What's the smallest home you'd live in?

[JamieCatheryn]

Let's assume you can have a couple outbuildings up to the same size as this main house (sheds, outdoor kitchen, greenhouse, anything you like). What would be your minimum sqft for a home? I've seen pics of a nice 80 sqft cabin someone lived in before, I don't think I'd like that small a space though. What would be your minimum size in a main building of your home, and how many are in your family?

On our land I'm actually considering building my husband's workshop first (150sqft with a loft), moving into the workshop, building a greenhouse/bathhouse (another 120sqft), and then building the big house (1200sqft) the next year. We're a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids that'll be ages 5 and 9 at the start of this). Not sure if I can sell DH on the idea but I think the kids and I could do it with no problem for a year.

[wanderinblues]

well, my DP and i have just bought a school bus and plan on outfitting it for family living. it will be around 250-300 sqft i think? i have no problem with that at all. i lived in a 96 sqft school bus with my dog for a summer and loved it. i need outdoor space, not indoor space! 

i also love the idea of having a central building with satellite structures to serve different purposes. kind of a pain in cold climates though.

i think your idea is great and similar to what i will want to do when we have proper land.

eta: we are a family of three, and ttc another. plus a largish dog.

[34me]

We are a family of 5 and 2 largish dogs in 867square feet. We do fine. I wish it was a different configuration, but the square footage is fine.

[kitchensqueen]

We're currently a family of three in a one bedroom apartment - I think we've got around 750 square feet. It's functional, and I like small homes. We would like another child down the line though, and a single family home, so I think the right size for us would be between 845-1000 square feet. We like the Tumbleweed Enesti and the Universal Cottage from Country Plans.

As far as additional buildings/space, we'd also have a greenhouse/potting shed, chicken coop, patio with herb/kitchen garden and a larger preserving garden and dwarf orchard. So plenty of different areas to "live" in aside from the smaller dimensions of the actual house. 

[mamaupupup]

Fun!  I think you'll have a grand adventure and that all of you will adapt along the way.  You are all going to learn so much too--seeing it all built, etc.

We live in 1000 sq ft with great outdoor space in a decent climate, so we're outdoors a lot.  I LOVE small-ish spaces for so many reasons--the most important one is that conflict gets resolved...no one can go stomping off to the upstairs of some 4000 sq ft. place to escape and avoid.  We tackle things head-on, for sure...and we are so so so happy!  Also, I know what my kids are doing 90+% of the time, etc.  and am aware/involved when I need to be. 

I think we could lose about 200 sq ft and be fine still w/ 800 sq ft. BTW, we have only one bathroom and my DH would like a second (he's the only male in the house...). 

When we're not in our little house, we're in our camper van.  The kids love that even more, I think!  Lots of family closeness! 

It's all doable!  Have fun!

[ollyoxenfree]

I've always been impressed by this 89 sq. ft. cabin, but it's occupied by a single guy. I'd think 2 small children would need some space to move around, especially if you live somewhere with extremes of weather in winter and summer.  

Our family of 4 has lived in approx. 1000 sq. ft. and it was do-able. I always wanted a little more room (a second bathroom, more closet space, an island in the kitchen and a pantry....the list goes on), but we were comfortable. If it was temporary, I'm sure we could manage on a much smaller footprint. 

[diana_of_the_dunes]

We're in 1100 sq ft right now, plus a full semi-finished basement (another 500ish sq ft).  We are still working on paring down our belongings, but I can't imagine us in much smaller accommodations.  I store lots of food, as well as can/dry/freeze my in-season produce, so a decent-sized kitchen and room for a pantry - ours is in the basement - is a must.  A home of this size also allows us to have a large living room (about 13 x 22), a separate dining room, and a bathroom on each floor (luxury!).  The basement is DH's workshop, so that could easily be moved to an outbuilding if we were building from scratch. 

I find it both humorous and sad that our kitchen is the size of some people's bathrooms, and our living room is smaller than a "modern" kitchen.  Our bedrooms are smaller than some walk-in closets.  Our home is much smaller than most of our friends', but it's perfect for us.  Even with a (hopefully) growing family, it's exactly what we need.

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by diana_of_the_dunes 

Our home is much smaller than most of our friends', but it's perfect for us.  Even with a (hopefully) growing family, it's exactly what we need.

That's the great thing about the small house movement - spaces that work for families.  Human scale is really important - being close to loved ones and putting the focus onto relationships instead of materials and having space you don't need, just to have it. 

[insidevoice]

SO much of this comes down to how the space is used and laid out. 

Our current home is about 900 sq feet.  It's not well laid out though, so sometimes it feels a little crunched. 

Our new house is about 2500 square feet, with two kitchens and two living areas, as well as extra bedrooms.  To me that seems enormous, but I realize that it would feel small to some people. 

With a well laid out 700 square feet, we could manage, but I admit I like having a little more space these days than that would allow. We are a family of 5, and will soon be 6. 

[samstress]

our family of four lives in about 1200 square feet.  it's totally doable (and we could do less).  i would, however, LOVE a second bathroom or perhaps a larger first one.  that's my only complaint.

[seraf]

At 1800 sq ft our apartment is huge for our needs.  We are 2 pregnant adults and 2 school aged children.  We spend almost all our time in the dining room, kitchen and bathroom.  Well, mostly the dining room, which is 14 x 14.  Add in the kitchen and bathroom (which could be half that size easily) and you've got another 14 x 14.  We mostly only use the bedrooms to sleep and store clothes but a loft or even cabinets and murphy beds would work pretty long term.  

Really, any hotel room would probably be large enough.  The problem that first comes to mind for a family all living in a very small space is when one or 2 people are earlier risers than the others.  I think dark curtains around the beds would really help with that, tho.

[samstress]

Originally Posted by seraf 

We are 2 pregnant adults and 2 school aged children. 

i know this is OT, but you're both pregnant?  how cool.  i see you're about 6 months apart.  just enough time to adjust to baby before another one comes along. :)  congrats (to you both).

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Originally Posted by kitchensqueen 

That's the great thing about the small house movement - spaces that work for families.  Human scale is really important - being close to loved ones and putting the focus onto relationships instead of materials and having space you don't need, just to have it. 

+1 on the "human scale" remark.  We have an older home, and I've never lived in anything newer than 1950s.  I love how the rooms are decently-sized without being overwhelming.  And you are right, the house is designed to maximize the living areas.  Small bathroom, small bedrooms, and smallish kitchen (about 9.5 by 10.5).  It's all small by today's standards, and we had a hard time finding a sofa that didn't overwhelm the space...  But it's cozy without being cramped.  And I love how we really live in and use the entire house.

[seraf]

Originally Posted by samstress 

i know this is OT, but you're both pregnant?  how cool.  i see you're about 6 months apart.  just enough time to adjust to baby before another one comes along. :)  congrats (to you both).

Thanks, we are both pregnant, and I said that just yesterday, "hey, as soon as we get used to one, we get another!"

And I guess to bring it back on topic, people keep saying we will need a bigger house.  And I keep saying remembering that my mom was one of 7 in a 3 bedroom 1200 sq ft house.  How times have changed.

[samstress]

Originally Posted by seraf 

And I guess to bring it back on topic, people keep saying we will need a bigger house.  And I keep saying remembering that my mom was one of 7 in a 3 bedroom 1200 sq ft house.  How times have changed.

they certainly have.  my mom was the oldest of seven children.  their family of nine lived in a 4 bedroom home.  my mom's mom was one of 11 and didn't live in any bigger of a house.  i feel that if we had more space, i would just find more stuff to fill it up with and goodness knows we don't need any more stuff.

i would, however, like to come up with creative ways of making the most of our space.

[insidevoice]

The interesting thing, for me, has been finding that we don't actually use the second bedroom we have.  The kids sleep with me in the master bedroom.  It's actually quite cozy.  However, I do crave a little more space for  myself at times, but it's certainly not impossible to manage as things are. 

[lilyka]

We were a family of four in a 450 sq foot 2 bedroom house for a while.  We could still do it if we had to.  It was packed though.   Now my house is about 2400 sq ft.  There are still four of us but we are bigger.  two of the floors are unfinished (half that space).  I would gladly give up those two floors for another bathroom.  That is the one thing I wish we had.  at least another toilet.  I like that we can get away from each other.  outside is not always an option.  we get extreme heat and cold for months and months.   At 5 and 9 this would not have been a big deal though.  150 does seem small though.  I mean i think our tent is bigger than that.  I am pretty sure my little living room is bigger than that.  Of course I could see us living in a camper too.  Especially if we had storage space somewhere and could go be outside.  

[Mom31]

I lived with my 2 kids for 1.5 years in a 480 sq ft house. It was tiny. Two bedrooms one bath and a "great room " lol. It worked for us tho and the bills were tiny as well.

[Thursday Girl]

we are a family of 5 (with another on the way) in 1000sq/f. the space is fine, it's just lack of storage that's killer.  I don't know if I'd want to go smaller for good but temporarily would be fine.  I mean I think maybe 800 sf well laid out with the proper outbuildings could work.  A workshop for my husband, and arts, craft, and sewing outbuilding, chicken coops, outdoor kitchen, and a root cellar!! plus chicken coop and barn for the animals we would have..see we would need land.

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by Thursday Girl 

we are a family of 5 (with another on the way) in 1000sq/f. the space is fine, it's just lack of storage that's killer.  I don't know if I'd want to go smaller for good but temporarily would be fine.  I mean I think maybe 800 sf well laid out with the proper outbuildings could work.  A workshop for my husband, and arts, craft, and sewing outbuilding, chicken coops, outdoor kitchen, and a root cellar!! plus chicken coop and barn for the animals we would have..see we would need land.

That's what I worry about - storage.

We currently live in a house that's about 1600 sq ft and it's just too big for the 4 of us, but we don't have much outdoor space.  We're currently looking for house to buy, and the houses in our price range are between 1050-1300 square feet, which will be a big change for us.  I'm up for the challenge, since we have too much stuff anyway, but DH is nervous that some of these houses just won't be big enough.  They do have more usable outside space than we currently do though, which is going to be great.