I think it depends on how much time you want or need to spend outside your home and your needs for guests. Pre-pandemic - my partner & I had a 500 square foot apartment, and I still miss it. But - we both left for work & events, and our building has social spaces if we want to have people over.
Now, we have about 1000 square feet - and I feel like it’s too much space, but it’s been tough to negotiate a downsize.
That's interesting you miss the 500 sq ft space. To me that seems so small. But then again, I'm just looking at it from the perspective of currently living in a busy 2500 sq ft house with kids.
I’d downsized from a 1600 square foot house that I shared with only one other person, so I understand!
But that apartment layout made such good use of the space, it really didn’t feel so small. (And, less to clean, less to furnish, of course).
We bought a smaller home, with room for kids with grandchildren to visit. We bought a smaller 3 br, 2 full bathrooms and one 3/4 bathroom. It’s wonderful when family comes to visit.
I live in a 700 sqft 1 bd apartment with my partner and it works fine for us. We haven't lived anywhere else together, but I think anything over 1000 sqft would be too much. We're both homebodies and I like how we're not too far away from each other as we do our own things.
My 2 (euro) cents worth:
Our first studio apartment was 36m² (388 ft²) or the size of a double garage. At the time it felt a little cramped but cozy. The price was right and IMO it is the bare minimum size for a couple.
Next we moved up to 50m² (538 ft²). Perfectly adequate, the second bedroom allowed us to have guests over. I guess the optimal size for a couple.
Kid #1 encouraged us to get more space. We were perfectly happy with three bedrooms and 85m² (914 ft²) for five years.
Kid #2 was just a bit too much for the space we had, so we moved up to 170m² (1829 ft²). This was a bit excessive, but we got a good deal.
Having downsized from 2500 to 1500 sq. ft. I can easily see downsizing again. We're still getting rid of stuff, and still have a separate guest room with bath.
George Carlin's, "We don't own stuff, stuff owns us!" is my mantra.
I have lately been thinking about how hard it is to move heavy furniture by myself. And why do I even need it? Wouldn't it be nice to just up and move to the coast for a year? Wouldn't it be easier if I had less stuff?
Mine is 941 square feet and very comfortable. It’s segmented into specific activity areas ie. gym-yoga, study, library, weaving-jigsaws, guest room. Also a large organic garden, where I spend a lot of outdoor time. I have very simple furnishings and possessions, and could easily downsize to a tiny home if we wanted.
We have 1500sqft 3/2 and it's just right for us. Not too big where it takes a lot to clean, not too small that we can't move around. He wants to build a garage which will make it perfect as he can have a shop and tool storage.
One bedroom, one guest bedroom/study/storage room, one or two bathrooms, one lounge/dining/kitchen and one outdoor space.
I like a second bedroom so there’s somewhere to go if I can’t sleep / partner snores etc.
I like a second living space (ideally outdoors).
Actual room sizes don’t matter too much to me.
This. I’m actually tired of large master bedrooms. Like why, it’s the room we spend the least amount of time in and have the least amount of things to put in it the largest room in the house? I’m also kinda on board w small kitchens w good counter space. I also agree, it’s more about having different spaces than the amount of space.
Probably around 1300 feet. This amount of space would give you enough room for some separation. You’ll have space for any hobbies. And it won’t be so much space that it’s difficult to maintain.
However, my husband and I have a larger home because we have hobbies that take up a considerable amount of space.
We are in 1200 with a guest room and 2nd full bath. It is more room than we need. We could easily do 750 and be more than comfortable with me working from home, and that is with two medium sized dogs.
I think a lot depends on how the house is laid out. There are open, common spaces we use much less without kids at home, but I still like having several small bedrooms because young adults often live at home for awhile (month long Christmas break from college, or between jobs/apartments, or longer term to save money, or visiting from afar with a partner/family). Even if visiting kids and overnight guests weren’t a consideration, I‘d still enjoy several small separate spaces for studio/hobby/office space that wouldn’t be suitable in a shared, open plan living area where guests visit. So if I wanted smaller, personally, i’d be reducing open space rather than room count.
eta: Reasons to have difficulty sleeping multiply with age. I’d want to keep the option of separate bedrooms open.
Personal preference is the biggest thing, I think.
A friend of mine lived several months with her BF in a studio apartment. The closest thing they had to a second space was a huge closet, really more of a dressing room. That'd drive me batshit, but they were both content. Both of them were extroverts, which may play into it.
My partner & I are both major introverts, though. We both like a LOT of alone time. The three places we've shared have all had at least 2 floors. If all goes as planned, we'll soon be living in a house with only one floor. I'm a little nervous about it, TBH.
My one hard & fast rule is that there has to be one toilet per person. We both had norovirus at the same time several years ago. That was enough of a nightmare with adequate plumbing. I can't imagine how miserable it'd be to be fighting for the bathroom too.
900 Square feet or under. 2 bathrooms 3 bedrooms. Enough for shared spaces and each to have their room to do with it what they will. And your bathroom so you're not fighting about things.
I went from a home w eight very large rooms to a two bedroom apartment. It's perfect for myself and my dog. Two of my adult children have lived w me here, but had no respect for the common areas,so now it's just myself and my wonderful mutt. I think a two bedroom is perfect downsizing for a couple. The second bedroom can be something special or just used for storage. When my kids left it became an office. I have numerous records,cassettes and DVDs along w machines to play them all. So, soon it's going to become a music room for reading and relaxing. Finally got started 😀 n that today.
My partner and I share a 1200 sq ft 2/2.5 town house. Before we moved in together, he was in a 700 sq ft 1/1 and I was in a 500 sq ft 1/1. While I was initially reluctant to move into a place that seemed so big, it makes sense for us because we both work from home and enjoy being at home. I've even considered the possibility of moving to a place with a third room so that we both can have a dedicated office/hobby space. Currently our second room is my office and the guest room, and his office space is in the living room. I'm not in a hurry to move to a bigger space though because we make very good use of what we have, and if we move I would prefer to move to somewhere more walkable over somewhere bigger. If you and your partner are retired and your children have left, you may even be more comfortable with something smaller than what we have? I suppose it depends on what you're using your home for; is it also a workspace? Do you have hobbies that would be best suited to additional space or can you do them outside or anywhere? Would you be willing to swap square footage for more yard space, etc.?
I think it depends on how much time you want or need to spend outside your home and your needs for guests. Pre-pandemic - my partner & I had a 500 square foot apartment, and I still miss it. But - we both left for work & events, and our building has social spaces if we want to have people over. Now, we have about 1000 square feet - and I feel like it’s too much space, but it’s been tough to negotiate a downsize.
That's interesting you miss the 500 sq ft space. To me that seems so small. But then again, I'm just looking at it from the perspective of currently living in a busy 2500 sq ft house with kids.
I’d downsized from a 1600 square foot house that I shared with only one other person, so I understand! But that apartment layout made such good use of the space, it really didn’t feel so small. (And, less to clean, less to furnish, of course).
We bought a smaller home, with room for kids with grandchildren to visit. We bought a smaller 3 br, 2 full bathrooms and one 3/4 bathroom. It’s wonderful when family comes to visit.
I live in a 700 sqft 1 bd apartment with my partner and it works fine for us. We haven't lived anywhere else together, but I think anything over 1000 sqft would be too much. We're both homebodies and I like how we're not too far away from each other as we do our own things.
My 2 (euro) cents worth: Our first studio apartment was 36m² (388 ft²) or the size of a double garage. At the time it felt a little cramped but cozy. The price was right and IMO it is the bare minimum size for a couple. Next we moved up to 50m² (538 ft²). Perfectly adequate, the second bedroom allowed us to have guests over. I guess the optimal size for a couple. Kid #1 encouraged us to get more space. We were perfectly happy with three bedrooms and 85m² (914 ft²) for five years. Kid #2 was just a bit too much for the space we had, so we moved up to 170m² (1829 ft²). This was a bit excessive, but we got a good deal.
thanks for sharing your numbers - we currently live in a 3 bedroom 89 sqm unit with one kid and yes we are comfortable.
Having downsized from 2500 to 1500 sq. ft. I can easily see downsizing again. We're still getting rid of stuff, and still have a separate guest room with bath.
George Carlin's, "We don't own stuff, stuff owns us!" is my mantra. I have lately been thinking about how hard it is to move heavy furniture by myself. And why do I even need it? Wouldn't it be nice to just up and move to the coast for a year? Wouldn't it be easier if I had less stuff?
possessions possess us ✨
Mine is 941 square feet and very comfortable. It’s segmented into specific activity areas ie. gym-yoga, study, library, weaving-jigsaws, guest room. Also a large organic garden, where I spend a lot of outdoor time. I have very simple furnishings and possessions, and could easily downsize to a tiny home if we wanted.
We have 1500sqft 3/2 and it's just right for us. Not too big where it takes a lot to clean, not too small that we can't move around. He wants to build a garage which will make it perfect as he can have a shop and tool storage.
One bedroom, one guest bedroom/study/storage room, one or two bathrooms, one lounge/dining/kitchen and one outdoor space. I like a second bedroom so there’s somewhere to go if I can’t sleep / partner snores etc. I like a second living space (ideally outdoors). Actual room sizes don’t matter too much to me.
This. I’m actually tired of large master bedrooms. Like why, it’s the room we spend the least amount of time in and have the least amount of things to put in it the largest room in the house? I’m also kinda on board w small kitchens w good counter space. I also agree, it’s more about having different spaces than the amount of space.
For reference, back in the 50s and 60s the *average* starter home size was 900 sf, usually 2BR, 1BA. That commonly held couples with 1-2 children.
Probably around 1300 feet. This amount of space would give you enough room for some separation. You’ll have space for any hobbies. And it won’t be so much space that it’s difficult to maintain. However, my husband and I have a larger home because we have hobbies that take up a considerable amount of space.
It depends a lot on where you live and how much time you spend at home.
We are in 1200 with a guest room and 2nd full bath. It is more room than we need. We could easily do 750 and be more than comfortable with me working from home, and that is with two medium sized dogs.
I think a lot depends on how the house is laid out. There are open, common spaces we use much less without kids at home, but I still like having several small bedrooms because young adults often live at home for awhile (month long Christmas break from college, or between jobs/apartments, or longer term to save money, or visiting from afar with a partner/family). Even if visiting kids and overnight guests weren’t a consideration, I‘d still enjoy several small separate spaces for studio/hobby/office space that wouldn’t be suitable in a shared, open plan living area where guests visit. So if I wanted smaller, personally, i’d be reducing open space rather than room count. eta: Reasons to have difficulty sleeping multiply with age. I’d want to keep the option of separate bedrooms open.
me and my wife live in a 1200sqft 1 bedroom house and have PLENTY of space. idk what people do in larger houses.
Personal preference is the biggest thing, I think. A friend of mine lived several months with her BF in a studio apartment. The closest thing they had to a second space was a huge closet, really more of a dressing room. That'd drive me batshit, but they were both content. Both of them were extroverts, which may play into it. My partner & I are both major introverts, though. We both like a LOT of alone time. The three places we've shared have all had at least 2 floors. If all goes as planned, we'll soon be living in a house with only one floor. I'm a little nervous about it, TBH. My one hard & fast rule is that there has to be one toilet per person. We both had norovirus at the same time several years ago. That was enough of a nightmare with adequate plumbing. I can't imagine how miserable it'd be to be fighting for the bathroom too.
900 Square feet or under. 2 bathrooms 3 bedrooms. Enough for shared spaces and each to have their room to do with it what they will. And your bathroom so you're not fighting about things.
I went from a home w eight very large rooms to a two bedroom apartment. It's perfect for myself and my dog. Two of my adult children have lived w me here, but had no respect for the common areas,so now it's just myself and my wonderful mutt. I think a two bedroom is perfect downsizing for a couple. The second bedroom can be something special or just used for storage. When my kids left it became an office. I have numerous records,cassettes and DVDs along w machines to play them all. So, soon it's going to become a music room for reading and relaxing. Finally got started 😀 n that today.
My partner and I share a 1200 sq ft 2/2.5 town house. Before we moved in together, he was in a 700 sq ft 1/1 and I was in a 500 sq ft 1/1. While I was initially reluctant to move into a place that seemed so big, it makes sense for us because we both work from home and enjoy being at home. I've even considered the possibility of moving to a place with a third room so that we both can have a dedicated office/hobby space. Currently our second room is my office and the guest room, and his office space is in the living room. I'm not in a hurry to move to a bigger space though because we make very good use of what we have, and if we move I would prefer to move to somewhere more walkable over somewhere bigger. If you and your partner are retired and your children have left, you may even be more comfortable with something smaller than what we have? I suppose it depends on what you're using your home for; is it also a workspace? Do you have hobbies that would be best suited to additional space or can you do them outside or anywhere? Would you be willing to swap square footage for more yard space, etc.?