I have said it before: we are actually a very happy family of 9 in our 1000sqft home! We Love Our 1000sqft House!
(This article was first written in 2015)
I’ll admit, it does sound nice to think of having more storage, an extra room for school supplies and all of our kids’ medical equipment/supplies, an actual laundry room
However, when it comes down to it, I realize that I’d rather have less stuff than have more storage. I’d rather incorporate our schooling into everyday life and embrace a lifestyle of learning
I asked some of my kids why they like living in a small house
“It is warm.” – Marcus, age 5.
“I like my small bedroom.” – Hadassah, age 6.
“I like always being together (as a family).” – Josiah, age 10.
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Here are 8 reasons (in no particular order of importance) why we love our 1000sqft house:
8. Rent is cheaper.
All of that being said, every once in a while, I get a case of the “wants”. I start thinking about what we could have or do with a bigger house.
I start browsing Craigslist for the “perfect” house to rent or buy. A library/school room, a nice mud/laundry room, a pantry? Sounds like a dream house! That is when I go over the blessings (above) that come with small house living.
!), then we would do it! living in a small home? How do you make it work? What do you like/dislike about?
We are not a large family (5 of us), but we do live in a small home. For us, it is because the mortgage was cheap. We couldn't rent cheaper than for what we pay on our mortgage. We bought our home from my mom, for a good price, and while it has it's downfalls. It's home 🙂
While we didn't have all our stuff with us in Grayland, I did find several reasons to appreciate a small house. Or at least smaller house than here at home. That being said I'm dreaming of finishing our basement to better accommodate our living needs 🙂
We are 8 soon to be 9 living in our 1250 sq. ft. home. I dislike that as the kids grow so do their clothing, which means bigger dressers too. Our girls room is small and has 3 sometimes 4 and soon always 4(hopefully:)) sleeping in there. There is 4,yes 4 dressers in that room along with a full bed with a single bunk above. My boys room is where I store my extra school things and sewing/crafting supplies. What doesn't fit in there is either in the garage or unfinished basement. I don't like that I don't have much counter space in my kitchen. I believe that a house with a good setup can fit and work better than a bigger house with a bad setup. I would also appreciate a bigger master bathroom, however, having lived in a 1 bath house for 9 years I am thankful that we do at least have a master bathroom.
I like that we are closer as a family because there isn't far that any of us can go to get away from each other. I like that it is less space to clean, however, I must include that when "stuff" piles up it is harder to clean than a house where I could organize a little better. We make it work because we have to. I've had to go through our "Stuff" and really ponder weather it is needed or not. It helped me let go of things I had kept since I was a child. After all, if my children must learn to live with less so do I. I've learned from a tight budget and small homes that we don't NEED all the stuff that we think we do. All the baby items are nice , but NOT a necessity, all the toys are nice, but again not necessary and they cause the kids and me more stress because rather than getting played with they get thrown around and end up in a big heap.
I like that a small home that fits our budget better also fits our budget better when it comes to decorating. I can spend less and still have a few nice things around.
Learning to live minimally has been good for us, although I still would like to have one more bedroom for my girls.:)
We only have six, but we are sometimes crunched in our small house. I do like many of the things about it- some of the same things you listed. The biggest drawback for me is storage space- especially homeschool stuff. But I've learned to get very creative in making room. 🙂
We are a family of 7 living in 1400sq feet. We have a nice big kitchen and open dining room living room areas so that makes the house feel bigger. I would like more closet space but I know I can do more with the space I have so I am working on that. We have 4 bedrooms, with one being used as the playroom/office right now. We have 2 twin over full bunk beds so I think it works out pretty well.
Our family of 10 had to abandon our 1975 sq foot home in August after discovering toxic mold was causing a lot of health issues. Most of our stuff had to be left as well. We are currently remodeling our barn into a 1285 square foot living space. I will miss the 2nd bathroom most, but I designed it with a large living/dining combo, laundry/clothes changing room, and a kitchen laid out for cooking large quantities. Room for 2 fridges and dishwashers as well. Since we have 14 foot side walls and a 20 foot peak, we have room for a small loft, though awkward with roof trusses running through it. Our 3 boys will sleep up there, and we will have an area overlooking the living room for a game system. 5 girls in the bunk room and a small room for us. I only wish I had room for closets. We have 1 coat closet that will be used for hanging clothes and one wall of the living room will be our "mudroom" storage with lockers for coats. Someday we hope to finish out the back half of the barn, which would give us space for 3 more baths and 5 more beds, so that we can adopt. In the meantime we are viewing it as a chance to start over in some respects and an adventure in family togetherness in others.
We are in process of downsizing to our much smaller apt house (1250 compared to 3500) We are a family of 10. I had baths a family closet with 2 washers, summer kitchen in our finished basement a school area large family area and HUGE pantry. Our apt house is one full bath and a powder room upstairs(Praise God for an extra toilet!) We owe on our home and our rental is always having to have some repairs after tenants leave. After 3500 in damage this last time and we do all the work, we have decide to sell and get completely out of debt. It has been an experience in really choosing wisely what is needed. I do admit cleaning is easier and takes less time which has been a huge blessing!!
Love you positive attitude!!
We are a family of 7 living in 1400 sq feet. We have 3 (small) bedrooms and only 1 bath! We purchased our home in 2008 right before the market crushed, almost inmidiately we lost $ 100K on it, and it hasn’t recover since. So, we simply can not afford to sell our house. And sadly, we are not enjoying the financial benefits of living in a small house, because what we paid for it could buy a much larger home in our area today.
I do however see benefits to living small, and in fact if we do get the opportunity to sell our home and buy a new one at some point, we probably would not be looking for a much larger home, but rather a larger piece of land.
Living here I had to learn organization skills, something I never had before. Also I learned to let go of stuff, wich felt very un-natural at first, but now I love it! I like how quickly we can get the house clean, and the fact that we are almost always together because we only have a small space to share.
Thanks for this post! It gives me hope! We are a family of 8, downsizing from 2500 sq ft with 3 bed/3bath to a 1200sq ft 3bed/1 bath and almost zero storage. Going from having 1 play area on all 3 floors, to having no playroom at all (besides bedrooms) I’m a little anxious. But we had the ability to remodel the new house to fit many of our needs, with a decent mudroom, (hello, winter in upper MI, need a place to put all our gear!) a bathroom with private toilet and shower rooms and large kitchen and dining. I’m sure it’ll take some adjusting once we move in in the next few months, but I’m really looking forward to living a little smaller and hopefully saving more $ to spend on experiences rather than stuff!
I loved what you said about loving and being content with where you are right now. I totally get it! We are a family of 10 living in 1500 sq ft.
We are a family of 6 in 1500 sq ft. I love my house. We live in probably 1000 sq ft and the other 500 is storage which is perfect. Whoever built it thought through making every space useful. Half the basement is unfinished which gets used for laundry, storage, and a makeshift office when my husband works from home. There is also a utility bathroom down there. The other half is finished and that has 2 small bedrooms for the kids which is great because all the basement safety measures were taken and it is always cozy down there in every season. Main floor is kitchen, living room, bathroom, and master bed and bath. Then there is a loft which could always be made into a bedroom but for now it’s the playroom of childhood dreams. I have 4 boys+ 2 dogs and always said if we have another kid we would have to move. But honestly I am constantly brainstorming new ways to make this space work- our neighbors are the best, it IS cozy, we have everything we need and more (a pantry). I can clean it fast but flip side to that- it gets messy fast lol. I honestly can’t picture us selling it even though I also always dreamed of land. I am not organized even though I acknowledge that I need to be. I got some free bookshelves and some pretty $10 bins from target, each kid has their own bin for school and all of their school stuff stays in there- works great. Then all the furniture we purchase is storage- coffee table= storage. We also are CONSTANTLY purging but really it’s just me because everyone else collects lol.