It’s a small, small (smaller than I thought!) world
Size can be a relative thing; what’s small to one person can be large to another. The owner of a 10,000 square foot house would probably refer to a 3000 square foot house as a cottage while the owner of 1000 square foot house might consider 3000 square feet a mansion. We were definitely living in a small house but we didn’t set out to build a mansion. We didn’t even want a “large” house necessarily. We simply wanted a place that was large enough to fit our growing family, had a beautiful setting, and that wouldn’t be overwhelming to manage once our little birds had flown the coop. (Still a ways off, but most definitely closer than we think!) At 950 square feet, our little house simply wasn’t going to do the trick. No doubt, it fit the bill in terms of future manageability and location, but its size was already killing usâ€â€especially considering that we had no storage space, no closets, a single living area that served as two offices, eating place, homework haven, piano practice and TV room, as well as a bathroom that was already unsuitable for 5 people. We needed something larger. But first, let’s put small into perspective.
The footprint of our house is 22 x 26, which simple math will tell you is 1144 square feet, which is also the number that appeared on the real estate prospectus when we first looked at and purchased our house. But that number is fairly deceptive once you consider how much living space is actually contained within that 1144 square foot footprint, which is as follows: Kitchen-104.5 SF, Pantry-22 SF, Living/Dining Room-286 SF, Entry (incl. closets)-104.5 SF, Bathroom-54 SF, Bedroom 1-132 SF, Bedroom 2-135 SF, Bedroom 3-112.5 SF, Upstairs hallway-22 SF. There is also an eaves area that we used for storage, but there’s no way in can be considered actual living space. Total usable square footage?: 972.5 SF. But this is still deceiving because, while bedrooms 1 & 2 have more square footage than bedroom 3, bedroom 3 is actually the largest bedroom in the house.
Take a look at the photo to the right and you’ll notice two windows at the front of the house. The window to the left is in bedroom 3 and the one to the right is in bedroom 2. If you look even more closely at the picture you’ll notice that bedroom 3 has a shed dormer, making it the only bedroom in the house where you can actually stand at full height throughout the room. So, even at 112.5 SF, it’s bigger than both bedroom 1 and 2. Have a look at these three pictures:
Bedroom 2 North
Bedroom 2 South
Bedroom 1
You’ll notice that in both rooms the roof-line eats into more than half the room. Actual usable space in these bedrooms?: Bedroom 1-66 SF, Bedroom 2-50 SF. Actual living space (and, mind you, this includes closet space)?: 821.5 SF.
Ouch! It’s even smaller than I thought.