little cozy one......no question

Cozy as long as it has "elbow room"

I've lived in a "cozy little house" for the 35 years we've been married. I told DH recently that before I die I want to live in a big house with a big dog!

Jodi-

Cozy.

It would have to be a house constructed to be small and with efficient use of space. Historically smaller homes were just scaled down versions of large homes and they did not function well for living.

Big house for all the visiting offspring and their spouses and offspring.

It depends on your idea of huge.

I've lived in both, and I think I prefer larger homes. The smallest place I lived in (not counting apartments) was a 12x70 mobile home. There was nothing cozy about it---it was just small and cramped, with no storage space.

Now I live in a three-story house with about 4000 square feet of living space. But it feels cozy, because we spend much of our time in the greatroom, which is about 700 square feet. On the other hand, our house has large bedrooms upstairs, lots of storage space, and enough room for all my husband's hobbies.

To me, a huge house would have at least 6 bedrooms (with their own baths), an enormous kitchen, a butler's pantry, a large foyer, a mudroom, a big laundry room, a formal dining room, etc. My house has none of those things.

I've lived in both and definitely prefer little cozy house. Our last house was over 4,000 sq ft with three stories, 3 1/2 acres. It was just too much of everything - too much space, too much work, too many acres, too much money. I love our house now. It's about 2500 sq ft, 1 1/2 acres, much more manageable and we are much happier here. I would never have another multiple story house either.

Mine is kind of cozy about 1250 sq ft 3 Bdrms 1 1/2 bath and still not big enough for just me. I'd like a big kitchen not just a sink on one side and an oven on the other etc. DS s say bigger just gets filled up faster!!

I don't like huge and I don't like cozy. Cozy makes me feel cramped. Three of us are currently in a 1600 square home, and I would prefer 2000 to 2500. It will never happen though. I like a roomier kitchen, dining room and living room for entertaining.

I loved our 1200 sq ft apartment when we were first married. I thought it was perfect. I grew up in a 1700sf house, DH had over 4000sf. Now that we have our own family, we live in 2100sf/3BR. I don't want much more room because we already can't keep up with cleaning. But if we had much less room, I'm not sure we'd fit.

I think I'd like a cozy one with small rooms, but large closets.

Some of you have/had huge houses! Mine is 1400 sq. ft, but we are adding a room which will make it just over 1600. We have a finished basement too... but I'd consider it a cozy little house.

I wouldn't want a gigantic house to clean.

Small but comfortably adequate with a nice layout and ample storage, like I have that I had built 20 years ago.

It is easier to heat/cool, clean, and the taxes, insurance and upkeep are less than they would be on something bigger with just wasted space for me.

Sue

I've had small, medium and large. Current house is 5,000 sq. ft. on 6 acres; 3 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms. The rooms are all large, which is nice, but at this stage in my life, I would like something smaller--2,500 to 3,000 sq. ft. My problem is that DH just loves this place, and doesn't want to move....

We live in a fairly small, old house, around 1500 sq ft. with almost no closet space. I would love to have a large house with a huge kitchen, butler's pantry and walk-in closets in every bedroom.

I miss my 2400 sq ft house in town but not the neighborhood. Too many homes with residents that didn't keep up their property. We now live in a 4100 sq ft home on 6 acres surrounded by woods. It is too big for the two of us but nice when we have company, which is often. Our in town house had a beautiful yard which we created from nothing. It makes me sick to think of all the plants I left, some can not be replaced. It took 24 years. I miss my yard and outdoor living areas.

I've always lived in small houses, but I want to be able to stretch out a little. Our current house is just over 1500sf and is the largest so far. My moms house is just a bit smaller and we never feel like there is enough room when we get together for holidays. I want a home that can accommodate family easily and comfortably. My boys are going to be big teenagers really soon and they are already brushing pictures of the hallway wall when they walk past. We put and offer in on a 2400sf two story home the other day that I think we would fit it really well. It would be perfect if the boys bedrooms were a little bit larger, but at least they aren't any smaller than what they have now. It has breathing room but still feels cozy. I love it.

Did I even answer that question? Sorry for the ramble. ha ha

You mean 'huuuge' like Castle Howard ("Brideshead Revisited")? You mean 'cozy' like a rabbit's warren?

The Goldilock's 'just right' size is different for eveyone. Too much space is overwhelming and requires too much effort to keep it up. Too little is cramped and requires too much effort to keep it up because there's no place to *put* anything.

Our single story house is nine years old, 2900 sq ft on one acre in a 'country setting' a mile from the center of town. No help required yet, except for landscaping. (We've already mowed our share of grass.) We use it all. What doesn't get daily use (DR, Guest Room and Bath) is still necessary at times.

I grew up in a 4-BR 2 1/2 bath Georgian colonial. DH much the same. Our first apartment was 700 sq ft. Then a townhome, then a 1900 sq ft ranch for 30 years until this home.

It's not just 'how big' but how the house lives and whose needs it serves. 'New' has a lot of positives for comfort and upkeep.

I would like cozy and big :^) We have such a big family, that what is big for the two of us, gets pretty darn small most weekends! It is a 1950's house, so no storage either....but.....it is paid for, the layout suits us just fine, it's on 2 acres in the middle of town, and just a short hop to both of our offices. We'll be there until they carry us out I 'spect!

Ours is 2800 sq. ft. but I consider it cozy b/c we like comfort. We don't live in a museum which a lot of houses become. We're comfy and cozy and guests are too. So, I guess you can have cozy regardless of the sq. footage. It's all in the way you decorate and in the way you live!

Ours is also 1700 sq.ft,3 bedrooms,1 bath and it has served us well for the last 42 years.We raised our 4 kids here,and one gs.Our rooms ,especially the bedrooms are bigger than what i see in a lot of the newer homes these days.It's a ranch,which i love,no stairs to climb,which is a blessing now that we are older.We also have a large yard,lots of fruit trees and flowers.
We don't plan on leaving here til God calls us home.
Kathi

Big with cozy spaces :-) Before Gary and I married, I was in a 2400 sq ft house all by myself and it was a nice size. Now the three of us are in a 2200 sq ft house and it's a little snug. Of course we did our best to stuff both households in here. We love our house but a little more room would be appreciated. Oh, and I think a house should ALWAYS have one bathroom for every female. The guys can share :-)

We built a huge log cabin 4 years ago and I love it. My kitchen is my favorite room in the house. We always have company and have plenty of room. We have 8 bedrooms and 4 1/2 baths(not real big on all the bathrooms...too much to clean!)

I would love to downsize our house, (which isn't huge) but I would still need my quilting studio. It's a bit to small for me at about 250 sq ft. I'd prefer about 500 sq ft for that.

I prefer cozy. Less to clean, heat and cool.

Big. VERY big.

A few years ago I came VERY close to buying a nicely restored Romanesque house that was about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh -- 7,500 square feet.

I could have used a different bathroom each day of the week. I would have had to have put GPS on the dogs.

I LOVE big old houses.

I have a cozy house (much nicer word than "cramped") and it's just right for the two of us. I would like a larger kitchen, however, with lots of storage space and an open concept living/dining/kitchen area. When I look at big houses, I think about the amount of time I would have to spend cleaning, etc. and, really, life is too short to spend it doing chores!

A little house. I love my house-it's under 1000 square feet,three floors,everything is petite , like me (five-foot-one).

i still long for the awesome house we had in washington...it was 3000sf...now with the 2 of us we'd probably be rattling around, but i loved it...

i really don't know the sf of our present house, but it's not cozy cottage, lol...and we've filled it...very little of the 4 kids things left...

Comfortably small and well laid out. Our house is just under 1500 sq. ft. but it's not the most efficient use of space. Even with its flaws, it's right for the two of us.

I've lived in a cozy little house and a med. house - never a big one. My house right now doesn't have quite enough space. I'd like a lot more storage and some extra space in some areas, an extra 6-700 ft. would do it.

Mine is only 1,000 square feet. It is fine for the two of us. The only thing I would like is a larger kitchen....one that fits a dishwasher but hopefully when we remodel we can fit one in. At this stage of our lives it is enough. I imagine the next place we move will be to a condo or apartment or retirement home.

I originally wanted a smaller house but my DH convinced me...well really he just refused, and now I am glad....I don't think we would have been comfortable in anything smaller than we have...if for no other reason than he has an office and a radio room and I have a sewing room. In other words...we need a little personal space.

So my answer is not small and cozy and certaily not huge but I need some space.

I've lived in small houses all of my life, and the house that we just bought is a little less than 1700 sq feet, which is small by many estimations, but seems large to me. That seems about the right size for me tho, because I should have enough room for all of my "stuff". I wouldn't mind having a large house. We did have one for awhile, but never actually lived in it, because it was down the coast about 130 miles away, and we just went for a few weekends. Then my daughter was born and seems like we never went there any more, so we ended up selling it. It probably wasn't all that large...3 bedrooms, two baths, sun porch and large wrap around front porch. Nice big rooms, built in 1906.
Wish it was here, instead of there.

I wouldn't want a house so big that I never used all the rooms. And, too, property taxes are always in the back of my mind. I have a very small family, so don't need a very large house.

My ideal house would be around 2700 square feet. For me, what makes it cozy in addition to the decorating is the "warmth" a home has.

If I wasn't always having to walk around a dog, I would say cozy would be fine, but I have cozy and 3 big dogs. I yearn for space, room, empty areas. I'm sick of being cramped with not enough floor space. I LOVE the summer when I have the front and back doors open and the dogs are outside more and we can entertain and live on the verandah. I think I have cabin fever!

We have friends that have a HUGE HUGE home in CO. I LOVE THAT HOUSE!!!!! It has big everything, oversized doors, oversized kitchen with 2 enormous islands, 2 stoves, 3 ovens, 5 bathrooms, 2 offices, 3 bedrooms, 3 levels, a media room, gigantic windows overlooking a lake and the Rocky Mts and little extra rooms here and there. And an art gallery! Oh, gosh, I love, love, love that house. You could put 50 dogs in there (I wouldn't even want one!) and never trip over one. We're going there for 2 weeks in Sept and I can't wait to spend time rattling around in that big house. And I get to play with all their cool, state-of-the-art electronics and lighting, that's always fun!

Cozy all the way.

Cream

Well I am raising my 3 boys in a 3 bed 1 bath 1000sqft house..we have a large lot. Something unheard of for new built "neighborhoods".
It's COZY alright..a bit to cozy..if I had my way and the money, we'd build a second story over the garage and put another 20'x20' room off the back of the garage..

But I don't want a big house..I do all the cleaning.

A well built- all the new insulations, lighting, appliances, well planned floorplan- cozy... have had too ,much room the last 10 years. It is just me, and 2,000 feet is just too much. There are 3 bedrooms, 1 bath and a loft upstairs that I NEVER use. One floor, small, made with good materials.

I'm in the camp that doesn't really want either extreme. A nice size with cozy places, but room enough for all.

Sometimes I drive by these really cute townhomes and think what a nice way to live b/c it looks simpler, I'd have to get rid of clutter, make the space work for me. I drive by some huge homes regularly, too, and while I'm curious about the floor plan, I don't think of them as being someplace I want to live. But those cute townhomes look somehow simpler, efficient, charming, and good locations. It's not the size of my house, though, that gives me so much work and complication- it's the people in it. ;o)

It's our family that is too big. Right now we have 2300 sq ft 2-story, 4 BRs, 2.5 bath, living room, dining room, family room and kitchen. 2 car garage. In a perfect world I would add:

another bedroom so each kid had their own
another full bath, and they'd be accessible from the kids' rooms
a finished basement with a media room for kids to hang out, a study for DH to work undisturbed and room for a sleeper sofa to pull out for the occassional visiters
a larger garage (so we could ge cars in AND the kids sports stuff)
a second set of stairs, so that one set comes down at the front door and the other into the kitchen

Those things would just make family living smoother. Nothing too over the top fancy, just some convenient features. (But I do not want to think about the added housework.)