House size

[WarChild123]

We are looking at an Edwardian house which is 1495 square foot split across 2 rooms downstairs, kitchen/diner and 5 beds (2 large, 2 medium-small and 1 small). We are a family of 4, 2 adults, a 5 year old and a 3 year old. It's semi detached and has a garden and side passageway. Does anyone live in a similar sized house with kids? We are moving from a larger house (but nothing around it) so worried it will feel cramped. Husband and I both wfh at times so will also have to fit desks in. Thanks!

Surely if there’s 5 beds you’ll have one room spare you can turn into an office?

I've no idea about square footage but having googled, your house will exceed the UK average in terms of size.

I don't know if you will feel cramped in a 5 bed house with garden. I'd presume not but who knows how much stuff you have.

You know families your size live in 2 bed flats?

Use medium bedrooms for kids. Large as playroom or guest room. Small as office.

It is certainly workable, but if is all relative - it might very well feel cramped at first, but your thinking will likely adapt as you settle in. if moving from a larger space you may need to downsize your stuff as well, including furniture- it makes a real difference if the furniture is sized for the space rather than shoehorned in. I have routinely upsized and downsized due to moving countries for work, as what is ‘enough’ varies radically across the world. There is always a bit of an adjustment, but after 3 months I have typically settled into the space, figured out how to make it work for me and the family, and feel comfortable regardless of size.

We are in between houses at the moment, renting 1200sq ft 4 bed house 2 adults, toddler and a baby. It's really small, no space for storage, the garage is full of stuff!
We will be looking to buy min 2000sq ft with option to extend

Not sure why a couple with just 2 small children think they would be cramped in a house with 5 bedrooms

Am I missing something ? Is this a joke ?

I think it depends on how much stuff you have, what the storage options are like around the house and what the layout is like. We’ve lived in small houses that feel adequate and large houses that didn’t work.

We have same family size, same house size/ beds. It isn’t cramped, although it is a bit top heavy with bedrooms and smaller downstairs space. WFH works really well - we have two spare rooms that we use as guest rooms/ offices.

Our house is about 1300 sq ft, 4 beds, over two floors and we have two adults, a 5 year old and nearly 2 year old twins. DH works from home using the smallest bedroom. Have a fair bit of storage- loft, cellar and double garage.

I would say that the house is plenty for our family now although I can imagine we might want more & to give the kids a bedroom each when they’re older.

1500 sq ft would be fine for two adults and two young kids but would you have enough space when they’re older?

I think its always hard downsizing, but this is about 500sq ft bigger than my 3 bed house. Our downstairs isnt cramped, although i would like a bit of hallway and our third bedroom is cramped to be fair but the other teo arevfine. Our house is very averagem
So i would say with all that extra space you really will be fine.

Our house is a similar square footage although we only have three beds. My concern would be whether the rooms individually would be big enough - it's not a massive amount of square footage to squeeze 5 beds into.

We downsized from something a lot larger (3500 sq ft, 6 beds) to our current house which at 1400 sq ft is a bit smaller than the one you're considering @WarChild123. It's a bit bigger downstairs than up which suits us as there's only DH and me at home these days so we don't need the additional bedroom space....

But I do miss the spaciousness of our last house and don't think I'd want to live here with DC as it feels cramped when we have guests to stay, even though we have a massive living room and eat-in kitchen.

Part of the problem, imho, is storage which was definitely lacking when we bought this house. We're in the process of adding lots more and that's gradually improving the situation and the way we use the space.

This was my thoughts too.

Our 1400 sq ft comprises only two bedrooms (although the large bathroom was originally bedroom 3) and I'm struggling to imagine 5 bedrooms in a not much larger house. Although I appreciate in new builds at least they do cram an awful lot of bedrooms (and bathrooms!) into a small footprint.

Like PP said it’s completely layout dependent!

@WarChild123 do you have a floor plan you can share?

It sounds an awkward layout wit no play room, utility, downstairs loo etc. Is that what you'll miss?

We are a family of 4 (2 adults, DS6 & DS8) in a 915sqft flat. So to me 1400sqft sounds like the height of luxury.

My thoughts on living in a smaller place:
We declutter a lot, which feels great.
We don't buy excess "stuff".
Less to clean.
Living well within our means (which is of course relative). Even a slightly larger place would cost hundreds of thousands more.
Location, for us, is amazing. We're in zone 2 in London. To afford bigger we would have to compromise significantly on location and at the moment we are happier as we are.

You'll get used to whatever space you have to work with.

Thanks everyone. I am fully aware how ridiculous and entitled I sound - I grew up in a family of 9 in a 3 bed house so completely cringe at myself as I ponder all of this. I am concerned about not having a downstairs loo (although could put one in under the stairs) and also that the house has really been fully extended so, if we did need room to grow, we wouldn't have it - it feels like there's a chance it won't be our forever home? Floor plan is attached now and I verymuch appreciate everyone's thoughts on this. Husband says I am being ridiculous asking but all of this does help with my thinking process x

You are missing the what the size of the bedrooms are. You could make a small 3-bed terrace into 5-bed by having rooms, one or two of which you could just about fit a bed and small wardrobe into and the other three a small single. That maybe fine for some and doable with small children but may be very claustrophobic for others/ those with adult size teens.

@WarChild123 looks like a good size to me and you have two bathrooms

Posted to soon
I would check how much storage there is - not just wardrobe space but space for whatever you would normally put in a lot (suitcases, winter coats during the summer etc). If it is a long term house, will there space for the DCs to grow into

I think the downstairs is great. Shared space and quiet space. I can see 3 floors is a compromise and there is no opportunity to grow. But the bedrooms are good sizes and even the small bedroom isnt as small as our small bedroom which has a 6ft teen in it. I think with loos on two floors a downstairs loo is less of an issue to me. I suppose i dont know what else is in your area to compare too.

Middle floor for kids. Either use the small bedroom there for guest or playroom.

Upper floor for you and office.

You have two reception plus kitchen dinner on bottom floor.

The only thing missing is outdoor storage.

Over the past 10 years we've lived in everything from a flat to a 5 bed detached. Currently its a 3 bed semi. It seems overwhelming at first then you adapt as you find the flow of the house.

This looks very spacious to me. But I'm biased as I indicated before.

Not quite fully extended. There is the option of a garden office in the future.

Ah I was going to say fine till I saw the floor plan. It’s over three floors

i would not wish to sleep on a different floor to my young children, and office at the top of the house will be awkward with young kids possibly down stairs.

for me the issue isn’t cramped, for me teh three floors with kids this age would be a no.