Here is the minimum size I could live with. I think 5 bedrooms in 1600 square feet is pretty tight -- I'm not sure how small some of these rooms must be to achieve that. I agree with the previous poster that I would rather make the rooms a bit larger and have 2 kids per room and an extra bedroom to be used as a flex space for office or play room something.

#1 Four Kids Bed Rooms - 10x10 if single kid room or 12x12 if 2 kids per room.

#2 Kids Full Bath - 5x8

#3 Master Bed - 13x13
#4 Master Full Bath - 5x8

#5 Master closet - 7x7

#6 Office - 9x9

#7 Powder Room/Half Bath - 5x6

#8 No Dinning Room but the "Eat In" part of the Kitchen 13x12

#9 Kitchen - 9x10

#10 Mudroom/Clutter Room/Back Hall/Landry Room/Pantry - not sure if these would all be separate or all together, but maybe 10x10?

#11 Living Room - 14x15

#12 Play Room/Homework Room - 9x10

Shelly, I fell a bit better that all of my numbers were somewhat close to yours! We have plans already for an office and playroom but we are still planing on having the two boys share, they always have and they have beautiful custom log bunk beds I love! Hubby thinks the "extra" room needs to be his for hunting stuff, maybe. Or sewing and scrap booking. :) We have three kids and might not be done and have house guests overnight a lot.

Adellabedella, Good point about storage, there is a attached garage and unfinished bonus room plus I was looking online today at The Container Store. Storage is key.

I meant my question to be more about what **YOU** would like your ideal room sizes to be not really how small would it have to be to fit in this small space. Sorry if my wording is not great and thank you so much for your answers.

-Amy

I think Shelly's numbers are pretty reasonable. Are all 4 kids sharing one bath? I may make it a bit bigger: 2 vanites, water closet. If you are short on space, how about combining the playroom/office into a slightly bigger space. Nowadays with wireless internet, and laptops, you could easily be working in there while the kids do homework or play. This may not work if you truely work out of the home.

Will you be able to have a basement. Finishing basement space would be a great way to get some cheap square footage. I think you are looking at something closer to 2000 aquare feet.

I would think about resale too. I think in most parts of the country a 5 x 8 master bath would not be very desirable. In fact, our architect said his standard child's bath was larger than that because he liked to allow for at least a 42 inch vanity.

If the extra room is for storage, what about building it in a basement/cellar. That is much less expensive square footage and could allow for expansion down the road.

I can understand your husband's concern, but the difference in a foot here and there can make a house much more livable and not cost much more. I think one 10 x 10 foot bedroom would be fine, but the difference in a 10 x 10 room and a 12 x 12 room is not a tremendous amount and it seems so much better and bigger. It would definitely help with resale.

You could effectively double the size of your house by pouring a basement for not much more money either.

Instead of a seperate office which seems like a bit of a waste unless you work from home, how about a desk in the clutter room, or a pocket office (could be 6 x 5).

The best way to minimize square footage is not necessarily to shrink rooms as at some point they become nonfunctional, but to be sure you only have the rooms you need and be sure you have as few hallways or wasted space in between them.

Oh, I just realized you are building a ranch. That is the most expensive. Why not do a 2 story? If you choose a rectangular, efficient design, you could probably get quite a bit more square footage for the same price.

I think it all depends on what YOU are willing to give up to have everything on that list within your specified square footage. I moved into this house (in a differant country) coming from a 10,000 sq ft. This house is 2,200; 4 bed, 2 bath, living, dining (use as a video/Wii room), tiny laundry, eating area that only holds a table for 6 and a loft area. NO 1/2 bath! I have 3 kids. The girls use the loft as a bedroom and one of the beds is used as a music room and one as an ironing/changing room for the girls because there aren't any closets in the loft and the bedrooms are too small to put a full size bed in it and still be able to walk around. There is no mud room (the hallway, which is always cluttered) and no office.

The master bath is 6'x7' ~ NO LIE!!! Has toilet, shower and a 36" vanity. When you are on the loo you face the vanity, closely!! And my son shares this with us because the girls can't stand having him in theirs. We have been living in the house for 3 years now, with the original intention of being in this country for only 18 months.

So, yes, you can live in a small house with teeny tiny rooms, BUT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO???? I can't imagine having another child in this house, I am already pulling my hair out!!!! Everyone in the family cannot wait until we finally start building our new house and they have their own rooms with WIC and own ensuite.

I agree with pps7, you should do a 2 story and get more space!!!

I agree that 5x8 master bah is pretty small. However, if I had to live with a small master bath or no master bath (i.e. share bath with kids/guests), I would chose the small master bath with small vanity and tub/shower combo.

I agree, look at a 2 story or consider a smaller ranch with the bedrooms in the basement. I think you could do a master on the main floor with another bedroom to use as flex on the main floor and put 3 bedrooms in the basement for around 1800 on the main floor.

I have friends that have 4 small boys and they just built a 2000 sq foot ranch with master and small office on main floor and 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom in the basement with a family room. The main floor is quite spacious with nice family room, kitchen, mudroom and master and enclosed porch. I think you could pair this down and get less square footage but the same number of bedrooms.

Or consider 2 story or 1 1/2 story with similar arrangement - master on main and kids' bedrooms upstairs. You will get alot more for your "foundation square footage".

Let us know what you decide!

I hope Ii'm understanding the question/replying with what you're looking for. Here's what WE would live with if we had four kids and wanted to stay as small as we could:
1. master bed/bath (our current master bath is 4x6, and we've learned that it doesn't function well).
2. BIG closets (to assist with small rooms)
3. Two bedrooms for kids (put two kids per room)
4. One double sinked children's bath, with the toilet in it's own space
5. Open family room
6. Large eat-in style kitchen that opens into LR
7. A small away room for DH (often works from home in the evenings) or to have as a play room during the day
8. Effiecient mud/clutter/laundry space

I'd probably build a two story, with the idea that we could leave part unfinished and finish it later (paying cash that we'd saved), to add an extra family space or bedroom.

OR build a small footprint with an unfinished basement with ths same idea.

You've got to do whatever fits your needs and your family. My dh and I are in the finishing stages of building our ranch home. We didn't build an upstairs because it's not efficient for us and we wanted a place where could still live when grow old and don't get around as good. We live in Oklahoma which has a much warmer climate than North Dakota. Basements are rare around here probably because the water tables here are too high. When people build an upstairs here, most don't think about how hot those upstairs rooms get and how much it's going to cost to cool them. Stairs usually take up a good amount of space that could have been dedicated to something else more functional. We ended up using the upstairs as a storage room in both houses we owned.

You and your dh need to go around and look at open houses in your area or make a trip to a larger city if you don't have anything local. It's a great way to check out potential builders. It's also a good way to get a feel for what size rooms you would need, floor plans, etc. My dh likes to pace rooms out for size, but you can take a tape measure along if you need it.

We live out in the middle of nowhere here in ND. I can see for miles and can only see 3 houses. We rent now but we are looking for land as soon as our house in MN sells. Right now it takes 45 min. to get to town and we get snowed in a lot. The electricity went out for ten days last month so a nice generator and alternative heat source in the new house is a must. People around here seem more interested in land and barns and farm equipment then houses. Homes are in high demand though because of the new oil jobs here. We had to rent this old drafty farm house sigh unseen because it was the ONLY option within 30 min of my husbands new job. IMHO homes are very over priced right now.

Point being for resale value I think practical is more impotent here then beauty. Function over form. My neighbors have 100's of acres and many nice barns and all kind of farm equipment and they live in 2 trailer houses.

Also we will have in-floor heat so that is why it is all one floor. Plus the ground here is clay with lots of rock and it might cost a tun of $$$ to dig out a basement.

All of your points have been good and have helped me think this through. Thanks so much for your help please keep the good info. coming, Amy

Moongardengirl,
Here is what we're happily living with. Our house is about 1300 sf. with no basement and some attic storage. DH & I have one 9-yo son.

#1 Four Kids Bed Rooms
We only have one kid room at 10.5 x 12. It's more than fine for one child as a combo sleep/play room, but I'd probably go up to about 12 x 12 for 2 kids.

#2 Kids Full Bath
Ours is 6.5 x 6.5. Again great for combination kid bath and general guest bath, but I'd go just a bit larger to accomodate a double sink with counter area if more kids were sharing.

#3 Master Bed
12 x 16... very comfortable with queen size bed, even includes a small sitting space.

#4 Master Full Bath
5 x 10 - perfect with huge walk-in shower, no tub. I love it. Only one sink. DH & I don't need to get ready at the same time for work.

#5 Master Closet
Ours is opposite the master bath in the hall to the MBR area and is not a walk-in, it's 12' long, standard 2' depth. More than adequate, and easy to see everything.

#6 Office
I work from home, so I use a 10 x 10 space (part of the living room). It's more than I need. DH uses a tiny 6 x 3 nook that is also the throughway to the MBR... that's too small. A general purpose home office that would be just right for me would be about 6 x 8, not in a main pathway, but not closed off completely, yet close to the kitchen and laundry.

#7 Powder Room/Half Bath
We don't have one and I don't find a need for one.

#8 No Dining Room but the "Eat In" part of the Kitchen
#9 Kitchen

Our combined kitchen/eatin area/tv&music room is 16 x 24.
I would have liked it just a bit wider to about 18 x 24 to accommodate a bigger table as we often have about 8 people for dinner and it's a bit tight.
#10 Mudroom/Clutter Room/Back Hall/Landry Room/Pantry
Ours is 6 x 6 (pantry is in the kitchen). For more kids, I'd definitely go larger. We're tight with that space.

#11 Living Room
Our living room/dining room combo is about 12 x 20. I use part for my office and the other part is the quiet sitting area. It's more than adequate. Between the LR/DR and the Kitchen/Family Room, we have two large, open areas that allow for many different uses and make the home feel much larger than it is. People always seem surprised the house is as small sq. footage as it is. Three times a year we have between 50-150 people over and the large spaces work great.

#12 Play Room/Homework Room
We have a small separate 8 x 8 hobby room off the garage. I think it's important to have one messy hobby space, but not really in the main living space... your unfinished bonus room sounds ideal.

I like DS doing homework at the kitchen table. I can check his work while I'm getting dinner ready or cleaning up after dinner, so I wouldn't really like a separate homework room. When DS is older, he'll probably just replace his toy area with more desk space in his bedroom.

My personal preference for home spaces is compact bedrooms and baths with larger multi-purpose public spaces. One thing I'd be concerned about in your plan is by having so many rooms, they're all going to end up being small. It's nice to have generous space somewhere in the house. Also, one thought is to build it in such a way that you could in the future add a master wing. So for now build 4 bedrooms (including master) and 2 baths but if you had more kids, add a nice master br and additional bath.

I've noticed on this forum, many people are building houses that are much, much larger. You might want to also post this question on the small house forum.

To put things in perspective, I like space and luxury, but am not willing to live for my house or my "stuff". I prefer smaller houses.

When you're ready, this forum is a great place for posting your floorplan. Folks here are so creative and helpful.

We have a 2-story garrison colonial, abt 1900 sq ft. I think the dimensions are ~24x32.

If you're concerned about cost/size, there was another recent thread regarding build cost of 1 story versus 2 story. Basically 2 story homes are cheaper because of less foundation & roof area to cover. FYI.

Getting back to your question about smallest size to live with. For us it's not so much # and size of rooms as it is having the right rooms for the right uses. We have a LR and a FamRm. The FamRm never gets used. We walk thru it on the way in the house, but nobody ever sits there. If the space weren't wide open to the kit, I'd rather have the same sq ftage for a home office. We're using a 4th bed as an office right now, which we'd rather be using as a bedroom for our oldest kid. (got 3, 2 of which share a rm) Kids bedrms are abt 12x12 and used just for sleeping. Toys & etc are in the finished basement playroom.

A fam of 6 could indeed make 1600 sq ft work. I grew up 6 people in a 900 sq ft house. We kids spent a lot of time outdoors or in the basement, and we didn't have a lot of stuff. We also learned how to schedule ourselves into 1 bathroom. People today have gotten used to waay too much space.

I think minimal size will depend on the age of the kids and region of country you are located. If you're in a moderate climate, there will be more chance for "outdoor living". But if you have long cold and dark winters or hot,hot summers you'll need more indoor space.

That being stated, I have a 20x30 kitchen greatroom that includes a miles of kitchen counter, an expandable kitchen table, a powder room and a good-sized TV viewing area with fireplace and space for a desk and computer. It does not feel crowded with 6 large adults. If you used a room like this for your first floor and put bedrooms and baths on the second, you would have a house about 1600sq ft by the time you add laundry/mudroom, etc.

First of all, to be honest, I wouldn't choose this myself. :-) But here's as small as I think is reasonable!

#1 Four Kids Bed Rooms--10x10, or 9x11, plus a 5' reach-in closet for each.

#2 Kids Full Bath--For four kids??? I'd do a separate toilet closet, so I'd have 36"x66" for toilet room plus wall, 4' for vanity (with two drawer stacks), and a 36x66" tub. So that's 5.5'x9', and there would be no linen space there.

Linen closet--3' wide, minimum.

#3 Master Bed--14x14

#4 Master Full Bath--5.5x9, again, if super squeezed for space. 6x9' much better, and 6x10 for a double sink.

#5 Master Closet--9' minimum of hanging space.

#6 Office--7x9', entrance on 9' wall, centered. Enough for 2 5' desks, plus extra.

#7 Powder Room/Half Bath--3x7'

#8 No Dinning Room but the "Eat In" part of the Kitchen--11x8, extra foot on passageway side, with a 2-sided banquet for 6 people.

#9 Kitchen--Most efficient is a galley. So 8x11. Silverware(2') + D/W (2')--this is prep space 1, as well, sink (3'), prep and storage (4') on one side, in-kitchen pantry (pullout, fridge-depth, 30", with place for micro, OR double ovens--one an Advantium to double as micro), fridge (3'), landing (18"), stove--I recommend GE Cafe or Gemini with double ovens (30") with microhood OR a cooktop, landing (18").

#10 Mudroom/Clutter Room/Back Hall/Landry Room/Pantry

All of these can be combined into one 8'x10' room, which can be "sectioned" into an 8x4' and an 8x6' area. Cubby lockers are NOT a good use of sq footage, if you're pressed for space. Much better is a coat closet + vertical cubbies.

#11 Living Room--14x16

#12 Play Room/Homework Room--BAD idea to combine these. Better to have a corner of the living room that able to be shut off!

Don't forget the linen closet and fron entry.

NOT the footprint, but I fit it all in less than 1500 sqft, and almost all the dimensions were larger than I said above for the individual rooms!

I can't believe it.

Note that the laundry is down by the bedrooms, where you'll use it.

Also note that there's 3' missing off the master bedroom and bat. I ran out of room! That's the toilet closet and the rest of the master bedroom.

The lines are directions to expand--to get the 250+extra sqft.

First, I'd increase the magenta line by 1', all the way across.

Then, I'd make the blue-green line bigger--big enough to do an open-plan kitchen with an island instead of the large-ish galley that's there now. This will make the house's "snout" smaller, too.

Finally, I'd make all the bedrooms a bit longer. Though 9' seems very narrow for the kids' rooms, 12x9 is SO much more usable than 11x10. It's wall space that's at the highest premium.

The pantry is a reach-in or pullout pantry--5' long by 2' deep. If it's all or mostly pullout, there would be huge amounts of room there.

There actually is enough room for the locker cubbies in the mudroom, it you want them.

I did this while staring at the top of a kid's head during homeschooling. It's far from perfect. Just my first idea!

Supper Fun

BTW I home school too!!