Small house thread - Page 2

[sweetest]

We are in a 1200 sq ft home. But we have a garage and a large yard. We spend more time outside if the weather is at all nice. The main thing is purging. My only issue is closet space for me I work in a profession where I wear suits everyday and my closet is pretty crowded.

Our house is cozy and the utilities are cheap - we use less resources to keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We looked at newer homes about a year ago - we were walking through one and realized the place had two air conditoner units : Dh was like "I bet it costs a fortune to live here"

[Berber]

Does anyone ever get house envy when visiting friends or family who have bigger new homes?

It is a pretty hard struggle for me to fight the stuff envy I occationally get when visiting friends and family with bigger newer homes. It is so silly because I love the small home Dh and I bought and we are by no means living beyond our means(as many of my friends with those McMansions can not say the same thing). I see them struggle with money and I know I would much rather live with less than live with the constant worrying of paying bills... but sometimes I can't help but really love their big beautiful homes and lovely pottery barn interriors....

[LilMama23]

The three of us are in a 800 sq. ft, one bedroom apartment. We only have two closets that are stuffed! But it's all we can afford. Someday we hope to have a 1000 sq. ft. house.

[Gremco]

I'm loving every minute of it! I couldn't imagine living in a bigger house. I love how it doesn't take me very long to clean, even when its a disaster. I'm not jealous at all at larger houses, because my bills are at least half, even with no central heat or air! I think small houses are so cozy! The biggest challenge is organizing everything.

[oldcrunchymom]

I don't usually get jealous of larger homes because it seems like they'd be so much work to maintain, and I'm lazy. Anyway, I loathe the McMansion layouts with the huge rooms and the cathedral ceilings and such. They practically give me vertigo.

[sabrinat]

I'm in a playgroup w/ a girl that has a 6000 (that's right) sq. ft. house...it is beautiful, but I can't even imagine the mortgage, cost of utilities or why w/1 child you need 6000sf? Anywho, I don't have envy persay, sometimes I do wish our house had one more bedroom, or another living area, but overall I'm pretty happy with it at this point.

[Berber]

I'm in a playgroup w/ a girl that has a 6000 (that's right) sq. ft. house...it is beautiful, but I can't even imagine the mortgage, cost of utilities or why w/1 child you need 6000sf? Anywho, I don't have envy persay, sometimes I do wish our house had one more bedroom, or another living area, but overall I'm pretty happy with it at this point.

I'm alot like you in that I just couldn't imagine the stress of paying all of those costs for such a huge house.

[marybethorama]

Originally Posted by sabrinat

I'm in a playgroup w/ a girl that has a 6000 (that's right) sq. ft. house...it is beautiful, but I can't even imagine the mortgage, cost of utilities or why w/1 child you need 6000sf? Anywho, I don't have envy persay, sometimes I do wish our house had one more bedroom, or another living area, but overall I'm pretty happy with it at this point.

I can't imagine 6000 sq feet. That's so huge.

I also would love one more bedroom and a few feet added to the kitchen Another bathroom would be nice also.

But overall, I'm happy. I love almost everything about our house and I really don't want to move.

[marybethorama]

1200 sq feet here

plus a full basement, one car garage, and a very nice lot

We actually almost bought a somewhat larger house but it had a much smaller yard and no garage.

I still think wistfully about that house sometimes (It had a lovely oak staircase and then there was all the square footage) but I'm glad that we chose this house.

Our yard is so much nicer and it's much nicer for the kids to play. Over the years we've got our money's worth

[sabrinat]

Originally Posted by marybethorama

We actually almost bought a somewhat larger house but it had a much smaller yard and no garage.

I still think wistfully about that house sometimes (It had a lovely oak staircase and then there was all the square footage) but I'm glad that we chose this house.

We did the same thing for the same reason. 2 car garage vs. 1 car and a much bigger lot. The 2 other houses we looked at happen to be in our neighborhood and the one that I really wanted still gets me wistful sometimes, it was in a cul de sac, about 500 sq.ft bigger, but on a tiny lot w/1 car garage, dh didn't like it becuz it was a resale and our house was being built still. Oh well...

[mama_bee]

my family of three (soon to be four) lives in a 950 sq foot house and i LOVE it. it's got lots of built-in shelving and storage so that's not an issue. cleaning is a breeze and i can call for DH or DS from across the house and they hear me!

downsides, of course, are that entertaining is a disaster. it's way too small for more than 2-3 guests. also, sometimes i just NEED alone time and it's hard to find in such a small space.

[Rebecca]

Originally Posted by sabrinat

We live in 1700sqft. Me, dh and 4 kiddos. When we purchased we had one and thought we'd only live here for a little while. Now who knows if we'll ever move. I like it now, although I've had periods where I didn't. I like that we're not a slave to our mortgage, and I can hear the kids from most any place in the house and it's cozy. I'm learning to appreciate what I have and being thankful for it.

We have about 1200 plus full basement, garage (with storage above and below it). I like all the things the PP said, but my problem is never wanting to have people over. It's small, poorly laid out and poorly decorated with no where for company to sit. It's terrible to be embarrassed to have people come over after seeing where they live (which is always nicer than my house).

[sabrinat]

Rebecca,
I can totally relate to your feelings. I'm in this pg, in fact I own the list and I've never had a playdate at my house . It's just not big enough...but 2007 is the year. DH and I have really been working on getting stuff out of here. I have a dream that one day I will have a playdate in my organized home

[marybethorama]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

We have about 1200 plus full basement, garage (with storage above and below it). I like all the things the PP said, but my problem is never wanting to have people over. It's small, poorly laid out and poorly decorated with no where for company to sit. It's terrible to be embarrassed to have people come over after seeing where they live (which is always nicer than my house).

We have those issues too.

There's not enough room for a lot of furniture and what we do have is old and ugly.

As long as your house is big it doesn't matter what it looks like :P

[Berber]

I think the only problem I have with my house is the lack of closet space. I really want to get some built in wardrobes put in the bedrooms. I think that would help so much with clutter and clothing storage.

We have a very small house but, I still manage to entertain friends on occation. I can't have more than 4 people over besides the two of us in the winter but, we have a very nice bricked in patio that offers the feel of another room in the summer that we use for entertaining alot.

[sabrinat]

I used to watch this show on hgtv called "This small house". It used to get me so excited. They had such original ideas for decorating, storage, everything...It hasn't come on in several years, but when I think back I remember how much all the stories showed people who really loved their spaces and that's the way I want to really feel too.

[cdmaze]

We are in almost 900sq ft with 3 kids. We love it? I say it with a question mark because it depend on the day. Today? Ok- it's fine. Yesterday- hell no- I was done with it.

It definetly builds character.

[sabrinat]

bump

How are ya'll decorating for the holidays. I feel overwhelmed...the kids want to go all out, but I feel like we should go low key.

[marlee]

I live in a house under 800sf. Me, dh, and 18 mon. dd.
Here are the positives. (Today)
- It is a great excuse to others as why we can not accept or keep unwanted gifts
- Easy to keep nice and warm
- Relativey quick to clean
-Always close to dd
-In building we could afford high quality materials as there was a smaller area
-Keeps up clutter clearing
-Love to spend lots of time outside so never feel it is 'too small'

Challenges
-We don't have a place for everything
-No place to 'get away'
-If a few toys are on the floor it looks messy and cluttered

I love our house but we do plan to build a larger home on our property as we would like to expand our family by at least two more. Our new home won't be 'huge' as we like a smaller home and we won't need a guest room as we will have a guest house.

[FreeRangeMama]

Ooooh, count me in! We are a family of 5 (soon to be 6) living in just over 1000 sq ft. Unfortunately due to some bad workmanship from the previous owners we had to rip out all the drywall in the master bedroom and have been all sharing the smaller room. Squishy That brings us to more like 800 sq ft and no room for all our clothes and toys.

I love our house and I really don't want to move. Even with the new baby. We discovered hardwood under the carpets and have really made some great changes over the past 5+ years. And our yard is really great.

For the holidays I got a tree that was rather bald on one side and pushed it right up against the wall. That way the side we see is beautiful and it takes up less space I also moved most of the kids' toys into storage until we get the bedroom livable again.

Having less stuff and furniture that works for small areas is key for us. We have a low loft bed for the boys (like low bunk beds if you put a mattress on the floor). We have a kitchen nook instead of a dining room table and I can use the bench seats for storage. Plus, great shelves for the kids toys are very helpful.

The big challenge with be for dd's room. It is not much bigger than a closet. We currently use it as an office, but she is getting older and it would be nice for her to have her own space. Since she will mostly be sleeping with us for a long time I will just get her a toddler bed to save room and I found a great small shelf with doors that I am going to refinish and I added a closet bar so it is like a wardrobe. Perfect for tiny clothes. Plus I will use those little pouches you can attach to the wall to put toys in instead of shelving to save floor space. I am excited.


So, does anyone else get tired of hearing from other people about how SMALL your house is? It may not be big, but I LOVE it thank you. Bigger isn't always better