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I also find that appealing - especially the vaccuuming system!!! lol
I'd love a small home (I don't own at this point either)...not only are they more energy efficient, but frankly, I hate to clean. I don't have many knicknacks either, for that very reason - it's just more stuff to dust. *ugh*
I think that its not necessarily the overall footprint that's important (for comfort) as much as the layout. I live in an 800 sq ft bungalow with 2 bedrooms. I'm fine with it but the bedrooms are too small to allow us to each have a dresser in the room. So I have all of my clothes in the dresser and closet in the guest bedroom.
I remember seeing a beautifully designed 500 sq ft home on PlanetGreen that was so well laid out that every nook and cranny was put to use. There was a lot of built in furniture and impeccable organization. I could see myself being very happy there.
I think that its not necessarily the overall footprint that's important (for comfort) as much as the layout. I live in an 800 sq ft bungalow with 2 bedrooms. I'm fine with it but the bedrooms are too small to allow us to each have a dresser in the room. So I have all of my clothes in the dresser and closet in the guest bedroom.
I remember seeing a beautifully designed 500 sq ft home on PlanetGreen that was so well laid out that every nook and cranny was put to use. There was a lot of built in furniture and impeccable organization. I could see myself being very happy there.
Yes, that seems to be the key: efficient use of space. A good designer can make things very comfortable with some of the ideas you mention. Things like wall closets/drawers, stationary furniture, proper arrangement of rooms and sizes with multi-use, etc. This Tumbleweed designer that I mentioned earlier seems to do a great job at this--every square foot of space is used efficiently. (no, I have no relationship or financial interest: I just think the guy has some killer designs).
I actually used to design buildings as a sort of hobby. I’m intrigued with trying my hand at very small dwellings. It’s a different design philosophy when you limit the size.
Well, we're cramped in a 1850 sq ft bungalow with 3 kids. I for one would like more, not less space.
Still, though I value quality over quantity. I would rather have my smal but stylin' handbuilt craftsman era surroundings than 10,000 square feet of drywall wrapped, Home Depot issued, fiberboard trimmed oblivion.
I have a small house - built in 1946, a little bit over 500 sq feet. One bedroom 8x10ish, one bathroom with a shower stall but no tub, small livingroom, small (but not galley) kitchen. It's a nice little square shape with a peaked roof and a very cottagey feel to it. Outside there's about .20 acre, and in the backyard portion I can grow quite a few things and let my chickens run around, plus I've put in a cat enclosure for my cats to exit to via the window, adding another 40 square feet (plus vertical) for them. The dog takes the front yard when she's out.
It's in a cute neighborhood in a very small town where houses of its size are pretty common (though mine is the smallest on this block).
It works great for me, a single person (with an ark of pets), and I think it would even be ok for a couple. I may someday add a second bedroom on - no larger than the other bedroom but it really would be handy for guests, and I guess necessary if there was ever a kid. Though I often do think about Laura Ingalls Wilder's houses and how mine is probably a palace compared to what that family of 6 lived in most of the time, and did just fine in!
There are certainly things that could be "greener" about it, but the fact that it's been around a long time and is so tiny really does cut down on resources needed.
I have a small house - built in 1946, a little bit over 500 sq feet. One bedroom 8x10ish, one bathroom with a shower stall but no tub, small livingroom, small (but not galley) kitchen. It's a nice little square shape with a peaked roof and a very cottagey feel to it. Outside there's about .20 acre, and in the backyard portion I can grow quite a few things and let my chickens run around, plus I've put in a cat enclosure for my cats to exit to via the window, adding another 40 square feet (plus vertical) for them. The dog takes the front yard when she's out.
It's in a cute neighborhood in a very small town where houses of its size are pretty common (though mine is the smallest on this block).
It works great for me, a single person (with an ark of pets), and I think it would even be ok for a couple. I may someday add a second bedroom on - no larger than the other bedroom but it really would be handy for guests, and I guess necessary if there was ever a kid. Though I often do think about Laura Ingalls Wilder's houses and how mine is probably a palace compared to what that family of 6 lived in most of the time, and did just fine in!
There are certainly things that could be "greener" about it, but the fact that it's been around a long time and is so tiny really does cut down on resources needed.
That sounds like a cool place to live. Back around the time yours was built, that size was not at all out of the ordinary. Our grandparents just had a different mindset than we do and didn't seem to be on a 'supersize' binge on everything. It's very hard to find new homes that size or even find a place where they are allowed.
Here in Texas, everything is big. My 1957 ranch house is big by 50s standards at 1820 square feet. I live there alone so it is plenty of space for me and then some. It is also relatively close in for the DFW metroplex so it is definitely greener than houses in very far-away suburbs.
I have had "greenies" who live in places like Frisco tsk tsk me about my "non-energy efficient" house but what they don't realize is even with its 3 inches of insulation (should be at least six times that) and 50 year old windows, my electric bill is still probably smaller than theirs is. My house has also been standing here for 52 years and I do not need to use nearly as much gas to get anywhere as they do. In fact I am about 3/4 mile from a supermarket so I could do my errands on foot if I wanted to. They could live here too, but they choose not to because they want more square footage and a school with no brown people, and a Wal-Mart on every corner and big box stores everywhere. They just won't admit it. There are no big box stores anywhere near me where I live.
For a growing number of people, "retro" is the new "green." What makes me laugh is these same people want to know when I am going to tear out my house's original pink bathroom because the toilet is a 3 gallon flush. "Uses too much water," they say. How green is it to tear out a functioning bathroom and install a brand new one with all the waste that the manufacturing of the new fixtures entails, plus filling up landfill space with functioning fixtures, just to save a gallon on a flush when I could adjust the tank level myself with a plastic bottle? I mean really. Come on! Then they ask me what my electric bill was last month, expecting a really high number. Then I tell them and their jaws drop. They can't believe it. I keep that AC at 82F, I switched out all my light bulbs, I am careful with my electricity usage because I know this is an old house and is not very energy efficient. I plan to blow a ton of insulation into the attic once the weather cools down, but I am already doing more than they do to regulate my usage. I don't see them cranking the AC up or turning lights off when they leave rooms. I don't do this only to save money.
I admit I do not want to live in a 1000 sq ft cottage or take the bus every day but I am still doing more to save energy than most people I know around here.
It all has to depend upon the desires of the INDIVIDUAL - not what society believes. If the INDIVIDUAL wants small - fine. If not - fine.
Personally - there is just the two of us. We have family, including grandchildren that come visiting. We entertain a lot. We love to cook - the Kitchen is the center of our home - literally.
Our current home is around 6,000 sq ft - with the kitchen accounting for around a 1,000 sq feet of this. We have a Home Theater that will seat 20. At the rear of our home is a pool with a complete outdoor kitchen.
We do not need, nor want, small cars. We have several newer SUV's and a new Large Pickup Truck as well as a large Sedan. There is also a travel trailer and motor-home and a couple of motorcycles in our garage.
We are not "into" the ecology "thing". We have what we want.
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I mean really. Come on! Then they ask me what my electric bill was last month, expecting a really high number. Then I tell them and their jaws drop. They can't believe it. I keep that AC at 82F, I switched out all my light bulbs, I am careful with my electricity usage because I know this is an old house and is not very energy efficient. I plan to blow a ton of insulation into the attic once the weather cools down, but I am already doing more than they do to regulate my usage. I don't see them cranking the AC up or turning lights off when they leave rooms. I don't do this only to save money. 
