How much house is "enough"

[GreyhoundsRUs]

DH and I often talk about how much home is enough for when we actually have a say There reaches a certain point where you have rooms for the sake of rooms (we don't need a wine cellar, full gym, indoor pool, game room, theatre, etc!). We hope to be done having kids by the time we are ready to settle down - but we'll hopefully max out at three.

How much house is enough for a family of five? (I totally realize this varies widely, but I'm interested more in the "why" behind the answers - do you wish each kid had their own bathroom, etc?)

[weeniegeniewife]

We have a 5,000 sq ft house and we are a family of 5. Each kid has their own bedroom and bathroom, and that works well for us. Never say never on the extra rooms! We have two offices and that has come in handy because I can work on my PhD in my office, and the kids can do schoolwork in their office. We also love our home gym and we turned the wine cellar into DH's "man cave."

[diggitydot]

We just bought a 5 bedroom, 4 bath 3,500 sf house. It works for us. We didn't "need" 5 bedrooms, but we prefer having an extra one for guests. We didn't "need" 4 bathrooms, but it's kinda awesome to not have to wait in line or have to share with the teen and preteen girls. And DS having to clean up his own bathroom messes and not rely on his sisters' help is a great opportunity for him to learn life skills.

I think a lot of "what works and why" is entirely dependent on the needs of each family and their location.

[TigerLily]

I'm curious about this too. We've been looking at houses and neighborhoods for next year. I think we're done having kids, at least the way this one is acting I don't want another one right now even a little bit. We're hoping to have 4 bedrooms, one for us, one for each kid, and a guest room. Probably 3 1/2 bathrooms, and definitely an office. I would like to have a finished basement where we can have big ugly comfy couches and a big ugly tv. I do not need a formal living room or a hearth room. I think since I'll probably be cleaning the house mostly by myself, I'll want a house that I can keep and not have it be my full time job.

[Chrisada]

We will stay under 4,000 sq feet with 3-4 kids. DH has no concept of house stuff and says we will be fine with 2,000. Uh huh. Have you met our boys and how much space they take up? The big big houses would be too much for me personally.

[TigerLily]

My husband really wants a "man room" His dream is to give it separate ventilation so he can smoke cigars in it in the winter. ::::

[Chrisada]

Oh and a basement. I will never not have a finished basement! They are awesome and are not counted in the sq. footage of a home here.

[weeniegeniewife]

Oh and a basement. I will never not have a finished basement! They are awesome and are not counted in the sq. footage of a home here.

Agreed. Basements are an absolute must.

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

My husband really wants a "man room" His dream is to give it separate ventilation so he can smoke cigars in it in the winter. ::::

I almost read this out loud to my DH since he wants a mancave...caught myself just before I gave him any ideas...

[Vanquisher]

My house is probably too much, but I love it anyway. Truthfully, my 2200 sq ft house before that would have been more than adequate. Neither have a basement - no basements here. It depends a lot on layout, I think. If we hadn't found this one at such a good deal, I think we would have gone for 2800-3500 range.

[weeniegeniewife]

I almost read this out loud to my DH since he wants a mancave...caught myself just before I gave him any ideas...

Trust me, man caves are a good thing! DH loves his.

[BonBon]

Our house is 5 bed, 3.5 bath 4400sf. I designed it with our family in mind, so it really works well for us. For the kids' area there is a central reading loft/playroom. The girls' bedrooms all have their own sinks and are connected by toilet/shower room. The other two also share a bath, I put the laundry on the second floor next to our bedroom...seriously best.idea.ever. We ditched a formal living area in favor of an office/library which I love.

Think hard about what you want, and how you use your time/would like to use your time. ie, if you watch a lot of movies, then a theatre room would be fun. And having a bathroom for every two people is such a blessing. I grew up in a family of 5 with one bathroom. Yeah, mornings were fun.

[v-girl]

We are hunting for 5+ bedrooms. We want one more baby in the next few years. We also need a second living area so we don't have to homeschool in the dining room. And a pool because it's so hot that we run out of things to do with friends in the summer. It'll be easier to have our own instead of inviting friends to my in-laws' house that's 15 miles away (and even further for our friends). Yes, the girls invite friends to their grandparents' house. LOL

[Auspicious]

For our family of four, I'm looking for
--a bedroom for each girl and a bathroom for them--shared is fine
--master with en suite for us
--a guest space (could be a real bedroom or could just be a Finished Room Over Garage etc.)
--office, ideally right near the front entrance, with its own door that closes (we're messy office people). Generally it seems to be labeled as "formal living room" but it would totally be our office.
--at least a powder room on the main level
--family room big enough for a full couch and loveseat and big comfy chair and coffee table and TV
--kitchen with either a breakfast bar or an island with seating. Place for the kids to be out from underfoot but still able to talk to me while I'm cooking. Fond memories of that growing up.
--everything already seems to have both formal dining room and breakfast nook here
--hopefully either a screen porch or a florida room--if not we'll be looking to add one in the future

I'd love a basement and grew up that way but they're rarer than hens' teeth here--something about the water table being too high?--so as much other storage as possible (big closets, etc.). For that reason I'm okay with some "extra rooms"--we'll need storage.

Our rental house is 2500 sq ft, and based on that I think 3000-3500 is probably my ideal. When they start getting up toward 4000 I start getting un-thrilled about the cleaning and upkeep and utilities, etc.

That would be plenty for us and is very available in our price range here (and then some). If we lived in a different city, I think I'd probably be making a whole different list based on what the housing stock was like there in our price range. These are all wants and not needs.

[Auspicious]

I put the laundry on the second floor next to our bedroom...seriously best.idea.ever.

Yes! Our rental house has this and I'm having trouble finding it in the houses for sale that I'm eyeballing. I wonder how hard it would be to add in afterward . . .