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I grew up with a family of 6 (4 kids) in an 1150 sq ft house 3BR 2 BA. We did ok. I will tell you that as kids we learned the art of cooperation and organization quite well and I think we all benefitted from it. My parents still live in that house. A good layout can sometimes make a smaller house seem much larger.
I've found that as we "move up" in life, I've become accustomed to more space. My daughter and I started off in a tiny apartment. I met my husband and the three of lived in a 1000 sq ft house. Then a 2400 sq foot, then 3200, then 4000. With the larger places, though there was definite wasted space, and we had empty places because we didn't have enough furniture to put there.
Right now we're back to renting a 2500 or so sq ft house, and it's ok except for a lack of storage. There are 4 of us now.
As others have stated, if you are looking to buy and stay long-term, really think about how life will look as the kids age. I'd hate to share a bathroom with my kids, but growing up we had one bath for the 4 of us and managed just fine. I also think kids should have their own room if possible when they are older, so another thing to think about.
I go along with the crowd that says layout and room size are what's important. Our first house was 1400 ft, with a long 'L' shaped hallway, a galley kitchen and a tiny dining room. That house felt cramped with people always dodging out of each others way in the narrow spaces. This last house is smaller at 1100 ft but feels much less cramped because of a much better design and no wasted spaces like the long hallways in the first house.
Storage space makes a difference too I think. This house has a full basement and it stores stuff so much better and with easier access than the old house, where most things went into the attic or the detached garage. A lot of stuff seemed to stay in the house because dragging things to and from the attic was a hassle, so things got stuffed under beds and crammed onto shelves as much as possible.
To me it's all about layout, as others have said. You could have a 1,500 sq.ft. home with a horrible layout and it will feel cramped compared to a 1,200 sq.ft. home with a good layout.
For me, we are 2,200 sq.ft. 3br and 2.5ba with 2 adults, 3 kids (6, 2 and 1) and a dog. There were two things my wife and I really liked about this home that makes it feel much bigger than it really is. The front of the house is a living room and the formal dining room. The back of the house is an eat-in kitchen and family room. These are seperated by a hallway with the utility/laundry room, the powder room and a couple closets.
Why this works so well for us is that we can keep the front of the house more formal and 'adult' for entertaining, while the back of the house is where the kids can feel comfortable in their own space. The family room has been re-purposed as a dedicated playroom and we invested money in things to organize the toys. The eat-in kitchen was also a big factor as it gave us the space to put a large 8 seat table and we don't need to use the dining room unless we want to. We really like having formal and informal spaces. It also let's us seperate the kids a bit if they need a break from each other. For instance, the oldest can go to the living room and relax if his sisters are terrorizing him.
The one part of our house that we weren't 100% sold on were the bedrooms. Our master is huge with it's own bath, which is nice and we are able to have an office in our bedroom and still have plenty of space. However, the other two rooms are only 11x11 and the girls have to share. We were a little worried about this at first, but through some good furniture choices, the rooms are more than adequate for the kids needs.
I guess what my rambling point would be is that you can make just about any size space work well if you design it intelligently. The one thing I would insist on though is at least some space in the house to dedicate to the kids. Them having their own space is very important for everyone's sanity.
We have 4 children and all 6 of us are making due in a 1200 sq ft home waiting for our 2600 sq ft home to sell. We would like about 2600-3000 sq ft, but we do not want a huge energy wasting home that eats us alive. We are learning that its possible to do w/ less.
Be glad that you have all girls so they can share! I think 1200-2000 would be good. I would focus on layout, 2 full baths and a kitchen the girls can help you cook in. Have you considered making the master a "dorm style" room fror all the girls if the secondary BD is decent sized? That could work.Good luck!
Another vote for layout. I have lived in several homes each with different layouts of varying square footage. From 500 sft to currently 2,000. There are 3 of us. I managed just fine in small spaces because of the layout. It worked because the home had a lot of built ins. We didn't own dressers for quite some time. For such a little place I had a lot of storage. I have learned along the way how we use our spaces. I think one of my favorite homes (besides my current home) was only a 1,000 sft. The layout was really nice and most people were shocked that we only had a 1,000 sft. It felt like 1500. Our house after that was 1500 and the layout was horrible! It had a very large kitchen (something I had always wanted) but the rest of the house was oddly small. That large kitchen became more of a bother because I am no gourmet cook and it was simply a waste of space. Everyone that saw it marveled over my kitchen, miles of counter space but arranging furniture in my small living room was a chore.
My current house is almost perfect (2000 sft). When we have visitors they think the house is bigger than what it is. It has a very nice layout. What works for us is having several living spaces. I have a formal living room where I can read. A family room where the guys watch their sports and a finished basement with a separate office where I can escape to avoid kick off. More than one bathroom was important to us as well. Our master bedroom is good size but the rest of the bedrooms are only 10 x 10 with very large walk in closets. My son rarely hangs out in his room so having large bedrooms was not a big deal for me but I can't stand clutter so I loved the closets.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We lived in a 1,400 sf home in CA with 3 kids and it was tight, moved up here and bought one with 3,000 sf. Still in it after the kids moved out and now we have 3 guest rooms, but it's not fun to have a winter gas/electric bill of $350/month.
My house is 1600 square feet, and I live here alone. It is about the right size for me. The previous owners were a family of four and they must have been really cramped in this house once their daughters were in high school.
Actually I only use a small fraction of the square footage, and the rest serves as a noise buffer between me and the street, and between me and my neighbors. If everyone in the world was considerate and quiet like I am, I would be living happily in a 500 square foot condo.
Since that is sheer fantasy, my next house will probably be 1600-2000 square feet. That is enough to provide me with plenty of noise buffer and also a home gym, which I don't presently have.
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We didn't own dressers for quite some time. For such a little place I had a lot of storage. I have learned along the way how we use our spaces. I think one of my favorite homes (besides my current home) was only a 1,000 sft. The layout was really nice and most people were shocked that we only had a 1,000 sft. It felt like 1500. Our house after that was 1500 and the layout was horrible! It had a very large kitchen (something I had always wanted) but the rest of the house was oddly small. That large kitchen became more of a bother because I am no gourmet cook and it was simply a waste of space. Everyone that saw it marveled over my kitchen, miles of counter space but arranging furniture in my small living room was a chore. 
More than one bathroom was important to us as well. Our master bedroom is good size but the rest of the bedrooms are only 10 x 10 with very large walk in closets. My son rarely hangs out in his room so having large bedrooms was not a big deal for me but I can't stand clutter so I loved the closets.
