Thursday, September 22, 2011

Why I want my next house to be a small house



I talked a while back about why I love small houses.  I do like small house but for years I always thought about "my next house".  I mean yes, I have been content with what I have at this moment but my husband and I know that one day we do want some land and with that land will come a different house so I have thought about the features I want in my next house.  I used to clip pictures and save ideas.  I knew I wanted a large wrap around porch and a house with hopefully four bedrooms and a finished basement, of course.

Yet ever so slowly, my thinking is changing.  Right now we have our 1400 square foot house with three bedrooms and one and a half baths and it works.  We also have all three of our kiddos in one bedroom (the biggest room) and you know what - it works too.  They do sleep and besides the fact that if one gets up early they all do, the situation is pretty good.  

Another reason I like small houses is that I honestly don't like to clean.  It is my least favorite thing to do so cleaning a big house does not sound exciting to me.  And if you think about it - even if you live in a big house, how many rooms do you actually use?   Really, evaluate that.  For a few days, pay attention to the rooms you use most in your house.  For us, we mainly use our living room, kitchen and bedrooms (bathrooms are a given). 

The things I would like to keep in our next house are the small bedrooms.  I would love to have a play room so that way we could keep the bedrooms small.  What would be great is to have a small ranch house with a full basement for a play room and for a place to keep all of our canning.  I used to think that for my next house I wouldn't want a house any smaller than 2,000 square feet but now - I know I can survive on less.  Not only can I survive, I can enjoy it.

Of course, I still would like my wrap around porch.  Its not too much to ask is it?

How about you, what do you like (or dislike) about your house?  Would you ever downsize even if you didn't have to?

7 comments:

  1. Our house is 1250 sq feet with four people living here. I think our house would be the perfect size for us IF we had a basement and maybe another bathroom. Right now there is only one bathroom.

    We will probably try to sell our house in about five years.

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  2. Ha, you would love my house! I have a 1920's Chicago bungalow, 3bed 1bath. We have 3 smaller bedrooms and a basement playroom office. I have grown to embrace my small house. One thing I struggle with is only one bathroom. we have 5 people in our family so I envision 3 teenagers and my husband and I sharing a bathroom, I get a little nervous. We'll see what happens, this is definitely the house the Lord has given us. My wish list would be another bath, and a kitchen family room combo. Small is great for cleaning, keeping track of little ones, not desiring to accumulate a ton of stuff, seeing your loved ones on a regular basis.

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  3. I bought my home, a two bedroom townhouse with 1 1/2 baths, with the idea that after the kiddos are raised I could comfortably retire and not have to downsize. I have since converted a portion of the garage into another room with a closet. It has been a bedroom, family room and a sewing and craft room. Currently my two youngest are using it as a bedroom and I now have their old room as my sewing and craft room. I also use part of the closet as another pantry. The key to comfort in a small home is to curb the clutter and live simply with less stuff.

    A small home is less expensive to own, insure, heat and keep up. I can clean it top to bottom in no time. I wouldn't have it any other way.

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  4. @busy little bee
    I definitely understand wanting an extra bathroom. We do half that extra half bath of course having 2 baths (both with at least a shower) would be ideal especially as our kids become older.

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  5. @Tabitha
    I agree with the extra bathroom and I too would like a kitchen/family room combo so I could keep an eye on the kids and do things in the kitchen.

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  6. @Thrifty Mom in Boise
    Converting the garage is a great idea! I have thought about it too since it is only a one car and we cannot fit our van in there anyway.

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  7. I love our house, I kinda have a weird thing with it...it's not particularly pretty, or in a great location, or anything like that. But it's just..home:)

    It was way to big for us before kids, but is now cozy and just right. 3 BR, 1& 3/4 bath.

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