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Fort Worth Mom · Mod/Penguin lover/Princess!

Downsizing Your Home. How Small Could You Go?

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

If it was just DH and me, we could easily live in a small ranch home.

Fort Worth Mom · Mod/Penguin lover/Princess!

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
If it was just DH and me, we could easily live in a small ranch home.

Roger that, LGS.

But, how small?

Cheerios4606 · Guru

I would be happy with a tiny home no smaller than 400 square feet.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Fort Worth Mom wrote:
Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
If it was just DH and me, we could easily live in a small ranch home.
Roger that, LGS.
But, how small?

Could probably do 1200 sq ft maybe?

Ohfour · Hooker

We have about 2800 sf too.

Our lake house is TINY. But we could live there. I wouldn't want to (no tub), but I could. The problem would be G's basses. I don't know where we would keep those. 17 basses take up a lot of room! But no way in HADES would I have the cats there.

But we aren't moving. We are in the house we will die in.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I grew up in a 900-1000 sf, 4 square house.

There were 4 people and a pick-a-poo.

My room was 6 foot wide and 9 foot long.

It was plenty of space.

I could absolutely live in 400 sf, easily.

cadiver · Senior Member

I cant go any smaller, I am at 600 sq ft now.

karl271 · Guru

After a bit of converting numbers, etc.. I come up with 1080 sq feet for our 2 story house. (30 tsubo). We could live in less, if we got rid of the accumulation of stuff from trips, the shop we ran, etc. But that will never happen. Two of us and the cat.

I see a lot smaller homes throughout Southeast Asia but I think in a lot of these cases the house is simply a shelter from the rain, wind or whatever. A place to sleep at night. Most of the living is done outside the house....

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

Well...I don't even know how big our house is...so there's that! LOL

It's a split level, finished basement, and upstairs is living room, dining room, kitchen (very small), bath & 3 bedrooms. Oh, and a half bath and laundry room downstairs.

Our goal is a smaller house with NO steps.

flan

cadiver · Senior Member

I could not live in my place as small as it is with anyone else

just Czech · Give Me Grand's!

We want to downsize so badly.

Our house is huge, but it is three levels plus a basement.

Main floor has a kitchen, dining room, half bath and a full length living room. And big porches on both the north and south.

Second floor, four large bedrooms and a full bath.

Third floor we use for storage (all sewing and seasonal), but it has two bedrooms and a walk around closet that connects the bedrooms. You can walk a full circle up there.

The basement has a furnace room, a store room, a room with the fixtures for a bathroom and another long room. We rarely use the basement. It does store all my canning materials (jars!) and a bunch of junk.

All together it's about 3,000 sq feet. Way to much room for two people, yet not enough when all the kids and grand kids are here.

I would love a house with no stairs. We have three full flights of stairs in this house.

I could be happy with 1,200 to 1,500 sq feet.

just Czech · Give Me Grand's!

cadiver wrote:
I cant go any smaller, I am at 600 sq ft now.

My dad's mother lived in a house as small as yours. Happiest little house I've ever known. smile

jlbear71 · Guru

Our house is 1100 sqft. But we have a basement, attic, garage and shed too. If it was just me, I could probably live in about 5-600 sq ft. Small bedroom, medium closet, and a large living room kitchen combo. I want a bathroom with a tub that works, preferable with a jacuzzi feature. Our current tub is way too small.

Ohfour · Hooker

We have far too much space. We have a huge bonus room with a full bath upstairs. I haven't been up there since Christmas.

just Czech · Give Me Grand's!

Ohfour wrote:
We have far too much space. We have a huge bonus room with a full bath upstairs. I haven't been up there since Christmas.

We have that fourth bedroom that HDD moved out of and it remains empty.

The other two spare bedrooms, the grand's use when they stay overnight. Or my mom.

So much wasted unused space here.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I'd like a smaller, shot gun house, but I'd want a porch all around it.

I think that's how to compensate for small places, is to have great outdoor spaces.

FNW · Guru

I grew up in a 1200 sq. foot home that dad added 400 sq. feet to. It seemed yuge at the time. Now we're in a 3,000 sq foot home and it seems small. I guess it's all about perspective.

I had a small one bedroom apartment for about a year and felt claustrophobic. I think I need at least 1,800 sq. feet.

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

My house is about 2200 SF. I think I would that space could do less but reconfigured. I want a basement, would love a single floor house but with master on one side Living/Kitchen/dining in the middle with guest/ kids room on the other side of the house. 2 full baths.

Tangerine · Guru

Our house is 1700. I don't think I would like to go any smaller with the three of us, this house feels too small.
It was fine until we acquired grandparents' furniture and our business.
It's feeling cramped these days. It's not really big enough to host gatherings the way I want.
We are going to make due for a few more years at least. The housing market is so hot right now I doubt we have a chance of getting a bigger house.
Maybe in five years we will move to a bigger place, maybe we'll just refurbish and organize this house. We really love this house.

backpacker365 · Newbie

We want to downsize to 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. Someday.

WYSIWYG · Guru

I could happily live in a small house, but it would have to have a full size bathroom with a big enough shower to not feel like I'm in a coffin.

Tignanello · My dog name is, Sasha!

I live in a shoebox. It's so small that it has mini appliances. My cookie sheet doesn't fit in my oven.

backpacker365 · Newbie

Tig I have lived in those places!

Our house now is not huge but its big - big rooms and the like. I would love to downsize and pay less taxes, etc.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

I don't want to live in a small house.

Tinydancer · Guru

It's just DH and I in an 850 sq ft 2 bedroom house and I would have no problem going down to 400 sq ft. I plan too build a tiny house on the property and rent out the "big" house. I can tell you for sure that I will have a proper bedroom and not a loft.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

I would like a little more room inside. I have about 1100 square feet. I'd love more outside area like a huge covered porch.

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

Southern_Belle wrote:
I would like a little more room inside. I have about 1100 square feet. I'd love more outside area like a huge covered porch.

The porch is a must.

Forever Sunshine · Guru

Most of my adult life I've lived in a two-bedroom apartment typically between 800 to 1000 sf. It's been awesome for the most part. Perfect size to take care of and plenty of room when the grands come over. If they don't want to sleep in the bedrooms, we build forts in the living room.

Lenni · Member

We are already somewhat downsized in a three bedroom condo. (The high cielings and loft make it feel larger though).

I could go as small as a two bedroom or even one bedroom condo or apartment if it was just me.

TrudyML · Guru

We are in a one bedroom condo. I am looking but haven't found anything.

Divine Geek · Guru

Are we talking just the house? Or garages, storage buildings and barns too?

Fort Worth Mom · Mod/Penguin lover/Princess!

Divine Geek wrote:
Are we talking just the house? Or garages, storage buildings and barns too?

Just the house.

But, you can add more details, if you'd like to. wink

Mary Zombie · Guru

I think we could do 500 or 600 feet. As long as we had a small guest room.
I'm obsessed with Tiny House Nation!

Tinydancer · Guru

Mary. That's one of my favorite shows. I also love Tiny House Hunting.

Fort Worth Mom · Mod/Penguin lover/Princess!

Tinydancer wrote:
Mary. That's one of my favorite shows. I also love Tiny House Hunting.

I enjoy those shows, too!

But, the more I watch them, the more I know that I couldn't go that small.

They are fun to look at, though. smile

just Czech · Give Me Grand's!

My quilting zone is bigger than a Tiny House...

Tinydancer · Guru

I would look at it as an adventure. It would allow me to do all the traveling I want to when I retire yet still have a place to come home too in between.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Caitlyn is thinking about a small travel trailer.

She says, "I need a place to eat, sleep, and shower. It'd be perfect!"

I pretty much lived in our pop up camper for a while.

Tinydancer · Guru

just Czech wrote:
My quilting zone is bigger than a Tiny House...

There was an episode with a traveling pediatric nurse who made quilts for her preemies. They built a perfect work table for her but it she still needed to get rid of some of her fabrics. You could see it was killing her to do it. For me it would be my kitchen stuff. I love to cook and have sooo many gadgets and doodads.

just Czech · Give Me Grand's!

Tinydancer wrote:
just Czech wrote:
My quilting zone is bigger than a Tiny House...
There was an episode with a traveling pediatric nurse who made quilts for her preemies. They built a perfect work table for her but it she still needed to get rid of some of her fabrics. You could see it was killing her to do it. For me it would be my kitchen stuff. I love to cook and have sooo many gadgets and doodads.

See, it would kill me too! A true quilter hangs onto every piece of fabric she owns. You never know when you will need THAT piece, lol.

I am getting better at using up scraps quickly. The girls are getting lots of "doll quilts". Even Sam has a quilt.

Tinydancer · Guru

I thought of you when I watched this episode...

just Czech · Give Me Grand's!

Tinydancer wrote:
I thought of you when I watched this episode...

Thank you! smile

Cheerios4606 · Guru

ya know, those granny pods are not too shabby on space and efficiency.

www.pinterest.com/pin/415597871834575465/

https://www.pmhi.com/floorplans/1-story-homes-600-2-000-ft.html

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=granny%20pod&rs=typed&term_meta[]=granny%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=pod%7Ctyped

-- Edited by Cheerios4606 on Wednesday 26th of April 2017 01:38:31 PM

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

If it were just me, I could totally live in this.

I'd want to add a door to the outside in the bedroom, reconfigure the kitchen to create a more open floor plan and a door outside, then a porch all the way around.

Cheerios4606 · Guru

I totally could get lost on the internet for hours looking at these pods or other tiny homes. Thing is, I even have a back yard that would accommodate it. I just dont know if my city would totally allow it.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Have you seen the little buildings at Home Depot and Lowes that are turned into homes?

Some are totally cool.

Cheerios4606 · Guru

no!

:goes to google:

Fort Worth Mom · Mod/Penguin lover/Princess!

I loved some of the small house plans!

Thanks for posting those, Cheerios. smile

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Cheerios4606 wrote:
no!

:goes to google:

I first stumbled onto it on YouTube while watching tiny home tours.

I've told dad and the kids we should get one for each of us to put on the family land, arrange them around a general gathering area.

Like at one of those neato motels or campgrounds.