We downsized from 2700 to 1800sq. Ft. We went from 5 bedrooms to four. I love the house. It could still be smaller for the 4of us. Big thing we did was install a pool. We’ve enjoyed it so much I can’t see ever not having one.An additional win is our kids and their friends are at our house so we can monitor what goes on.
We currently live in a 70 sq meter two bedroom apartment with two kids 3 years old and 11 months.
We bought a 200 sq meter (including basement) four bedroom 2.5 bath house in the city (Berlin) that we will move into at the end of the year.
I will miss the apartment. It doesn’t take me long to clean it and I can easily hear or see what the kids are doing all the time. Running up and down stairs in the house will be annoying.
I am alone in a 1400sf house that I was raised in. The house was more than enough for four of us, plenty for two and too much for me. The back house is just under 400sf, well accommodating but too small for the amount of stuff I have around me.
My in laws live in a 5000 square foot two bedroom house. It is a spectacular waste of space. They also have two children so if both children + grandchildren visit at the same time, one sibling stays in a hotel.
5,000 sf and only 2 bd? What is the rest?
My townhouse was only $97/sq ft when I bought it and I’m in the urban core and only 10 minutes from work/downtown/hockey. It’s more than doubled in value so I’ll keep all my space until I’m ready to move from Nashville. And since it’s a townhouse, limited yard work and my neighbors mow my yard.
My in laws live in a 5000 square foot two bedroom house. It is a spectacular waste of space. They also have two children so if both children + grandchildren visit at the same time, one sibling stays in a hotel.
That’s bizarre. My house is 2000 square feet and we have 4 bedrooms. Is each room of the house massive?
I had a 500 sq/ft studio apartment in law school. It was in a great location, I lived by myself and was poor so it was fine.
Now with wife, 1 kid, dog and a couple of cats we have about 3600 sq/ft 4bd 3.5 baths. I like the space. We keep one bedroom set up for guests and the wife has turned the other into a craft room of sorts and I have full function home office in the basement along with workout room , shop and storage.
Our lake place is 1500 sq/ft 3& 2. It’s fine for the lake but I’d go nuts if it was our primary residence. Plan is swap things and buy a bigger place at the lake and a smaller place in town once the kid is out of HS.
My wife and I have three kids and our house is 2,000 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. We also have a finished basement with an additional 500 square feet. I wish I had a main floor office or a bedroom in the basement to use as an office, and a three car garage would be really help.
The rest of the house is filled with sitting areas spaced very far apart from each other.
2 of us in a 2,800 sf 5- level split . Built 1980 . 2 adult kids working less than an hour away, home 1 or 2 times a month for visits/parties.
Top level = MBR + 2 others , 2 baths; level 2 ,LR/DR/kitchen , front and side porch; level 3 , second kitchen, small bathroom, guest room, large family room ( 750 sf) with fireplace ; level 4, walkout basement , sauna/pool table/some workout equipment; level 5 , bike equipment / computrainer/bathroom.
Attached 2-car garage.
Some houses are now replaced with 6,000 sf monsters ( and 2 people !)
Love the split, lots of privacy and communal space , lots of stairs, keeps us young and mobile ( so far). Hoping to stay here at least until we’re 80, then move to a condo.
Progression:
Dating we rented a condo that was about 700 sq. ft. 2 bedrooms.
Married and bought an 850 sq. ft. 2 bed/1.5 bath condo we thought we’d have for 3-4 years or so. Market tanked and we were there for 12 1/2 years. Had 4 kids in that condo. Was obviously way too small by the time we could finally sell it and not be impacted with bad credit.
Rented 3000 sq. ft. 4 bedroom house that was very poorly laid out but gave us a ton of space finally.
Rented 1500 sq. ft. 3 bedroom townhome. Way too cramped. One of the bedrooms was basement level and the other 2 were top floor of a 3 level home. The middle level was so small and it only had a 1/2 bath, tiny kitchen and living room.
Currently renting what was advertised as a 4 bedroom house but one basement room has no egress, so not a bedroom, it’s a storage room. After the fire the kids refuse to be downstairs from us in the other basement room (window egress with a ladder) and I don’t blame them one bit. So the boys are all sharing one tiny room. It fits a queen mattress and a twin mattress on the floor. That’s it. Daughter sleeps with us in the small master. Whole house is probably 1500 sq. ft. It’s not big enough at all for 6 (we only use about 900 sq. ft.) but we make small spaces work.
Building a 2800 sq. ft. house. It has 4 bedrooms and a playroom (we can easily add a wall to to make a 5th bedroom if we need/want to in the future). Just walked through it today and realized the downstairs of the house is bigger than just about every house/condo we’ve ever lived in since my husband and I met. We cannot wait until the fall when it’s done and we finally have some room to spread out. The kids have been troopers, but 3 boys in a room is not ideal, and my daughter in our bed is also not ideal. We are one close family that’s for sure though!!
I moved in with my wife (gf at the time). She owned a 3 bed 2 bath it was about 1600 sq. Ft.
Once she got pregnant we bought 4400 sq ft 4 bed 2.5 bath house. It’ll be 5 bed 4 bath once I finish the basement. I wish the upstairs had another bathroom but besides that I like the house.
We have 2 BR’s and a DR that we rarely go in. No kids. But in order to get the things we wanted in a house we were going to end up with a 4 BR house.
If I never had to worry about selling my house or heirs disposing of it when we die I could go with 1 BR and and office. But not any people want that. I wanted a large kitchen, very large great room, large master suite, and a large concrete floored room that was not the basement for a home gym. We were in a 2 BR 1300 ft2 condo when we had this built. That was just too small for us.
Love my house and hope to live in it forever. If I won the lottery I would stay here. I just may buy out both neighbors and bulldoze their houses. I don’t need all the space but the extra space creates no problems so it doesn’t offend me.
This always a fun topic, given the difference in American’s and most the rest of the world.
How so?
Do you see American houses as larger or smaller than the rest of the world?
Because I can tell you that the sizes people are talking about are down right small compared to the typical new houses being built in Australia these days (average would be north of 3600sq ft easily), but Id imagine we are well and truly outliers here.
Our house is big. Bloody big (even by current Australian standards) and I could have cut some space out without totally ruining the floor plan and flow, but it wouldn’t have made a sizeable difference to my overall cost (Im in the industry) so I didn’t bother.
Excluding the garage, basement, gym and any covered out door areas, out house is around 7000sqft
4 bed (with walk in robes) + office , 5 1/2 bath.
Id call it comfortably large 
You’re in NSW correct?
Do you do concrete pours out as far as Brooklyn?
I’ve a friend who is designing a house and will be going for quotes shortly.
Im well south of Brooklyn, but can travel to work there.
remember, I only grind and polish concrete, I dont pour, but if he is stuck, I can try and find a good tradesman for him
OK. If you do know any good contractors for pouring let me know by PM
If you pass me your details I will forward them on
He is in the middle east so will end up finding a PM to manage the build I suspect
My in laws live in a 5000 square foot two bedroom house. It is a spectacular waste of space. They also have two children so if both children + grandchildren visit at the same time, one sibling stays in a hotel.
5,000 sf and only 2 bd? What is the rest?
My townhouse was only $97/sq ft when I bought it and I’m in the urban core and only 10 minutes from work/downtown/hockey. It’s more than doubled in value so I’ll keep all my space until I’m ready to move from Nashville. And since it’s a townhouse, limited yard work and my neighbors mow my yard.
We just finished a 3200 sq ft build for a client that has only one bedroom. It’s a pretty awesome bedroom though. The first floor is essentially a modern looking box. The bedroom is on the second floor and completely cantelievers over the rear of the house, and the walls are all glass. The house is waterfront so when you walk in to the bedroom you have this 180 degree view of beach and the San Juan islands in the background.
This always a fun topic, given the difference in American’s and most the rest of the world.
How so?
Do you see American houses as larger or smaller than the rest of the world?
Because I can tell you that the sizes people are talking about are down right small compared to the typical new houses being built in Australia these days (average would be north of 3600sq ft easily), but Id imagine we are well and truly outliers here.
Our house is big. Bloody big (even by current Australian standards) and I could have cut some space out without totally ruining the floor plan and flow, but it wouldn’t have made a sizeable difference to my overall cost (Im in the industry) so I didn’t bother.
Excluding the garage, basement, gym and any covered out door areas, out house is around 7000sqft
4 bed (with walk in robes) + office , 5 1/2 bath.
Id call it comfortably large
Without googling it I would guess the US is in the top 3 for the largest sq ft. HOUSES not including apartments. Yeah, Australia has land I am sure has big houses along with Canada, was more a general rest of the world, then a stake on #1.
Ok time to do some research.
Looks like its Aus., US, Canada, Denmark… (Denmark 4? well that one surprised me)
http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/average-home-size-by-country/article27181802/
We just finished a 3200 sq ft build for a client that has only one bedroom. It’s a pretty awesome bedroom though. The first floor is essentially a modern looking box. The bedroom is on the second floor and completely cantelievers over the rear of the house, and the walls are all glass. The house is waterfront so when you walk in to the bedroom you have this 180 degree view of beach and the San Juan islands in the background.
This sounds great! Though a spare bedroom for guests would be nice.
I’m happiest when we are living in 300 sq ft(our RV) with the wife and 3 kids. The last 3 houses were 3000+, 1475, and now 1575. I like the smaller houses for sure, less to clean, less to clutter. We are going to move soon, so I think we will stay in that range, maybe go a small 4th bedroom but keep it under 1800. Also less to heat and cool…