I am brand new here and have been looking around the forums for "family" posts, but they are few and far between.
I am looking at a plan that is 24' by 26'. This includes a family/dining/kitchen area, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry area. Then there is a 3rd loft bedroom.
My family is myself, my man, and 2 kids, aged 7 and 9.
What do you guys think?
Sorry if I posted in the wrong area, and thanks for any replies!
:D
Hi there and w* applegirl3s. This is a great place to post your query.
Is 624 sq. ft. big enough? ???
What do you live in now? How many sq. ft.? How's that working?
We lived comfortably in 800 sq. ft. for a time; wife, me & 1 son. But that had the laundry, furnace & water heater in the basement. How many sq. ft. does your plan allow for those items... I could see it being done in 50 sq ft or less if the laundry was no more than a closeted space. So, thinking out loud here... that would have left us with 750 sq. ft.
750 - 624 = 124 sq. ft. or a 10' x 12' room... about the size of my son's old bedroom. We had a smallish kitchen with dining table in it; open floor space from there to the living room area. ??? So my personal feeling is that 624 sq ft with 2 bedrooms would feel too cramped to me. That's only my opinion.
Are you planning this as an owner-builder project? If you're doing much of the work yourself then making it a little larger now is a better deal than maybe wishing it was bigger down the road. Also cheaper to go a little bigger now than later. Just something to ponder. Increasing length is easier with most plans than going wider, just in case you want to toy with that.
Then, of course anything is possible. For us I'd just have to adjust my mindset a bit and could make 624 sq ft work if I had too.
Well I have to agree with Don on the size and sq ft. Are you looking at a full time residence or a cabin? One bath for 4 people :o. Even a 1/2 bath would taken the pressure off the main one. The children will get older and require much more space. Not trying to get personal but I assume they are either both girls or both boys then you could put both in the same bedroom but by expanding just a little they could have their own room just a little smaller than the original. I once read that the minimun space for a family of four was 1,000 sqft. But that is nothing in stone.
Quote from: Redoverfarm on December 04, 2007, 11:32:43 PM
One bath for 4 people :o.
That used to be done all the time. I grew up with 2 sisters, Mom & Dad. One bathroom. Period. Everyone had to be quick! ;D
As a mom of 4 (5 if you count the hubby) I have discovered you can not auction your children on Ebay. SO, that option is out. ;D
I I messed up on my numbers (above). :o I think the 624 sq ft would be even a bit smaller than I thought. >:(
What's the problem, Stink? hmm
Reserve not met, or just not allowed?
624 sounds a little small for 4 but 800 very is doable. I grew up in an 800 sq ft house with one bath. We never felt overly cramped.
Scott
We're planning on a couple kids to go along with our house. We're building the 20x30 1-1/2, and we'll put it on a full basement. By doing that we actually wind up with a great deal of floor space. Where we're building, loft space and basements don't count towards square footage, so we can build that without building permits, which lets us save money and stay under the radar a little.
Right now, two of us live in a little over 300 square feet. We have a half-height loft covering 1/3 of our floorplan, and that's where we sleep. Then we have a 7x7 room we keep junk and coffee roasting and exercise equipment in. A tiny kitchen; standinable floor space 3x4, and a bathroom. Loads of fairly intelligent storage and a very open layout. We're more than comfortable here; moving up to what we're building will seem like a mansion. We've been living in these small spaces for the last 3 years.
As for bathrooms, I didn't even realize people had more than one bathroom until I was in my early teens. We had 6 in my family with one bathroom, and it was fine. Two bathrooms is nice, but for a family of only 4 I'd be quite happy with one.
--Derek
I don't know that there is a set formula. You will fill up whatever space you have and our trend today says more is better. That is until you start heating and cooling it. I think it is about adaptability and affordability. Another trend today is to extend the living space onto a deck or patio. Some people have both a living room and a family room/great room, call it what you may. One room is for displaying unused furniture and the other is for use. Some of my builder buddies tell me they are going to switch to building smaller homes, say 1600 sq. ft. ??? I have been living in 1100 sq. ft. for years and 1600 sounds really spacious to me. I live in the country and I have outbuildings for different purposes so that takes some pressure off the need for more sq. ft. under one roof.
This is an intersesting topic because there can be so many variables. At any rate I will cast my vote in the 1000-1200 sq. ft. range for four people and I am going to stay away from e-bay. 8)
Quote from: glenn kangiser on December 05, 2007, 02:22:55 AM
What's the problem, Stink? hmm
Reserve not met, or just not allowed?
Just not allowed.
No pets, children or dead bodies, either in parts or whole. I swear, eBay is just a bunch of facist pigs sometimes. (http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/sprachlos/speechless-smiley-022.gif)
As to the original question, we're essentially the same sized family applegirl. My kids are 6 and 8. We currently live in a 3,600 sq' ranch-style (finished basement). It is *way* more than we need.
But you need to assess what is is you *do* need, and what you'd really *like*.
We don't, for example, "need" a separate family room. It's nice, but it just means our living room is essentially unused. I don't even particularly want one. (Used to think I did, actually, until we moved into a house that had one)
We *need* at least 1.5 baths, preferably two. One on each floor. I've lived in houses with one bath also, and I never want to again. lol
I *need* a mudroom. We live on a ranch, so muddy/stinky clothes & boots need somewhere to be peeled off. And I want it to be located next to the laundry room with a door I can close. (It can be a teeny, tiny room, but I want it in its own space). With a boy and a girl, we need at least three bedrooms. Again, the actual rooms can be small, but we need that much space to cut out those rooms.
So, so far as your plans, you could make it work. Especially if you build over a full basement so you have some immediate room to expand. I would definately put in another half bath, though!
I've come to the conculsion for a home to be usefull it must be atleast 750 sq ft for a family of 4. :o
Just cant seem to figure out how to fit the kids room in a closet sized space. d*
Dimitri
I'm not going to make any crude remarks here. :-X
Nice to see you Dimitri. You are up past your bed time.:)
Nah, finished up something and then figured I'd stop by.
I still can't fit a 2 bedroom home for 4 people in under about 750 sq ft I must be doing something wrong. ???
Dimitri
Stuff the kids in lofts, I guess.
Trying to fit a 3 bedroom home in a 20x30ft area now as I type this, so we will see how it goes! :o
Dimitri
I guess you can do it then, this one took a few hours to mix and match and squeeze everything into it but it worked in the end, its only 600 sq ft (of interior space from the outer walls) maybe not the biggest "master bedroom" in the world but its the master bedroom (includes part of the closet as its space, whereas the kids rooms do not include it). :-\
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/Dimitrios2/600sqfthome.jpg)
Dimitri
Looks like you made it, Dimitri, and there could still be loft space if it had a high pitch roof.
Never really designed a loft space, or really know what one is so. d*
Dimitri
A loft would be an additional room built above the ceiling joists/loft floor joists but under the roof. It could go on top of your bedrooms - bathroom - kitchen - living room or all of the above. It may not be tall enough to stand up in or maybe just in the center area - usually has short walls at the sides and is under the slope of the 12/12 roof. A cheap way to get more living area - can be accessed with a stairs or loft ladder.
Ah I see. ;D
Dimitri
Check out Hal Nash's cabin with loft.
(http://www.countryplans.com/images/nash/bigloftcatwalk.jpg)
http://www.countryplans.com/nash.html
Thats actually the type of thing that came to my head after your explanation. [cool]
I must admit all my floor plans have unfinished FULL basements, to hide the water heater etc in, in the plan I just posted the Guy room has the hatch to go down, which means it can be simply moved downstairs and make a "perminate" way to the basement if the need arises for more space. 8)
Dimitri
Doing it that way you can get a lot of room out of a small footprint.
Dimitri,
what exactly is the "Guy Room" ?
Quote from: StinkerBell on December 09, 2007, 03:02:41 PM
Dimitri,
what exactly is the "Guy Room" ?
The Guy room is for my rifle safe, my hunting and fishing gear and a work bench. So I can clean the rifles, reload ammunition, tie fly fishing flies and add a extra layer of "security" to protect the kids (especially when young from a hook possibly falling onto the ground etc) and for theives breaking in. :D
Dimitri
Gotcha ;)
I thought you were going to say it was your TV Beer drinking room.....lol BUT your definition is so much better and responsible. [cool]
Quote from: StinkerBell on December 09, 2007, 05:20:28 PM
Gotcha ;)
I thought you were going to say it was your TV Beer drinking room.....lol BUT your definition is so much better and responsible. [cool]
Nah, maybe a small TV and radio in the room to listen to news/music, no alcohol cause of the things in that room. Alcohol and fishing from the shore mix with a BBQ, but other then that beer doesn't mix with the type of stuff in that room. I only drink about a case of beer a month anyways. ;)
By the way, if I marry a girl who is into shooting and all then I guess its "our" room but havn't really met any girls into that kind of stuff. :(
Dimitri
It is probably closely related to " Man Cave".
There are lovely ladies who like to shoot and fish.
Quote from: StinkerBell on December 09, 2007, 05:42:00 PM
There are lovely ladies who like to shoot and fish.
Well I havn't met any my age. ???
Dimitri
Ok I will ask.....How old are ya?
I'm 20. [cool]
Dimitri
Hmmmmm.
I see why you said that. Join a rock climbing club or a mapping club (where the go around and do games based on mapping) you will met people there that share similar interest.
Might have to try that. ;D
But from my experience to date, in Ontario Canada, a girl saying she "loves/likes the outdoors" is a girl thats also Pro-PETA, anti-hunting, and anti-fishing. d*
Dimitri
There's gotta be some outdoors lovers who don't mind hunting, fishing and eating animals. I've known some who don't mind the fishing but can't hunt because they have gun "issues" ::)
Fortunately I found one 30 years ago who doesn't mind guns, in fact she tolerates them rather well, even shoots! Present day wife of mine.
My family and I lived in 824 square feet, 2 bed/ 1 bath, quite comfortably for almost 3 years. Of course we only had 3 kids then, and BTW, part of that we were moving room to room as we gutted the place. It all depends on what you are, or can get used to. I think that we could live in a 16X24 2 story for a year or so, but the kids are still young (8, 6, 4, 1), so they don't take up much physical space. We are outside a lot anyway. I might be buying a 2875 ft Craftsman from 1920, gutting and restoring/remodeling it, and have no idea what we will do with all that space! Kind of goes against my personal architectural morals (being so big), but at least I'm not building it from scratch.
This is a very interesting topic to me......We,(me,wife,3 boys 15, 13 & 11) live in a 16 x 24 ( 384 sq. ft. cabin.) Yes it does get tight sometimes but we all spend alot of time outdoors. It is a 12 x 16 storage building with a barn style roof with a 12 x 16 shed roofed addition. The boys sleep in the loft of the storage barn. It's cozy but quaint....We've got our micro wave, small gas range, laundry sink, 5' tub shower, toilet, fridge, computer, TV with VHS/DVD, it's heated by a small wood stove. I could use more room but it just isn't in the works yet. We'll get a bigger house but at least we were able to buy the property we wanted. I think if you HAVE TO you can make do in very little space. I've known many people who have lived on boats and that is much more confined than my house.
That's very interesting and resourceful, Olypen. Always time to grow later if the immediate needs are taken care of. Lets you know how much stuff you can get by without.
Look at me -- I have to live in a hole I the ground.
Currently, while we are building our "larger" home, we (me, wife, and 2 girls) are living in a 300 sq ft camper. It's tight, but we really don't mind it. No one really complains about the space. We enjoy being a family.
I like the link that was posted...loft space is a great idea and what we're planning to use for our kiddos. The other thing to think about if you're building yourself with cash, is that you can start out with something you think is doable but maybe not your end goal and then add on a little later when you have more time and money and a place to live rent-free. There are lots of ways to add on with shed roofs, a second building attached with a mud room or breezeway/deck, or even just build a larger building that better fits "growing" needs a while later completely detatched and rent your little cabin or have it as a guest cabin. We're strongly considering the 14 x 24 linked earlier for our family of 5 (dh and I, roughly 5 and 3 y/o daughters who share a room and 6 mo old baby). We know the size wouldn't last us very long, but even a 10 x 20 addition a year later would help out tremendously, and we could easily do that on each side...especially if we modified the plan with 4' knee walls on the second floor instead of just the plain trusses. Then the roof angle could simply be continued. The fact of the matter is, once we aren't paying rent or a mortgage, we'll have a lot more money to play with and could probably double the size of the house every year if we felt like it and didn't have any fun medical expenses, etc pop up. Okay, way too much about me, but I do think this is doable for a family of 4. The key would be finding out where your house's wasted space is right now so you can do away with that in your next place, and of course, cutting back on the "stuff" you've got. We're slowly working on that one. The wasted space in our house, I've noticed, is in interior walls and large bedrooms. A 20 x 30 living area is more than sufficient for our family if it is open, and then all we need for nightime is enough room for our beds, as long as we've got enough storage somewhere for our clothing, etc.
Anyway, best of luck!
My current apartment is roughly 500 sq ft. its huge for a single guy. 8)
Sorry its off topic I know. d*
Dimitri
I have this theory that 200 sq. ft. per person is enough. So if you have 500 you you have enough for a wife and .5 children. ???
Quote from: ScottA on January 29, 2008, 06:10:09 PM
I have this theory that 200 sq. ft. per person is enough. So if you have 500 you you have enough for a wife and .5 children. ???
Actually a wife and a kid is doable in my 1 bedroom apartment. Especially if I could build a wall on the one side to add a small bedroom for the kid. 8)
But I need to find a sweet cute thing to be my wife before I think about the kid. d*
Dimitri
We're getting away from the idea that the home has to be under one roof. Okay, maybe it does if you live in town on a quarter acre lot or in an apartment, but if you're on ag land, the sky is the limit.
Or at least 120 sq. ft. in our county.
Our plan looks like this:
- Of the family of 4, send two of them off to college. Keep an air bed for when they come home (One at a time).
- If college is a stretch for the 9 year old, go with an extra bedroom, but the concept is the same.
- Build John's 20'x30' cottage. This is for sleeping and getting ready for work on the farm or in town.
- Everything else is an accessory or ag building. The former just needs to be <=120 sq. ft. and can be a wash house out near the field, a place for a sofa and books, whatever. The later needs a permit, but ag exemptions are easy to get as long as you don't sleep in the building (I simplify a bit here).
- Barn, once we hit a certain growth point. Our neighbor has an empty barn he paid $85K for.
- Railroad container. Tough as all get out. You can stick lathe on them and grow climbing plants to make them look nice. Or paint dirty words on them and face them toward your neighbors. It all depends on how you feel.
So what does a family of 4 "need"? Space to sleep safely, space for -that season's- clothes (store your shorts in January), space to clean yourself up before and after bed, and space to eat dinner when it's raining or snowing. Everything else can happen in out buildings.
Our son wants to take over our earliest 120 sf. shed, insulate it, and make it his crash pad when he comes over. Don't tell the county.
Our place is below the snow line and we go from the 30s to the 100s during the year. This is the California Gold Country, so it's drier than some places. YMMV, but adapting is what we two-legged vermin do best.
I have a guy room, too. It's right on the other side of the front door. :D