It's very clear some of you have never lived in small houses. LOL! You'll save some space if you get rid of the idea of a master bedroom/bath to put elsewhere, like into a living room, keeping all the bedrooms the same size, with communal bathrooms. One bathroom is very doable for a house that size, but two is very nice.
ETA: 2000sqf home is a decent sized house.
2k is definitely not small in the way that I usually think of sq ft of a house, but including garage/porch in that really knocks it down unless you are just going to go without either. I’m guessing something like a carport or pergola would count as well with these strict guidelines.
It's very clear some of you have never lived in small houses. LOL! You'll save some space if you get rid of the idea of a master bedroom/bath to put elsewhere, like into a living room, keeping all the bedrooms the same size, with communal bathrooms. One bathroom is very doable for a house that size, but two is very nice.
ETA: 2000sqf home is a decent sized house.
I've lived in some SMALL spaces (580-1000 sq ft) that had a master suite plus two more bedrooms and a hall bath. But I sure as hell have never had a double vanity, lol.
That's my thought process, create bigger communal bathrooms by not putting in a master bath. Double vanities are nice. I miss having one in our bathroom. (We removed it for a single to add room for a walk in shower that we created by removing the tub.)
Which is another idea, if y'all aren't bath people, just go with showers. Even though we're in our early 40s, when we were redoing the house we had an eye for what we could do to help with decreased mobility as we age.
Post by Patsy Baloney on May 12, 2021 8:56:19 GMT -5
Ok, I drew a picture of my house. It's 1800 sqft, plus a garage/storage area that likely takes up that other 2000 sqft area. A garage is necessary for us. We live in an area that has really bad winters. We lived without for many years, and it was terrible hoping that our cars didn't get hail damage, adding 30 minutes to our morning to dig out and defrost the cars, etc.
Basically, I never want to live in any house but this one. It is perfect. The secret to its perfection is that the laundry/pantry/utility room are all a combined space that is a hallway through the center of the house. You can access it from the main hallway that gets you to the bedrooms, or from the kitchen. When we close the doors, you'd never know it was there. It's like efficiency Narnia. We have 2 living spaces - the front area we use as a dining area and living room space without a TV. We have our piano in there, a shelf for board games, couch, etc.
Our second living space has a large fireplace, our TV/game systems, and a slider to the back yard. The kitchen I suppose is technically a galley kitchen, but it is spacious and open on both sides so no one is getting trapped on one side of the kitchen if there are other people helping to cook.
We have a coat closet, big closets in each of the smaller bedrooms (both bedrooms could easily fit a queen bed and dressers), and the primary bedroom is extremely large with a small connected bathroom (bath/shower combo, toilet, vanity, nothing major) and 2 closets.
Our garage also has a large storage room and a "mudroom"-type area off of the kitchen. It's not heated/cooled, but is a good place to strip off boots, coats, and all the winter junk.
This is my rendition of our layout - obviously not to scale, but I really do think it's the perfect home.
ETA: We do have a small patio outside the back slider, so that would also be a little more square footage, as well. It's probably 10x10 or 10x12? It's big enough for a planter, a few lawn chairs, and a place to step down when you're headed out the back door.
I will give up a lot to have my garage. Might not need double, though H uses his side for a gym, so maybe?
My must haves: Master bathroom with ensuite. I don't need anything big, but I want my own bathroom. Efficient kitchen (galley, likely) with eat in kitchen would be fine. We use our dining room every day but I don't need a separate space. Garage space for at least one car and all my gardening/winter stuff. For four people I'd likely do a Jack and Jill bath with the bathroom accessible to visitors. Laundry near the bedrooms.
If you can't develop any outdoor space without it counting towards your 2000 sq ft, I'd forego a true patio or maybe just do some gravel. Does that count as "developed"?
I'd want 2 full baths, both near the bedrooms, but if I had that I could do without an en suite master bath. We're currently selling a 1950 sf. house with 4 beds and 1.5 baths. One of the things that didn't work well was that there were 4 beds and 1 bath upstairs, and then the half bath was downstairs, about as far away from all the bedrooms as you could get. Turning the 1/2 bath into a full wouldn't have been very helpful, and 1 full bath for 4-5 people was tough in our experience.
I've never had a single story house so I'm not terribly helpful on other needs/wants for that specific size/layout.
We have just under 2000sf which includes our finished basement, but not our garage and porches (those are a smidgen over the basement total). So thinking as if we didn't have the basement, we'd be okay with 4 people here, we just wouldn't have a guest room. We do have one big living, dining, kitchen.
Basically, that isn't a lot of space for what people are listing here. I'm pretty easy to please, but the only thing I would have to have is space outdoors for eating and sitting.
Compared to most on this board, we live small. I feel like that would be very doable. If our townhouse was sfh it'd be pretty sweet. The rooms are very nice proportionally.
Lot size 1,621 includes 705 sq ft home, large 2 car garage (includes washer & dryer), and backyard/patio basically the size of the garage. The home is basically a square of 1 bedroom, 1 bath, little hallway with closets, open living area and dining area, and kitchen. With an additional 379 sq ft It would be nice to add at least 1 more bedroom and a half bath. It would be really cool to have a little loft like you see in tiny houses, but our roof is not tall enough for that.
My favorite house we toured while house hunting was 1602 sq ft with 3 bed 2 bath 1 office/den and 2 living spaces. Laundry doubled as entry way from garage which is super common in my city. All living and sleeping spaces were separated nicely by bathrooms and/or closets and a small hallway for the non master bedrooms. If you had a 1/1.5 garage and a smaller patio that's doable for 2000 sq ft.
Designated storage area. In CA at my IL’s house that ends up being an attic space above the garage in a house with no basement (so even building a taller roof for storage might be worth considering, depending on height restrictions). In CO, our dedicated storage area is basement, unfinished area.
I grew up in a ranch with basement that was total 2000 SF, so basement. It was cozy in our teen years, so having the basement spaces with additional bathroom and TV area helped make it tolerable. We spend time at ILs suburban ranch house in CA, no basement, it’s really crowded when we stay there with 6-7 people, 3 bedrooms. In part, the bedrooms could be a bit bigger to fit a bed and be able to walk around. Guessing they were ok for DH growing up. Having outdoor space and 2 couch areas helps spread everyone out. I think though that these SF are living space, not including garage.
Other things: 2 baths min. and I wouldn’t necessarily have one of those be a master. More than one seating/gathering/family space if it will fit, and it doesn’t have to be single purpose. Bedrooms big enough to comfortably fit a queen size bed and a typical dresser. Kitchen with good storage and light, seating area for a table big enough for the family plus 1-2 additional guests if possible.
She said the 2000 sf has to include all the developed space, so whether there's a garage or a carport or a parking pad doesn't matter, it has to be included. No basement, no attic storage. So that leaves about 1500-1600 sf living space. Some of these posts are written as though it's 2000 sf living space, excluding garage and additional basement.
My house is 1250 sf on a slab, no basement no attic (we don't have kids), so I'd just be designing a bigger version of what we have now. 3 bed, 2 bath (well, 1.75. Master bath just has a shower and the master bathroom is small but I'm actually totally fine with it), I would never live someplace with just one bathroom. Great room adjacent to kitchen, eat-in kitchen (wish mine was a little bigger). The garage is attached and our w/d is in the garage - and, it's fine. (The garage has like an extra four feet of space in front of the parking area, in addition to the w/d, we also store things there).
Make sure you have one big hall/linen closet, another small coat closet. We have a galley kitchen, but you can get something bigger than that. Big semi-walk in pantry. Our master bedroom is 15x14 which I find completely adequate, but the other two bedrooms are only 11x11 and 11x10 and I wish they were a little bigger. Those and our living room.
Wait, does the 2000 of developed space also have to include the driveway in front of the garage? Because that's going to make the livable space even smaller if so. Will leave you with about what we have (1250 sf).
Post by secretagent on May 12, 2021 9:53:04 GMT -5
Our last house has a galley kitchen separated from the dining room by a full bath. The other bath had a chimney running through it. With a better layout, I could have had my island AND one double vanity. I’ve never had a large bathroom. Our new (1955 lol) house has 5x10 baths and they’re significantly larger than my old ones.
I do think this can work with careful planning! All of the rooms at that house were small but functional.
Do you need a guest/office space? We do but probably won’t in 10 years so this is very stage of life dependent I think!
If you live in a place with mild weather (and maybe no yard or plan to hire our yard work?) the garage is probably less of an issue than it is in my head. My area is mostly 1 car garages and we really searched for an affordable home with a larger garage.
I am fascinated by these super strict building restrictions.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on May 12, 2021 10:03:05 GMT -5
Patsy Baloney I'm screenshotting that drawing. That layout is fairly similar to my house but with a couple key differences that seem they would make our layout 1000% more practical.
I am thinking about what I would change about my house. Our current house is about 1200 square feet, 3 bedroom one bath. We also have a 9x13 screened porch and an enclosed carport-like area that houses the washer and dryer and outdoor storage items. Total covered space is probably pretty close to your max.
What I would change: an extra bathroom! I would add a small master bath without a tub.
What works for us: All 3 bedrooms are the same size, 11x13. The master fits a king size bed with a nightstand on each side, one dresser and one chest of drawers. There is not much extra space, but it works fine. There are no walk in closets, but the master has 2 standard closets instead of one.
Since there are only 3 of us, we are able to use the 3rd bedroom closet as storage for coats, seasonal decorations, and extra blankets. This room is our office, which we had to stick into the corner of the living room when we only had 2 bedrooms.
Our kitchen does not have an island, but it has plenty of cabinets and pantry space. We have one eating area, no breakfast nook/extra space, which is fine.
Honestly, I like this size house. Mine has some things I would reconfigure if we owned it (like laundry access), but I do not feel cramped or tight at all in this amount of space.
Post by turkletsmom on May 12, 2021 10:23:58 GMT -5
I grew up in 1800sqft with no basement or garage. One whole wall of our living room had reach in closets with bifold doors that provided a lot of storage. It was 4bds 2baths with a eat in kitchen and unnecessary large dining room.
For me now I'd want just the eat in kitchen and have the bedrooms have large closets. I'd also want either a laundry room or laundry closet with a ton of shelving going up.
My friend has a small back porch but has a large outdoor closet right off the side of it with shelving floor to ceiling where she keeps holiday decorations and outdoor toys. On the floor space is their mower and bikes. It's a great use of space.
Post by keweenawlove on May 12, 2021 10:25:59 GMT -5
With 4 people, I'd want to prioritize having two living room type spaces. The first house I owned had a sitting room off the kitchen and a basement living room. It was 3BR, 2 bath (2nd just had a shower) and ~1500 sq feet (including the basement) so I think you could do something similar with 1 level and still have sq ft for a garage. Also, I like having a second full (or at least 3/4) bath for when we have people over.
I think your best bet is to look at house plans online; some of them have 3-D tours to help you really visualize what you're getting. I think I'd want at least a 1 car garage, as that will provide more flexible storage than a shed. You could heat/cool it to allow for "safe" storage of items, and if you're going to do any of your own yard maintenance, you'll need some sort of storage for yard tools. I would also definitely skip walk-in closets. They chew up a lot more floor space than regular closets. My house was built in 1968, and there are two regular closets in the master bedroom. They provide plenty of space.
This is basically what we have if you count garage/patio/shed in sqf. The actual house is 1500 (and some change) sqf and with that you can make 3 bedrooms (2 are very small), 2 bathrooms (1 is very small), two living spaces, 1 dining space, 1 small kitchen, 2 hall closets, 1 stupid furnace closet (which I would design differently if you are starting from scratch and put HVAC in attic/roof/garage/somewhere else), and 1 pantry (that pantry came because we moved the w&d to the garage.. which I highly suggest to maximize inside space when living in a smallish house). Our kitchen is small but if layout is right, it doesn’t matter so much. In short I’m mostly really happy with this layout/size.
Post by chilerellanos on May 12, 2021 10:39:01 GMT -5
The house I currently moved to is essentially this.
It does include a basement so there’s laundry abs storage, plus a second living space, half bath, and a bedroom down there.
Upstairs is an open living room/eating area/kitchen space.
Then two bedrooms and a full bath.
We have a small patio and a small covered front porch. There’s a very small garage/shed as well.
It’s definitely not huge but the layout works for us, and having dedicated storage space and a second living area is everything! Especially because my kids are older.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on May 12, 2021 10:44:39 GMT -5
I don't think I would need a dining room if our kitchen had usable space for eating. We use our dining room every day, but that's because our kitchen layout is stupid.
Can you have a finished attic space for storage? If so, I'd have something like that. If not, I agree with an above poster that some sort of communal storage that is cedar-lined would be smart. With built-in floor to ceiling modular shelving that could be moved to accommodate whatever you are storing. You can accomplish that with a little bigger garage, but then it's not temperature-controlled and more exposed to critters.
I'd also have a larger shower in a master bathroom (but no tub) and a large tub in the second bathroom.
I've seen smaller houses that are built in a sort of u-shape around a courtyard in the middle (front or back). When in the back, the walls were floor-to-ceiling glass and allowed for incredible light making the indoor spaces feel much more spacious and yet still separate from each other, and they were private from neighbors because of the u-shape of the home.
If you have a garage, this is going to be a fairly small home, so I'd leverage as much between-the-stud storage as you can in the interior walls if you don't like clutter. My master bathroom has insufficient storage for towels AND toiletries, so I'm looking at between-the-stud solutions with adjustable shelves so all the toiletries, medicines, first aid stuff, etc. can be organized but not shoved in a pile under my bathroom sink where it is hard to access.
You might consider stackable laundry basket storage in the laundry room. That way in smaller bedrooms, people don't have to have a laundry basket - they can just put their dirty clothes in their own basket in the laundry room, and when it is big enough for a load, wash it and put it away.
Post by downtoearth on May 12, 2021 11:07:52 GMT -5
Do patios count as sq ft? Just concrete, no deck or cover? That would be so hard not to include that. I want windows and outdoor living space as priorities for my house (now and if I buy again). I also would want 3 bedrooms and 1.5-2 bathrooms. I'd be okay with just a shower in one bathroom and a shower/bath in another. Otherwise, I like open concept living, as long as there are bedrooms for quiet time and storage in a crawlspace or garage, so it doesn't feel like you are storing things in the open concept. Even a pantry isn't necessary if you have creative storage in the kitchen for me. Although I do find that larger things from Costco (like garbage bags and detergent) don't fit well in the main floor of my house. So I just don't shop there anymore really.
I would do something like this, but modified... maybe a 1.5 car garage to save that extra space for the house and patio.
Thanks, everyone for these fantastic suggestions. I should have mentioned that a paved parking area (with no other features, just the cement) is not included in the count and is required. So we’ll have that covered.
the Origin 1900 plan from BluHomes has an internal laundry/passage/pantry like you have. i thought it was intriguing. I’m glad to hear you love that feature.
the Origin 1900 plan from BluHomes has an internal laundry/passage/pantry like you have. i thought it was intriguing. I’m glad to hear you love that feature.