Living Simply and Tiny Houses ?

[amldaley]

Anyone living under 1000 sq feet? House, townhome, condo or apartment?

We are considering going this route but would prefer a house so we could also have a garage and some storage space and enjoy the outdoor space.

We won't go "tiny house" like the little 150 sq ft ones. We have a list of must haves and things we need to maintain certain aspects of our lives. But we are pretty close to he next step in downsizing (already went from 2600 to 1500.) We have lived in 904 before but it was just the two of us. The kitchen was much too small. But I think with some sensible design, 1000 sq feet could work!

So, anyone BTDT, please share!

[Snow mom]

Our home is 1128 sq ft (so not quite there). We have a guest bedroom that we rarely use, a second bath that we rarely use, and a living room which is basically a space we pass through on our way elsewhere (it does hold furniture, primarily bookcases). So I do think we could live in 1000 well utilized feet, especially if we cut some of the clutter that we never use and think before bringing things into the house (both of which I'm starting to work on.)

We have a small shed in the backyard for tools and yard stuff (e.g., mower). We don't have garage or particularly good closet space. Sometimes I dream of having these things but really, what's the point of storing things? I think the more storage you have the more items you store but with few exceptions if I haven't touched or needed something in 6 months- a year, do I really need to be storing it?

I think part of this is what you are used to also. It recently occurred to me that I grew up in a pretty small home (by today's standards) and that my friends did also. The house I live in was built at about 800 sq ft (2 bed, 1 bath) back in 1940 and had an addition in the 1960s. During that time a family of four lived here.

ETA: We moved here from a tiny 1 bed/ 1 bath home with a really open floorplan which worked great when it was just the two of us. We had a HUGE yard and while the house had some issues (it was a rental) we loved that place and were very comfortable there.

[psimpson3-5]

Our townhome is 1800 square feet, but it's a first floor walk up - so it's more like 1000 square feet. The first floor has our garage and basement.

Our master bedroom and bathroom are a great size, however our 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are TINY. Too tiny in my opinion. DS's bedroom seems so cluttered with furniture - crib, combo dresser/changing table, and glider w/ottoman. He has absolutely no room for anything else in there. We do want to have a 2nd child, so I do want to move within the next few years. Our house is new construction so we're stuck until they finish the development anyway.

I think I'd like our house more if we would have the time and money to finish the basement.

[AnnieW625]

Our house is 1122 sq.ft and it works for us. We only have one bathroom. Pre kids the only time I had two bathrooms post moving out of my parents' house was from December, 2004 till June, 2005 when we moved into our house. From July to November, 2004 we had 1/1/2 baths. We had two true full bathrooms from November, 2004 to June, 2005. For us the trade off of having 3 beds., 1 bath was a yard (our lot is just over 5,000 sq. ft.) vs. having two bedrooms and two baths, plus an open office area that could have worked for guests and 1400 sq. ft. . We know nothing different with kids, but ideally we would love about 1500 to 1600 sq. ft. . That extra space could include a fourth bedroom or a slightly larger kitchen, and either a larger master bedroom or another living/dining area.

Prior to our house we lived in a condo, and an apartment that were a out 1200 sq. ft. (7-04 to 6-05, we moved twice in 4 months; we moved in early 6-05 to our house; we had 4 addresses in 10 months), and then from 12-2000 to 7-2004 I lived in a 900 sq. ft, 2 bed 1 bath condo that I really loved (DH lived with me there from 11-02 until 7-04) and had we had kids then I always thought we would be comfortable there until our oldest child was 3 or 4 or having a toddler and a newborn in the same room was too much. The master bedroom in all of our prior places was bigger than our current one (all of the bedrooms are 10x10; 12x12 or even 10x14 sound grand to me)

[Simon]

We do! Our first floor is 850 sq ft (kitchen, 2 bedrooms, living/dining room, the only bathroom). We have a finished 1/2 story that adds another 60-80 sq ft but with the angled ceilings you cannot stand in most of it. The saving grace is a full basement, though its unfinished. It holds laundry and storage for the many(!) things that won't fit upstairs. Dh and I think that we're fine in this house for another several years. At the very least until Ds1 hits middle school, so about 5 years?

The only major draw back is that we need more space for entertaining people. If we finished the basement, then we could have a space for hosting people, but we just literally cannot fit us + other parents + kids without a real squeeze. In a milder climate we could do more outside.

We're house shopping and looking at homes 1,100 sq ft+ and that is not counting any basement space. Dh really thinks we needs more space for the growing boys.

[mackmama]

For 7+ years I lived (alone with dog) in a 600sq ft apartment. It was great and a fine amount of space. Now with DH and DC (and dog), I think such a small space would be tough though. I'd want at least 1500 square feet.

[fivi2]

We are currently in a 2/1 with right around 1000 square feet. No garage but we do have a shed. We are about to add another bath and bed and some additional space (will still be around 1700).

I think a well designed 1200 square feet is doable. I think a second toilet is critical. It has been very hard with two 7 yos and one toilet. The rest of it depends on your habits. If you don't collect clutter, have a good floorplan and get storage furniture that does double duty (rather than hanging onto grandparents ' antiques likexwe do) it would be okay.

[brittone2]

DH and I semi joke about moving into a yurt. I always tell the kids it would make for a great college essay one day ;)

[Snow mom]

DH and I semi joke about moving into a yurt. I always tell the kids it would make for a great college essay one day ;)

I have friends from college who live in a yurt with their two small children. It's pretty amazing to see.

[maiaann]

Our living space is right around 1000 square feet & we are CRAMPED. We've been here 6 years & now 3 babies later - Oh, it's awful! The 5 of us + dog are constantly tripping on eachother, toys, etc. It was fine when we had one kid, but now that we have 3 kids + all their crap, it's nuts. I'm embarrassed to have playdates, because we have so little "spare" space to play. We're actually planning on moving this spring because I'm about to go bonkers. A lot of it depends on family size & how much stuff you have. I think even if we parted with half our belongings, it'd still be a tight squeeze. I love reading those inspiring articles on mini-homes, though. Kudos to those who can do it! :D

[WatchingThemGrow]

Our living space is right around 1000 square feet & we are CRAMPED. We've been here 6 years & now 3 babies later - Oh, it's awful! The 5 of us + dog are constantly tripping on eachother, toys, etc. It was fine when we had one kid, but now that we have 3 kids + all their crap, it's nuts. I'm embarrassed to have playdates, because we have so little "spare" space to play. We're actually planning on moving this spring because I'm about to go bonkers. A lot of it depends on family size & how much stuff you have. I think even if we parted with half our belongings, it'd still be a tight squeeze. I love reading those inspiring articles on mini-homes, though. Kudos to those who can do it! :D
:yeahthat: Our home that squeezed us out of it was 1250 sf plus had a porch that we enclosed. With 3 DC, we could have been okaaaay, but having family and friends visiting made it uncomfortable. There was the daily problem of stepping on people - not stuff, but actual kids crawling, reading, stretching out on the floor. Just having another family over for dinner meant that someone would get an elbow to the cheek around the dinner table, without fail.

After cleaning 2300sf a few times, I'm really missing my small house, but the fact that we have space for our bodies and our guests, our backpacks/shoes, and a place for our laundry baskets is AMAZING. We will likely end up purchasing a home closer to 2000 sf in a few months. I'm praying it's not going to be less than 2000 though. DH and DD need their space.

[Mrs.Skeeter]

We live in a condo that is 760 sq ft. One bedroom, one bath, a tiny kitchen (we can BARELY open the dishwasher door all the way), and one large open room. We have a covered community parking structure with an assigned spot. This includes me, my husband, and our 2.5 YO DS.

While the idea seems nice, it is really really hard. There are lots of reasons why we are selling our home soon, but the main one is storage space. We have absolutely no where to store things. Maybe your first inclination is to say "have less stuff" but even the tiny things add up (out of season clothes, decorations, shoes, towels, sheets, BOOKS). Not to mention we prefer to buy certain things in bulk like TP, soap, and some food things.

I keep thinking about the recent poll about shoes, and found myself thinking about how I have no where to store 15+ pairs of shoes!

[kara97210]

Not for an extended period, but we have a place at the beach that is ~900 sq ft. For me it's really relaxing, we can't really have a lot of stuff there (which is my preference in general) and everything has to be organized. Cleaning takes no time at all. I think layout is key, along with as much built-in storage as you can create. We have a built-in bench in the dining area with storage underneath. All our dining table stuff (placemats, napkins, etc) and art supplies are stored there. We also turned the 2nd bedroom into a bunk room which works great when we have guests and for when our kids get older. We put built-in storage beneath and between the bunks. There are a lot of great ideas for storage on houzz.

I follow a lot of design blogs and both of these ladies recently downsized with kids-http://www.housetweaking.com/and http://ohhappyday.com/2012/05/450-square-feet/ she downsized to 450 sq ft with a family of 4!) -. I especially like House Tweaking.

[wellyes]

We have a well designed 1200 sq ft house and it's fine. I donate frequently, and only keep what I need. I don't think more stuff would make us happier. Make sure to get a place with good height ceilings. Low ceilings in a smaller house make everything feel cramped.

A garage would be nice. DH had to build a shed for snow blower, lawn mower, bikes & strollers.

[ahisma]

Close. We have 1400 sq feet, but no garage or finished basement. 2 adults, 3 kids, a dog...

It works. Some days better than others. No dreams of moving though, we're here to stay.

We do have high ceilings - which I agree does help a ton. My main disappointment is that we don't get more natural light.

[nfowife]

We currently live in 3500 SF and are preparing to put our house on the market in about 8 weeks. We'll be moving out of state for DH to attend a grad program and will hopefully get into graduate family housing which is about 1325 SF. I'm really looking forward to it actually! I know it will have some challenges, but I am looking forward to getting rid of so much of our excess stuff that we don't use in our day to day lives. We will get a small storage unit for some items we won't be able to fit in the housing (kid's beds- they'll be in bunkbeds, 1-2 pieces of our sectional that won't fit, etc.). We have already started majorly trimming down excess stuff and as soon as the house sells much of the excess furniture will go as well.
I feel like I never want to live in such a big house again. The burden of taking care of it is a huge weight on my shoulders all the time and I can't wait to have less to clean :) .

[queenmama]

I'm designing a house based on old house plans (I collect books from the 1920s-50s) and I know we could live comfortably in 1000sf... but I am not willing to forgo a basement since we live in Tornado Alley, so I guess it's "cheating" since we'd have that extra space for a family room, a guest bed & bath, and storage.

Right now we have about 1300sf on our main level, including 2 beds & 1 bath. Our living room is too large and poorly laid out, ditto the eat-in kitchen. We have a full finished walk-out basement with exactly what I described above, and the only time we go down there is to do laundry or to get something out of storage. So I know we could live smaller if the design was better. I definitely want the laundry and an extra 1/2 bath on the main floor though!

ETA: We absolutely must have 3 bedrooms in whatever house we next buy (or build, if that works out). With a 12-year age gap and gender difference, our kids can't share. DD is currently my roommate. ;)

Lara

[Mali]

Before we remodeled, our house was 867 sq ft (2bdrm/1bath) and DH & I lived in it for about 4 years before we were able to start construction.

The house is one that was built by a real craftsman; there was absolutely zero wasted space hidden behind walls. Everything fit together like a puzzle. It was great, but that also meant that there was nothing we could do to add storage (our only storage aside from bedroom closets was a very slim linen/hall closet).

If we hadn't planned on having kids we could have kept the house the same size (although entertaining more than 6 people was a space challenge when we couldn't be outside and I didn't have enough room inside to have access to my various cooking items). My only real worry was that both of us would get a stomach bug and then have to fight over the bathroom. Thankfully that never came to pass, but it was constantly in the back of my head during cold/flu season.

The second bedroom was our home office and while it could have been a kids room if absolutely necessary, it wasn't something that could work long-term due to DH's work.

The layout was perfect for maximizing the space we did have and not making the house feel small. We frequently got comments that people thought we had more square footage than we actually did.

[ladysoapmaker]

We live in a house that is between 900 and 1000 sq ft. THat is the main floor. The basement is about 2/3 finished and the boys have bedrooms and a bathroom down there.

It is cramped and DD#1 really hates sharing her room with DD#2. We have lots of clutter with 4 kids and we are trying to purge. (doesn't help that SIL passes clothes off to us and my aunt leaves us with boxes of books).

The biggest downside I have found is it is hard to entertain here. We can do it and have done it but it gets crowded. Luckily we can send the kids either outside or downstairs to play so us adults can have our conversations without minor noisy interuptions.

One of the things that has helped us is we really have been working on the everythign in it's place and a place for everything concept. We are also workign on teaching the younger kids it's okay to throw things out.

We do have people comment that the house is actually larger then it looks from the outside.

Jen

[bisous]

We had five people in 875 square feet and it was way doable. I really loved that spot. If I had another toilet and a garage we would have been good to go, I think.

Honestly, though, right now we have about 1200 square feet and I think it is just about PERFECT! Better for us than 875 because we have an extra bathroom and our floor plan allows for separate "main rooms" which is really nice in case we all need our own space.

I actually like living here in my 1200 square feet better than when we were in my parents voluminous 3000+ square foot home. There, I felt like I was always going on long walks to find my phone, find a hairbrush, get to the kitchen, feed the boys, use the restroom, etc. Here, everything is within reach LOVE IT!

[ha98ed14]

A lot of it depends on family size & how much stuff you have. I think even if we parted with half our belongings, it'd still be a tight squeeze.

This is so true. We have 1200 sq ft of usable space divided over 3 bedrooms. It works well because we have 1 DD and all her cr@p can fit in her room. I keep culling through to make sure it stays that way! Clutter gives me physical anxiety, although we still have it.

[buttercup]

900 sq foot railroad apartment here, 2 children. It works out fine but neither DH nor I are used to large homes, so I do not feel like I am sacrificing or whatever. We do have the income for a larger place, I guess I do not see the need for it.

[ha98ed14]

900 sq foot railroad apartment here, 2 children. It works out fine but neither DH nor I are used to large homes, so I do not feel like I am sacrificing or whatever. We do have the income for a larger place, I guess I do not see the need for it.

What's railroad apartment? I've heard of a shotgun row house, but not a RR apt...

[eagle]

We have a small shed in the backyard for tools and yard stuff (e.g., mower). We don't have garage or particularly good closet space. Sometimes I dream of having these things but really, what's the point of storing things? I think the more storage you have the more items you store but with few exceptions if I haven't touched or needed something in 6 months- a year, do I really need to be storing it?i guess i have to really think about this. this is at the heart of my clutter problem. for ex: right now i have a lot of paper bags. it fits in one cardboard box with room to spare but they are the largish paper bags from dept stores. i _could_ use them when i deliver dinners to people. i _have_ been using them to do just this. so i could use up 6-10 of them in one year. but i have like 30... i cant bring myself to throw them away... this times literally 1000x other items in the house.

we are currently renting a house 1450 sq ft. much of it clutter. im working on it. but that question "what's the point of storing things" is what i face every day.

my battle, my burden. my clutter.

[sophiesmom03]

We are in 2000 SF, half of which I think I could easily live without. DH, on the other hand, is a clutterbug and won't get rid of ANYTHING....

[buttercup]

What's railroad apartment? I've heard of a shotgun row house, but not a RR apt...


No hallway, every room touches the other. Mine is bathroom, eat-in kitchen, living room, room that acts as playroom now, kids bedroom, my bedroom. Long apartment, essentially, and all rooms have a window oddly (though some windows face very close to another building.

[maiaann]

i guess i have to really think about this. this is at the heart of my clutter problem. for ex: right now i have a lot of paper bags. it fits in one cardboard box with room to spare but they are the largish paper bags from dept stores. i _could_ use them when i deliver dinners to people. i _have_ been using them to do just this. so i could use up 6-10 of them in one year. but i have like 30... i cant bring myself to throw them away... this times literally 1000x other items in the house.

we are currently renting a house 1450 sq ft. much of it clutter. im working on it. but that question "what's the point of storing things" is what i face every day.

my battle, my burden. my clutter.

It's hard, I agree. I have the same trouble with parting with perfectly good clothes, toys, housewares, etc. - even though we have too much. To me, part of it is about the money. When finances are tight, it kills me to part with stuff we spent good money on. It's not like keeping the stuff does any good, (and it'd only bring in pennies if I were to resale/garage sale), but yet it's really hard to just get rid of it. I remember, as a child, constantly warned not to waste food - there are children in other countries starving. I think it's a similar psychological thought process.

[Green22]

I think we are about 1000-1200 sq feet, 3 br, 2.5 baths and no attic. It is a split level so the basement is partially finished ( though partially taken up by a terrible wood burner we will never use).

We got rid of about 1/2 the stuff we had when we moved here. We have a small cubby of area under the steps that we put Xmas decorations and other things for storage in tubs. The back if our garage is jammed. I am going to demand a shed be built in the backyard for stuff that I think is a waste to keep but dh does not.

It works ok for us now with young kids, but I am unable to keep much kid stuff in case we had another which makes me sad. I do not see how it is going to work with preteens or teens. But we also cannot afford anything larger.

I would love a bigger home with big bedrooms, enough that you could for a bed, dresser and desk in . . .a pantry in the kitchen, a garage that isn't a huge accident waiting to happen (I live in fear of the piles falling), a kitchen. Open to a non-formal eating/play area. . . .or just a place that is big enough so that I could invite my nuclear family and their kids over and it wouldn't be uncomfortable. That said, I grew up in a large home so maybe that is why I would like one now. I dislike being forced to purge regularly and always bumping into someone.

[abh5e8]

for 6 years we lived in 911 sq ft. we moved in pre children and had 3 while there. it was 3 bed/1 bath. the only thing I really didn't like about it was the 1 bath. it also had a full/unfinished basement, for laundry and storage. the main reason we moved was not the inside space, but that we wanted an actual yard we could garden in and the kids could play in. the key for us was excellent organization and space utilization. every inch of the closets was used well. now that we have more space, thing are much more spread out.

[Tondi G]

we live in an apartment. Our building is a 4 plex and I think our place is under 1200 sq ft. It is 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. We do have some good closet space ... and we recently started paying extra to have a garage for storage (this has made a huge difference in our lives). I only wish we had a gated backyard behind the building but we have double stacked parking instead and that is a bonus in this neighborhood.... street parking is a nightmare. My husband can't stand clutter and I am a clutterbug so we are constantly purging.. trying to organize and make more space. Right now we are actually in a good place as we did a huge toy reduction before Christmas. Lucky for us the boys are getting older and the days of huge toys and exersaucers are behind us ... we get video games and kindles and books instead! The lack of space is a huge topic of discussion when we talk about growing our family. We are lucky that we have 2 boys so sharing a room is really not an issue. Sharing 1 bathroom can be interesting though. Having a 2nd bathroom (just a sink and toilet even) would be wonderful.

Our house is very "lived in" we use ALL of the rooms on a daily basis. I actually like our apartment a lot ... with an extra bedroom and bathroom and a fenced yard, it would be the perfect size for us.

[brgnmom]

We lived in tiny apartments (700 to 1100 sq ft) throughout most of our marriage and over several years, and it is definitely survivable. I learned to appreciate a simpler lifestyle, and by the time we moved into a modest home not long ago, I was ready to embrace the extra living space (and extra bathroom, yay). Living in small apartments and moving a lot made me learn how to organize and declutter.

[bisous]

All of you who mention basements, do you include that in the total square footage? Because that seems like it would really add to the "liveability" of your otherwise small space!

I think the hardest thing about being in a tiny space was what to do with incoming stuff. One Costco trip could take our organized, functioning living space into a chaotic and messy looking space! Things like birthday parties and christmas were tricky--where do you put the extra stuff? A garage or basement or the like would have solved that issue for us.

[queenmama]

All of you who mention basements, do you include that in the total square footage? Because that seems like it would really add to the "liveability" of your otherwise small space!


You're exactly right, which is why I said 1000 plus a basement! ;)

As for our house now, the 1300 I quoted doesn't include the basement. I said "full" but it isn't 100% finished... I think we have 700 finished.

I would like to downsize basement space as well. It's just too much. I said we could live in 1000sf and I do believe we could. We would only need a basement for tornadoes and off-season storage. Having a guest room and family/play room would be great but not must-haves.

Lara

[aa2mama]

After my divorce, the kids and I lived in an approx. 700sq ft apartment for a year. It had a good layout and worked well for us for the most part. The kids still speak fondly of it and say they really liked living there. That had a lot to do with the fact that there were several kids their age living in the building to play with.

The layout was good. We had a deep coat closet, a kitchen pantry, and two hall closets in addition to the closets in the two bedrooms. We had a very small patio where I put a turtle sandbox for the kids and a bench for me. In the summer I would also put out a small hardshell wading pool. We had a shared outdoor clothesline that I used a lot. There was a shared yard for the kids to play in.

On the downside, the biggest challenges were: 1) Only one bathroom. Having a second bathroom, even just a half bath, would have been SO SO helpful. 2) We didn't have laundry in our unit, just a single shared washer and dryer in our four-plex. Laundry was a challenge! 3) No garage. We live in a cold climate, and I hated scraping my car in the mornings. Also, we didn't have a place to store bicycles in inclement weather. During the summer I keep them chained outside. In winter, I stored them at a friend's garage. 4) The kids sharing a room. Especially since they were boy/girl there were some modesty concerns. They bickered more. But they also played together more and were closer as a result.

We live in a larger place now (2,200sq fat), but I would absolutely consider living in a smaller place again if it were 3bdrm, 1.5bath, had a washer/dryer and a garage.

[mm123]

We live in a 1000 sf 2-story house. We have a garage out back that you can't get to with a car, since the laneway is so narrow (go figure!), so we use it for storage. Honestly, I kind of like our cozy little house. We go out of our way not to accumulate too much 'stuff' (e.g., no-gift or book-exchanges for birthdays, 'experience' gifts from grandparents (e.g., zoo, museum memberships). We don't buy stuff in bulk, since we don't have room for it- sure, it's a bit more expensive, but much less than buying a bigger house!

The girls share a room, and since that's all they know, so far so good. The bedrooms are tiny, and I do wish they were a bit bigger, and that we had more closet space. One day we will probably re-do our approx 300 sf basement into a mini den of some sort so we have a bit more space, but for now it works for us.

We bought this house for the great city location, so I doubt we'll ever be able to afford a bigger house. I also wish we had a nice yard, but we're in walking distance to numerous parks, so we just go out a lot, or hang out on the front porch.

All in all, I'm happy we decided to buy a smaller house in a better location!

[mmommy]

This thread got me to finally measure our apartment.

We have about 600 square feet. DH, DD1, DD2, me and a chihuahua. Its totally comfortable, as long as DH doesn't go with his hoarding tendencies. We did make use of the little potty for DD1 longer than we may have, because of course we'd love to have another bathroom. We lucked out that the space has a couple of decent closets, and I really love not holding on to things, so we don't store much. I do keep DD1's clothing in storage at my parent's home when she outgrows it so that we can reuse it with DD2. But otherwise we really don't keep things that we aren't using.

When something new comes home with us, something else needs to leave :) I've been actively purging baby things as soon as DD2 is done with them, and I've been emptying out my closet and drawers of all of the crap clothes I've accumulated over the years. I have 5 paper bags full of stuff to donate that will empty up some more space for us, which is great since DD2 has started crawling.

Oh, and we do have a great outdoor garden space, which really is like having another room when the weather is nice and makes for a good place to park the strollers at all other times.