I moved 5 whole blocks for more space--especially more yard space. (The kitchen wasn't bigger as it was the same subdivision with the same kitchen but I had space to add on a new kitchen...)

I ask this question because a local realtor keeps wanting to sell my house and says she can get me a huge house if I sell. Do I want a big house? I feel pretty content and I like my house. The motto I usually live by is "Less is More". But I just wonder if maybe it would be nice to have more space?

Fori many people in our development have moved to different homes in same development too, but for the opposite reason you have. Two ladies I know in the neighborhood told me in the last couple weeks they are downsizing. One from 6 bedrooms down to 3 and the other 6 bedrooms down to 4. Their kids all off to college. Say it's too much work to keep up. I can see that.

No I wouldn't as long as my kitchen was efficient.

benjisbride I'm with you on efficient! I just wonder if I could still have convenience in a larger space? ie. the kitchen. Some days I just want to push the walls back a couple feet LOL in the kitchen that is. I think more and more after i've combed thru all the pics on this forum :)

nope

we moved to have more space because our family circumstances changed

ironically, it's a smaller space, even after building an addition. It's still 300 sq feet smaller..))

But. It does have an additional bedroom, and that's what we needed

it is also a single family home with a much bigger lot, but I was totally ready for yet another townhouse..they just rarely come with 4 bedrooms, almost never, and if they do there are plenty other minuses(I think we saw just one?)

we also moved to be in a walking distance to ..well, something, lol. that was crucial, yes. the feel is less upscale to tell you the truth..we lived in a very posh-looking place before, this one is nice and inviting but it doesn't have this stamp of luxury about it..but it is in the heart of the city, so you can walk to the stores, library, park..

i'd also move back to my home country. i feel like it's about time. it's been like, almost 12 years since last time we moved here? (that was the second time btw-we had some back and forth)-so it's almost 12 years I feel it's about time. Even though I really, really love California, I think it's a gorgeous state, and I feel it's much more"my" place than the East Coast. Well we lived in New England-maybe if we landed in New Orleans I'd feel differently. East Coast is big..

and I might be convinced to go to some distant island..Hawaii would be cool, or French Polynesia..)) I've been there, so I know I could have been convinced, maybe..))

I'd also simply travel a lot more if I could. Here in US, and around the world. I have many plans.

but i'd never move for a bigger kitchen. big kitchen is a very small priority to me. i'm afraid to count how many times i moved in my life..unless it's something extremely enticing as going home to die or something lol-I'd rather stay put.

I realize it's kinda more info you were asking for..))

Well, my other motive for where we live is driven by becoming mortgage free asap. I suppose if the larger house was somehow cheaper than the house I was selling and needed no updates, maybe.

I assume this realtor and the buyers agent would make a combined 6% commission on the sale of your house? And then the realtor would make another 3% as your buyer agent on the new house? Keep in mind a realtor stands to profit from what they suggest. And don't underestimate the personal cost of time and energy to move; the work required to move down the street seems to be about the same as moving across the state. Not fun.

We moved to leave our tiny kitchen and I don't regret it one bit. I love a spacious kitchen.

On the other hand, our bathrooms are tiny and I love that, too. I would never want the huge master suites I see. Mine clean up in no time.

aprilneverends makes sense as yours was a need based move. your funny no info too much for me :) I think it's interesting to hear why people do what they do. Yes, in the big picture of life kitchen size is a small priority to me too!

benjisbride great points! hope to be debt free soon too. I doubt a bigger house would be less and any house I buy will need updates. I'm an idea making machine.

This realtor is someone I've known and called on several times so we somewhat have a friendship, so it's weird I don't know if she sees it from a different perspective and is suggesting as a friend as if it's in my best interest or if it's just for her profit or both?

And I think you may remember in my other post I'm almost done with this house as far as decorating. The kitchen is basically the last. So it will be all my style and touches. I like it here...alot. I really hate moving, but maybe that's just lazy.

Lynn ok sounds like you did it and are happy that's great! I would have to have the large master too though :) hee hee

We have moved just once not counting the apartment we were in for the first 3 months we were married waiting for our first house to be finished. Less than a mile to a nicer neighborhood and a better school district at the time. We went from our starter home to a larger home to accommodate our growing family. Our 4 BR /2 Bath /2000 SF home would be considered "small" to some here. When our kids were pre-teens we considered moving. It couldn't happen for a number of reasons. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Our home is paid for, it is just the right size and on one level to age in place. I like the layout and we are remodeling it to suit ourselves. We have a nice large fenced backyard for the dog(s).

I look at new, bigger houses and don't have any desire for them. Open floor plans, stairs. bad layouts, bathrooms we'd have to redo, ditto the "kitchens" that share the family rooms etc. We are able to take our little house and invest in quality things to make it livable for us for the long term. We are even planning to convert the 4th BR into a nice indoor laundry/storage room.

We have in laws that bought their first home after 4 decades of renting. They bought it based on two incomes, now only have one and the husbands commute is a minimum of 2 1/2 hours each way. That's on a good day. He can't retire, she can't work any longer. Living on the edge I guess. To me that's crazy. When they both worked they were only home on weekends except to sleep.

I would only move if I loved the new house and it had things that my own current house didn't offer (like walk in closets). I never realized till I just visited my teen son living in LA that a smaller efficient kitchen is better all around. I have a 22x15 kitchen, redone before I found garden web, with a huge barrier island. It is incredibly annoying to cook in. My son's kitchen is probably 1/4-1/3 of my size but was such a pleasure to cook in and actually had more storage than mine in less space (it does have 10 foot ceilings to be fair).

Also more space= more to furnish and more to clean and more to heat/cool as well so bigger doesn't equal better. I always regret moving to my current house. It's 600 square feet bigger with a 2 car garage but with the loss of giant closets and unfinished basement, it doesn't seem bigger and it costs $5000 more a year in taxes (I live in NJ-highest property taxes in nation).

We moved for a change of scenery (literally; from city to rural). A bigger/better kitchen was the result of building a new house to fit our needs. We had a really tiny galley kitchen in our old house, and somehow survived for 20 years there!

Honestly, we live in about 1/4 of our space.

I'd prefer living in a high-quality built house rather than a larger house.

Big house = more to clean. Is that really how you want to spend your life?

In CA it would probably mean a huge differences in property taxes.

Have the dishonest realtor show you the big house you are going to be so interested in first. It sounds to me like she wants a listing and doesn't care if you are on the streets.

We have an 1800 sq ft house and a 12x12 kitchen. More space would just make me stressed (cleaning. organizing, collecting too much stuff). This is plenty for our needs. We lived in a condo with a larger, less efficient kitchen for a year while our house was restored. I hated it and hardly ever cooked. I'm happy to be back in my small workable kitchen where we all crowd in together to cook. I suppose if my kitchen was 8x8, I might think differently.

Nope.
For me, an efficient use of space is much more important than more
space. Our family of four has lived in a larger home and it just meant
more unnecessary stuff and more to clean/maintain.

I couldn't have said it any better than this. You don't need a big kitchen; you need a right-sized kitchen. Sometimes more is just more.

There are days when I'm move just to get a closet!

I would recommend checking out several books by Sarah Susanka. She advocates for the Not So Big House. These are not tiny, small or cheap houses, but rather built with high quality and space efficiency. I read several of her books and her approach makes sense to me... just build space you will actually use. The typical McMansions around where I live have absolutely zero appeal to me.

Watchmelol glad that all worked out for you to stay put! We are not one level but that will be nice for you down the road :)

Geez that stinks for your inlaws, but some people do like to live on the edge. I know people that purchase homes never thinking what if and then to make matters worse based their buying decision on what the bank said they could afford. Ugh!

Cleo I think I would probably entertain the idea too if the he had a lot of the same things I have now. wow you have a huge kitchen. Makes mine seem really small ... just measured mine at 10x13 and 10x10 eat in area. I guess on the smaller side in relation to other rooms in the house. Curious the size of your son's kitchen? And his layout that you like? My mom has the roughly the size you have in a new new house/kitchen and I don't care for it at all. She loves mine too probably because everything is all right there. I did read that my U shaped is considered the most efficient layout. It's all I ever had and I have no complaints. Also, probably cuz it's not big everything is within a couple steps. My mom is always complimenting me on how fast I can get dinner on the table. Always thought it was me guess it's the kitchen lol.

Ugh the taxes!

Mushcreek sounds like the kitchen was just a added bonus!

Nosoccermom I have said to my hubby that I think I'd prefer smaller and quality built with lots of goodies over just big.

Practigal lol no that's not how I want to spend my life.

I pretty content now :)

I keep telling her "you show me?!"

Daisychain sounds we have very similar size. What is your layout? L, U, I,?

True sometimes more is just more!

lazy_gardens your funny. Sounds like your ready!

I would, YES!!

My kitchen is a decent size and I do love our house. Moving is virtually out of the question where we live because to get what I'd want without moving 50 miles away, we'd be paying double what we paid for our current house.

I'd LOVE a bigger kitchen that could accommodate more people and more cooks.

A huge master en suite with an enormous walk in would be heavenly.

An enormous fenced yard for the dogs would be great.

Ah, a girl can dream.

To further illustrate, my first house was maybe 1200 square feet. It was a 1927 2 bedroom/2bath bungalow with the best kitchen layout I ever had. (Well it was the best after I renovated the kitchen!) And it was small. The whole layout was an L shape.

Fridge, DW, 30" sink, 24" wide cabinet (and no drawers back then!), corner lazy susan cabinet, stove, 18" cabinet. Uppers consisted of nothing above the fridge (hey we were just making it then), a cabinet over the DW, then a nice large window, a corner cabinet (Those old angled ones), a range hood with a cabinet above and a cabinet over the 18" cabinet.

But the kitchen followed the Ice, Water, Stone, Fire theory and it worked beautifully. It really was my favorite kitchen to work in even though I didn't have a MW, or a fancy stove, or granite countertops (just good old formica). Storage was tight, but I was walking distance to stores if I ever forgot something and we had a 4 huge closets in our master bedroom, so one doubled as a broom/pantry closet and a second as a linen closet. That left the ex with a reach in closet and me with a nice sized walk in.

I personally don't need a lot of space to work in. I need space that works well though.

DIY2Much2Do thanks for the link to Sarah's book. I've not heard of her. Looks like she has several good reads. I'm interested in he Not so big remodeling too!

Mimipadv I actually expected more would respond like you since I said "if you could". I sometimes go in dream land. But sometimes the grass isn't always greener.

MaWizz, start with her Not So Big House book since that one really sets the tone as to her theories. I have read most of her books with the exception of the remodeling one (since we're building new).

Cp so do you currently have an L?

Mimipadv I actually expected more would respond like you since I said "if you could". I sometimes go in dream land. But sometimes the grass isn't always greener.

*****

So true. It is nice to dream.

I've learned so much since being a home owner. When we do move, I'll be a far-more discerning buyer.

Thanks cp. how exciting I'd love to see your plans. Following you :)

I currently have the absolute worst kitchen in the world in that we're in a rental. Here's a LINK to where I complained about the kitchen we're currently in. It also has a link to my condo which we sold this past April.

As for the kitchen we'll be building in our new build, that will be larger than the ones I've had in the past. Here's the layout and an idea of how it will look:

Cooktop Wall (pretty self explanatory):

Wow, that kitchen layout takes the prize! Those sinks...my eyes!

Would I move? At this stage in life, absolutely not! But if I NEEDED or WANTED a bigger house, and it would be in a neighborhood I preferred to where I now live, that would be a very different story. Obviously, cost for bigger would have to be factored in as would cost of moving, and cost of decorating the new house.

But move just because a realtor has an interested buyer? Probably not. Friend or no friend - a realtor is all about selling a house and would happily announce at dinner that she'd just gotten a great offer on the family home and was selling it. How do I know? My uncle was a realtor and I swear it was unusual to ever visit them two summers in a row in the same house. Thank goodness my aunt was not attached to any of their houses!

cpartist thanks for sharing the link I just went back and read that thread and saw your previous condo pics. Great job selling it! Pretty and great views. Was that condo you sold originally a shell and you could make all the layout design choices yourself? One thing I wanted to go back and look at was check the drawer micro and its placement. Did you like that?

I can certainly see why you don't like your rental condo. I can say this because you'll be moving on to bigger and better things :D Honestly I don't like much about it at all. Maybe the floor is nice, but hard to see the color? Looks like wood tile. I kinda like that if done right.

Your new home plans look awesome! I didn't look in full detail, but looks really nice. I'm not very good at visualizing the space with drawings. I really like how the dining and kitchen are combined. No formal dining correct? I'm not a formal anything and would have much preferred the space they used here for the formal dining room be used in the kitchen instead. My last 2 homes had just a Great Room, no formal dining, and kitchens large enough to accommodate plenty of seating. Love that works so well for us!! We are casual. I almost have the same now just the extra dining area which we don't use much. I would be fine without. How big is your new kitchen not including the dining area? Also, I think I read you are doing pocket doors to the lanai? Not sure if you've had that but if not you will love that! We have the same from kitchen, great room and master. Love it especially for parties. It immediately brings the outdoors in and just an awesome extension from the great room. From the kitchen pics I am curious what is in the corner of your L in both pics? One looks like a pantry?

Thanks for sharing! That's quiet a project can't wait to see the progress!

anglophilia your probably right about the realtor thing! Here's the even creepier thing she lived in this development herself at one time but jumped ship to a super swanky neighborhood and now wants to move back. I told my husband she probably wants us to sell so she can buy it! I think she might have bit off a little more than she can chew there. More is not more.

Hmmm the realtor does sound less than honest.

cpartist thanks for sharing the link I just went back and read that thread and saw your previous condo pics. Great job selling it! Pretty and great views. Was that condo you sold originally a shell and you could make all the layout design choices yourself?

No. We bought a condo that hadn't been touched since it was built back in 1982. The appliance placement was pretty much set since it was a high rise and we couldn't change the pipes. We were able to switch the placement of the master shower and tub. We also were able to move the stacked washer/dryer out of a closet in the second bathroom (the red bathroom) and turn it around so I could have a side by side W/D that was in a closet in our front hallway.

One thing I wanted to go back and look at was check the drawer micro and its placement. Did you like that?

I had it next to my fridge between my pantry and fridge. I would have preferred it closer to my prep area and said that if I had it to do over, I would have switched the wine fridge with the microwave so the microwave was closer to where I prep. In my new kitchen the MW is between the fridge and prep sink so I can do things like take butter out of the fridge, pop it in the MW, and then use it in the prep area.

I can certainly see why you don't like your rental condo. I can say this because you'll be moving on to bigger and better things :D Honestly I don't like much about it at all. Maybe the floor is nice, but hard to see the color? Looks like wood tile. I kinda like that if done right.

It's actually a porcelain tile made to look like some sort of stone. My back and knees suffer because of it.

Your new home plans look awesome! I didn't look in full detail, but looks really nice.

Thank you! Actually if you looked at the link in either of those threads, it's not the most updated version. LOL. Here is the thread with my absolute final plans but again you have to scroll.

I'm not very good at visualizing the space with drawings. I really like how the dining and kitchen are combined. No formal dining correct?

Correct. I don't do formal. And won't need it with the lanai area since I'm in FL.

How big is your new kitchen not including the dining area?

The workspace is 15'8" x approximately 13' give or take.

Also, I think I read you are doing pocket doors to the lanai? Not sure if you've had that but if not you will love that! We have the same from kitchen, great room and master. Love it especially for parties. It immediately brings the outdoors in and just an awesome extension from the great room.

Yes pocket sliders. I'm looking forward to being able to open everything up to be one large open space.

From the kitchen pics I am curious what is in the corner of your L in both pics? One looks like a pantry?

I'm putting in corner drawers like this:

Shaker Grey · More Info

Thanks for sharing! That's quiet a project can't wait to see the progress!

Happy to share since everyone here has given me such terrific help and advice. And you're not the only one waiting to see the progress. ;)

I'm moving for more kitchen space, efficiently designed. My current kitchen lacks storage, and was designed by someone who apparently believed the future of dining was TV dinners and eating out, and who didn't see anything wrong with three doors leading off from the kitchen banging into each other: basement, half bath, and back door. He also thought having 15 inches of landing space on either side of the range was just hunky dory. Or that three 12-inch wide uppers would ever be remotely useful. I do have one nice upper. (I am tall, prone to back problems. I need uppers.)

Every thing else inside would be fine downsized - well, it wouldn't be physically possible to downsize my current half bath...

I'm also moving to have space for a farm. To grow veggies in the sun. To raise chickens and possibly goats. I'm also moving to have a flat driveway.

No - we have more than enough space for two people. I actually prefer a kitchen that's not too big so it's just a step or two to whatever you need. With an adjacent decent size pantry you have a place to store the things you don't use regularly. In our main house my extra storage is in the lower walkout level. At our weekend/retirement home the pantry is close to the kitchen.

I'd much rather have a smaller home and invest the additional dollars in details that give it character vs. a bigger one that lacks those often expensive details. That's essentially the message of The Not So Big House.

We moved to a house I designed from scratch. I can always do another. I'm sure it would be better. There's always new things to learn.

I'm sure it must depend on the stage of life one is currently in. I live in a 1200 square foot farmhouse with my husband and four small children. We have very large parties with three or four other families with small children several times a month. We host all the major holidays and have a growing extended family. I literally cannot fit all the people in my house. There is nowhere to sit. There are bottlenecks in the kitchen, bathroom, and entrance areas. Usually, the children and toddlers outnumber the adults 3 or 4 - 1, and they are so loud and so boisterous that the adults can have no peace unless the kids are all outside. Since we are in California, most of the time our parties spill out into the yard and that works great because the weather is usually beautiful. But Dec-Jan and July-Aug are tough.

We are building a house on a 5 acre lot right in the middle of town, and it will have a large kitchen and several large rooms for entertaining. Sometimes I worry that it will be hard to take care of, because I am used to cleaning and caring for a 2bd 1bath tiny little house. But my kitchen right now is 10x10, and I have 48" of available countertop on one side, and 5' of countertop on the other. My husband cooks as much as I do, and he loves to get all the kids in there cooking and helping him. I have a hard time being in the kitchen when everyone else is in there too. It's just too crowded and loud and I like to have everything orderly and clean before I begin cooking.

I am planning a large kitchen- 15x24 or so with a small eating area included- so my husband can have one side and I can cook on the other and we don't run into each other and I don't have to clean up his mess before I start cooking. I agree that large kitchens cause the cook to walk farther and, because of the space between stations, some efficiency is sacrificed. It is true that my tiny galley kitchen is very efficient, if by efficiency you mean not having to move much to reach everything. But in my current kitchen I trip over kids and my husband and the dog and the dishes and on and on every time I turn around. I'm thinking maybe inefficiency in the form of large aisles and lots of space would be heavenly. I plan to glass in one of the porches off the kitchen and make that into a pantry/summer kitchen where my husband can make his ginger beer and fermented stuff and I can do canning and vegetable washing and large crop/batch cooking and seed starting.

My in-laws are in the downsizing phase and they warn me that the extra room I am planning in my new house will be an expensive, uneccesary burden. But again, how much of the "downsizing" craze is fueled by retired people with no children left in the home? My new house will be 1700 square feet of entertaining space on the main floor, with another 1000 square feet or so of covered porches. We will put all the bedrooms in the upstairs half-story. If we need additional kid space, I will have a daylight basement that can also be finished eventually. I did design a main floor study/bath combo that can be turned into a master suite should we ever need one on the main floor. Maybe I will get in my new house and realize that it is too big. But if so I can just not finish the basement or parts of the second floor. But it would be nice to have that problem as opposed to the space limitations that I have now.

The best kitchen I ever had was also the smallest but it was arranged efficiently with lots of big cupboards.

In no time flat your kids will be grown, you'll be older and more tired, and health problems may prevent you from handling the upkeep of a large home.

So my advice is to stick with a smaller home you can still manage in your older years.

1200 with four kids sounds indeed challenging. I lived in much smaller apartments and had overnight guests for weeks in a row, but I didn't have as many kids. Also I believe that when a person lives in a farmhouse his expectations are slightly different than when he lives in an urban apartment. These are two different forms of dwelling.

Everything is relative-when a kid we shared one apartment with another family, and had one restroom for two families(9 people) to use..but there were still people who shared with 3 and 4 and 5 families so we obviously didn't have it that bad.

now i have 2,25 baths for only my own family(we were trying to get the house ready for 5 people, 3 generations to share), and don't feel like it's too much.

so there's a question of what you're used to. and you get used to anything really, but to the good things-much faster so, lol

and also there's a question: "bigger than what?"