Living in a small home can have so many benefits, however there are a negatives to small home living as well. We live in a 950 square foot home as a family of five. Our family enjoys small home living and how it has positively affected our finances and our relationships.
With the way the housing market is lately, the high interest rates and just the cost of living, living small seems to make sense. “Bigger is always better” as the saying goes in America, is not always true when it comes to our home size. So let me start off with sharing the pros of living in a small home. These are what I’m sharing about, however, I know there are more pros that I have heard from others who choose this small home living.
~Less Space to Clean
~Lower Expenses
~Less Stuff
~Creates More Bonding
~Lower Upgrade Costs
~Less Debt
Less Space to Clean
When there is less square footage in a home there will undoubtably be less space to clean. My 950 square foot home will take way less time to vacuum, dust and mop than a 2000 square foot home. Who wouldn’t be for less time cleaning and more time to do as we please?!
Lower Expenses
Living in a small home has lower cost of living and lower expenses. The heating and air conditioning, the electrical – it all will be less as there is smaller space to have to warm and cool. We get all four seasons where I’m at in the upper midwest. With that said, heat in the winter and A/C in the summer is a must. Our costs still remain descent for being used consantly in the extreme temperatures because of our house size.
Less Stuff
With smaller homes we tend to have less stuff. What I mean by that is we do not have two living spaces to furnish, two or more bathrooms to get supplies and decor for or multiple guest bedrooms to buy pieces for. Much can be spent on just furniture and decor alone in a home, and having less space to fill helps immensely.
Decluttering in a small home often is easier. I do not have as many rooms or storage areas to look through when I declutter. This makes it much easier to maintain a more minimal home and free up my mind and time.
Creates More Bonding
Small houses tend to create an atmosphere of relationship and bonding. We spend much of our time as a family in the same small area. I’m cooking in the kitchen while the kids are doing a craft at the table right next to me. My husband and I get more time in each others presence as we usually spend our evenings in our living area instead of going to our separate rooms. When there is less space and rooms to drift off too, the tendency is to spend more time in the same areas.
Lower Upgrade Costs
When it comes to upgrading the home, a smaller home would have less costs. For example, there are less windows in my home that have to be replaced when the time comes. Or when we reside the house, or shingle the roof, the expenses will be quite a contrast to a home that is double or triple our 950 square foot.
Less Debt
Having a small home tends to help with creating more debt. It would obviously cost less to buy a small home over a larger one, so the loans you take out are less to pay back and the mortgage is smaller. I’m all for purchasing items debt free, but if debt does happen, a small home purchase would help keep that debt to a minimum.
Now that we’ve touched on several pros, here are the two cons I came up with.
~Run into eachother more often
~ Harder to host large gatherings
More crowded
Small homes do feel more crowded when there are more people living in the space. Like I shared at the beginning, we are a family of 5 (three kids 5 and under and my husband) in a 950 square foot home. There is one bathroom, which can sometimes be an issue, especially as our two girls continue to get bigger.
We’ve also run into the issue in our two bedroom small home of our kids waking up other kids in the night or for naps. It’s a minor issue when we really think about it, but it does happen. A crying baby is hard to not wake others up when the rooms are so close. I do have to say though, my kids have learned to sleep through much of the extra noise and crying.
Harder to host large gatherings
In a small home a large gathering would be more challenging. I can’t always volunteer to host our large family Christmas or Easter as it tends to feel to cramped with so many adults and kids. Don’t get me wrong though, I have hosted 25 ladies in our home. It honestly did not feel overly crowded and there was a decent amount of space to move around in. In the warmer months our outdoor space has been an asset for being able to host. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but it seems that the smaller homes have larger yards. If the home takes up less of the property, then the outdoor space would be greater.
With the small home living, the cons can often just be inconveniences for most of us. We tend to just make things work with life in our home, even if it is more challenging. I’m home most days with the kids, and I love it. My home is my sanctuary and place I enjoy being in. I still open up my home to guests often and we still sleep pretty well through the night.
We love our little home and I hope more people feel like they can live well in a small space.
I hope that if you are considering a downsizing or buying a home, that you consider a small house.
Many blessings
Love,
Davee
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