big house/little house

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Which do you think is easier to keep clean?  I say that a small house should be easier because you would have less stuff.  DH thinks a large house would be easier because there is more room to put more junk.

[MountainDon]

Depends how you define 'clean'. 

If clean 'means out of sight out of mind', then by all means buy/build a big house and use the extra roomsto hide the stuff you clean up from the other rooms.

If clean means, neat and tidy, everything in its place, no dirt on the floor, furniture dusted, etc. then go as small as practical.

[ScottA]

I've had both and small is much less work to claen and take care of.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

That's kind of my take on it, too.  Not much stuff, and what you do have all in its place.  If you don't have room for a "junk room", consequently you'll think twice about adding more clutter to your house, right?

[glenn kangiser]

I'd just throw it out in a pile at the side of the yard...

[ScottA]

You might be a redneck if...

[muldoon]

compromise - you get a small house, he gets a big garage or barn for his junk? 

[peternap]

I'd just throw it out in a pile at the side of the yard...

Yep !

Had both, clutter is king

[glenn kangiser]

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk ~ Thomas Alva Edison

[John_C]

Stuff multiplies to fill the available space.

[MountainDon]

I have that to be soooo true.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Sort of like how the more someone earns the more they spend.

[lonelytree]

compromise - you get a small house, he gets a big garage or barn for his junk? 

We have a winner!!!!

[StinkerBell]

Tell your hubby that when you both agree you will do things his way and when you disagree then things will be done your way.
This way it is 50/50 

[akemt]

With our next place (if/likely small) we are going to try out having built-ins just about everywhere --open shelving, under-window-seat storage, cubboards, under-bed storage, under-stair storage, etc, etc.  And I'm planning it to be efficient so that everything can do double duty (Susan Susanka's book(s) are interesting on this stuff), as well as designing so that things can be slid out of the way and we'll have a very open floor (4 kids need roughhouse space, espeially when the weather is nasty.  But I also have thought about where (what rooms) we really need the space, what rooms we really need, etc.  For us a walk-in pantry/food storage room is a must, formal anything isn't.  Our bedrooms can be about bedsized (likely lofts for the kids) with closet/clothing storage space because we only spend time in our rooms when it is bed time or the kids are in time-out.  Unlike many houseplans, I need a big open kitchen, perhaps bigger than the dinig/living areas.  I spend a lot of time cooking from scratch, have a great deal of utensils and pans, etc, as well as want room for my kids to gather round the stove and watch/help.  Think about what you actually need and that can dictate the size.

If we build a 40 x 40 log home, it'll be a different story...maybe.

[Jens]

I say the smaller the better, but ditto on the larger common spaces.  A big dining space is important to us, and kitchen.  Our kitchen is 11x13, and will be getting a 7x13 addition that will be pantry entry, and breakfast nook.  The dining room will have enough built ins to house all of our dishes, and then some, so we don't need to use the kitchen for storage.  Pots and pans will hang.  Bedrooms should be small IMO, more efficient, and when the kids are older, if they want to be anti-social, we aint gonna make them comfortable at it!  Our house is about 950 I think.  Once we add on second floor, will be about 1300 or so.  Enough for all the rooms we want.