Minimum house size for family of four to be comfortable, not too elaborate

I would be interested to know peoples opinions. I think the minimum I would need would be about 200sqm house. 3 bedroom, 1 study, 2 lounges, 1 dining, double garage, outdoor BBQ area. 600sqm block.

 

I'm not seeing dedicated home theatre room there? Surely that's a minimum requirement?

 

Yep, well that's why I'm wondering what others ideals are - I only watch underbelly, and the odd bit of TV, spend waay too much time on the computer!!
Charlie Sheen kinda erks me a bit too much now, so I've stopped watching 2 1/2Men

 

I'm not sure on the actual sizes, but I think the requirement depend a bit on the age of the children.
I used to think our house was big enough, when our kids were little... just have to make sure you have 2 separate living areas. But now that the kids are hitting teenage years, I feel like we need additional space. Our bedrooms for the kids are quite small, and there doesn't feel like there is anywhere to escape from the noise!

Pen

 

I hear you Penny, I couldn't imagine living with teenagers!

And I hear they don't move out these days either.

 

3 beds, a kitchen, a bathroom, a laundry and lounge.

Everything else is a luxury and is open to millions of opinions

Cheers

Mick

 

I'd say 3 bed, definately 2 baths, a lounge, dining, kitchen and a little bit of outdoor living too. Pretty much exactly what I'm building in Mona Vale...

if you've got teenage kids then you definately need a second bathroom. We're building ensuites to the main bedroom and a full main bathroom.

Ideally a separate living area for the kids would be nice, but you can take turns in the lounge with the TV. A study is an bonus so the kids can do their computer time, but they've probably got these in their own bedrooms now anyway...

So, yep, 3 bed, 2 bath. The rest is window dressing.

Cheers,
Michael

 

We have 180sqm, double garage with internal access, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 750sqm block, and we have more room than we could possibly need.

 

Depends what you mean by comfortable. We have frequent interstate visitors staying with us and it's not nice to make them sleep in the lounge (while it's not comfortable for them, it doesn't sit well with us either!) So I'm thinking 4 bedroom is the minimum for us. The 4th bedroom to be used as a study / home office / guest room.

Our house is currently 3 bedrooms and I'm finding it a tad small for when 1 kid arrives, let alone 2!!

 

We are in a 90sqm, 3bed, 1 lounge house for 4 people. Massive kitchen which we have our study set up in. It works ... barely. The size is less of an issue than the fact we don't have a separate toilet and the bedrooms have no built in robes so the space isn't used as well as it could be. And of course we moved from a larger house so most of our furniture is rather huge, had we bought it while we were living here we'd have smaller furniture.

We are building a 150sqm, 4 bed, 2 living, 2 bathroom house at the moment, which will be perfectly fine for us for several years. When we outgrow that, I want a house with a self-contained teenager suite (or granny flat) that can be converted to a guest room when said teenager moves out.

Having one kid that is much older makes it problematic, actually. With babies and toddlers a toilet in the bathroom is fine, once you have a self-conscious tweenager that wants privacy, you get bathroom contention issues.

 

Yes above size good.
Try for livings areas on northside and if kitchen / dining can face east for morning sun excellent!

A 10m x 3.5 metre stratco awning is about 7K installed and that gives enough undercover area.


Regards
Sheryn

PS - Don't forget you will a garden shed of lawn mower etc.

 

Now, I'm laughing my head off.

Two loungerooms - not required.

Double garage - not required

Study - not required.

Dining room - not required.

I'll bet there are 2 bathrooms or so?

In broad terms, this is a 20 square house.

Now, I can assure you that I grew up in various houses that were probably no more than about 12 squares - there were 4 of us which grew to 6.

Of course, this was 1970 and onwards; not 2010 where everyone now expects to start off at the top and work their way up.

Mind you; it is all dependant on your income as well. If you are on a high wage then sure; go beserk - you can afford it.

 

I think both the lifestyle and houses were different in the 70's though. When I was growing up (in a house about 3x as big as the one I'm in now, but with considerably more people - btw 8 and 12), the kids never spent any time in the house. We roamed the neighbourhood in "gangs", played in the stormwater drains, and made bridges across the creek in the backyard. These days, rightly or wrongly, kids spend all their time indoors and parents could be taken to court for letting their kids play in the stormwater drains!
Also, I think bedrooms were larger in older houses. Maybe in the McMansions they are back to bigger sizes, but I have an "in btw" house, and 2 of the rooms only just fit a bed and a wardrobe. There is no extra bedroom living space, like there was when I was growing up.
Also, the question wasn't to say what was "essential"... it was what was comfortable. We lived in a 2 bed unit in Germany for 2 months... one bedroom was for the nanny, and the other for me and kids. When hubby came home on w/e's, the kids were kicked out to the lounge room. It was fine for 2 months, we really enjoyed living a very simple life... no internet or phone, and TV only in German. But long term, it wouldn't have been so comfortable!
Pen

 

So what are you building then, a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with no garage?

I don't know what you're getting at. When you were celebrating 1 million net worth, I'd passed that many years ago, just didn't feel the need to advertise it.

http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43812

Why are you laughing your head off?

 

How big is your family and how old are the kids? Yes of course we want more living spaces, a second bathroom would be great, games room and a study ... but our needs will change in ten years time anyway as the current flock of children reach adulthood and (we hope) (push) move out! Then our currently squishy house will be spacious again ...

 

There's many reasons why I'm wondering this question.

1) My kids are 10 and 7. I currently have a 5x2 with 2 bathrooms, double garage, huge games room 2 dining area's, 2 lounges, double garage and bbq area. I think it's about 350sqm, 816sqm block. We currently use about 2/3 of it. Mortgage free. We purchased about 7 yrs ago, and for an extra $10,000 we ended up with a property about a third bigger than other properties on the market. Although it was bigger than what we required it seemed like a good tax free investment.

Before that we lived in a 3bed, 1 bathroom, about 90sqm, no garage, outside ent area 1600sqm block. House was way too small - It was definately a happier household having more space and less time mowing.

We'll be living interstate for a couple of years, and may possibly come back to this house. I found having the extra space i ended up with more furniture and cr%# then we need so I've changed that habit. I think furniture can be choosen wisely to elimate wasted space in homes.

2) I've been looking for properties to add value to. I see a 400sqm block as a tiny block, but for some, it may be good sized block. I want to hear other opinions as I may be writing off desireable features as undesirable. I found a property in need of a reno today, desirable location, 4x1 - 70's style 400sqm block.

3) I've also been thinking about my parents upgrading from a 3x2 to a 4x2 when us kids were teenagers. Now there is only them, and they say they will end up no better off downgrading after stamp duty and selling fees - which I tend to agree.

 

It all depends on the ages and size of your family that determines what is comfortable.

A single person will obviously need less than a family with small children, who will need less than a family with older children.

We built a detached rumpus room last year to accommodate the many regular visitors to our house.

The small second living area just wasn't cutting it + these visitors tend to be loud and stay till late.

We also have 3 vehicles now so a 3x1x1 would never do us.

Ideally I would find a 4 bed, 2 living areas, one a large with adequate dining inc, 2 bath, 2 garage, detached rumpus and functional outdoor area comfortable for my family.

We have all this now except second living is mostly our second dine and we have 3 bedrooms.

Rumpus will become a granny flat after the kids have gone (don't want to give them any ideas).

 

AND I'll add to that

4) For about $220,000 each I can build 2 houses at the back of the house I mentioned in previous post (1) as the land is already paid for. (the 3x1 is rented for $340/wk, $200,000 mortgage). So I'm thinking of maybe selling the house I'm in now once it reaches a certain value, pay out all debts, and hubby can retire.

 

You should have worded your original question better - as in not what forumites find sufficient, but what the average renter/family would like!

If I had money (which I don't .. yet), I'd be buying the triple block down the road and building 3 of basically the same house we're currently building on there.

Its great value for money - 4x2 (master with ensuite and WIR), 2 living (one has kitchen and dining), nice layout, works well on long narrow north-facing blocks. It is only 150sqm because the floor plan is incredibly efficient - no wasted space for hallways and stuff, which makes it cheaper and no real surprise it is one of their most popular designs. The downside is it is quite low on storage unless you put a linen press in the laundry, and it isn't a big house. But it will do us nicely for a few years, then we move on.

Attached design is of course copyright Rivergum homes and needs a garage added. Costs $85k base

 

My apologies I.

I was assuming you were the a-typical high earning IT working, first home buying, somersoft armchair expert we seem to be over-run with these days who tell us life is tough.

You hereby have my blessing to go absolutely beserk and build a monster. Twenty squares? pffft.

Make sure the theatre room is in there as well. And a pool