How many square feet would be ideal for family of 4? (hotel, house)

[1stpontiac]

Good question, with the best answer being YMMV, I think. My last two places have been around 1,800sf, and I think for 2 parents/2 kids I'd want at least that much, maybe a touch more. Depends also how much entertaining you do and what kind, as well. Since having a kiddo, we have grandparents visiting at least once or twice a month, as well, so its nice to have some room for them, without disrupting our day-to-day space either.

Layout makes a huge difference, too. Our current place has a third bedroom, laundry in the hallway closet, and a completely open first floor, and feels larger than the (similar sf) last place that had a seperate basement laundry room, only two bedrooms, and a longer, narrower design.

No interest in cleaning a 3,000 sf house for me, although it can be easier to clean a house big enough to fit everything into than a small house where things are falling out of cupboards and shelves. Which also bring up the point that I don't want to accumulate 3,000sf worth of stuff to deal with every time I move.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by 1stpontiac

Good question, with the best answer being YMMV, I think. My last two places have been around 1,800sf, and I think for 2 parents/2 kids I'd want at least that much, maybe a touch more. Depends also how much entertaining you do and what kind, as well. Since having a kiddo, we have grandparents visiting at least once or twice a month, as well, so its nice to have some room for them, without disrupting our day-to-day space either.

Layout makes a huge difference, too. Our current place has a third bedroom, laundry in the hallway closet, and a completely open first floor, and feels larger than the (similar sf) last place that had a seperate basement laundry room, only two bedrooms, and a longer, narrower design.

No interest in cleaning a 3,000 sf house for me, although it can be easier to clean a house big enough to fit everything into than a small house where things are falling out of cupboards and shelves. Which also bring up the point that I don't want to accumulate 3,000sf worth of stuff to deal with every time I move.

Or, as the kids get older, have them help with the cleaning. The only thing that I don't like about cleaning this house is how much carpet we have. The plan is to put in wood floors within the next year or so. That will lessen the work quite a bit. Storage really is the issue though. Doesn't matter how big your house is, if you don't have a place to put stuff, it always looks messy.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by sm2010

I think I will get a wide range of answers on this one, but I'm just curious what others think. When buying a home, how many square feet would be ideal for a family of four? (Two parents and two children.) Let's say you would be buying the home when the children are small and planning on staying at least 20 years.

I would say 1500 if you are not going to have any more.

[GBCommenter]

Great points being made...the smaller numbers such as mine likely assume little to no entertaining or overnight guests, and assume less personal belongings to store. Also consider if you have items such as a garage, shed, basement or attic that could be used for some storage.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

We have 4000 sq foot in our Andover home. With 4 people, that is more room than we need but I like an open floor plan and larger bedrooms. Even with 2 people, I like to have at least 2500 sq foot (I need 2 offices, a large kitchen (I like to cook), and a guest bedroom. That automatically means a 2500 sq foot home. We are empty nesters now so we probably will be selling it sooner than later because 4000 sq foot is officially too much for 2 people.

Re: cleaning. There are areas of the home with heavy traffic as well as light traffic. Some rooms may not need deep cleaning for weeks while other areas need to be vacuumed twice a week (we have two Golden's). We use to have a cleaner for years. Less kids == less mess. We don't have the need for a cleaner any longer.

[Mdcastle]

I got by fine growing up in a 1100 square foot home, 3 bedroom 1 bath with a half the basement finished. But as others have said what used to be luxuries are now "essentials" so YMMV. I still live in the house, now with a porch and deck but an unfinished basement and 2 people instead of 4 and it seems "about right".

[scantee]

I would say 1500 to 1800 sq ft would be ideal for our family of four. Any more than 2000 I would not care to clean and maintain. Our current house is around 1300 and I could do with a bit more space. The layout of our current place is fantastic though so really I'd like what we have now with slightly larger rooms and an extra bathroom. Layout is more important than square feet, as others have said.

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Our house now is 3600 sq feet and is a bit big but it had features we wanted when we bought.

My house is 2400 and too big. It costs a LOT to heat, especially with Xcel raising gas and electric rates pretty much yearly. We two bedrooms downstairs that aren't used much, and a guest bedroom upstairs (plus our bedroom and the kid's bedroom). Having three bedrooms on the same level is nice. If we moved, that's one thing I would definitely look for.

Then again, we'll probably only have one kid. The idea of needing a guest bedroom, I think, is a joke. You could buy a smaller house. Then you could pay for your guests to stay at a hotel with the money you save and still come out way ahead. And you don't have to deal with house guests!

As far as storage goes...well, everyone does need storage. But even with the massive amount of storage space we have, most of it has gone unused since I threw out a ton of junk last year. I would guess that a large portion of what people store is unneeded and they could easily do without it. Why did we need halloween wigs from ten years ago?

If your place is the neighborhood hangout, that's cool, but not everyone wants to pay for all the extra space required to do that. (Not to mention property taxes for a larger house.)

3600 sq ft is like adding another whole story to my already huge house. I can't imagine that. I like to look at house listings, and I see all these absolutely gigantic houses being built. What does a person do with five beds/baths? Why would someone need three family rooms? Why an additional dining area? How much are you willing to pay in order to impress someone?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Globe199

My house is 2400 and too big. It costs a LOT to heat, especially with Xcel raising gas and electric rates pretty much yearly. We two bedrooms downstairs that aren't used much, and a guest bedroom upstairs (plus our bedroom and the kid's bedroom). Having three bedrooms on the same level is nice. If we moved, that's one thing I would definitely look for.

Then again, we'll probably only have one kid. The idea of needing a guest bedroom, I think, is a joke. You could buy a smaller house. Then you could pay for your guests to stay at a hotel with the money you save and still come out way ahead. And you don't have to deal with house guests!

As far as storage goes...well, everyone does need storage. But even with the massive amount of storage space we have, most of it has gone unused since I threw out a ton of junk last year. I would guess that a large portion of what people store is unneeded and they could easily do without it. Why did we need halloween wigs from ten years ago?

If your place is the neighborhood hangout, that's cool, but not everyone wants to pay for all the extra space required to do that. (Not to mention property taxes for a larger house.)

3600 sq ft is like adding another whole story to my already huge house. I can't imagine that. I like to look at house listings, and I see all these absolutely gigantic houses being built. What does a person do with five beds/baths? Why would someone need three family rooms? Why an additional dining area? How much are you willing to pay in order to impress someone?

Well, we have 4 bedrooms and 5 people living here. We don't have 3 family rooms or an extra dining room. We have overnight company, a lot, and we have a lot of the kids' friends over all the time. Wait until you have 3 kids and then come back and tell me how functional your house is at 1100 sq feet...

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Well, we have 4 bedrooms and 5 people living here. We don't have 3 family rooms or an extra dining room. We have overnight company, a lot, and we have a lot of the kids' friends over all the time. Wait until you have 3 kids and then come back and tell me how functional your house is at 1100 sq feet...

Not to be pedantic, but I mentioned that my house is 2400 sq ft, not 1100.