4 ms·

I thought our house was too big as well when we bought it (also 1300 sqft). We now have a son (he get's his own room) and will later try for another (wife hopes

I thought our house was too big as well when we bought it (also 1300 sqft). We now have a son (he get's his own room) and will later try for another (wife hopes for a girl) which will get a room - right now it's a craft room/spare room for guests. With a dog, two kids (an office and a garage for me to tool in) I don't know if I could survive with anything much smaller. We don't need bigger though, I don't feel cramped (living room is kinda small, get a few toys in there and it is hazardous - yes, kids take over the living room, I never believed it before).

r00fus 14y ago
I just went from 1 kid to 3 (twin babies) and the 3-bedroom 1400sqft place we have is a bit cramped - babies command a LOT of space for stuff. That said, I don't think we would have ever purchased/rented a 4 bdrm while we were still a 1-kid family.
peckrob 14y ago
This is the exact position my wife and I are in as well. Kids change the equation a lot. We have our first kid on the way (due at the end of November) and currently live in a 1,600 square foot house. I remember when I bought it, before I was married, it seemed like more space than I would ever need. I had rooms that had nothing in them for years until I got married. The problem, in our case, is that while 1600 square feet is a good bit of space, it's not very effectively laid out especially for a young family. Probably half of that square footage is in the living room. The next biggest room is the master on the first floor, then the other two "bedrooms" on the second floor are almost too small to be usable. One is about the size of a large closet and could just barely hold a twin bed (that's our office), and the other, which is just slightly larger, was a guest room and will be the nursery. Space for all the stuff you "need" (of course, I wonder how much of this stuff we actually need...) is a real issue. This became apparent now that we've started buying stuff for a nursery as well as other baby accessories. It completely filled the guest bedroom as well as a good bit of overflow into the living room. And this is just with one kid - we hope to try for another in a few years. I'm guessing that kids sharing rooms was much more common in the 70s and earlier than it now? I was born in '81, and always had a room to myself even after my sister was born.

r00fus 14y ago

I just went from 1 kid to 3 (twin babies) and the 3-bedroom 1400sqft place we have is a bit cramped - babies command a LOT of space for stuff. That said, I don't think we would have ever purchased/rented a 4 bdrm while we were still a 1-kid family.

peckrob 14y ago

This is the exact position my wife and I are in as well. Kids change the equation a lot. We have our first kid on the way (due at the end of November) and currently live in a 1,600 square foot house. I remember when I bought it, before I was married, it seemed like more space than I would ever need. I had rooms that had nothing in them for years until I got married. The problem, in our case, is that while 1600 square feet is a good bit of space, it's not very effectively laid out especially for a young family. Probably half of that square footage is in the living room. The next biggest room is the master on the first floor, then the other two "bedrooms" on the second floor are almost too small to be usable. One is about the size of a large closet and could just barely hold a twin bed (that's our office), and the other, which is just slightly larger, was a guest room and will be the nursery. Space for all the stuff you "need" (of course, I wonder how much of this stuff we actually need...) is a real issue. This became apparent now that we've started buying stuff for a nursery as well as other baby accessories. It completely filled the guest bedroom as well as a good bit of overflow into the living room. And this is just with one kid - we hope to try for another in a few years. I'm guessing that kids sharing rooms was much more common in the 70s and earlier than it now? I was born in '81, and always had a room to myself even after my sister was born.