Is 60m2 too small for a family home?

[Ud72u2eye]

We are looking to move and have found a two bed place that ticks all the boxes but it's small (60m2). Dh thinks it ridiculous to even consider it but I think it could work. We have one DC and this ticks both the location and school boxes. Caveat - not sure whether we could afford to move again or assume we could. We are in SE so even 60m2 aren't cheap. Has anyone successfully lived in a small place indefinitely? Are we mad to consider it?

No idea what 60m2 means but only you know if the house is big enough for you and your needs as a family. Are you planning any more children?. If so then I wouldn’t consider a 2 bedroom house.

It could work if you are definitely not having more children. Otherwise I wouldn't do it.

Can you share the floor plan?

I lived in 35m2 with a son and a husband and I now live in 80 m2, two bedroom apartment, so no garden, attick, celler, nothing.

First, I do not think it is ridiculous, but there are many things to reconsider.

Do any of you work from home and is it possible to make a working space in your bedroom?

Think about layout, and think hard. Small places need different rules. I have storage everywhere and I mean everywhere.

So in the bedroom we have ikea malm bed with drawers, it is life saver, there is nothing I do not keep there.

My kitchen is small, think 5m2 but iz goes way up till the ceiling so it has lot of storage.

A table in the living room is a chest, more storage, storage in the couch, storage under the kid's bunk bed.

If you have lot of books, jigsaw puzzles, board games, think hard is there a wall you can put book shelves to keep all that in one place. It will help your place not to look cluttered.

Think how many things you have and imagine is it possible to put everything you need in your new home.

I never felt cluttered or annoyed even in 35m2, but I know lot of people who would.

I think small places are great, especially when it comes to utility billls, but they're not for everyone.

My aunt lives in a granny flat that is approximately that size.

For one person it's quite spacious on a daily basis.

However, a couple of issues that might be worth considering.

1. She uses all of the storage space for clothing etc. on her own.
2. Items like outdoor furniture etc. are stored in my cousin's cellar.

Size wise, I'd say it's about the size of 2/3 bed static caravan.

Op no one can really answer this for you. There are families living in a single room up and down the country, but it usually comes at a huge cost to their mental health. That said, I was in Hong Kong a while ago and their apartments are tiny, but super well designed. And everyone lives like that and it's fine.

Personally I have always been fine with small flats but needed space once we had kids. Thankfully we were able to afford it but I know that's a luxury many don't have.

You need to think about how you'll entertain your child on cold dark winters days, etc. and weigh up location vs space. Personally I have chosen to live a little further from my ideal neighborhood in order to have a bit more space. But only you know your budget and area

What's the layout like? Storage? Does it come with any outdoor space? I've done a similar size w little ones for a year and it was fine but would have been a terrible squeeze as they grew (but there were two of them) .We lived very close to a big park w playground and that helped.

You would need excellent storage solutions and be realistic about the amount of stuff you could keep.

We lived in a small place for years, 60m2 could be fine. We chose location over size of property. There are important considerations - does it have a loft, a garden? We had a summerhouse that made things easier. Is the kitchen big enough for your needs?

Is it a nice area? I would always put location ahead of house, personally.

Hmm, I think you would struggle a little bit in that space but if you were strict on belongings and if you as a family spend more time outside than inside it could work.

The smallest floorplan I have lived in as a family of 3 was 80 square metres... so a full third bigger. I'm thinking you might struggle to get a dining table and drying washing would be very difficult on airers...

And it had a loft for storage... Do you have storage? Or outside space?

If you like spending time in the house and enjoy activities indoors I would try for something a little bigger, if you like the location because it has plenty to offer your family and it is important to spend time outdoors then that could work.

Out first home was about this size - bought it when it was just me and DH but the kids squeezed in too. We lived there until kids were 5 and 7 and while it was cozy it worked fine. We had two bedrooms upstairs, a bathroom and an ensuite, and managed to change the ensuite into a box room so the kids could have their own rooms. If I had one child I could have lived there permanently.

To answer a few questions, definitely no more kids in the future. It does have a garden and open plan living room 6.5x4 - have tried to attach a drawing...Lv/k is living room and kitchen, R1&2 is bedrooms and B is bathroom.

I think part of the clash is that I grew up abroad is a tiny flat with my parents so this seems fine.Dh grew up in a massive house in the countryside.

In terms of qrea, it's great. DC can go to local schools which are great. Its safe with great transport links

I live in a fairly small flat but 60m is tiny imo.

I live in a 70 sqm one bedroom with teen DD and I personally wouldn’t consider smaller. Storage, storage, storage! We have separate 4 sqm storage but good storage inside the appartement is a must.

It really depends on what type of people you are, if you have and like a lot of stuff then it could get claustrophobic very quickly.

Mine is 56 sq meters and I lived here with my son for many years. Storage can be an issue so you have to learn to be quite minimalist

If you are all tidy people, not too much " stuff", that would be fine. And the garden is a bonus. Good luck !

Those are very small bedrooms. Could you fit yourself and partner and all your clothing into the larger one?

What happens if either of you need to work from home? Is there any room for a dedicated work space?

Do you ever have guests? How many would you be able to fit on a bad weather day?

Can you afford to invest in furniture that provides extra storage and space? A bed that folds up and leaves room for a desk/play area in the child's bedroom will make a difference.

Is there a park locally? A library with study cubicles? Places you can go when you need space from each other?

Are there other families locally to there living in similar sized homes? Or will your child be the only one at the school in such a small space? I think it works better when it's normalised.

Sometimes I envy people with small homes. Then I remember why we have the large house and the size of my library as well as my many children and their collections.

Surely it is big enough - it is whether it is big enough FOR YOU. Families in major cities all over the world raise their families happily in small flats.

Do you have the space/are you allowed to put a little garden room at the bottom of the garden?
I think the combined living room and kitchen would be the killer for me - clutter everywhere and no breathing space. Could one of the rooms at the front be large enough to turn into a sitting room? Will you need to WFH at all - where will you do that?
Where will you store the boring stuff, like coats, shopping bags, shoes, PE kit?

@lannistunut I think that's the clash. I grew up living like that but DH hasn't. We have also looked at a flat thats 84m2 but that has no garden. So its sort of space v garden/transport links.

Am assuming we would live in the smallest place of all DC friends but family houses are too expensive here

What is the size of your current accommodation? You might find it hard to move from eg 110sqm to 60sqm, but ok if you are going from 50 to 60.

@Asiama currently in rentals and just went from 67m2 to 100m2 but I actually think it's a bit pointless. I just work in the living room because I don't like working in my home office. We barely use the garden and it just feels too big.

If you can't afford bigger - where does your DH think you should live?

DH thinks we should move further out. But the schools aren't good and my commute would go from 40mins each way to 1hr 20mins.

How old is your DC?
When they start getting older them just having a bedroom doesn't work as well as when they are small. If you work at home you need space away from them to work in the holidays etc
They want more space when their friends start coming round more.

If it was me I'd be pushing to go as big as I could.