Has anyone downsized and is now happy in a smaller house?

[ApolloandDaphne]

DH and I would like it downsize as our 4 bed family house is too big for us now our DDs are grown up. I think i want something small and cosy and easy to clean. In my head this will be lovely but I have a faint niggle that i may miss all the space we have now (but i will NOT hate less cleaning).

Has anyone downsized and want to share with me their experiences good or bad? I need to know what would be good to bear in mind. Thanks.

We did this. If everything is put away (not crammed away) the house is so much easier to keep clean.

Appollo, we downsized from a 1920's bungalow with a huge garden. It was a lovely home.

It does not sound as if you are downsizing your house just downsizing your outgoings which is fine, but if you want a house that’s easier to maintain and look after like you said, why are you looking for a bungalow on a big plot to extend? Do you want a large garden to maintain into your old age as this is your final move and still have what sounds is a relatively large property to maintain?

I'm also decluttering like mad. We have sheds full of stuff I will never be able to fit into the bungalow so that clear-out has yet to be faced. Glad to hear it can be liberating! I like the useful or beautiful idea. I might have nothing left though.

We downsized from a 5 bed house in London to a 3 bed in South Norfolk and we love it. We pocketed half the equity from the London house and purchased the Norfolk one outright. Our outgoings etc are tiny and we can manage on dh working in a very small low paid job and I don’t need to work - we are mid 30s. We don’t regret it at all.

Bettyboo I want to extend a bungalow as i would like an open plan kitchen/diner/living area and probably one bedroom downstairs. That sort of bungalow really lends itself to that sort of makeover. Our garden at the moment is massive. A large plot in an estate would be tiny compared to our current garden!

fair do’s Apollo sounds very nice.

We bought a dormer bungalow, luckily the previous owners had done all the work. Where the patio was they put in a conservatory with a proper roof and underfloor heating. Because house is on a hill it is first floor really, with storage underneath. That is now our dining room, a lovely all the year round room. The dining room is an office, needed for sons studying in peace. Below is the floor plan.

Smaller garden to maintain.

Easier to decorate and keep clean.

Warm and cosy.

We're glad we have a garage to store stuff and dh has boarded the loft out as well.

We bump into each other a bit 😂

We're moving from a 40s four bed mid terrace to a modern 3 bed semi. We're losing the enormous rural council house garden (everyone grew veg in the village) and getting a nice suntrap patio and no f--g grass! The new one has proper insulation, a modern boiler, and a really low crime rate. Still a village, but with its own clinic, library and regular buses. Slightly more floor space, but much better laid out.

Fairylea that's amazing - you are lucky!

We are both around 60. We witnessed PIL struggling in a house that was no longer suitable, long after they were able to look after it or willing to move. We now have to deal with decades of stuff in the house (FIL died last year, MIL now in a care home).

Meantime, our DCs are gone, so we have 2 bedrooms too many (make that 3...), the front room gets used once in a blue moon and the dining room likewise. It's too big. But we both still work full time. Our plan is to downsize to a newer, possibly new build house which won' need the maintenance this house needs (1950s build).

I'm enjoying designing it in my head!

Large roomy kitchen, but few (if any) high cupboards
Utility room off kitchen
Small TV lounge
Smaller, cosy room (or corner) just for me, for reading / glass of wine / bit of sewing or knitting
An 'occasion' room for when guests come probably never
2 bedrooms
A decent sized craft room for me, so I can spread out!
It will have wide doors, a wet room etc so that it will still work when we are old and infirm.

It will be all on one level, except that DH will have the whole of the attic for his model rail layouts. I'll let him have a loo up there on condition he cleans it himself

I'd want og keep big rooms but just have fewer and a smaller garden. A flat in a big old building for example

I think there’s a lot to be said for being happy with less. Lots of our friends are chasing bigger / better (in their eyes) houses all the time, doing up and moving bigger etc. Bigger mortgages, etc. That’s just not for us at all. We’ve got no desires to own a £1.5m house that costs a fortune to run and drive ourselves into the ground work-wise to do it. I guess everyone is different....! Downsizing was the best thing we ever did.

We downsized from a 3 bed terrace with a tiny garden in a desirable commuting location to a 2 bed bungalow with a much bigger garden in a more rural setting, which we were able to buy outright. It's fantastic. The only moment of regret I had was the very first night when I thought, "Getting a bit tired of this moving lark now. Time we thought about heading home - oh, wait..."
We grow veg, keep chickens and have a nature garden. It's awesome!

I massively downsized and I am struggling with lack of space. On the other hand I have had a massive sort out of all the stuff that had accumulated, got rid of furniture that was 20 years old, my outgoings are less and the garden (no lawn) is easy to maintain. I am seriously considering sizing up again.

I downsized from a 5 bed large house in 3rd of an acre garden, to a 2 bed bungalow, & love it.