I prefer living in close quarters (1200), but it's all relative. Moving up is clearly easier than paring down due to all the stuff you accumulate to fill spaces. Creative storage and less bulky furniture is key. We also have to merge & purge often.

I once lived in a postage stamp sized studio apartment in Europe - combination kitchen/bathroom. I s*** you not.

You can see floor plans at tinyhouses.com

Not of the one for sale but you will get the idea

We live in a huge house, but I would love to live in a tiny house. I am a simple girl at heart. I don't need a lot of possessions, and I don't need a lot of space. We only use about half the living space we have now. If I can talk dh into it, our next house will be small.

coming from a nyc apartment - with kids - yes, you definitely can do it.

We were recently looking at condos near us for a part-time residence for my in-laws to come visit for extended visits. We saw a cute 684 sf 2-br, 1-ba condo. It was nicely apportioned between rooms, but it was tiny. There was one great room with galley kitchen, two bedrooms, one small bathroom, and one one-car garage that was not included in sq footage. With only 1 full closet and two half closets and a 18" wide pantry, there was almost no storage space. We figured to make it usable, the garage would have to be converted to storage and a car parked in the parking area outside the unit. We felt that it was almost too small for two adults and one dog, although it could be managed as it would not be the primary residence, but only a part-time residence. It was a great size for a single.

Unless you are used to living small, that's not much space for three people, even if two of them are kids.

I have a cozy home with minimal clutter. Two kids (B/G) who will share a tiny room that will just be used for sleeping. We have a two bedroom basement that I rent out for the added income, but the kids will move down there when they age out of the sleeping arrangements upstairs.

Basically, I love living within my means. And, having spent a lot of time abroad, I'm just so glad not to be living in a place where the houses were built so very, very small (think Netherlands or GB). I'm 5'5" and some of the places I've lived made me claustrophobic! Tiny!

There's a nearby park that we can go to everyday. A local library. They have friends in the neighborhood with homes of different sizes---none of them particularly large. Our backyard is used for fingerpainting, chasing bubbles, one of those small plastic pools during the summer, and other kid-friendly activities. It's small, but suffices.

But, uh, I draw the line at pets. But, that's probably more about the added work than space.

can you post a link to the listing? I'm trying to figure out where such a house exists.

1103 here. sorry crawler made a move.

what helps:

pay for a storage unit.
stroller in car.
spend lots of time out.
keep a minimialist look--not "cozy"
buy pretty storage things (my fav. are dwell studio toy baskets)

525ft2 1 bedroom condo. no storage. no balcony. no dining room. 2 parents, 1 crawler, 1 elderly lab.

I actually love it but I can understand why my husband is at a breaking point. We have to wait for impending job news then will move. But I do love it.

I live in a 10-foot wide rowhouse that size - cat, dog, no kids. And no basement or attic. I can see doing it with two little kids, but not teenagers, yikes! Yard provides an additional "room" 8 months a year, especially if you can have a table and chairs in it. Critters will get in anything you store out there (spiders!) so it's really only good for stuff like bikes.

If you are careful about clutter and junk accumulation you can do this and you wouldn't be the first.

1000 sq. ft. two story townhouse for 2 adults and 2 kids (preschooler and toddler). No basement but we do have an attic for storage. 3 very small bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms. We have outdoor space but can't leave anything out there per HOA rules. We are going crazy. It feels like we are always reorganizing to try to make things fit. Our kids have generous grandparents and far too many toys and clothes. I'm reluctant to get rid of things that the older kid has grown out of because younger one is the same sex. We can't wait to move to something larger but for various reasons have been stuck for a while.

A lot of people like that have a holiday house

1000 sq ft, 2 adults, 2 young children.
2.5 bedrooms, third more like a closet with windows.
2.5 baths, full bath downstairs, powder room on ground floor, full bath upstairs.

400sq ft basement not included because currently used for renovations, but it is finished and will be turned into storage and TV room.
Also dream of using attic as bedroom, since it will be appropriately insulated and we can add a staircase on top of the first floor one instead of the existing pull-down ladder.

Small front and back garden, must add fence.
Small cottage-like garage (with windows and door) hardly big enough for a car, currently used for renovations, mean to furnish as study.

Very little built-in storage: 3 bedrooms closets, coat and linen closet, all tiny.

Living small means minimizing possessions!
The rule is: don't bring it in the house if you don't already have a place to for it.

I love my house - it dates from the 1920s and we have made extensive renovations, notably creating an open floor plan on the ground floor.
We have family in Paris and Tokyo, where living arrangements are even cozier. I know this is not how people usually live here in America, but we chose this downtown location over more space and a car-dependent lifestyle.

Do you have a link? I'm intrigued.

I live in a 1,200 square foot single family (no basement) with one adult, one kid and two cats. I can't imagine paring down to half the size. This is a fine size for except for lack of storage space.

My main concern with the house you mention is the lack of room for the kids to play or have friends over.

Im looking to buy a 2 bedroom 1 bath sfh.
Its 587 square feet and will house 1 adult, 2 kids, a cat, some fish, and whatever my son can con me into.


If you live small can you tell me about it.

It does have yard. And I will probably put some sort of storage outside