How big is your house?

[AdultFishcakes]

Quick straw poll here as we have the opportunity of buying in a lovely area, lovely schools, good commute etc BUT we would lose approx a third of the size of our house.

We have 4 kids and 2 adults under 6 and the house is 150 sq.m.

Unlikely we will see a decent bargain of its like again.

WWYD?

[Sn0tnose]

If the area etc is important to you then do it.

Could you extend? If not, get decluttering and when your dc grow up, you’ll still have a lovely house and won’t need to downsize.

[BentNeckLady]

3 bed 1500m2. It’s plenty big enough for us and our 2 kids but wouldn’t be at all big enough if we had another 2.

[BentNeckLady]

Sorry that’s square feet not meter - I don’t live in a castle!

It’s 140 m2

[Napssavelives]

1700sq feet. 4 bed, 4 bath

[AdultFishcakes]

I’d love to extend but our plans were rejected by the council arghghgh

[ralphfromlordoftheflies]

How do you all know off the top of your heads the size of your houses in square metres? I have no idea how many metres squared my house is.

[AdultFishcakes]

what’s also tricky is that our outgoings would rise but also so would our earning potential.

I just worry that a family of 6 in a house of approx 100 sq.m means that we would end up wanting to kill each other. We get on well on the whole.

[gamerwidow]

95sq/m 3 bed terrace. It’s plenty big enough for me, DH and DD.

[TreacherousPissFlap]

Not sure in square metres but very small.

It's an old stone cottage, around 150 years old so quirky and full of character. DS is a teen so we don't have toys all over the place and he has the biggest bedroom so that he can spread out.

They key has been good storage (and using it religiously!) When we moved in none of our furniture fitted and we've slowly but surely replaced it all and it's made such a difference. Before that there was stuff piled up everywhere and nowhere for it to go, it used to really get me down.

The other thing is that it's a bastard to keep clean. Part of it is the house itself (old, log burner, creaky windows) but I'm sure the other part is that we generate the same amount of dirt and dust as any other family of three, it's just that there's less surface area for it to lie

[gamerwidow]

You could get a family of 6 in our house if they were primary age but if would be crowded for teens.
Out next door neighbours are a family of 6 in a 2 bed/1 reception house. That is really hard imo and I don’t know how they’ll cope when the kids hit puberty.

[Bluerussian]

3 bed semi with double garage. One bathroom upstairs, 'cloakroom' downstairs. Very big kitchen with laundry area. Main sitting room (overlooks back garden), has been extended so quite big. Normal sized front room. Reasonably sized back garden, decent front garden and drive so we are a bit laid back from the road, part grass part paved. Small enclosed porch.

[gamerwidow]

How do you all know off the top of your heads the size of your houses in square metres?
Because I’ve only just bought it and the estate agent still has the floor plan online. I’d have no clue otherwise.

[Heymummee]

108 sq m. 3 bedrooms for me, DP, DS1 who is 11 ad DS2 18 months.
Kitchen could be bigger but we have a table in there; lovely big living room/dining room, downstairs loo, 2 bedrooms and bathroom to the 1st floor and our bedroom/en suite on the top floor. I would like a bigger house but I’m being spoilt really

[ConfCall]

It’s me and two teens in a modern house with 4 bedrooms and 4 receptions. Large front garden/drive, and small, unattractive back garden. I’ll downsize one day. I regret buying a property this big bit exH really liked it, the neighbourhood is lovely and it was in catchment for chosen primary school.

I’d like a 3 bed Victorian terrace with a neat, hassle-free back yard to sunbathe/dry clothes in. There are some lovely examples of these near me.

[AdultFishcakes]

It just got me thinking as the house we are in at the moment is a “large” 150sq.m with a looooong garden and a decent size garage.

We would half the size of the garden, lose the garage but gain a shorter commute and be closer to “town”.

No question we would need to move again when the children become teens but it’s likely the value of our “dream” home will rise and we would be able to afford bigger and but not for around a decade though.

[Sn0tnose]

Could you reconfigure the rooms? Plasterboard dividers? Smaller furniture?

What’s the parking like? Would car insurance rise by lots if your car is not kept in the garage? How much time do you spend in the garden?

[DonkeyHohtay]

I have no idea. It's not really common practice to measure houses that way here, is it?

[BackforGood]

I have absolutely no idea on the sq m, or sq feet, or any other measure of area of floor space.
Surely what is important is if you have enough bedrooms / living rooms / bathrooms ?

[StillMedusa]

6 adults (was 7 til last week!) In a 3 bed semi and no garage! We created a tiny 4th bedroom downstairs by cutting down the (long) kitchen, and we have a decent living room as we extended that bit.

It's been fine :)
Smallish but lovely back garden.
As the kids get older they take up less space I find (barring DS1 and his 11 guitars...)
We all come and go, rub along happily and I have no wish for a bigger house to clean!

[DCIRozHuntley]

We have 4 DC under 8 and 2 adults in a house of about 110 sq m. We have plenty of stuff - camping things, guitars... we won't hoard though. I weigh up whether stuff is worth keeping or whether the space is more valuable, in which case I sell and plan to buy again second hand if needed down the line.


Layout is key imo. We have a decent sized hallway, (makes mornings so much easiee) a downstairs loo and enough room for a full sized dining table in the kitchen diner. A big garden is like an extra room in the summer and we do have a good sized garage. Small bedrooms aren't a problem to us as we have a downstairs playroom. Our house is definitely on the smaller side but I can't imagine what we'd actually do with extra space.

[crisscrosscranky]

No idea about metres or square foot but we have three bedrooms and one bathroom upstairs and a large hallway, downstairs loo, 2 reception rooms, kitchen/diner and utility room.

2 adults and 2 children- It doesn't feel big or small- just right. Most of my friends have similar size properties - some with more kids/less kids/single.

[PJLove80]

Around 4500 sq ft - love the space, 2 adults, 3 dcs and 3 cats. Always a spot to find some peace and quiet when needed

[AdultFishcakes]

By god @PJLove80

Do you live in an aircraft hangar?

[YogaDrone]

The house we recently moved from was 135sq m (excluding garage) - 4 bed , 2 bath built in the 1990's. Our neighbours had 4 children and the house was clearly too small for them. They had a bit more space because they had converted the (single, small) garage into a playroom. My neighbour used to moan about the lack of space and privacy.

[PJLove80]

No it was an old wreck Victorian house that no one would touch and was on the market for ages as it needed so much work - years of renovating and we are still going...