Space or lack thereof

[Vishenka69]

DH and I were got into the habit of watching various "homeowner" shows on HGTV. I guess we're starting to mentally prepare ourselves for this big step.

Anyway, whenever the show's topic is lack of space, we're just amazed at to what is considered "lack of space" outside of NY. Yesterday we were watching a show about a couple in their 30s (I think it was in SoCA) looking to buy a house because their rental was too small. Their rental was probably twice the size of our apt (which is considered huge by NY standards). There was counter space on both sides of the kitchen, and around the bathroom sink!!! They had about 1/3 acre of back yard, a den and a dinning room! We just couldn't believe that they needed more space. For what (they weren't married, didn't have kids or pets or plans to get any, didn't work out of a home office, etc.)?

So, I guess my question(s) is "What do people do with all that space? What about maintaining/cleaning it?"

[Rapunzel]

Oh my, it's been interesting explaining to my Boston-native friends how people live in the non-coastal areas of the country!

Here we fit two adults, five children, and two cats into 1800 sq.ft.

For the same monthly amount on a 30 year mortgage payment we would be living in about 3000 sq. ft. in San Antonio.

What do you do with all that space? Revel in the fact that you can have a wall that is devoid of any shelves, rods, corkboards, etc. You can actually practice Pilates in your own living room floor! You can have more than one bathroom! Oh, how I miss it....

Jennifer

[Auspicious]

Our current place is 530 sq.ft., and I like that size for the two of us. Our old place was 425 and that was too small, although a big factor here is that our current apartment makes much better use of the space than the old one did.

I've thought the same thing about a big living space that you have: "Man, I wouldn't want to have to clean all that."

[Sheherezade]

Our current house is 3000 sq feet - and smallish compared to new homes because it is 100 years old (with an addition) with rooms instead of great open spaces.

Before this, we never lived in more than 1100 sq feet. It is total culture shock. I honestly can't tell you what people do with all that space. As you may have read in my party post, we turned one room into a giant indoor basketball/gym/playroom for the kids. We have two rooms closed off under renovation. We assume at some later date (when the kids are older) we may need more space. Our house has the heating done in five zones because the former occupants didn't use much of the house. Apparently, we are the first family to live here in recent years. It has been home to two retired couples previously. I can't imagine *what* they did with all the extra rooms.

The only reason we would ever need more space is (sadly, sadly, I know) if I get tired of hearing how "cute" and "cozy" our house is. It's really unbelievable. People will actually avoid our home because it's too small. I just hosted a party for 100 comfortably in our "cozy" home. Most of the people in this area are used to huge open spaces. They'd freak if they saw what DH and I started out in in NYC - a studio on an illegal sublet about 360 sq feet.

I personally think that all that space contributes to consumerism and clutter. It is a rare person (or household) that has 3000 sq feet of uncluttered/unfilled open space. But.....I'd better get off my soapbox before I start preaching.

[mommax3]

I think our current house (3139 sq. ft.) is *plenty* of space.....I just wish it was distributed better. Some of the things I like to do with the space I have are: have a tv-free room, which is also the music room, which (in our current home) is also the dining room. I don't really like having a dedicated dining room, but that is how this house is set up. I like having plenty of storage space and a laundry room. I like it that each of my kids has their own room, now that they are older and have homework, etc., but my oldest's bedroom is WAY bigger than necessary. We use it as a guest room when we have company, and he shares a room with one of his brothers. I like having enough room in our bedroom for a sitting area, (although this is a moot point since we have no bedroom furniture) because sometimes I just want PRIVACY and a place to read or whatever without hearing SpongeBob's maniacal laugh in the background. I LOVE having a walk-in closet that is separate from DH's. I love having room to store hand-me-downs since I have all boys. I love that each of the kids has a place to put their toys so they are OUT OF SIGHT when they are not being played with.

I don't need any more room than I have......I don't even need the room that I DO have.....but I sure wish I could tweak the design so this space could be used more efficiently!

Sally

[Rapunzel]

I personally think that all that space contributes to consumerism and clutter. It is a rare person (or household) that has 3000 sq feet of uncluttered/unfilled open space. But.....I'd better get off my soapbox before I start preaching.

On the whole I actually agree with you on that!

3000 sq. ft. for a childless couple or a family of four is kind of ridiculous in my mind. But, once you hit the five kids threshold, let me tell you: You NEED all of that space!

Here is what we will be looking for in a new house when we move: Master bedroom with private bath (nothing huge - just a tub, toilet and two sinks would be nice), three kids bedrooms (two girls to a room and one for my son) with a bathroom or two for them all, a library/office for our hundreds of books and FIVE computers (yes, we have five - please give my husband the consumerism speach - PLEASE?), a playroom (because with that many kids you need a dedicated "play" space or else your entire home becomes the toy area ), a kitchen big enough to hold all of my pots, pans and dishes as well as a very large pantry (wanna guess how much food we go through?), a living room big enough to hold the 12'x12' sectional we plan on buying AND my comfy rocker/recliner, a dining area that can seat at least 10 comfortably, and a good-sized laundry room and a mudroom. The icing on the cake would be an exercise room for me and maybe a nice guestroom with its own bathroom.

Trust me when I say that 1800 sq ft doesn't hold seven people (five of them being fast and loud) very well!

But, I do think that this tendency to have a full 800 to 1,000 sq ft per family member is excessive.

Jennifer

[Vishenka69]

Oh, I completely understand the need for a large space with multiple kids and pets. But for two people? We have a 2 bed/1 bath right now and I feel like we live in a mansion (by NY standards). We once saw a show where this family of 3 build a house in TX that's about 11,000 sq ft. When the host asked them what they would do differently if given a chance, the husband said "I'd make it bigger."

Part of me doesn't want to move to a house because I don't want to deal with all that extra space, which as we all know automatically becomes the responsibility of the non-med spouse.

What did everyone lived in when there were only two of you? Was it enough space?

[DCJenn]

We're in about 1300 sq feet of livable space. The realtors say it's 1800 sq/ feet but they count the basement.

I don't need anything more than this- we have our bedroom, Nikolai's room and our office. I would like another half bath, but it's not necessary.

We started out in 515 sq feet, then 750 sq feet, then 1200 sq feet and now this. The 515 sq ft. condo was a little cramped but that was mostly because we had all of my furniture and all of his furniture stuffed in. I really liked the layout of the 750 sq. ft apartment because it also had two full bathrooms.

I can't imagine wanting or needed anything more than 2000 sq feet, because I personally can't clean anymore than I already do! and I just re-hired the cleaning ladies starting in January because they're professionals and I'm not. Let the experts do it. I'll take care of their mentally retarded relatives in exchange.

Jenn

PS- What I would like is a fenced in yard for poor Petey, and a place to store our bikes without schleping them in and out of the basement.

That does sound like a lot of space for two that plan to remain two.

We are currently in 1300 sq ft. (3 bedroom/1.1 bath). If it weren't for some of the changes we have made, I don't know how we would fit.

With the kids being younger, it seems to be just fine but I would say we are close to being at capacity. Thrown a few guests in and it gets cozy.

The pluses of living in a smaller space -- less to furnish, clean, and heat. Make room for me on your soapbox, Angie! I love the Not So Big House book series. We will end up in a house bigger than this, I think, but I'm hoping for well-organized space.

[Vanquisher]

We have 2200 sq. ft. right now. I like that both my kids have their own bedroom. I don't need the formal living room (computer room) or formal dining room (playroom). Most of the houses that we looked at had less square ft. and cost more. I think we did okay. Our first apartment before kids was around 400 sq. ft. We even lived in an apt. with 500 sq. ft. for a while when my oldest was a baby. It sucked. I like having the space. It definitely makes more to clean, but I like it all the same. I want to have a place to stick my in-laws far away from me when they visit. :>

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Space or lack thereof

"What do people do with all that space? What about maintaining/cleaning it?"

Clean? Who cleans?

We've lived in very small homes too....we had a rental in Fl that was really small....really small...and we made due. Then we moved here and had so much space...and somehow, you just...end up filling it up.

I have so much more cupboard space in our new house. When we moved in, I said "I'll never fill this up"....we've only lived here a couple of months and wouldn't you know...I've filled it up!

[SuzySunshine]

I agree with Sally, its all about how it is laid out. We have 1800 square feet which, if it were laid out better, would be great for us for the next who knows how many years. But we've only been here 18 months I'm already bored with it. When we have kids I'm sure it will get worse. Our next house will have a BIG kitchen or at least twice as much cabinet space as we have now. All the bedrooms that are used will be on the same floor with a guest room (or two) on a seperate floor. I look forward to having a bigger house but if the layout was better I'd be happy with the amount of space we have now.

Our first house was a 1200 sf 3 bed (one was a walk though) two bath. The layout was awkward. The bathroom downstairs had been built into the porch, which was partly finished as a laundry room. We totally redid that so we didn't have to go onto the back porch to take a shower.

Our last house started as a 1300 sf 3 bed 2 bath that we built out to a 2000 +sf 4 bed, 3 bath with home office that could be used as a bedroom. I think the overall layout was pretty good. It was a classic ranch with living areas on one end, sleeping off a main hallway at the other end. That was mimiced in the basement conversion.

Our soon to be new house is an 1800 sf 3 bed, one full bath and two powder rooms. The boys will share a room, and use the spare bedroom as a playroom. I think it is very important for my sanity to be able keep the bulk of their toys out of sight if need be. Its a colonial style with beds up, living area on the main, and laundry(future home for kitty box) and family room in the basement.

The BEST thing...a hall closet I can use as a hall closet rather than a cat litter hiding space (its the only toddler safe place for it in the apt) AND a linen closet I can use for towels and sheets and not have to put all the cleaning supplies in it (again, toddler safe thing)

As far as cleaning, I've never has as much work in either house as I have here in our 900 sf apt. All four of us wind up in the main room, which is divided into kitchen, living and dining. The two bedrooms are cramped with the boys bunkbed and crib and dresser, and our bed, dressers, bikes and countless rubbermade containers filled with stuff from our old house. All it takes is Tim playing with his crayonsat the dining table, Henry playing trains on the floor, me reading a magazine and drinking coffee at the desk and DH sitting on the sofa reviewing his notes and it looks like a hurricane has struck.

Only 10 days til we close!

Only 10 days til we close!

That sounds like good news .

[Sheherezade]

A note on heating bills:

Our heating bill went from around $200 on a cold month in Boston to $750 on a cold month in Ohio. The zoned heating makes so much sense now! With a budget pay system, we went from $90/apartment to $240/house. It is a big step up. Cleaning lady? We don't have one .... yet. I can't get my arms around the $90 a week the neighbors pay for their smaller home.