel like we have plenty of space. Our house sits on 2 acres, and we all love to be outside, so we have plenty of room to "stretch out."

The funny thing is, my husband works on big, custom houses, and by big I mean 20,000-50,000 square feet! The kind of houses that have basketball courts in their basements and the maid's quarters are bigger than our entire house! The worst part is, it's always an older couple with no kids! Two people in such a big house seems like such a waste.

Yes, I think once you get to about 15K sq ft it goes beyond wanting extra space and straight for show.  Which is fine if that's your thing but yeah, that's a LOT of house.  However, think of the parties you could throw!  ;-)

[AmyKlinke]

We have two kids and live in about 700 sq ft.  It's too small for us as there isn't much storage or yard, but I'd never want huge. 

[mama_y_sol]

We are a family of 4 in 800sq ft.  It's a little small but okay.  Problems start when my parents come to stay for the summer.  At one point in time, we had 6 adults and 1 kid in this 800 sqft house.  That was rough, and my brother blames his divorce on it!

A little more space would be nice.  1200 or 1500, but to be honest, we are okay with 800.  It works. I hate cleaning, and it's my max.  I can hear the kids in every room.  Lots of family time!

[happyblessedmama]

We had 8 in 1600 SF and I found it too small to live comfortably. It had a great layout, but we had brutal winters when we were inside all.the.time for about 6 weeks and the small space got to me.

We have 3500 now and it's fabulous. Could do with less but I do love space. Any larger would be overkill :) So i'll admit I felt squeezed with 200 SF per person.

[chely7425]

Originally Posted by happyblessedmama 

We had 8 in 1600 SF and I found it too small to live comfortably. It had a great layout, but we had brutal winters when we were inside all.the.time for about 6 weeks and the small space got to me.

We have 3500 now and it's fabulous. Could do with less but I do love space. Any larger would be overkill :) So i'll admit I felt squeezed with 200 SF per person.

I can see a 3000-3500 sq ft house being nice for a family of 8, especially as kids get older.  But, a family of 4-6?  Maybe "needing" 2000-2500 but I truly don't get the *need* for 1000 sq feet per person... lol

[treeoflife3]

yeah... I can see the need for a bigger house if you have a big family.. but 1000sqft per person?  Seems excessive...
 

Originally Posted by chely7425 

I can see a 3000-3500 sq ft house being nice for a family of 8, especially as kids get older.  But, a family of 4-6?  Maybe "needing" 2000-2500 but I truly don't get the *need* for 1000 sq feet per person... lol