We have lived in our home for almost nine years now. It has approximately 900 square feet of living space, two bedrooms, and one bathroom, which seemed fine when it was just me and my hubby. However, we have added two children to our family since we bought our home and at times we feel a little squeezed. According to the US Census, the average house size in the United States was almost 2500 square feet in 2006. I was recently unhappily comparing my house to this seemingly mammoth average home size. But then I realized that on a global scale, I have a huge home. I decided to look at my home with a positive perspective. It didn’t take long to come up with several benefits and blessings that go along with living in a small home.
- Lower energy costs.A smaller house means less space to heat and cool, and that means less money going out to the utility companies.
- Smaller mortgage.Basic economics: a small house almost always costs less than a big house. We have a pretty small mortgage and that is very helpful in this economy.
- I can find my children in 2 seconds or less. I can almost always see and hear my children and I can get to them in almost no time at all. I have no corners to turn, no stairs to climb, and no wings to enter. This is especially helpful when friends are over to play.
- Easy clean up. Less space means less to clean. If my family pitches in, we can clean our house in less than an hour. If you don’t count bedrooms, I can clean the entire house alone in 30 minutes.
- Cheap decorating costs. My son gave me this benefit. He says that we could redecorate the house for very little money because there isn’t much to decorate. Good point, son. Maybe I should head over to Hobby Lobby?
- Less hoarding.Small houses have less storage and no free space. That means impulse buys are rare because you do not have anywhere to put anything. As much as I would love a coffee table or a recliner, it’s not going to happen.
- Forced togetherness. This is my favorite benefit on the list. A small home means that if we are in the house, we are usually together. It is impossible to become one of these families where everyone has their own dedicated space in which they spend all their free time.
My small house doesn’t seem so bad when I look at this list. Would I love a third bedroom? Sure. A few more closets? Definitely. We plan to add on to our house someday. But for now, I will enjoy my little piece of heaven on earth.
Do you own a small, average, or large home? Feel free to leave a comment. Share and let’s talk about it.
About Janice
We moved from an 1800 sq ft house to an 800 sq ft apartment. I wouldn't trade it for the world! We don't have much space, but who NEEDS that much space? I was forced to stop hoarding so much because of the downsize. I love it! 🙂 Great post!
Thanks!
Our house is quickly getting smaller as our children are getting bigger and I really haven't looked at it like this. Great perspective! Love the post
Thanks! Sometimes I wish for a bigger house, but I know I am blessed with what I have. My previous house was bigger, but had a small yard. At least now we have land. 😉
Great post! It helps me remember to be thankful for what I have instead of wishing for something bigger, prettier, etc.
Wendy
Around My Family Table
Love this post! I've got a 2160 sf house, and it IS hard to keep up with everything! Rising costs, more places to stash things, unused areas… need I say more? 🙂
I've lived in bigger and smaller homes, right now we are in a 1600 sq foot house and I pretty much feel perfect here. A lot of it is whether you can organize and keep things tidy- a bigger home we were in was laid out sooo bad that even though we had space, it felt smaller b/c there was just a mish mash of add-ons and poor storage. Def love being closer to the family. I like hanging out with my kids!
Thanks for this! We (family of four) live in a apartment about the same size… i needed to read this I think 🙂
The lower energy costs and the ease of cleaning are the 2 things I miss about our smaller house (and that it was a single story house). It's nice to have space, but it doesn't come "free".
I have recently recovered from a major case of the "I want a bigger house" fever. It took looking at the yearly income of people around the world to make me realize that with nearly 2000 sq ft I only need to make better use of my space to be able to fully appreciate it. We are so blessed. I'm glad I'm not the only one who can find blessings in a space that sometimes feels too small. (I'm an introvert, so #7 with three energetic boys is difficult for me to embrace sometimes. lol)
Excellent post! Growing up, we lived in a pretty small house. While it was crowded sometimes, it also had a lot of the benefits you listed 🙂
I'm a big fan of looking for the positive! I'm a new GFC follower from a blog hop. I hope you'll stop by my blog and follow back.
http://www.LisaBlogs.com
We’ve bounced about in house size over the years and just now have moved into a LARGE house. I have to say that it is easier for things to accumulate because there’s space. And, somehow this 3000 sq. ft. house seems no bigger than the 1400 sq. ft. house we had before at times. Different storage built ins made all the difference in the smaller house. (Plus, it had a true basement where this house doesn’t.)
Space is nice for my four growing boys that we homeschool. But, I completely hear you on upkeep expenses and cleaning times.
You definitely have a great outlook on living in a small home. I used to be completely happy living in our small home (700 square feet on the main floor + 3/4 story where 3 small bedrooms and one tiny bathroom reside) but with the 4th addition we have really run out of room. The 3 older kids are getting bigger; the 2 older girls sharing a tiny room seems to create a lot of fights. They are always in each other’s space, not at anyone’s fault. So now we are building a new bigger home, most of which is DIY so it’s taking forever and I can’t see myself missing this small home. I have felt like I’m drowning in people’s stuff for the last year and with Baby Girl staying in our bedroom, I won’t mind Hubs and I having our room back. With less people I would be happy living in a smaller home and agree with your positive points completely.
Great post, thanks for sharing it with us in the Stop and Stumble hop at http://www.thislilpiglet.net/2011/07/stop-and-stumble-saturday-hop.html I have stumble liked and Google +1 this post. 🙂
Way to be optimistic! Most people are just wasting space, and paying to heat nearly empty rooms!
Also thanks for joining in on the Weekend Alexa Blog Hop! We hope to see you again next weekend!
Rita
http://www.bargaindesire.com
In the past homes were much smaller, and families larger. It is all about being content.
I agree. 🙂
I appreciate that statement commented above & this post so much. As a mom of one boy, 6 months old, who wants more kids…I’ve often thought “we have to have a bigger place before we have more kids,” but that’s just not the case! I shared a bedroom for a little while with one of my siblings & we turned out alright!
I think having a “smaller” place can help to raise a family that values time together over material possessions which is becoming all too difficult in the society we live in. Thanks for sharing these great perks!
You are welcome! 🙂
We love our little rental, and though it would sometimes be nice to have more space I think when we buy we will buy small. Thanks for the encouragement.
You are welcome!
I live in Johannesburg in a house that is approx. 1700sqf with my husband and 2 children. All my friends have much larger homes (approx. 3000sqf) which is pretty much the norm here with the middle to upper income. Every now and then I suffer some house envy but being in a city with extreme poverty alongside great wealth makes you realise just how lucky we are to have the house we do. In most countries my house would be considered large. This is our 3rd home together and honestly, my favourite is still the 770sqf flat we had when it was just the three of us. SMall, cosy and affordable. Furthermore, here in Johannesburg,security is a must so add that to your normal costs of running a house and a big house is a money guzzler.
I live in a 1300 square feet house and i guess i should appreciate it more! It’s just me so there is plenty of room only i guess i do collect too much. good reading.
Hey Janice,
I just came across this blog and want to thank you for reminding me of why we moved to a smaller house. We live in Australia and had a large house on a small block with hardly any back garden for the kids. We gave up our ‘dream home’ to move to our ‘dream suburb’ and moved to a very small house but it has a large back garden and a pool. The kids were thrilled with this and we pretty much live outside in summer. After some ill health in the family my attitude of living in a smaller house was confirmed when I realised it didn’t matter how big my house was, I just wanted good health in my family. The kids are happy in our new suburb, we are happy in our smaller house and life is good!
P.S. Love our reduced bills and cleaning time too!!
Thank you for sharing! What a wonderful story. 🙂
When we were 6 living in a 742 sq. ft. apt. I had a hard time appreciating our small living space. Now we are 9 living in about 1800 sq. ft. with a garage and a yard and it is sufficient. The layout could be better and I’m constantly de-cluttering but square footage wise it is enough. My dream home would be 2000-2500 sq ft. on a half acre lot. If I had a smaller family that number would shrink for sure! When you decide to add on/remodel check out “The Not So Small House”. Written by an architect, it has wonderful ideas for optimizing space and making homes comfy instead of just big.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will check that book out. 🙂
Love this post! We just moved into out ‘dream’ home this past year. And while I love it, I’m thinking after 2 years we might flip it and get something smaller for the smaller payment and less to clean!!! 🙂 GREAT ARTICLE!!!
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I am going to 4 week course on home ownership.I am a recent widow with a 12yr old son and very limited income.I am hearing more and more with module homes?Any feedback on what to do?
I am glad that you mentioned in your article how a smaller family home will lead to the people living in the home to become closer as a result of smaller living space. My wife, my children and I currently live in a multi-family home and are looking to move out into a smaller, single-family living option that will effectively take care of all of us. I think that I will look further into the benefits of a smaller home before getting into contact with a real estate agent.
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