So ever since I started getting serious about paying off debt I've become more and more focused on what *really* matters in my life. When my daughter was born it was the final tipping point for me to realize that stuff is just stuff and I honestly don't care about any of it anymore.
My current home is small. 1250 square feet with a 300ish sq foot mostly finished basement. We have 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath (no half baths). I always thought I needed a bigger home. I was a little ashamed of our house and what people might think. But over the years I've come to appreciate it's size. It's still not our perfect home; I really need a half bath on the main floor and the layout is less than ideal. Our master bedroom is Way too big. Our main living space is not open enough between the kitchen/dining room/living room. There's a lot of awkward, not very usable space.
I love the idea of the tiny home. You come to realize it's all about the layout and design of the home and not the square footage. I'm always reading about the tumbleweed tiny houses and other people who build their homes from scratch on trailers. It's so refreshing to see people not consumed with money, status, and showing off. While I can appreciate the tiny home my ideal home is probably more like 1500 square feet and a ranch. A large open kitchen/dining room/living room, 1 full bath, a laundry room, and 3 small bedrooms. Maybe my opinion will change when my daughter gets a bit older?? Or if we decide to have one more?? I don't know; I think I've finally reached a good point in my life where I know what truly matters to me. Now if only I had known this back before we bought our first house we would've made sure to go to a good school district and get a house with a nice sized yard and room for a useable garage for T. Ohhh well, hindsight is 20/20!! Luckily we've got a little while before G starts school..I'll keep daydreaming in the meantime..
Obsessed with Tiny Homes! What's your perfect size house?
September 5th, 2011 at 04:31 pm
September 5th, 2011 at 04:53 pm 1315241588
We personally like a bigger house, but we like the aspect of being able to entertain at home (to be home bodies - to have plenty to do at home) and we really like our personal space. I personally like having twice as much space now that we have twice as many people living in our home. Of course, financially we were able to pull this off by moving to a cheaper city. So, when we moved from 1250 sf to 2600 sf, we didn't have to pay any more for the bigger space. In our first home buying reality, we were never going to afford more than our 3-bedroom condo, and I know we could have raised kids just fine if that was our only financial choice. I just don't think we would be nearly as content, and is part of the reason why moving did become important to us.
I think 1250 square feet was really nice for the two of us, and we plan to downsize as soon as the kids are grown. But, we haven't resolved what we are going to do about the at-home entertainment we have become accustomed to. (No pool table yet - but plan to - we have a grand piano and a dedicated movie theater room. Those will all have to go. I think a smaller and more manageable space will be more important to us as we age, but we have been spoiled with the space we have in the interim).
September 5th, 2011 at 05:40 pm 1315244442
September 5th, 2011 at 05:47 pm 1315244837
LF-- UGH the CLEANING! I love that I can get a phone call from a family member saying they want to stop in and i can whip the house up to shape in no time!
September 5th, 2011 at 05:57 pm 1315245461
September 5th, 2011 at 06:58 pm 1315249082
We have optimized height storage in most rooms, and we have a floor plan that is mostly usable, not to much wasted hallways.
Two bathrooms is generally enough. (so far) with careful management we are comfortable. I would prefer to have at least one more room, so that folk can come over to dinner without having to balance plates on their laps (one guest we can fit at the table, maybe two if they are short and small)
What I do not want is a huge house that I have to clean, and that folk feel is ok to fill up with stuff....
September 5th, 2011 at 08:26 pm 1315254371
We thought a lot about what we actually needed. Our house is considered small by local standards. We moved because we had two kids and needed better schools. We decided on this house for the outdoor space-- which is a plus because I love to grow food. It isn't much bigger, but the layout of the bedrooms and such will work much better for us as the kids grow older.
It's much less expensive to maintain/ repair, etc. a smaller house, and as long as the space is highly usable and you don't hold onto a lot of stuff, you'll be fine.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:33 pm 1315262008
September 5th, 2011 at 11:35 pm 1315265741
September 6th, 2011 at 12:54 am 1315270487
For me, the ideal size would be 1400 sf.
September 6th, 2011 at 02:29 am 1315276192
September 6th, 2011 at 01:15 pm 1315314900
for instance, while I said above that 1650 is way more space than I need, I never liked that all 3 of my bedrooms are on the small side. The largest is just 12 x 12. I'd much prefer to have a 2 bedroom home with larger bedrooms.
September 6th, 2011 at 02:20 pm 1315318850
I think my next house will be smaller, but who knows??
September 6th, 2011 at 03:49 pm 1315324178
Some people never figure it out. So, I don't think learning that at 25 is too bad.
I think it's all relative too. In an expensive city, small is going to be the norm (NYC, San Fran, etc.). Small is the norm I am used to, and we get more attitude for having a bigger home, funny enough. (Though we are in a unique situation where nothing about it costs more. Even our utilities are significantly cheaper with twice the space - more efficient energy usage).
The funny thing about cleaning is we still have one kitchen and have only added a half bath. So, I don't find I spend a lot more time cleaning 2600sf than 1300sf. But as I have said before, I am no neat freak. IT just seems 90% of my cleaning efforts are focused on kitchen/baths - and that's the same as always. (Maybe even easier, since I only have to keep the 1/2 bath really nice for guests.
September 6th, 2011 at 03:57 pm 1315324643
September 6th, 2011 at 04:43 pm 1315327381
September 6th, 2011 at 08:18 pm 1315340307
Here's a link to an interesting video about how to live richly on $40K a year. The guy interviewed just wrote a book, and he mentions living in Poland and speaks to the idea of living in a small home. You'll find it intresting.
September 6th, 2011 at 08:56 pm 1315342562
September 7th, 2011 at 10:42 pm 1315435377
September 9th, 2011 at 04:22 pm 1315585371
I think our place is perfect right now. When we have our second kid and they get a bit older, it might be nice for them to have separate rooms, especially if they end up being different genders and start heading toward that awkward phase.
So I think our ideal house in a few years will be what you have now, about 1200 square feet with 3 bedrooms and a yard. Living in a condo has made me realize how much I love an open-plan main living area vs. shut-off little kitchen, dining room and living room. Hopefully we can find what we want when we want it.
September 9th, 2011 at 04:34 pm 1315586090
September 9th, 2011 at 08:17 pm 1315599458
Jerry
September 12th, 2011 at 04:22 am 1315801367
September 12th, 2011 at 08:49 pm 1315860544
September 15th, 2011 at 08:34 am 1316075644
September 19th, 2011 at 08:55 am 1316422533
Jerry
September 28th, 2011 at 05:00 pm 1317229216
A big yard was key in our decision to purchase. We too like to entertain and a bigger yard and large garage allow us to still do this anytime but winter. For all but 4 months of the year, our outdoor space functions as an extension of our house. While we probably won't be here forever, it was a really great decision for us at the time and we plan to stick it out for 5 or so more years.
September 28th, 2011 at 05:03 pm 1317229394
September 28th, 2011 at 09:16 pm 1317244564
I love your little house! What led you and your family to choose it? Do you talk about the decision on your blog?
Thank you,
Petunia
September 29th, 2011 at 01:18 am 1317259116
September 29th, 2011 at 09:25 pm 1317331519
September 29th, 2011 at 09:27 pm 1317331640