Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I'm sure it is brimming with charm. Surely you don't want to give up this charming house and move into one of those 5000+ sqft open concept McMansions.

I moved out of our cramped and charming 1955 "cottage" style home into a 4,000 sq ft open concept McMansion and I dont miss that shoe box with its suffocating 8 foot cielings, and lack of closets. Love hosting holidays, having large groups of friends over and not being on top of each other. Glad we can host a party and not be terrified of rain that would being everyone inside.

Nope, dont miss that "charm" one bit. So glad we have the income to no longer have to live like that.

I think hosting is the hardest in a smaller house and mine isn’t even tiny, about 2100 sq ft, but it was built in the 70s.

I grew up in a newer mcmansion-y large house and there’s nothing like having dedicated spaces for entertaining and a study. It really is comfortable with all the windows and high ceilings. Sigh.

Anonymous wrote:PP-
Every part of your house counts. Have the screens on the porch repaired (I would kill for a screened-in porch), paint the insides of the closets crazy colors, get a dining table with leaves that seat 12 (craigslist- we scored with table with 4 leaves and made for awesome holiday meals ), get custom window coverings (the back entryway walls off our patio is painted red with blue toile curtains covering the window on the door- a minimal amount of $$$ paint in that small space- why not?)
I look up New York city websites for families who make a lot of $$$ and live in tiny apartments and consider myself lucky compared to them.

one of the great failings of the market is handymen for people with two working parents and modest budgets. But the screens can be fixed/replaced by taking the old ones to an Ace Hardware so idk what the issue is for OP

PP-
Every part of your house counts. Have the screens on the porch repaired (I would kill for a screened-in porch), paint the insides of the closets crazy colors, get a dining table with leaves that seat 12 (craigslist- we scored with table with 4 leaves and made for awesome holiday meals ), get custom window coverings (the back entryway walls off our patio is painted red with blue toile curtains covering the window on the door- a minimal amount of $$$ paint in that small space- why not?)
I look up New York city websites for families who make a lot of $$$ and live in tiny apartments and consider myself lucky compared to them.

PP here
Google Scandinavia designs (clean uncluttered minimalist) or buy Cottage lifestyle mags

I moved from a big house to a smaller one. Much happier. My kids didn’t mind the move either. It’s cozier and true to our lifestyle.

I have a condo, same sqf, with 3 bedrooms, but it is vacation place for us. It seems spacious to me. However, are you in one of those rich neighborhood for schools, living in a smallest house? Move then. Move further away, you can get a bigger house, you'll add a commute.

I have a 1100 foot house 3br and 2 baths with 3 kids. I would like a larger house about 10% of the time. I appreciate the lower property tax, mortgage, utility, and general upkeep bills.
I was house poor before I met my DH and so when DH and I were house shopping I told the realtor "this is what we can spend" and didn't rely on the bank.
It made a big difference to us to have the basement (another 1100 sq. feet) organized into the following- toy/play area room, tv area with two sofas, an office desk by the stairs, laundry space, storage space for, let's face it, seasonal crap, and, what wasn't apparent to me before we moved in, three floor to ceiling metal shelves used as a kitchen pantry (dry goods, paper plates, serving ware, crock pots, etc.)
I drop crap off at the Salvation Army regularly. I tell my children when I throw out their drawings (after a week on the frig) we are recycling so they can make more art in the future.
If you keep wanting something bigger, better, ore $ there is not end. I tell my kids there will always be people with more money than us, and always people with less money than us. We are "middle".

Anonymous wrote:before I was a DCUM addict, I actually pined for one of those "McMansions" until I found out that the general populace thinks they are tacky and [insert slew of other words like "tacky"]

It’s not the general populace, it’s the miserable harpies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I'm sure it is brimming with charm. Surely you don't want to give up this charming house and move into one of those 5000+ sqft open concept McMansions.

I moved out of our cramped and charming 1955 "cottage" style home into a 4,000 sq ft open concept McMansion and I dont miss that shoe box with its suffocating 8 foot cielings, and lack of closets. Love hosting holidays, having large groups of friends over and not being on top of each other. Glad we can host a party and not be terrified of rain that would being everyone inside.

Nope, dont miss that "charm" one bit. So glad we have the income to no longer have to live like that.

That’s very helpful considering the OP cannot afford a 4000 sq ft house. Thanks for bragging!

The problem is not affording the house it's affording the housekeeper, lawn guy and long term upkeep.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I'm sure it is brimming with charm. Surely you don't want to give up this charming house and move into one of those 5000+ sqft open concept McMansions.

I moved out of our cramped and charming 1955 "cottage" style home into a 4,000 sq ft open concept McMansion and I dont miss that shoe box with its suffocating 8 foot cielings, and lack of closets. Love hosting holidays, having large groups of friends over and not being on top of each other. Glad we can host a party and not be terrified of rain that would being everyone inside.

Nope, dont miss that "charm" one bit. So glad we have the income to no longer have to live like that.

That’s very helpful considering the OP cannot afford a 4000 sq ft house. Thanks for bragging!

Anonymous wrote:But I'm sure it is brimming with charm. Surely you don't want to give up this charming house and move into one of those 5000+ sqft open concept McMansions.

I moved out of our cramped and charming 1955 "cottage" style home into a 4,000 sq ft open concept McMansion and I dont miss that shoe box with its suffocating 8 foot cielings, and lack of closets. Love hosting holidays, having large groups of friends over and not being on top of each other. Glad we can host a party and not be terrified of rain that would being everyone inside.

Nope, dont miss that "charm" one bit. So glad we have the income to no longer have to live like that.

Knock down the wall between two smaller bedrooms. Try to open space on the main level too
and that can give the feel of bigger home then it actually is. Also how bout some additions?
Bump out the wall here or there and make something bigger.

So a few things -size does not make a house charming or tacky. The posters always calling tiny homes charming are full of BS. Tiny homes can look like crap and most in this area are crap. Big houses can be tacky but only if they are filled with tacky stuff. Posters saying big houses are always tacky are full of BS.

For actionable solutions - OP look up houses in Palo Alto CA, apartments in Manhattan, and other expensive locations. 1200 -1800 sq ft is very common and many of these houses look great. Just moving around clutter isn't going to cut it. You should consider reflooring, remodeling the kitchens and baths and doing a facelift on the exterior. Choose one color palette throughout the house. Choose one style of decor. Throw everything out. Disavow crafting anything forever. Buy only small decorative objects that fit into the plan. Buy smaller furniture that fits the space.

Anonymous wrote:This was posted in 2012.

I imagine the house didn't grow in the intervening years.

Anonymous wrote:How about some perspective?
I'm 6'6" MY house is 800 sq. ft. 2 bed, 1 bath, has low ceilings, no closet space, no counter space in the kitchen, I can't stand-up to do laundry or go up and down the stairs, my wife is a bit of a hoarder and refuses to move. This is MY "..for worse"

This sounds like a bad situation. It doesn't sound like your issue is square footage, though.