How many people are in your family (including indoor pets) and how do you make it all work in such little space?

Aussie Mamma, when we lived in the city, we lived in a 980 sq. ft house. While there, we fostered for 6 years, and raised 6 kids. We had one dog and one cat, along with one bathroom.

The older kids were only there for a couple of years and then got married or moved out on their own. BUT I did have 6 little ones in that square space. I actually found it was enough space for the amount of stuff we had. It was easy to keep clean. We had bunkbeds in the bedrooms and we made use of every square inch of the house. We also had a full-size basement, but that was included in the 980 sq. ft.

We now live in a 1500 sq. ft house that doesn't utilize the space well. We have such small closets, one person doesn't fit in them. We have tons of wasted space (Victorian homes were like that).

Personally, I think you can make do in any size home you live it. You just make adjustments, get rid of things and make use of all your space.

When dh and I were younger and our older kids were just babes, we lived in a tiny house, which had one bathroom, one bedroom and the kitchen/living room combined. We had a hide-a-bed in the living room/kitchen area that dh and I slept on and we had bunk beds in the small bedroom. We were oh so crowded, but our older kids still talk about the fun we had in that house while living there. Dh use to say, "we had to go outside to think".

There's a house for sale here on 4.4 acres (we haven't seen it yet) that is 960 sq. feet of living space (2 bdrm./1 ba.). We don't have basements here (ground is too unstable/sandy) so the 960 sq. feet would be all we had. I don't think dh is really interested in it because we are pretty sure it's a LONG way from his work, but I have been trying to imagine how in the world to make what we have work in such a small area (after being used to 1875 sq. ft. living area). Pretty much all of our furniture is new and I would be unwilling to give it up for that reason. Several pieces are quite large as well. That acreage just keeps jumping out at me!!!!!

Aussie Mamma, you'll be surprised really at how big 1,000 sq. ft is. I would suggest you go and see the house. Look at possiblities of where you might want to add on. With the acreage, you certainly have to room to do so if you should choose that avenue later.

If the price is right, you might want to put a bit of your furniture in storage if you need to.

Don't pass it by just because of size. Give it a chance and see it first. Its surprising how much you can put into 1,000 sq. ft.

We have 1583 or so sq. feet. I'd love to buy a smaller house with more land.

Did you check out that house Aussie Mamma?

I'm in 1040 square feet, and I love it. We had both adult kids here the past 4 years, till ds moved out this summer. It's been great.

I downsized from a 1650 square foot house, and it's amazing how much better this is.

We were finally able to get a physical address for the property (no thanks to our realtor :icon_roll ) so we could look it up on the property appraiser's website. Unfortunately the taxes on it are more than we can afford. Ugh! I never imagined they would be as high as they are since the house is so small, but I guess the value of the land really drove them up. Oh the joys of living in a coastal community. *sigh*