gosh, I seriously can't imagine living in 4000 sq feet! I used to clean houses for a living, and those big houses always seemed just too big to clean. Which is probably why they hired us. I wish you patience with it! At least you don't have much stuff.
It seems to never end! It takes me 1.5 hours to clean just my walk in shower and garden tub. Seriously. About an hour to vacuum the entire house. I do enjoy the spacious feel, however, cleaning being my 24 hour job is not my idea of a good time! Oh and whoever invented Stainless steel appliances must be a spawn of the devil.
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~Misty~
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today’s a gift. That’s why they call it the present -Kung Fu Panda
It took some adjusting but we really love our small house. I think that initially it helped that we had a micro sized flat before we moved to a house. It made the 850-900sq ft seem palatial. We are moving (again) on Saturday into a house that is the same size as all the other houses we have lived in, but it has a downstairs 1/2 bath, which we have not had since the house we lived in when you visited, xt. (Actually, we are moving back to the street we lived on when you were here at the opposite end of the street. Full circle. ) It makes a huge difference in the livability of a small space if you have outside space to compliment it. The small flat we lived in was horrible with only a rooftop outside our kitchen door (it was a city flat on top of some shops) which I absolutely did not want Anja playing on and was not a good space to put a table or bbq. Our first house only had a patio, no green space in the back and while that was nice for sitting outside at the table it sucked for not having a place for Anja to play that I could keep an eye on her. All our subsequent houses have had nice back yards and so does the one we are moving into.
The key to successful small space living, IME is to keep it simple. It is easier to clean than a big house, but it can get messier faster because the mess can't get spread out. Clutter gets out of control much faster so it is important to be brutal about not collecting crap you don't need. We had next to nothing when we moved here and have done pretty good about not acquiring too much junk. I was a first class pack rat before so this is a huge step forward for me. Born out of necessity but fully embraced. Creative storage is also important. Look up. There are so many cool ways to make extra storage space vertically. IKEA is a brilliant resource for this.
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Ah yes, then there is working from home - I really need a 10x10 ft office with a door I can shut.
I think I might be lying. I think we might add on about 1400 sf, and end up around 2000 plus loft. We will have to see...hiring architects to come out and help us plan is one of the goals for this fall. It will depend on what we can afford. But we've talked about having basically: a 6x8 mudroom (where I am sitting now, my "office" - and a mudroom is key in Vermont with all the boots and coats and gear), a 9x10 home office for me (our current bedroom), a 10x20 ft kitchen (currently kitchen and living room), a 20x20ish great room/living room open to the kitchen area, 10x12 ish rooms for each child, a 10x12 bedroom for us, and another full bath. The upstairs loft would become a playroom/guest room. When you add it all up it's more like 2000 sf.
I love small spaces in general. I love organization and vertical space.
That said, I have not been really comfortable in our home for about 6 months. Despite constant decluttering, we're just reaching our max point in this house with 3 bigger people and 3 little people who are becoming big.
We have 1700. Not sure how much I'd find ideal. I think I'd find it ideal if everyone only owned about 10 items total.
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My Parenting Blog! Respond with Love
I ran the Inaugural Fresno Marathon and lived to tell the tale!
Love on granite Let go of all your heart’s holding
Everything weighing you down
And lay here with me, let the world be
For now
~Catie Curtis -For Now- from the Sweet Life album~
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we moved from 1000 sq ft into this one which is under 3000 by a bit. It is big, we yell alot to be heard and it feels like clutter just multiplies while I sleep. There are corners that never get clean. On the other hand, there is so much great space, the kids love to run and play in here and we have room for many hobbies/crafts/desires. So I am torn, I like the space, I don't like having to keep after it.
Our next house will def. be smaller though, just for cost purposes etc.
I don't think it is size as much as good layout/lighting that makes a huge difference. I have seen huge homes with awful layouts that provided very little functional space, and vice versa. My favorite kitchen ever was about oh, 5 x 5 with two doorways even, but dang if it wasn't packed with functionality. I couldn't cook for 6 in there very happily, but for the 2 of us at the time it was great.
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wife to one, the love of my life
mama to 4, all incredibly gorgeous, smoochable and bright - taking my breath away everyday.
"Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing." - Mother Theresa
Our new house is about 1535. I have no idea how much smaller it is than our old house, but it is tight. And after living without our stuff for 2.5 months, I really realized how much stuff we have that we don't need/use. Once we get all the boxes unpacked, we plan on purging again (we purged a TON before we moved).
Our house has 4 bedrooms, but one is the converted garage, so it's a pretty good sized room and that is what we are using as our playroom/classroom/office. The girls are bunked 2 to a room. We have 2 baths. If I had a ton of money, there are a couple of walls I'd like to knock out to open up the floor plan, but that's not going to happen. The only thing I wish our small house had was more closet space, we have no coat closet or linen closet, so I am having to get creative with where we store those things. It's a little tight in here with 6 of us, but I am immensely enjoying the fact that even though it is small, it is ours, and it has a great outdoor space for the girls to run and play.
Dh and I will watch house hunters and there will be a family with one or two kids and they will be saying how they are just too crammed into their 1800 sq.ft place and NEED a bigger place and end up buying a 2200-2400 sq. ft. home and we just laugh at how much space people think they need. Sure, it would be nice to have a larger home for sure, but I also enjoy not having as much to clean. With the laminate flooring it is so much easier to clean than our old house.
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~Catherine
SAHM to my 4 beauties, Hannah Faye (7/98), Sophia Noelle (12/00), Juliette Emilie-Annalise (10/02) and Evelynn Grace (3/06), and loving Army wife to papabear, Nick since 12/95
We're back in Georgia. This apartment is maybe 3 miles from our old house (and walking distance from the building where DH worked when we moved up this way)! It's a temporary stop while we house shop and get the job situation squared away.
Oh, I knew that, I meant what city... but I figured it out. LOL Just asking as we may be moving to Atlanta this year.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LatteLover
Oh, I knew that, I meant what city... but I figured it out. LOL Just asking as we may be moving to Atlanta this year.
Well, Emily, Alpharetta is quite lovely. Actually, the road we're living on has everything we'd need, but we can't really afford to buy on this street!
I just looked at a HUGE house on craigslist. I wish it were smaller, but I still emailed the owner, because it's in the only SD we'd want to live in (otherwise no SD- this is the only one I'd consider), and it has a pool. Can I just lock off a wing of the house?
Well, Emily, Alpharetta is quite lovely. Actually, the road we're living on has everything we'd need, but we can't really afford to buy on this street!
I just looked at a HUGE house on craigslist. I wish it were smaller, but I still emailed the owner, because it's in the only SD we'd want to live in (otherwise no SD- this is the only one I'd consider), and it has a pool. Can I just lock off a wing of the house?
let's see
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~julie~
mama to savannah, jackson and baby scarlett due in 2009! STUFF I HAVE FOR SALE
Yeah, my husband's company JUST started a multi year project for the state of Georgia, and we will be getting moved this year, they have already moved three people from this project down there (have gone or will be going in November...). The office is IN Atlanta.
But I am MUCH happier in a 1200 sq foot house than I was in the 900 sq ft apartment, and much happier than I was in the giant house I couldn't keep clean. I am also loving the 1 floor thing.
I wish the house were ours because it's exactly right for what we need.
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Meg
Mama to Alexis, 22; Jacob, 19; and Elijah 11/20/02 and Sophia Jane, 11/20/04
Elijah allows me to dress him nicely and take a picture!
I wish you patience with it! At least you don't have much stuff. 
We will have to see...hiring architects to come out and help us plan is one of the goals for this fall. It will depend on what we can afford. But we've talked about having basically: a 6x8 mudroom (where I am sitting now, my "office" - and a mudroom is key in Vermont with all the boots and coats and gear), a 9x10 home office for me (our current bedroom), a 10x20 ft kitchen (currently kitchen and living room), a 20x20ish great room/living room open to the kitchen area, 10x12 ish rooms for each child, a 10x12 bedroom for us, and another full bath. The upstairs loft would become a playroom/guest room. When you add it all up it's more like 2000 sf.
!!!!
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