Poll Results: "Bigger" won
A few days ago I decided to find out if I was the only one who wanted to downsize or if there were others with me. Of course that meant a poll.
I asked for votes regarding this statement:
"My DREAM house would be (Bigger or Smaller) than my current house."
The choices were:
- Bigger. I enjoy having plenty of space.
- Downsizing would be ideal for me.
SEVENTY-SEVEN percent of the votes went to choice #1. I was definitely outnumbered.
One voter DID share my penchant for reducing that square footage. Yay! I was not alone! I did notice that those who voted for "bigger" weren't exactly wanting to double their spaces or anything. Generally the comments were about things being just a little bit bigger. These were from people whose houses were under (some, well under) 1500sf.
Yesterday my husband noticed an article in a magazine about an empty-nest couple wanting to downsize. I was all excited about reading it until he let me know that their NEW, "tiny" house was 2600sf.
Oh.
8 comments:
2600 square feet. Hmmm, that isn't very small unless the living room is 30 x 30 or some square footage that takes up most of the house.
I like to have extra room because I like to work on projects without having to be constantly moving them. If a project gets put away, it never sees light again.
All those who commented were ALREADY in pretty small houses. Having the extra room would STILL be far less than (apparently) most of the homes being built today.
Downsizing to 2600sf and acting like that's an amazing feat for two people is why I don't like that particular magazine (and others like it)!
What would be your ideal square footage? I *think* mine is 1200.
About 2000 to 2600 square feet, but part of that would be a finished basement???
I would really like to have a small formal living room and a formal dining room that can be closed off and kept clean. Two of the bedrooms in our house are bigger than the standard 10x10 or 10x12. I've really gotten used to that. Also, when I gave you the square footage of our house, it included the walk-in-and-bang-your-head-on-the-ceiling closets. (The closet in Carmen's old bedroom is 8 x 9 - as big as some bedrooms - with an egress window(!), but even I can only stand up in about 3 feet of the width.) The closets aren't really made for handing up clothes, but they do hold quite a bit of junk. LOL
PS: We run a business out of our home. I couldn't live in a smaller house and do that. I go crazy with all that stuff in the house now. Guess I should be careful what I say I couldn't live in. Fate or God has a way of changing things.
I said that I would like to move someplace bigger. That's not really saying much when you consider my current place (shared with my SO) is a 1-bedroom apartment that is CERTAINLY not more than 600sf. I think for this stage in my life, maybe 800 sf would be good. Mostly, I want to move to a 2-bedroom place, so we can have an office, and I'd like a living room that's just a little bigger than the one we have now.
Packrat--I think storage is a HUGE factor in determining house size needs. If you're running a business with inventory or tools, that's even more important.
My husband's construction tools have taken over our two-car garage, for example!
Old houses have very interesting things going on, don't they? It keeps you wondering, "what were they thinking?"
Tess--I think you're being reasonable to want to live in something a "bit" bigger than 600sf! It makes me ashamed to say, but, with the basement, our house is just over 2000 sf. For three people.
Packrat--Our house is about 2000sf (with the basement). We're considering selling. Are you interested in moving to New England? It's a great neighborhood!! (And you already know what it looks like LOL!)
Hahahaha - Well, I shouldn't laugh. I love your house. And, I don't know where our daughter will wind up. But it is on the opposite coast as our son and grandchildren! (Except son's girlfriend is from VT, but she loves CA.) Thanks for the offer. :)
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