We have 4000 SF for a family of 5, including 2 kids who are away at college, 1 teen still at home and a big dog. When the older kids are at school, we have way too much space. I would think something about 2000 SF for a family of 3 would be perfect if laid out efficiently and imaginatively. In fact, I'm trying to persuade DH to consider buying one of the smaller mid-20th-century houses in our neighborhood; renovated, it could be a little jewel.

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of 3 with 2 dogs. We absolutely need every square inch of our 4000 square foot house! What would DH do without his bar? I NEED my sewing room. How could any family live with less? I pity you.

If I lived with you, I'd need a bar too. Bottoms up!

We are a family 3 plus dog and cat.
1800 sqft, 3bed, 2.5ba, SFH
We have plenty of space. If we have another kid, we will still have plenty of space. I think it's all in how the house is laid out. Our old house had the same sqft but would have felt cramped with 4.

Anonymous wrote:I have lived in a mansion. So has my husband. Mansions are not the key to feeling "settled and satisfied." Our #1 favorite home was our two bedroom apartment in a great location with a nice view (before kids). Why? Because it suited us at the time, and location, location, location.

Now we have two children AND we both work from home. We could go for a big home out in the outer burbs, but we know we're mostly urban people at heart. And we have kids, so we need access to good schools. Oh, and grandparents who live far way, and come for extended multi-week stays, so someplace for them to feel comfortable, too. Balancing everything out (needs, preferences, finances), we got a smaller place. The office situation puts a kink into everything... it means we need two or three bedrooms (us and the kids) AND two office spaces that are separated from the bustle of the house by doors (so a landing will not do). PLUS a room that can be converted into a mostly private sleep/live space for visitors. We could probably squeeze all this into a 2000 sf home, too. Layout is the key, not size. Layout layout layout.

Agree with this totally. We were in a 2000 sq foot house and it felt tight as the kid grew and his toys got bigger. The home office took up the third bedroom so we had no guest room. The bedrooms were on top of each other and noise traveled since it was a single floor (unfinished basement used for storage only). We are now in a bigger house but it's the layout that really makes it feel big not the sq footage.

My mon was right a big house helped our marriage so we weren't always tripping over each other. (almost 6000 in the beltway with good schools so don't be applebeeing me yo!)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a great house in a great school cluster with a great commute. It is in a very nice neighborhood. It is under 2000 square feet. We have an only child and are not having more. I hear all of this talk about size and wonder what I am missing. We have a den and a guest bedroom in addition to our bedrooms. We have 2 bathrooms. Why would we need more space? Is this only if we had more kids? Serious question.

Clearly, you don't. But others might. And it really is not your concern why.

Aren't you a sweetie?
FYI, the entire point of a discussion board is to discuss issues, including why others 'might' need more space.

Okay, we moved out of our 1844 sf house, not because we need more rooms, but we wanted bigger rooms. And we prefer not to have multi-tasking rooms. We like having a separate playroom where toys don't have to be put away all the time. We like having a a kitchen that includes a breakfast nook since it's much easier to feed the LO without taking food back and forth to the dining room. We like having a separate office and guest room. Most importantly, we like having larger rooms. Yes the house with the small rooms was functional, but considering how much of our lives we spend in the house, we'd like to be comfortable and having only 20-25 sf of actual floor space not covered by furniture in the bedroom wasn't very comfortable. We would go in to sleep and change clothes. Now I enjoy actually being able to use the room for something other than just sleep and dressing. So, we didn't need it but we are much more comfortable in the larger house, we enjoy the house more and enjoy spending time in the house more. We also have more storage so that we can keep more seasonal items instead of always spending time purging items. Yes, some people feel so virtuous about cleaning and throwing things out, but I for one don't really feel like buying new things every year because I don't have the space to store things that I only use occasionally. I like having space for bicycles only used in warm weather, and sleds only used in cold weather and the cooking appliances that I only use a couple of times a year.

Different strokes for different folks.

Maybe not everyone has the best commute, maybe their career changed and now telecommute/need office, maybe their school pyramid sucks, maybe they can afford something more and go for it (even if it's not a neccessity), maybe it's a starter home, or maybe all of the above.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a great house in a great school cluster with a great commute. It is in a very nice neighborhood. It is under 2000 square feet. We have an only child and are not having more. I hear all of this talk about size and wonder what I am missing. We have a den and a guest bedroom in addition to our bedrooms. We have 2 bathrooms. Why would we need more space? Is this only if we had more kids? Serious question.

Clearly, you don't. But others might. And it really is not your concern why.

Aren't you a sweetie?
FYI, the entire point of a discussion board is to discuss issues, including why others 'might' need more space.

So, OP, are you asking why other families of 3 need more space? How do you know they don't and are just like you?

Anonymous wrote:you probably don't, unless there's a possibility you might work from home at some point, in which case a home office is nice. (I work from home 100%, DH is a professor and works from home more than 50% of the time.)

I do too. A converted attic works great as my office.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a great house in a great school cluster with a great commute. It is in a very nice neighborhood. It is under 2000 square feet. We have an only child and are not having more. I hear all of this talk about size and wonder what I am missing. We have a den and a guest bedroom in addition to our bedrooms. We have 2 bathrooms. Why would we need more space? Is this only if we had more kids? Serious question.

Clearly, you don't. But others might. And it really is not your concern why.

Aren't you a sweetie?
FYI, the entire point of a discussion board is to discuss issues, including why others 'might' need more space.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a great house in a great school cluster with a great commute. It is in a very nice neighborhood. It is under 2000 square feet. We have an only child and are not having more. I hear all of this talk about size and wonder what I am missing. We have a den and a guest bedroom in addition to our bedrooms. We have 2 bathrooms. Why would we need more space? Is this only if we had more kids? Serious question.

Um, ok. So what is your point???
You are content in your living situation. Do you want a gold medal? We, too, are content in our living situation. Should I write a post about it? I don't get it.

I also had a sandwich for lunch. It was just the right size and the perfect ration of bread, turkey, cheese, and condiment. I didn't need to eat any more. Why do other people eat so much for lunch? Serious question.

PP, you made me smile. Thanks. (I'm serious!)

Anonymous wrote:We have a great house in a great school cluster with a great commute. It is in a very nice neighborhood. It is under 2000 square feet. We have an only child and are not having more. I hear all of this talk about size and wonder what I am missing. We have a den and a guest bedroom in addition to our bedrooms. We have 2 bathrooms. Why would we need more space? Is this only if we had more kids? Serious question.

Clearly, you don't. But others might. And it really is not your concern why.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a great house in a great school cluster with a great commute. It is in a very nice neighborhood. It is under 2000 square feet. We have an only child and are not having more. I hear all of this talk about size and wonder what I am missing. We have a den and a guest bedroom in addition to our bedrooms. We have 2 bathrooms. Why would we need more space? Is this only if we had more kids? Serious question.

Um, ok. So what is your point???
You are content in your living situation. Do you want a gold medal? We, too, are content in our living situation. Should I write a post about it? I don't get it.

I also had a sandwich for lunch. It was just the right size and the perfect ration of bread, turkey, cheese, and condiment. I didn't need to eat any more. Why do other people eat so much for lunch? Serious question.

OP here again. What kind of bread?