Sweet spot of square feet for a family of 5?

[Anonymous]

We lived in 3000 square feet with 5 people but as empty nesters it feels ridiculous. We never use the second tv room, the kids bedrooms are empty etc.

[Anonymous]

We’ve got 2800 sq ft for 4 including an office, small guest room (which can double as an occasional office or sewing room, could house a grandparent if necessary), formal and informal eating area, a decent sized family room, and 3.5 baths. I might like one more upstairs bedroom for a fifth so 3000 sq ft would be great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many square feet do you think is perfect for a family of 5? Meaning not too ginormous, not too small? In your perfect world.

3000SF. We're a family of 4 (no pets), two of them are late teens. We live in 2600SF just fine, with each kid having their own bedroom but sharing a bathroom.

[Anonymous]

Depends! Ten years ago with an toddler, I would have said 3000 sq ft was insane, because we were doing great on 1500. Fast forward, and he is a man sized 12 year old, and more importantly DS and I both work from home in very intense zoom-heavy jobs, and our 3000 sf house is not enough (and has a bad layout to boot). I spend 60 hours a week working, and I don't want to have to co-locate my office into the master bedroom or my son's dirty hangout tv room. We also both workout from home. We constantly use every inch of our house. We are looking to do a Reno and addition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends! Ten years ago with a toddler, I would have said 3000 sq ft was insane, because we were doing great on 1500. Fast forward, and he is a man sized 12 year old, and more importantly DS and I both work from home in very intense zoom-heavy jobs, and our 3000 sf house is not enough (and has a bad layout to boot). I spend 60 hours a week working, and I don't want to have to co-locate my office into the master bedroom or my son's dirty hangout tv room. We also both workout from home. We constantly use every inch of our house. We are looking to do a Reno and addition.

You’re saying 3000 isn’t enough for 3 people? I’m in a 2600 sf home with 3 people (teenage son) and we have so much space. 4 bedrooms gives us an office, a guest room (with desk), and a sunroom (which is where I generally work).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends! Ten years ago with a toddler, I would have said 3000 sq ft was insane, because we were doing great on 1500. Fast forward, and he is a man sized 12 year old, and more importantly DS and I both work from home in very intense zoom-heavy jobs, and our 3000 sf house is not enough (and has a bad layout to boot). I spend 60 hours a week working, and I don't want to have to co-locate my office into the master bedroom or my son's dirty hangout tv room. We also both workout from home. We constantly use every inch of our house. We are looking to do a Reno and addition.

You’re saying 3000 isn’t enough for 3 people? I’m in a 2600 sf home with 3 people (teenage son) and we have so much space. 4 bedrooms gives us an office, a guest room (with desk), and a sunroom (which is where I generally work).

It's layout dependent, and use dependent.

We have four bedrooms, and the rest of our house is basically one big open space (subdivided into different zones - dining, living room, tv room). The four bedrooms are: master, son's room, son's old playroom now tv room, and my husband's office. That means I (a work from home attorney making seven figures a year) have a laptop in the open concept main room and scramble from room to room for zoom calls when son gets home from school. We want a separate room for my son's tv/playroom because his bedroom isn't big enough to handle it all and we don't want a tv in his bedroom - and we don't want him watching tv in the main room when mom and dad are hanging out quiet time. Also as mentioned, DH and I since age 45 have both incorporated a really intensive workout routine that we are going 5-years strong on. That consumes half of our garage (which doesn't have a/c). We don't have the time nor inclination to go to a gym, and I feel like if the workout system works well for us, we should embrace it.

Also you say four bedrooms gives you an office (1), guest room (2), sunroom (3) and then presumably a master bedroom (4).... so where does you third person sleep? I think you mean you have four bedrooms plus a bonus or extra room of some sort. We don't have the extra room. We don't even have an extra nook.

Point being, yes 3000 sf seemed like an insane amount to us with a toddler. And when we bought this house we thought it would be plenty. But with the layout of our home, all of our spaces are heavily used and we are constantly on top of each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends! Ten years ago with a toddler, I would have said 3000 sq ft was insane, because we were doing great on 1500. Fast forward, and he is a man sized 12 year old, and more importantly DS and I both work from home in very intense zoom-heavy jobs, and our 3000 sf house is not enough (and has a bad layout to boot). I spend 60 hours a week working, and I don't want to have to co-locate my office into the master bedroom or my son's dirty hangout tv room. We also both workout from home. We constantly use every inch of our house. We are looking to do a Reno and addition.

You’re saying 3000 isn’t enough for 3 people? I’m in a 2600 sf home with 3 people (teenage son) and we have so much space. 4 bedrooms gives us an office, a guest room (with desk), and a sunroom (which is where I generally work).

It's layout dependent, and use dependent.

We have four bedrooms, and the rest of our house is basically one big open space (subdivided into different zones - dining, living room, tv room). The four bedrooms are: master, son's room, son's old playroom now tv room, and my husband's office. That means I (a work from home attorney making seven figures a year) have a laptop in the open concept main room and scramble from room to room for zoom calls when son gets home from school. We want a separate room for my son's tv/playroom because his bedroom isn't big enough to handle it all and we don't want a tv in his bedroom - and we don't want him watching tv in the main room when mom and dad are hanging out quiet time. Also as mentioned, DH and I since age 45 have both incorporated a really intensive workout routine that we are going 5-years strong on. That consumes half of our garage (which doesn't have a/c). We don't have the time nor inclination to go to a gym, and I feel like if the workout system works well for us, we should embrace it.

Also you say four bedrooms gives you an office (1), guest room (2), sunroom (3) and then presumably a master bedroom (4).... so where does you third person sleep? I think you mean you have four bedrooms plus a bonus or extra room of some sort. We don't have the extra room. We don't even have an extra nook.

Point being, yes 3000 sf seemed like an insane amount to us with a toddler. And when we bought this house we thought it would be plenty. But with the layout of our home, all of our spaces are heavily used and we are constantly on top of each other.

I’m sure layout makes a big difference. We also work out in the garage, fwiw. We have a master bedroom, our teen son’s room, a dedicated office, and a guest room (that’s the four bedrooms), plus a sunroom, which I work in a lot and which also has a tv. I could really just live in there, honestly. I don’t make 7 figures, but I don’t really like being in the office all day. I just move my laptop around to wherever I feel like being. When my husband works at home he usually just sets up in the dining room. We then also have a separate family room and a separate living room, and then the sunroom, which makes three separate spaces for tv if we all wanted to be alone watching tv.

People hate on split levels, but I really love everything about ours.

[Anonymous]

1000-1500 per person

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4 in 2500 Sq ft including a finished walk-out basement. It's enough for us day to day, but I sometimes wish we had a better guest room. So for a family of 5, I'd guess around 3000-3500 would be perfect.

We have a little less than this, about 2200 sqft including a finished basement. Four small bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. We use every inch of it and day to day it's fine, and we don't need room for overnight guests because our family is local. But, right now the two younger kids share a bedroom so we can keep one of the rooms as an office. When all three are teens it's going to be tight. I'd say if we had another 400 or 500 square feet it would be perfect -- one extra bedroom and a mudroom. As is I'm thinking of building an office shed in the backyard to get us through the teen years.

[Anonymous]

600 sq. feet per adult and teenager and 250 sq. feet per toddler. Add an extra 150 sq. feet for each parent who works from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1000-1500 per person

This sort of comment is out of touch with how 95% of America lives and 99.9% of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We lived in 3000 square feet with 5 people but as empty nesters it feels ridiculous. We never use the second tv room, the kids bedrooms are empty etc.

I want to stay here even when the kids grow up so I have room for them to come back to visit though...

[Anonymous]

Our house is 2400, and it’s been just about perfect for our family of 5. The dining room and master bath are a little on the small side, but that’s NBD. We have 5 bedrooms, 3baths, a family room, and a playroom.

PPs are right that layout is key. Our previous house was 3300, and it didn’t work nearly as well for us. Some rooms were uselessly oversized, but it only had 4 bedrooms.

Now that the kids are grown, though, the current house is too much, and I’m dreaming about downsizing.

[Anonymous]

We have 5000 for 5 people and it feels right. Four bedrooms upstairs, a home office on the main level. The basement has another bedroom and bedroom that we use for guest and a playroom, gym, hobby room,and flex space for hanging out.

The bedrooms are all big enough for desks witch was great during school and work at home

[Anonymous]

We have 5000 for 5 people and it feels right. Four bedrooms upstairs, a home office on the main level. The basement has another bedroom and bedroom that we use for guest and a playroom, gym, hobby room,and flex space for hanging out.

The bedrooms are all big enough for desks witch was great during school and work at home