To ask if you are happy in your 'small' home?

[Apricotmuffino]

We bought our house about 4 years ago and have been very slowly renovating it, it has cost a fortune in all honesty with the ever increasing costs, and we are due to get our very old kitchen refitted with new units.

We have 1 child, and would like another within the next few years.

When we bought the house we intended to upsize after 5-7 years but in all honesty it seems so out of reach now, despite having managed to put to the side a decent amount of savings it's not touching the surface, and the costs to move (legal fees, stamp duty, interest rates being high if we were to borrow more) is putting us off.

We are trying to make living in the current house better so we can happily live in it maybe 10+ years from now on, and considering perhaps putting money into the garden/bathroom instead. Problem is, it's small.. a small lounge, small kitchen (just about can squeeze a small table in there) and 3 bedrooms, albeit the 3rd is extremely small and space is limited in there due to the stairs eating into the room. Our garden is OK, but needs work.

Living here long term would mean we would have more disposable income but I'm not sure how happy we would be in a small house with 4 of us.

We are in a dilemma whether to spend our money on this house, or try and skimp and save over the years to make upsizing become a reality!

I know small is subjective, our house is around 1000sqft, perhaps not small to others but feels it to us. Hope this doesn't come across as goady in anyway.

Any thoughts opinions would be greatly welcomed!!!

We lived as a family of 7 in a 100square foot home for 1.5 years. Baby in with us, 3 kids in the biggest bedroom and eldest in their own room (though it wasn’t a total box room). We managed but now we have moved to a 1600 square foot 4 bed with a separate playroom and office life is so much better for us all, with 2 kids I would definitely have stayed in the 1000 square foot house and saved money, but with 5 it was a no brainer to move somewhere bigger (which we could afford partly by moving to a cheaper area).

There were 8 new builds along the road a few years ago. 4 beds. Expensive. Less sq footage than my very old 2 bed terrace.

I have 2 large reception rooms, an ok kitchen (gallery style) 2 massive bedrooms and a large bathroom. I could in theory have a downstairs bedroom as the living room is seperate, abd the dining room big enough for dining and living areas

The vast majority of people have raised families in small houses or flats for generations. You're totally over thinking this.

My house is a small 3 bed terrace 950sqft. I like having disposable income.

We're also in a 3 bed (1150sqft) and our children share a room because DH works from home. We need to declutter (working on it) but it's honestly lovely. I love our home even though it needs work. The bones are great.

I live in an expensive but small home. It’s a new build and looks good, stunning bathroom
& kitchen (hence the cost) but I’m feeling like I have outgrown the space and would love an extra room or two.

I think once you’ve done everything you can in your space ie ticked off all the furniture and decoration purchases, it’s a sign that you’re ready to move on. I feel finished with the decoration now and I’m on the hunt for something bigger. I just think my happiness is capped being here because I’m finding myself having to make do a lot, ie no designated office space or proper space to workout/get a yoga mat out. I’m also finding I need to declutter things I’d rather keep as eg I don’t have enough space for clothes AND spare towels/bedding in my drawers etc.

Personally the extra space and flexibility is worth upsizing.

I loved my teeny tiny first flat.

But then again I had no kids it was just me. I’m pretty frugal and love having minimalist wardrobe etc.

I live on a 57ft narrow boat. 2 adults, one 6yr old and fat staffie. We operate a one in one out policy on clothes, coats and shoes etc.
We have an allotment that has a lot of our outdoor stuff, like bikes.
It is small and there are days i curse living in a floating corridor but the lack of material belongings i find freeing...

Overall yes I am happy, it is a warm house, heats up really quick and retains the heat. We have a large shed which helps out with storage, and a average size garden.

I would love to have a downstairs loo or second bathroom and a full size 3rd bedroom, but not enough to take on the bigger mortgage. Costs of loft extension are prohibitive too.

We made the move and it was worth it. No more bathroom bottleneck in the morning as we have more bathrooms. No more laundry Tetris as we have a utility room to sit the airer in. No more kids waking each other during the night as they now have their own room. No more lying awake all bloody night as DH and I now have space for a king size bed and he’s a blessed few inches further away. The house is easier to maintain as we have proper cupboard/wardrobe space and everything has somewhere to go, so it’s quick to tidy which means quick to clean.
life is just so much calmer in this house. I can breathe. *we are a bit more stretched financially but not overly so, I am generally quite risk averse

My grandparents have a three bed flat which is about 600 sq ft + a tiny (and I do mean tiny - under 35 sq ft) kitchen, toilet and shower room. At various points over the last 60 years there were anywhere between 4 and 7 people living there. The kitchen was never big enough for a dining table to fit everyone around so we have a custom-built folding table there and if there were more than 3 people eating dinner, we would put up a leaf table in the living room. When I was little, we had a tiny fridge which was actually hung on the wall above the dining table as there was no other way to fit it. We have since found a different solution.
I love the flat. It's cosy, it has lovely memories and somehow we all fitted there without anyone feeling it was too small.

This is exactly our plan! 1200 sqft, but only two bedrooms. The kids will share until DS is approaching his teens, then we'll move somewhere with 3 bedrooms. Tbh it's so nice to live somewhere where we don't even have to worry about paying for it every month because the costs are so low.

Same position except we wouldn't move, it's literally what you make of it.4 kids aswell 3 beds, made a 2nd toilet downstairs and we all cosy and happy

It is subjective. I have a small two bed (just me and the dog though so It's fine) but my parent's house is huge-howvever my postage stamp sized kitchen has more surface space than theirs. Theirs would drive me nuts as nowhere to put anything down near the cooker/stove.

I would like somewhere slightly bigger, maybe a larger reception room but overall I'm happy and it means life is more affordable.

I wish I'd stayed in my 1000 sq ft house, we have double the space and I hate it. I dont have time to clean it, do the garden etc. I did need to move though cos once my DH died I couldnt live there anymore, however I should have stayed with a smaller house.

My recommendation would be to add an extension - it doesnt have to be huge to make a difference - and open plan the ground floor that way as the kids get older you will still see them and will all still spend time in the family room/kitchen. H9nestly I missed this with my kids as they went through teenage years and spent all their time in their rooms only surfacing to get food!

Ref bedroom space, thing about going up into the loft. You could probably add a decent room and shower room up.their and either you have it or your eldest does. This gives you a spare room for visitors. The extension and extra room will probably add more than double their cost to the value of your house too.

I moved last year and downsized a lot (more expensive area). I wish I'd spent a bit more and bought a little bigger. Two bedroom (one decent sized, one box room), one sitting room, tiny kitchen (no space for a table). I'm planning on having a conservatory at some point which will give a little extra space. I have a mid sleeper in my daughter's room so she has space to play underneath.

My husband and I have one child, he's 7. We live in a ground floor 2 bedroom 2 bathroom flat. We've lived here since I was pregnant. It's small, but completely fine for us.

I am so strict with clutter. I am a very organised person so I make sure the flat never feels overwhelmed with "stuff." Both bedrooms have built in wardrobes. Our bedroom has an en-suite shower and toilet, and the main bathroom has a bath. Tv wall mounted in livingroom and kids room. In our bedroom we have a tv bed so we can put the tv away during the day.

Small can work if you make it.

The only thing I don't like about my flat is the kitchen not having a window. But that's just because of layout and I wouldn't move because of it.

Sure, we could move to somewhere bigger and spend more. But keeping a small, easy to maintain home means having more disposable income for a more interesting life.

Your house is bigger than mine, and there's more of us. Sounds like you need to declutter and be more intentional with your choices of furniture. I'd love a second toilet, but we've loads of room for now. It's not expensive to heat, quick to clean. We will probably move to a 4 bed before our 3DC are teens, but for now I wouldn't want to be paying for space we don't need when we can be spending it on fun and investments.

We live in a bog-standard 3 bedroom ex council house with three children and it is definitely too small for us. Unfortunately DH refuses point blank to move and increase our tiny mortgage. I think with only two children it would have been absolutely fine but could absolutely kick myself for not insisting we move before agreeing to have a third.

We have a large 3 bed but both work from home. We love the house and the area, have fantastic neighbours so wanted to stay. When we had 2nd DC we built a garden office. It has spotlights, flooring, plastered and painted. Essentially it's like another room. We use this as the office.

We have also got the attic fully boarded and fitted wardrobes in both DDs rooms. We are in the process of decluttering and have got rid of a lot this year already x

Can you extend the kitchen?

we downsized and love it. No clutter.

We have a small two bedroom terraced house with a long garden. We installed a garden office right before Covid and it’s been great for use as an office and exercise area. There’s also room for a bit of extra storage. £23k in 2019 and worth every penny.

I am in the opposite situation- we have a large house (not UK) but actually I want a smaller, easier to clean and maintain one. 3 kids are all adults and either at Uni or will be very soon. So house feels huge and there are rooms I don't go in for weeks. We have so much junk and it's hard to manage. Not boasting at all. We used to live in a 2 bed terrace when child no. 1 was born. It was tiny but easy to clean!

Just googled the size of ours - 732 sq ft. It feels spacious as all one floor and all rooms are off a central sort of hallway so it feels quite wide.

There were 4 of us here before DDs went to uni and H and I separated and it was ok - like another pp has said, only one bathroom which could be annoying at times but you get used to it. My kids shared a room too.

It's a lovely place in a desirable location where I can walk into town one way and walk up onto the Cotswold Way the other so I feel very lucky. And we have our own front door and private garden.

Things have to be put away all the time and I regularly declutter. Easy to clean and maintain.

I'm in the same boat as you OP, and I'm choosing saving for a bigger house. I am a real homebody and want a home where there's room to breathe. Right now we're all on top of each other all the time. We previously rented a bigger house so I am acutely aware of the positive difference it makes to home life, especially with children.

Well it's entirely up to you OP

Personally I'd rather spend the money on my home but if you'd rather spend the money on holidays or something else than that's up to you