Does anyone live in a small or average size home?

[scootlandyard]

With their family?

Just wondered as I was looking through past threads regarding home size as we are moving soon and slightly downsizing. I was shocked at the general consensus around house size! Eg posters saying anything less 2000sq ft would be a ‘struggle’ for a family of 4 (I’ve viewed a show home of this size and it was bloody massive), posters saying they are in a detached four-bed with large kitchen/diner,separate lounge, study, playroom but will ‘have to move and upsize’ because it will be ‘too cramped’ when their second child arrives.

I also recall a thread not too along where OP attached a floor-plan of her house and pondered whether it was would be large enough should she have a third child. It was a four bedroom inc en-suite, large living room and decent size kitchen-diner. There were posters insisting it was far too small even for her current family size and she would need to move by the time her kids were teens.

I feel like 90% of mnetters must live in huge houses.

Anyone else in a standard 3/4 bed semi with children/teens and somehow managing to survive? 😅

Family of 4 in a 3 bed semi here. It's fine, the kids have their own rooms. We are careful with how much stuff we have. We live in an expensive area and I feel where we are adds more to our lives than space in our house. I grew up in a huge (unhappy) house.

Mine's about average too. Currently housing 4 adults. My SIL's, also a 3 bed semi, is a good bit smaller than mine, being a more modern construction, and there are 6 of them in there.

2 bedroom terraced house, family of four. Just over 700 sf. 2 toilets & one bathroom. Downstairs is bigger as extended but upstairs I really feel the squeeze and DC don't currently have to share bedroom. I would upsize/move to bigger if I could or get loft conversion if we could afford it. Sadly neither option at the moment!

We're a family of four (and pets) in a pretty small 3 bed house, though it is bigger downstairs thanks to a kitchen extension. Sometimes I dream of more space (my DC12's room is barely more than a box room, really) but we chose location over size and it feels like our lovely area is home rather than just our house, iyswim. Also I grew up in a family the same size in a house three times as big and it felt a bit cold (literally but also metaphorically) and lonely. In our house I love that we always know where everyone is/never far from everyone. It's so friendly and cosy. Fully aware this may change when the kids become teenagers!

There was a very funny thread recently where a poster said that she was invited to lunch by someone and she was most shocked that she served her a sandwich. There were lots of "I couldn't imagine eating a white sliced loaf! and I'm sure they are the ones that think you shouldn't have a dc unless it will have it's own en suite bathroom, as anything less wouldn't simply be fair.

I remember that thread!

there was also one equally barmy where someone asked for advice on how to fit a 3rd baby into a small 4 bed, one bedroom used for office (v similar to my own in fact) and posters were saying you need a living room per teenager

Probably one of my favourite most mumsnetty posts was a poster saying she needed a 3rd bedroom (in London) for her hamster. I sort of light heartedly pointed out what a first world we live in and she seriously said that hamsters require much more square footage than we think because in the wild they roam six miles per night. Other posters then jumped in to call me a bitch, because I was obviously the type to keep a hamster in a cage from Pets at Home.

No kids 1 need council house, sorry...PENSIONER BUNGALOW, complete with wetroom & a chair if i get tired waiting for my shower to warm up, or in my case cool down, it has 1 temp & that's boiling. Neighbours don't miss a trick, they're all retired. I'm 49 going on 75.
Oh sorry I'm rambling lol, 1 bedroom, 1 kitchen/livingroom and 1 wetroom.
Cosy! (TINY!)

Yes standard house here. I would actually move somewhere smaller as a single parent. I like cosy. Our house has a lot of garden. But is in a pretty/rural location. I wouldn’t want a huge house.

oh no behave, a hamster deserves its own bedroom?

seriously though doesn’t everyone who owns a hamster keep it in a cage purchased from a pet shop?

1 BED council bungalow...i cannot find the edit key.
1 bonus to an oversized bedsit, electric & gas bill is £40 a month combined!
However, nextyear i think I'm upsizing to a 2 bed 😂

In real life yes, but not on mumsnet. On that thread there was a discussion about various hamster bedrooms set ups that they had, which included purpose built three storey hutches with six foot runs. And there was me thinking I was a great mum because my dc have their own beds 😂

I'm in a 2 bed semi, with husband and 3 kids ages 4, 3 and 1 😅

My mum had the "luxury" from her birth in 1946 onwards, of only having to share her home with my grandparents and two older brothers. "Home" being a two bedroom terrace... her brothers/my uncles in one bedroom, my grandparents plus Mum in a curtained off alcove in the other... Mum didn't get her own bedroom till aged 15, after both her older brothers had left home, so she could move into the other bedroom. It was such a different world then.

I used to live in a three bedroom house but all DCs slept with us in one room 🤣

However, when my first DS was born (same 3 bed priperty), health visitor asked me do I plan to get pregnant again, and when I conformed she asked me "where could you possibly put another baby?".
I never let another HV in my home again lol.

Just as well your HV didn't visit us with our three DC in a three bedroom house then; she'd probably have sent Social Services after us. 😅

We are in a 3 bed detached but it is the same size as a semi and the garden is average. Living room/diner and small kitchen. Our 3rd room is a box room that would only fit a single bed and nothing else so we use as an office. 2nd bedroom is for our toddler. Until having him I think we had too much space for 2 of us even with a dog and 2 cats. Now we would like more room as the dining area has become his play space for his toys and so leaves us with a folding table to eat. We also have nowhere for people to stay over unless its downstairs on an airbed with cats attacking toes, not ideal for 70yo parents. Toying with upsizing for for our 2nd child but they could share a room for a fair while and it's probably not worth the extra mortgage, we could be mortgage free in 10-15yrs if we stay where we are as opposed to 25 with a move

It’s just what you are used to.

I live in London where housing is v expensive and it’s very normal for families to live in small homes, kids in one room etc - even if they’ve got £££ to spend!

I can see once you’re used to the space, it’s hard to go back.

I have 625’, we think, 2 bed 1930s bungalow semi. When DC was home plus DH, it didn’t feel cramped. We have a bit of garden and garage. The boys would often be out tinkering in the garage. Now with DC grown and flown and a different non live-in DP I, and the dogs, have tons of space. We used to have a 2 bed terrace and we all fitted there too. I feel blessed to have this home.

We live in a 3 bed semi, 2 adults and 2 young children. The only thing we lack that we need is a space for my husband to work from home, I'd also love a utility.