how big of a house do you need?

[MorelCabin]

I think if we look back at some of the older homes and realize that big families were raised in small homes, AND that back then everything was preserved and salted and put away somewhere...we would realize that we really don't need all the space we have at all. I live in a 1200 sq ft home with three bedrooms, small 10x10 kitchen, small living room and dining area...and I like it just fine. My boys really miss having a rec room though. We have all become too spoiled by having our own spaces these days.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Obviously we all have more than what we truely NEED. There is a lot of things in our houses here simply for our conviences, rather than necessities. One of mine, is this computer I"m now typing on. I don't need it. I don't even exactly want it. I don't need a tv. I have way too much clothes....so does the other 5 people living with me. I could live much more neatly and comfortably with less furniture, pictures and decorations. I think there are probably about 5 vcr and dvds in this house. There is a weight lifting machine being used as a clothes rack in my daughter's room. I have 1982. I bet I can live in 900.

 

[Hinotori]

Our house, built in 1900, is 900 sq ft. There was an addition on the back in the 40s, the original house was about 600 sq ft.

It would be very nice to have a bit more room for a living room big enough to invite people over (wood stove and space around it takes up a chunk). My husband wants to expand the house out about 12 ft on the side, to give us another 360 sq ft. That would give us a good sized living room, and expand my kitchen and the laundry room. At that point, the laundry room would be sectioned and a real pantry put in. Currently I use part of the larger bedroom by the kitchen for my pantry. We have a twin daybed with a trundle in there for guests. There is a fairly large closet in there that hubby wants to shrink down.

We really don't need as much space as we use. If there wasn't the TV the living room would be arranged to face the stove and there would be plenty of room there. Replacing the current cabinets with stuff that actually fits the space available better would help a ton. I do have a dishwasher that takes up some valuable space, but I really hate doing dishes by hand, I'd rather scrub the toilet.

We already know what would really help us out. That is a workshop. Place to put the tools, hunting and fishing equipment, reloading, knife and leather working stuff. Right now it's all stuck in the closets and in the larger bedroom. House would be almost spacious without all that stuff in it. And there would be a good place to use it all.

 

[Denim Deb]

It would depend on who all lived in the house. If it were just me, I could do w/a lot less space. I'm working on getting rid of clutter right now.

 

[snapshot]

For the past 2 years--210 square feet. For the 2 years before that--147 square feet. For the 5 years previous--210 square feet. All I can say is more! but now I know what we can do without. I'll come back to this thread when we move into a house of some type!

 

[hwillm1977]

Our house is 792 square feet... we have one toddler, 2 adults, another baby on the way, two large dogs, and one cat living here. I would like a well organized house at least twice the size of what we have... I'd like: a large walk-in pantry, a cold room, closets (there are only two closets in our entire house, no coat closets or linen closets), a basement (we just have a crawl space), a play room to keep kid's toys in so our living room doesn't look like a toy store threw up, a kitchen with more than 2 cupboards, a dining room table that our family can sit and eat a real dinner on.... I want STORAGE for SS gadgets and organization, and I really want a dedicated room for me to draw my portraits in.

Sure, I don't NEED all those things, but they would make me happier than I am in this house... I don't need a mansion, I'd just like at least 1500 well-laid out square feet.

Our house was built in 1883 as a rooming house for men working at a sawmill close by so it's just a box with teeny, tiny rooms... the largest room in our house is 10x12 feet, the smallest bedroom is 5x8, and I would love to have more room than that in any given room... there's no room to take more than one step in any direction before you hit a wall or furniture or a dog or a child's toy. The foot print is 16x22, and it's a story and a half which makes upstairs feel much smaller.

We stay because it's paid off, but we're trying to fix it up so that we can sell it for a profit and use that to buy a house with enough land for animals and more room for small children to run and play inside.

I go crazy in the house all winter, but I don't mind it so much during the summer because I love our yard, my raised beds, the fruit trees, the berries, and there's always stuff to do outside during the summer, I just feel trapped during the winter.

 

[Wannabefree]

We have 1500ish with plenty of room to spare for the 3 of us. I hate knick knacks and clutter Everything we own has use, nothing strictly for looks. I can't keep this clean half the time, why would I want more?! I'm too busy for a bigger house.

 

[Mr.Andersson]

Wow, i'm rockin at 1,000 sq ft, including the basment stairwell. Thats where the washer and dryer are perched, there's "bugs" in the basement, lol. Wife don't know there are snakes down there too! So, I am blessed. I gew up in a 3,000 sq ft home, and did not wish to work, just to pay taxes. Basement has 6' ceiling, which is fine, just need to solve the water problem, too much. This is due to the ground level 150 sq ft stairwell addition someone thew up, possibly during the depression, the sill is rotted out, allowing water in

 

[cheepo]

depends...
I thought we were looking for more space...but ended up taking a 1700 foot...place..
this is a small house...with a garage and upstairs loft built on...
I am utillizing creating shelving in any possible potential space...And it is way more than enough
for us...layout...and storage creation potential...is key

 

[k15n1]

We live in 1200 sq ft, and that's fine. Problem is, with all of the homesteading equipment I've acquired in the last year or so, I'm having trouble finding places to store it. I think I could use a 50 sq ft root celler and another 100 sq ft for equipment, canning supplies, apple press, brewing equipment, meat grinder, food mill, etc, etc.