Average home size has more than doubled since the 50s. Is this is a good thing or should you consider a smaller house? There are some big benefits that come with smaller homes.
My husband and I are currently looking for a new home. Our current home is not really meeting our needs and is not what we want. It was the best choice at the time and served us well but we are ready to move on.
What may come as a surprise is we are downsizing. Our current home isn’t huge but it’s more house than we need. It’s four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. It’s also not very well laid out so space isn’t used well or in the way we would choose.
The trend these days seems to be to buy as big of a house as you can afford, the bigger the better. Since the 1950’s the average size of homes has more than doubled, even as the average size household has decreased. The average size home in the 1940s and 1950s was 1,100 square feet, in 2002 it was 2,340 square feet.
We are currently looking for a 1,300-1,800 square foot home. We’d like three bedrooms, 1.75+ bathrooms, a nice size kitchen, one living area, and a garage. We feel this would meet our needs very well. Ideally, we’d also like a laundry room and I wouldn’t mind a formal dining room but these are not required.
For part of my childhood, we lived in a 1,800 square foot house with four people. It was a beautiful 1930’s home. It had three bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, a formal dining room, and a good size kitchen. The only issue we had was it would have been nice to have two full bathrooms, but we managed. It was a wonderful home and had plenty of space.
In looking at homes we have found that a well laid out home is what is really important. We looked at and really considered one that was just under 1,300 square feet but it was so well laid out it seemed larger. It had one very small hallway and was laid out in such a way that there was very little wasted space. Ideally, I would have liked larger bedrooms but it was manageable.
After having lived in many different size homes I feel I have a good handle on what I really need and even want. As much as I respect those in the tiny house movement, I can’t go that small but I would like to go smaller than average. There are many benefits to buying a smaller home, many you may not have considered.
Reasons to Consider a Smaller Home
Less to maintain.
More house means more time cleaning and more maintenance costs. A smaller home means more time to enjoy your home and family.
Smaller mortgage.
You will normally hear your mortgage shouldn’t be more than 30% of your income. However, that doesn’t mean you need to or even should spend that much.
Fewer resources.
Smaller homes require fewer resources to build and to maintain. This is better for the environment and your budget.
Lower utility bills.
The smaller the house the less it will cost to heat and cool. Energy costs are getting quite high and no matter how efficient you are a larger home will use more energy.
Less space to furnish.
We looked at a home last month that had two living areas. Since that is not what we would prefer we were not planning to furnish a second living area. That was going to greatly increase our costs.
Helps you own less stuff.
When you have less space you tend to buy less stuff because you will run out of room quicker. This also helps reduce cleaning time and is better for the environment, and your budget!
These are all reasons we are looking at smaller homes. We also personally don’t see the use for all the extra space a larger home would offer.
How large is your current home? Do you want more space or would you consider downsizing?
Update: We bought a 1,300 square foot home built in 1963. It has 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a lovely vintage kitchen that is more than big enough for us.
Deanna says
We’ve talked about this a lot so you know my feelings on the subject. I absolutely agree. When we moved from that lovely 1800 sq. ft. house to our current 3000 sq. ft. house I quickly realized how much more time it takes to clean. Now that we are empty nesters it seems a bit ridiculous to have all this space. Unfortunately, in the 18 years we have lived here we have completely filled this house so downsizing to a smaller home would require some extensive downsizing of our “stuff”. You are wise to carefully assess your needs and not take on more house than you need or want.
Angela Tolsma says
I am currently living in my biggest apartment of my life so far. It’s a two bedroom, two bathroom, with laundry room, living room kitchen and dining. I’ve always pictured myself in a 4 bedroom house etc. But now with this place, I find it’s almost too big for me to maintain. There’s only two of us living in it, so it doesn’t get messy but I don’t understand why people have this need for crazy amounts of square footage. I am happy with this place and it’s perfect for us. And I am glad to realize I don’t want anything bigger. The only thing I am missing is a yard for a dog, but that’ll come.
Mattie says
These are all great points! Living in a larger home is SO MUCH WORK. seriously. My family and I don’t even use half of our house. All the points you mentioned are so true – the one thing I do enjoy having about a larger home though is the space to have a game room. My brother and I really used that space growing up!
~Mattie
Cherie says
So true! I wish my house was much smaller. It seemed right when my kids were at home but now it’s far too large for just two people. When my son was looking for a house I told him something similar.
Lisa Stauber says
My home growing up was 1750 sq. ft and there were 8 of us kids! We just moved from a 2300 sq. ft house (with our 10 kids) to a slightly larger one. Floor plan makes all the difference- the 2300 felt too big and too small at the same time, a terrible floor plan meant a lot of wasted space we never used (but still had to maintain and clean). We moved to a slightly bigger house that feels just right (great floor plan!)
Lisa Sharp says
You are so right! Floor plans make the biggest difference. My real estate agent encourages us not to pay much attention to square footage but to just see how the house feels to us.
Ariel @ Keys to My Life says
We aren’t yet at the life phase where we’re looking to buy a house, but this post is gold. So many couples buy huge houses that they have no use for! It’s unnecessary.
Lisa Sharp says
Glad you liked it! And it’s good that you are thinking about this before you buy a home. 🙂
Brittany says
House hunting is so fun! We have a smaller house now and always say that one day when we build it will be a modest sized home. There is no need for us to have a mansion!
Rae says
We’re currently in a 2700 sq. ft house and currently in the beginning stages of having plans drawn for our new home. Right now it’s just the two of us, but we want to make sure there’s enough room for pets and house guests since we’ll be out in the country and won’t expect people to drive 30 miles to a hotel.
Jenny says
This is perfect considering we’re currently house hunting.
I want a 3 bed, 2 bath.
3 bedrooms so one of the bedrooms can be an office and the other can be a guest room.
These are great tips!
I absolutely cant imagine having two living rooms at this point — furnishing that would be crazy expensive.
xoxo, Jenny
JUlie says
So true! That’s why I love living in the city! 🙂
Lindsay says
I completely agree! I have lived in small homes and now live in a studio apartment. It has forced me to pare down my “things” and it’s so liberating! Plus I love that a smaller place usually means you can live in a better location.
Susannah says
We’re in the process of house hunting so this is very timely! We’re definitely looking for a house on the smaller scale while also remembering that we want to have four kids close in age… That certainly adds to the space we need. 😉
Tiffany (NatureMom) says
We lived in an 1100 square foot home with 5 people for years. Loved it! We now have a 2500 square foot house and it is a bitch to heat. But we got land in the city…compromises.
Betsy (Eco-novice) says
Agree! I wrote a post like this years ago when we moved into a smaller place. So many advantages, especially if you live, like I do, where there is a moderate climate and you can easily spend lots of time outside.
Lori Popkewitz Alper says
In my area on the East Coast I’m constantly seeing smaller home replaced by mcmansions. The trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. All your reasons make perfect sense for owning a smaller home. I have to admit that I’m not quite ready to move to a smaller home.Maybe when my kids are grown and out of the house! Good luck with your search.
anna@greentalk says
I have designed the “perfect” smaller house in my head for years. I find that so many houses have rooms that you will never use–like a living room or dining room. I agree with all your thoughts. I am sure you will find the perfect house.
Alli says
I love smaller homes, ever since I watched the Tiny House documentary I’ve been secretly wishing I had one of those cute lil’ homes, maybe one day! Good luck with your home search!
Sherry says
The beauty of choice – what we like and what we feel works best for our family and it’s life style is such a blessing! We have lived in the small to average sized house (the last one being 1400 sq. ft.) until our retirement four years ago. We desired more space and were able to purchase a large house – exactly three times larger – 4200 sq. ft. than the last. In my case, it’s absolutely perfect. I was surprised how much easier it was to keep clean and presentable than the small ones! It is so nice to have the space and privacy for overnight guests, large gatherings of friends and family gatherings. (I’ve have several parties with 35 – 40 people, with ease.) This house is laid out very well and is an open floor plan. There is plenty of storage which makes it easier to have a place for everything. I have a morning cleaning routine of doing something each day, except on Sunday, which takes about an hour and that keeps me on top of everything. Also, I tidy up at night before bedtime. I don’t clean it all in one day like I used to in the smaller houses. After moving in to this house, I realized in the smaller houses, we were always on top of our mess which made me feel like I was doing more work than I am now to keep it up. It may be that, in my case, this house is large enough to make the difference. Our plan was to buy one around 3000 sq. ft. and that may have not be been enough to make the difference. Please understand I am not putting down a smaller house. I’ve lived in several. They are a God send to many families and are perfect for them. Your list of reasons to consider a smaller house is right on! The smaller house is, indeed, less space to clean but after living in our current house, I find small takes more effort to keep clean and presentable than large. I’m so glad you and your readers have found what works for your families. Again, the ability to choose is a blessing!
P.S. We live in OK, too. ?
Louis Walthall says
We are moving from a 3300 sf home with a 2200 sf walk out basement. Way too big for 2 people. There are 11 TVs in this place and 2 bedrooms don’t even have them lol. We are under contract for a 2bed 2 bath 1300 sf bungalow. And I feel so good about it. We purged 3 living sets, 2 bed sets, office furniture, pool table, and so much more. Again it feels so good.
Rhiamom says
We just downsized from 3 br 2 ba almost 1700 sq ft to about 1000 plus basement. We lost a bedroom, a formal dining area, and got a half bath instead of a second full bath. We gained a basement that is clean, dry, and mostly carpeted. It is less space, but more suited to how we actually live. We also went from an open floor plan to separate rooms. No real preference there, I like both.
I grew up in the 900-1000 sq ft 3 br 1 ba ranch houses built in the late fifties and early sixties. 3 kids. There was plenty of room.