To feel my house is too small

[Poisongirl81]

I feel down...maybe I'm being unreasonable. I have just finally bought my own house but I'm struggling...its small and we can't even fit a dining table in the kitchen! I've just been to a friend's house who has a lovely home and I'm just feeling very envious. This place is a constant tip...we have a lovely garden but it's the eating situation that's bothering me.

OP I felt like this moving into our (first) house a year ago as it's pretty small with a tiny kitchen. I guess I was also panicking as buying a house is one of those 'gulp, have a made the right choice'. I used to get jealous going to my friend's houses with their big kitchens AND dining room, and now I just don't give a crap. You learn to live with size, like other people said, we have fold down table, and a huge positive, takes hardly any time to clean and decorate, not like someone with a huge 4 bed house and kitchen / diner / something off American reality tv! Love my little house and wouldn't change it! I can redecorate my entire downstairs and someone in big house would still be doing their hall 😋

There's no paperclip just icons to change the text 😊 I know there are positives you seem to have it sussed... (last poster)

That table looks good it it all one unit?

And why don't I have a paperclip I have these icons instead

Also, it's YOUR HOUSE! If you don't want carpet in the living room, take it out! Put something easy to clean in its place, job done. Start seeing the opportunities, not the problems.

Is there something you've always wanted in your home that you couldn't have while renting? Do that, whether it's glitter wallpaper in the loo, or painting the living room grey, or whatever. Do something to help you love your home and see past some of the issues. And definitely tidy up!

Have you tried putting a hen, a goat, a pig and a cow in it for a week? I am assured that if you do that, then take them out again, it will feel palatial...

HTH

If your house is always a tip then you have too much stuff
A table in the kitchen isn't that normal. Most people I know cannot fit a good size dining table in the kitchen. Ours is in the lounge but we have wood floors.
Your house sounds beautiful, stop picking faults in it

My living room is grey I'm honestly crap at house stuff...and organising it. I had an awful experience with tradesmen last year and it's made me wary of using them again. I wish I could pay one of you lovely mumsnetters to come here and sort it all out for me.

Do you all have huge lounges to fit tables in? Can I see a pic? I am looking at my lounge but there isn't any room really with the sofa and sideboard in

The lounge is a rectangle shape...if I put a table at the end it would be tiny

im not sure its got anything to do with being reasonable, its about whether you can afford a bigger house. if you can't who are you planning to complain to about that???

why did you pick that house in the first place?

I dont get it.

You seem a little bit determined to find fault in the house and all the suggestions from pp. Perhaps the problem is not really with the house?

Why did you buy this particular house if you could not see any way to improving it?

best to check with a builder that you dont need planning permission to knock walls down ( if you go down this route)
i hope you can work something out.

JamieFraserskneewarmer
Haha! You beat me to it!

Can you put a folding table in? Something like this John Lewis one. m.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-butterfly-drop-leaf-folding-dining-table-and-four-chairs/p/342418

A big rug underneath will work until you have decided on the best flooring for you.

You definitely need to kon marie and declutter, working out what you can live without. It will make you like your space again. Having enough stuff rather than too much makes keeping tidy so much easier.

A table and chairs might be more important to you than the sideboard if you can only fit one or the other. As you've bought your house now it's worth investing in furniture that suits the space you have long term and getting the right combination.

There's loads of stuff about the benefits of minimalist living and small houses online. More money, time and energy to focus on the things that matter. I'm buying a small flat at the moment and looking forward to the positives of living in a smaller space.

Dammit Jamie, beat me too.

Our house is small. When we moved in we couldn't get three people in the kitchen. We saved and put a small extension on the side with enough room for a dining area. Now we have a dining table we rarely use it, probably 2 or three times week , that said it IS nice to sit down as a family to enjoy a meal, chat and a laugh.

I'm a natural 'minimalist' and hate clutter and nic-nacs. I much prefer large statement pieces which make my home feel bigger. The plus side is it is much easier to clean.

OP do you have room to make a breakfast bar instead of a table?

A breakfast bar could be the answer that's a fab idea thank You! That could work

MrsTickles that John Lewis table is what I've been hunting for! Need to show DP! So thank you.

OP I feel your pain. DP and I worked our arses off and saved to buy our house. We love it and hate it in equal amounts at the moment. Working on it to love it more but one thing we cannot do is make it bigger. It's pretty small, living room is just big enough to take a sofa, a single chair and the tv. Can't get much else in here. Definitely not a table. Kitchen is equally tiny, so if we had a table set up all the time we wouldn't have room for 2 people to walk around in there. We've settled with eating on our lap on the sofa, but if/when we have kids that's not going to work well.

We have a small house. The bedrooms are small, none of us even have wardrobes!

Our lounge and kitchen have no room for a table, so we don't have one.

Over the years we have improved our house by using the space really well. We decluttered and used ikea storage in every room.

We are now saving up for a breakfast bar for the kitchen, which we think will work really well.

Rather than be upset with the space, see it as a challenge. We know our house is small, but we all love it very much. We have bright cheery colours in every room too.

We have a breakfast bar and it is top notch!I felt a bit 1980s getting it put in but it really works for our family.

Also, I used to be a bit of a clutter bug but I am utterly brutal now and get rid of lots of stuff on a regular basis. It feels very therapeutic.

How did you install the breakfast bar?

What about something like this? Table folds down to a sideboard type things &chairs are stored inside it
www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6006613.htm?cmpid=APP003

That's good I am trying to find one in white

Did you not think of things like this before you bought the house?!

We don't have a table in our kitchen-I've never had a kitchen big enough to put one in!