House size mini-rant

[Juliacat]

I love my house. I love living in a small house. I love owning a house with a mortgage payment so low it would make you weep. I know that, worldwide, it's very common for families larger than ours to live in spaces smaller than ours and think nothing of it.

The problem is that, IRL, I don't know anyone who lives in a house as small as mine. All of the books about small houses feature houses bigger than mine--often more than twice as big! The articles about closet organization assume a closet the size of my living room. It's so frustrating when my frame of reference continually reminds me that my house is freakishly tiny!

FTR, our house is 680 s.f., 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with 3 people (and 1 cat) living in it. Most of the rooms are medium-sized but the living room is VERY small and there is very little closet space.

[organicmommy]

Hugs mama, I love having a smaller house when it comes time to clean, but I feel like I would do less cleaning if I had a bigger house because I could get it organized so I totally understand!

[nessam]

Juliacat, I hear you. Our house is small too (though not as small as yours, we have ~1000 s.f.). It's great that you love your house! I like our house a lot, especially the remodels that we have done. I doubt that I would've chosen this house; DH already owned it. DH is constantly saying that it's too small (there are 2 adults, 1 babe, 2 cats and we have 3 bedrooms/1 bath). My reply is usually that most people in the world live in a much smaller space. One plus is that we have a large detached garage.
Do you have a garage/basement/attic? I've been storing stuff in the garage, as well as getting rid of things. Our small rooms are filled. And DH has "collections" and is sentimental about everything. To his credit he usually gets on board with what I'm doing, including decluttering. But there is too much stuff "on display". I would also like to get rid of some of our furniture.
The key to a small space is less stuff...

[FiddleMama]

Have you seen this blog by MDC member Delight?

http://walkslowlylivewildly.blogspot.com/

They recently downsized to an apartment that is 382 sq ft. I think their previous place was 800 or so. I (and lots of other MDC members) have been really inspired by Delight because she is so thoughtful and stylish in her quest to leave a lighter footprint on the earth. If you haven't checked it out, I really recommend it!

Make sure you check out the flickr pictures of the new place too- they haven't yet uploaded the decorated pictures so this is just of the space itself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyja...7594536779330/

[Juliacat]

Originally Posted by nessam

Do you have a garage/basement/attic?

No. We do have a storage shed, which is really for the lawn mower and bicycles, but it works well as purgatory for things we don't want in the house but don't want to get rid of just yet.

I have been working on decluttering for three years now and I have definitely made some progress but I am frustrated some days anyway! I am a reformed packrat (we're talking 180 degree personality transplant here) and dh is just "normal" in his keeping vs. getting rid of habits.

FiddleMama, yes, I saw that blog and I think it is awesome! I only wish I lived closer so I could see it in person.

[lisalulu]

I know exactly how you feel. There are 3 of us and a big dog in 720sq ft and I feel like I keep getting rid of stuff and its never enough. There is still clutter and we have a garage that we can store some things in. We will be here a couple more years at the minimum. Luckily summer is around the corner and never feels nearly as small then!

[huggingmama]

Maybe off-topic, but I love coming here and hearing about the smaller houses. Ours is ~800 sq ft for the three of us, and I don't think of it as incredibly tiny, though it is compared to my family's. (Almost everyone seems to have a new McMansion, even those that earn less than we do.)

[marybethorama]

Your house is smaller than mine!

I thought my house was small at 1200sq. ft Now I feel like it's spacioius.

All joking aside, I can relate. Even 1200sq ft. is a lot smaller than most "small house" books talk about.

I also am the only person in my social circle (well, not that I really have one) but at least in our playgroup etc. that has a small house. I feel stupid saying that because there are plenty of small houses around and people do of course live in them but in our playgroup everyone has huge (renovated) or new houses and they all carrry on about how they could NEVER live in a small or not fancy house etc.

I feel stupid for feeling uncomfortable. I love my house and I know I'm very fortunate to live there. Heck, we lived in an appartment when dh was on sabbbatical and I LOVED it. It didn't feel cramped at all. Of course we didn't have all our crap, but it was great. I'd do it again.

It's just hard being different from everyone else.

[Juliacat]

See, but part of that is what I mean. "Oh, my house is small too, it's TWICE THE SIZE OF YOURS." Not meaning any offense or anything it's just that if I had 1000 square feet I would feel like I was living in a mansion.

I wish I could get dh to agree to go TV-free; that would free up a lot of space in the living room.

[Justmee]

Although not specifically about small houses, I really recommend http://www.amazon.com/Organizing-Ins...4659377&sr=8-1

Lots of tips about how to get systems orginizaed and work with the space you have.

[marybethorama]

Originally Posted by Juliacat

See, but part of that is what I mean. "Oh, my house is small too, it's TWICE THE SIZE OF YOURS." Not meaning any offense or anything it's just that if I had 1000 square feet I would feel like I was living in a mansion.l

I'm sorry

I know I am very lucky but my house is way smaller than most people I know so it feels small. You are right though, it is a perfectly good size.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Juliacat

The problem is that, IRL, I don't know anyone who lives in a house as small as mine. All of the books about small houses feature houses bigger than mine--often more than twice as big! The articles about closet organization assume a closet the size of my living room.

It's like the article I read once on decorating smaller bathrooms and the smallest one they were talking about was 100 sq ft.:

I mean my house is a *huge* 1190sqft, but some of these authors have *no* concept of small.

[eclipse]

I'm living in about 850 sq feet (that's a generous estimate, actually) with two adults and 3 children (and it's an apartment - so no yard, garage, and no closets except in the bedrooms). It's very tight.

[nimblemama]

I am happy to find this thread! We have a 950 sq foot apartment (and a patio slab with small storage shed). We love it! We have a 3-year-old and 18-month-old that share a room. Anyway, our families and some friends think we are crazy and always talking about how "the kids need more room", "when aare you going to get a house", etc. To me, this place is big and airy. We don't have a lot in here, which makes it seem bigger and brighter. It is better than what I grew up in, so I am happy. It was brand new construction when we moved in too, so in a way, I think of it as my "new house".

In America, we all live in mansions compared to what most of the world lives in (huts, tents, other shacks), so it drives me nuts when people always have to have the biggest and best.

[EviesMom]

Look to apartments and you'll probably find that size is really common for families. I'm in NYC, and that's about what size our apartment is. (540 square feet with a 100ish square foot short-ceilinged loft) We have one nearly 3 year old and another coming in October. I had a co-worker who was in a 750 square foot house on Long Island (also a family of 4), and I remember telling her that if I could find a house as well laid out and comfortable as hers, I might not mind moving to the suburbs. But those are few and far between. She's sandwiched in between giant McMansions.

[Juliacat]

Yeah, you're probably right about that, although I've been in more apartments of this size that were one-bedroom and thus a lot more spacious than our two-bedroom house. But we have a nice big yard, which is a huge plus.

[willibug]

When we lived in England, we lived in a 550 square foot house. There were 3 of us then. We moved away when our second child was 9 months old. It was a beautiful home, and when we sold it, it sold on the first day for the asking price. We spent some of our happiest years in that small house. I learned a lot of lessons living there, too. Things I still use today. You really had to live consciously, and just could not accumulate too much stuff. If you came in with something new, you often had to relinquish something to accomodate it. I think that's healthy. I *loved* the fact that I could whip through that place and have it really tidy in less than half an hour. All of it! Now that we live in a larger house, there never seems to be a time when it's all neat and clean. And garages and attics? A recipe for clutter. Take it from me!

We're now a homeschooling family of five, and I've been thinking that I'd like to move into a larger house on our upcoming move. We currently have 1600 square feet. But this post has me rethinking that.

Smaller is actually better in many ways!

[kayla14]

I totally understand! I just got a few books out from the library about small space living, and they are all quite large spaces, plus totally redesigned layouts, etc.

I'd love to see some stuff about *real* small space living! And something for us renters who don't have the option to paint and redesign :P

It doesn't help that our friends and family all live in quite a bit larger homes with way less people, and often comment about how small our home is and how we won't be able to live here long.

[mommyddeville]

My house is 758 sq. ft with 4 people living here. And I love it. But I know what you're saying. . . .if I had 758 feet to design however I wanted, it would seem a lot bigger, I think. But it's kind of awkwardly laid out and there's not a lot of storage. So it seems smaller. But I applaud you for sticking it out in a small space rather than 'upsizing' like most people seem to do!

[Juliacat]

The last two posts are interesting because we spent several months looking at larger houses before deciding not to move, and to refinance this house on a 15-year note instead. So it looks like we will, in fact, be here for a while.

Our friends and family have been reasonably supportive, though. MIL was furious because she desperately wants us to move closer to her (because our current distance of 8 blocks is much too far away : ), but not because of house size or anything. And everybody else is like, "If you like your house that much, you should stay there." I guess they figure they aren't the ones who have to get along without so much stuff.

I do wish we could invite people over. The layout of our house is fine for just us, but the living room is too narrow for people to be able to hang out in it. I think with the same square footage you could design a house with a bigger living room and kitchen that open on to each other to make an entertaining space, eliminate the dining room and have smaller bedrooms. But I'm not the designer here.