of a home for you and your family?

I'm in the midst of selling my home that in total is 4000sq ft and moving to our condo that is 1500 sq ft. At this point, I think 2000 sq ft of space would be just right for hubby and I, not too big, not too small.

depends on needs and size of family

you are brave sunny....we went from 4100 to 2000...just hubby and I (and the dogs)

I love it!

Agree it does depend on personal needs and the size of the family. My hubby and myself currently live in a 2900 sq ft home which is really too big for us now, but was purchased when we still had children at home.

When the market improves, we plan on downsizing. But in order to get all the rooms I want (large master suite, 2 additional bedrooms,2nd bathroom, formal dining room, living room and large eat in kitchen) we'll probably need 2000 sq feet so that the rooms are decent size. Any smaller then that and I'd be afraid that we'd be sacrificing on the size of individual rooms.

I've often thought 2500sq ft, but each home we have is 3000sq ft, so maybe I'm a bit off on size.
Just two of us (dogs too), but the large staircase for three floors takes up a lot of space.
If the house was on one floor, 2500 work probably work fine.

We are a family of 5 humans and 2 cats in 2100 square feet. It really is enough room for us. I'd like to keep that much space for grandkids in the future, but we'll see. We lived in condos that were under 1000 sq ft the first three years after our youngest was born and we survived!

Our family of 4 lives in 3100 sq. ft. and it's a big too large as we have space we don't even use, except to walk through every once in a while.

What is more important, I think, is the layout of the house, and how you want it to function. If that part is right, then a fairly small space could work quite well.

(I am a "Not So Big House" fan.) Design is everything!

We have 2404 sq. feet; noticed how I added the last 4 feet?

Basically have a two story house with two master bedrooms (each with its own master bath) on the second floor and an open floor plan on the first level with kitchen, living room, guest bath and library/den/3rd bedrm on the first floor; 3 car garage with a 4th bath.

Perfect size for us! Especially with the second story redwood deck and first floor patio that adds about 600 sq ft to basic dimensions. We also have a large shop plus a barn on 8.5 acres and don't think we could take care of anything much larger! Did I mention the 11% grade driveway to the house which needs grading every 2-3 weeks?

So my answer would be a 2400 sf house, 600 sf outside living space and 8.5 acres surrounding!

WE are a family of 4, we live in 1100 square feet. We did live in 3000 square feet. Our housing situation is temporary(although we have been here 3 yrs)...for us, I think 1800-2000 would be perfect, but our kids are young, so I think an unfinished basement to grow with us might be in order. We had a 1900 square foot house before the 3000 square foot house, the kids were just babies then.

I had this conversation yesterday with a friend.

I'm with Bmrbabe - each family and each house is different.

In the last 20 years or so everyone has gotten the idea that each child must have it's own bedroom and you must have this, that and the other.

My SIL & BIL raised 3 boys in a traditional cape with 2 bdrs, 1 bath and eat in kitchen. It had an unfinished upstairs they finished when the boys were in high school. So, it's all in what you are used to.

Working in real estate, I see how many people moving into our area in very large - 3000+ sq ft homes think they need that much space. Most eventually end up with 2000 or less. We have very open floor plans. Dining areas, not dining rooms, Carolina room, not a den or bonus room not a basement. All thse take less floor space,

We are a family of three (well 4, we have our dog-baby too!)and we live in a home that is 3039 sq. feet. We use every inch except the bathtub in the master and the bathtub in the downstairs bathroom (well...the dog-baby gets his baths there when we can't get into the groomer)
For us it was all about flow and layout and storage!

It does depend on the family and their needs. Our family of 4 lived in a small 70's ranch for just over 7 years and it was only about 1400 sq ft. We bought it as a foreclosure and spent a lot of time remodeling/updating it. Although it was relatively small and very short on storage, it was nice that you could carry on a conversation with pretty much anyone in the house without a problem!

We finally decided to build in 2006. It took us a while to find the right lot and the right house plan that worked for us. Even then we had to do a lot of reconfiguring of the plan to make it work for our family. After all was said and done, we ended up with approximately 2700 sq ft. heated space. We also have an unfinished basement that is about 1300 sq ft. We just moved in our new home in January. Although we are loving our space, it has definitely taken some getting used to. You certainly can't carry on a conversation across the house anymore!

our home is 1352 sq ft.

if you include the attic its about 1600 sq ft.
it's exactly 26 ft wide and 26 feet long.. we have 4 bedrooms, 2 actual closets and 1 bathroom. and at the moment 5 people live here although at times its been 6 or 7..

I truly would like a bit larger home.. we rented a lovely house that was about 3600 sq ft, plus attic, but STILL had just 4 bedrooms and 1 bath.. older homes both..

I think 2000-2300 sf would be ideal for two people depending on how the rooms were configured.

There are 3 of us including our son who's home right now & still has his room here...we have 2670 SF & it is a great size for us (plus five cats...). It's probably a little bigger than we need but it's nice to be able to have the extra space since our son's friends visit often.

Arrrgh, the home we will be moving to is about 1800 SF...we do plan to add 600-1000SF addition, not quite sure of the definite size yet. I suppose we don't really "need" that much space with our son leaving home, but I want room for (hopefully) future grandchildren!

We raised our 3 dch in a 3600 sq home. 4b2b. Actually, we used the den, as the 4th bedroom. We had more than enough room for 5 humans and many neighbor kids, and a drove of furbabies. Dh and I downsized, to 2200, and youngest moved back home and brought his little family with him. We still have enough room. We are 5 humans again and 3 fur babies, at the present. I think it is just really what works best for each family. In college dbf and I had about 300 sqaure feet, and that was fine for us.

i have 1500 sq ft for me plus a semi-finished basement that stores all my teaching stuff and has my sewing room...

My mom did this right...She raised 3 kids in a home that was about 1300 sq ft plus a basement that was used as a toy room when we were growing up..and only one bath...but it was all we knew and it really did work...

So she is now 70, the house is paid for, she is retired, and none of her kids have ever returned...we only come to visit and she does have enough space for my sister's family of 5 for a few days...And the best part is that it is the perfect size for only her...There was no downsizing needed on her part..

The only issue i ever foresee is if she ever became wheelchair bound she wouldn't be able to use the bathroom...can't get the wheelchair into the room...

The house took her from the time we were babies and toddlers and now to when the babies and toddlers are grandbabies...That was a wise buy...

For selling purposes, I feel that a 3bd 2bath is probably the ideal between 1800-2100sq ft.
More buyers will go for something like that than other.
The time of the McMansions is truly gone and people are going back to more realistic homes.
having said that, It is an individual need what should be considered.

Some builders here in sprawl areas to the North of Tampa are building smaller (1000-1300 sq.ft) homes with two car garages.

I like alot of space. While the house we have now is probably 2 big (I don't need 5 bedrooms, there's just 2 of us), I do like the fact that I can find private space. To me, the perfect house would be a Spanish style, 1 level, maybe about 2700 square feet (including, of course, the gorgeous sun room I would have).... That wouldn't include the courtyard in the back, though....

quote:

Originally posted by Debid:
I like alot of space. While the house we have now is probably 2 big (I don't need 5 bedrooms, there's just 2 of us), I do like the fact that I can find private space. To me, the perfect house would be a Spanish style, 1 level, maybe about 2700 square feet (including, of course, the gorgeous sun room I would have).... That wouldn't include the courtyard in the back, though....

Wow, I couldn't imagine having 5 bedrooms and/or 2700 if it were just DH and me. I just wouldn't want to maintain it all!

If it were just DH and me, I could see moving back to something more around 1500 sq feet and in a community where the lots are small and all the landscaping is taken care of. That's what I'd like to do when we retire, but thankfully, and some days unfortunately, that's still quite a ways off!

I think one can adapt to any size. When the kids were small, we lived in a split level with 1700 square feet and no basement. Now they are teens and we live in 2600 square feet with a 1100 sq. ft. basement. The kids spend most of their time in the basement and DH and I upstairs, so it works out well.

Terrific post! At 1900 SF, the house we own now is the largest DH and I have ever lived in. We love the view, the big porch and the newly remodeled space,but the upkeep is starting to get old.

We will eventually downsize; 1200 would be perfect for us, as long as it has two baths (one for him, one for her -- the secret to a happy marriage) and a decent-sized balcony or patio space for low maintenance outdoor living.
No more big yards!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vancleef,

1200 sq. ft. for us, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Plenty big for us and youngest son. I don't see any need for more, I hate having a lot of "stuff" and I hate having high heating-cooling costs. My theory is how much space can a person occupy at any time. Comes out to just a few sq. feet The rest is wasted.

The ideal size depends on so many things. Is it one story or two (or three)? A 1200 ranch is laid out totally different from a 1200 colonial.

Which brings me to the 2nd thing. Lay out is very important. A large house can actually feel (and live) smaller than another one 1/3 the size.