July 18, 2011
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Small is beautiful
Are you comfortable with the size of your house?In developed countries family size has been generally shrinking, in some countries family homes have grown in size, notably in the United States where the average size of new single family homes grew from 1,780 square feet in 1978 to 2,479 square feet in 2007.
I think that is crazy. There are so many people paying to heat rooms that they never use or many uses once every blue moon all as a status symbol or because they “need” the room. When my grandmother was a child no one would have ever thought that she “needed” her own room. They lived in a farm house with her parents and 12 brothers and sisters. They only needed 3 bedrooms. One for the boys, one for the girls and one for the parents.
The advantages of a small home exceed basic economics; such houses change the way people live and are attractive for people who want to lead a less cluttered and complicated life.
Why do people think they need so much more room now then they did 100 years ago?
Blessings of a small place…
1. Fewer places for things to get lost.
2. You can sweep quicker
3. The heating bill is lower.
4. No room for furniture you can’t afford anyway.
5. Families spend more time together
What Do You Think?
Comments (26)
Cool post! Did you post this once before?
I always hated the size of the home where I lived ( caregiving for mom/then dad)
I’ve always felt bad about it. Always wanted to live in a small, modest apt or home and out of this area too. Lol
I’ve housesat several different places also, as well as lived in a trailer and small apt before also.
I just feel more comfortable in a smaller space, less stuff to clean, simpler life.
I really would just like an apartment in an area with good transportation and/or bike friendly
@estadquietos - I posted about this Dec 2009.
Haha okay I wasn’t sure if you had but felt like deja vu. Cool. Just glad I’m not as crazy as I thought. Lolz.
I’d like a small house with a fenced in yard so my dog has room to run. Preferably a two bedroom house, as I’d like to get married and have a baby someday.
We live in a 6 bedroom house and we use it all.
When I’m older and can afford to buy my own house, I’m not going to do what my parents did. They bought a large four bedroom house and I’m usually the only one that’s home for any length of time.
I like minimalist small house (: (: (:
very true. We also have a lot more “SHIT” from technology, marketing experts who use compulsive driven sales to make us buy shit we don’t need, and just being plain ole greedy. You’re right, we don’t “NEED” all that space. It’s a social status symbol.
I just purchased my parents home as right now it was my only option. However, I’ve already started figuring out when I can sell it and downsize to something much smaller. My OCD has me preferring open, uncluttered space but not necessarily a lot of space so I want to go to a tiny 2 bedroom house when I’m able. And I just love how cute the smaller houses are. There are 2 along one of the main strips here that are actually designed to look like tiny castles. :) As for the houses above, my friend actually owns/lives in one of those (these are those environmentally designed ones, yes?) out in the woods in Wisconsin. Just the other day he posted pictures to his FB of a mamma bear and 2 cubs in his yard.
How big is the house that you live in?
I grew up in a smaller home and it never bothered me. When we lived in Georgia we had a very large house on base. I didn’t care for it. There was just too much to clean and keep up with. Now we live in a smaller home. I like it but it made me realize how much stuff we acquired in our previous home and now we have a lot of things to get rid of! We don’t think we’ll be living in a big house again.
I think they are wonderful. Hubby, my oldest son and I all live comfortably together in a small three bedroom, upstairs apt.
My old house was too small, we had three bedrooms but our living space just was not enough. The house I live in now has 3 bedrooms, but a bit more living space. It’s not much bigger but it makes a difference. Having a big house is not important to me. If I am comfortable somewhere and I feel at home that’s all that really matters.
I love the idea of these mini-homes, but I don’t think I could live with any of my current cohabitants in smaller confines. It makes me sad, really.
Having less possessions, generally speaking, is a goal of mine, though. Reducing the extraneous expenses is as well. Our current house is under 1,000 square feet (by alot), so we can definitely survive in less space than most people do. It does feel a little crowded when I need to study for exams, though.
If you can afford it, why not? I get what you mean about families spending more time together and such, but people need their own space. I’d hate to be constantly close to my parents and brothers and sisters, as bad as that sounds. I enjoy being in my own room all by myself, being able to do what I wanna do without distractions.
@anonymouspeekaboo777 - I hear ya, I’d start kicking ass if I was stuck in small confines with other people for too long.
Cool post! I prefer smaller homes to larger ones, myself. As long as there is a lot of open spaces around, I’d be happy in a tent.
When a friend came to the US from China for the first time and visited me, I found myself apologizing to her about the size of my house which has only four rooms and a bath. When she saw the house she said, “Oh, my! This BIG house! In China, four generations live here!” Well, that put a different perspective on it for me!
I couldn’t agree more! I’m all about little houses full of love, not big houses full of stuff. Great post!
About twenty puertoricans can live in a small house. It’s illegal to have too many in one home.
I don’t want a gigantic home, like I live in now, but I do want/need my own space sometimes, so we definitely need something comfortable and I’m thinking that’s a little bigger than what’s pictured…
For me, the space it’s not the issue but privacy. I have a pretty small house but somehow my mom still buys stuff that we don’t really need or things that she just like to look at.
My house is probably bigger then it needs to be, but not too obnoxious. From an energy standpoint, I think a smaller house makes a hell of a lot of sense.
My house is too big. We only have three bedrooms: one for the boys, one for the girl, and one for the parents. We also each have an office, my husband and I, and we use them all the time. In fact, we use every single room in our house on a near-daily basis. BUT…a lot of the rooms are too big. There is a lot of wasted space.
I agree with you.
There are so many benefits to living in a smaller and more simple house. =)
I agree. It’s nice to have room, but I’ve always liked little houses.