Could you live in a smaller home?

Ima saver · #1 (**permalink**) 02-12-2006, 01:43 PM

I have lived in fairly large houses the past 30 years. I wonder if it would be cheaper to live in a smaller house. Could I adjust to it? I had to live in a travel trailer while building the last two houses, and I almost went crazy!

Ima saver · #2 (**permalink**) 02-12-2006, 02:57 PM

I know a couple that we have been friends with for about 30 years. They have always lived in a tiny house, less than 700 sq. ft. I could understand that when they first married, but even when they moved up here, they built a tiny house. Their daughter and grandson has lived with them a lot, so it is always crowded. Plus my friends are big, he is over 300 pounds and she is over 200 pounds.
I just think I would need more rooms than they have.

contrary1 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-12-2006, 06:11 PM

I moved to my current home in Oct of 2005. Went from almost 4000 sf to 2400 sf. I'm not totally sure this is going to work for me..........I miss the space.
I'm just starting a remodel of the master bedroom and bath area, when that is done, I may think this place will do. I've made many other changes to the place; all to open it up a bit.
I can tell I'm not totally sold on the new place, since I've still got my email search working .............sending me new listings whenever they come up!

The thing I miss the most about the old house is my gardens! Who knew I was going to be such a fanatic gardener? I would never have guessed that was going to be the thing I don't want to do without!

cercis · #4 (**permalink**) 02-12-2006, 06:24 PM

I've lived in a smaller house - 840sqft. With 2 preschool boys.

It was easily doable. It helped that we had a large lot and a large, covered patio. But it wasn't bad at all. It would have been even better if we hadn't had such large, overstuffed furniture.

We're in a larger house now (1800sqft), but I find that we never use the front room. We use the dining room portion, but not the rest (which is very large 13x20 or more). Plus our bedroom is much larger than we need.

What I do LOVE is the 2nd full bathroom. No more having to share with the kids. The kids love having a playroom (they still share a bedroom) with their tv and video game.

nanamom · #5 (**permalink**) 02-12-2006, 06:47 PM

I owned an 8 bedroom house and moved to a 4 room apartment and from there to a 1 large room eficiency. We are now in a 3 bedroom house. If I could get out of my lease I would move to a smaller (cheaper) place in a second. I am downsizing the "things" we own to that end currently. It isn't where you live for me, it's who you live with. I'd gladly go back to the 8 bedroom thing if I had enough kids.

jodi · #6 (**permalink**) 02-12-2006, 07:09 PM

My first instinct was no - with 4 adults and 2 kids, I thought we needed all the space we could get. But then I thought about the three empty rooms upstairs, and one room downstairs that isn't used...so I guess we could do it. If it were just DH, me, and the kids, we'd be fine if we had at least 1500 s.f. Right now we have about 2400, and it works well for us.

PrincessPerky · #7 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 04:03 AM

I could....but I don't want to. I have 3 bedrooms and 3 kids. I am comfortable here up to about 5 kids, then it will be more than cozy.

the more I declutter the easier it is to clean, and the nicer it looks. I have come a looooong way, but I still have sooo far to go.

I used to try to declutter a big cunk at a time, but I kept stalling, so I am down to one or two things at a time. It is getting done.

frugalfarmwife · #8 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 04:51 AM

I SOOOOOOOOOO want a smaller house! Hubby and I bought the farm for the land and the barns which were a bargian and fit our needs to a T. We have a 40x70 bank barn with a 20x50 run in, a 40x60 run in barn, a 30x50 shed/barn and a 20x40 shop, 10 acre fenced pasture and the rest is usuable farmland.

The house is a 4 bed/1 1/2 bath farm house monstrosity lol, way more than we need. I've joked that if a tornado takes it out I want a little open log cabin with a loft bedroom, thats all we need!

kj

jaksilee · #9 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 06:01 AM

I did this recently! I went from a 3 story with full attic, walk out basement and 3 bedrooms to a 680sq ft one bedroom. I moved to live with my DBF in another state and in to his apartment! I got rid of so much stuff, and I still have to rent a storage space back home. I am hoping to get up there this summer and get rid of a ton more stuff so I don't have to pay for the storage. Also we may move to a bigger place, but not for a while since I can't see paying more for a apartment!

Lostsoul33 · #10 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 06:08 AM

When we were first married 8 years ago, we bought an older house which was huge. Lots of cleaning but I still loved the house and all the room.
We then moved to a smaller house and I felt totally confined and I hated it there.
We moved again (after only 5 months) to a bigger house and I love it here. I only wish that we had a bit more storage room and a bigger backyard. I would love to make a huge vegetable garden out there.

flash · #11 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 01:26 PM

When we lived in California, we had a much smaller place, 2000 sq., but the bottom floor was completely open floor plan, so it seemed huge. Moving east, the houses are often divided into lots of rooms, but small. Formal dining room, formal living room, mud room, kitchen, tv room, office. 3500 sq. feels much smaller.

I "could" live in a smaller place, but I'd feel claustrophobic unless I got rid of everything. Clutter really shrinks a place.

joesbaby · #12 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 02:07 PM

i live in a 3 bedroom 2 bath mobile home right now. when i got married 4 yrs ago, we lived for a year in a 1 bedroom trailer while we looked for a bigger place. this was with 3 kids living with us at the time. im glad i have a bigger place now..but i dont think id want to live in a smaller place. we hope to save up money and get a house in a few years.

Ima saver · #13 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 02:45 PM

We have built some spec cabins and they were cute but they were so small, just a little over 900 square feet. There was a great room with living, dining and kitchen all in one room. Then 2 bedrooms with baths, one on each side. There was just no place to go in that house. It would not be too bad in warm months cause they was a large covered deck on three sides with nice mountain views.
I am in a two story with about 3200 square feet. I like the fact that my bedroom is so big it has a sitting area and fireplace.

zakity · #14 (**permalink**) 02-14-2006, 09:55 AM

Nope!! We have a 1024 sqft house with 5 people living in it. We have two bedrooms. DH and I share the little bedroom (12x12) and the boys share the big bedroom (12x16).

Ima saver · #15 (**permalink**) 02-14-2006, 12:43 PM

That is not much room for 5 people. The smallest I have lived in was about 1850 sq. feet and it was ok. W had a big deck over the river, so that helped.

Fern · #16 (**permalink**) 02-14-2006, 12:50 PM

I live alone in a 1650 sf house and yes, it's comfy, but i could do without the 3rd bathroom and the family room. i could live in 5 rooms instead of 7.

tomkat · #17 (**permalink**) 02-15-2006, 07:13 AM

I could not and do not want live in a smaller house at this point in my life. Hubby and I currently have no kids, but we do plan to start a family. Our current house is 3 br/2ba, 1640sqft. I want something bigger, though, especially when we start a family! Something with 4 bedrooms (master for us, two bedrooms for kids, and a guest bedroom), a separate room for a study (we both have computers for different tasks) and a bonus room. And then,maybe if we are blessed to make it to retirement, we'd probably downsize into a smaller home.

shelbylovesmelby · #18 (**permalink**) 02-15-2006, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zakity

Nope!! We have a 1024 sqft house with 5 people living in it. We have two bedrooms. DH and I share the little bedroom (12x12) and the boys share the big bedroom (12x16).

I'm in a similar boat as well !!! there's no way we could go smaller we are in 1008 ft house!

3bed 1bath w/ full basement though is ok if it was just us but we are a family of 4 + 1 dog & there simply is no way to go smaller. I'd love to go bigger, but unless someone know's tonights winning $300 million lotto #'s they'd like to share we're out of luck.

I'm just thankful we bought our house when we did 4 yrs ago other wise we'd never be able to afford one with the prices jumping up so high & with the cost of living going up as well & dh w/ NO RAISE this year.

We just have to make due with what we have & be thankful for it.

LittleGopher · #19 (**permalink**) 02-15-2006, 12:58 PM

We already live in a small enough house! We have 1200 sq ft well-used space. There are six in our family. My husband and I share a room, of course. My two younger daughters share a room with a bunk bed. My two older daughters each have their own small room. We have 1 1/2 bathrooms also, meaning only one shower! (yes, my poor husband!) Have I mentioned we have six indoor pets? We love our cozy house!

BCHGRL · #20 (**permalink**) 02-26-2006, 09:21 PM

Yes, we could live in a smaller home. Whether we want to or not is different. I grew up with my parents and brother in an 880 sq ft home then we moved into our new 2400 sq ft home when I was 15. I moved out at 18, and had been living in very small spaces (600 sq ft to 800 sq ft, sometimes with a roommate.) I lived in an 800 sq ft apartment for 2 years on the beach. My fiance and I then moved in together in a 1200 sq ft condo. We didn't seem to have enough space, but this was when we first combined our stuff.
One year ago we bought our home which is 1890 sq ft. I have lived in smaller spaces, but I find the bigger the place, the more I enjoy staying home. If I get bored in one room, I just move to the next room. If his family wants to travel from Indiana and stay, we have plenty of room. I don't plan on having kids but if we do, we have plenty of room to grow.