Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 02, 2010 5:16 pm Soo we are building a single story home. It is two of us at the moment but we want it to be our family home which we may stay in for a long while. We have figured it will be about 40sq but after looking at a lot of peoples plans this seems to be quite large, especially for a single story. What do you consider a good sized single story family home? Re: What would you consider a good size? 2Apr 02, 2010 5:33 pm I think a 30-35sq home is a good size - big enough for a family but not too big to maintain Re: What would you consider a good size? 4Apr 02, 2010 5:51 pm Hmmm, there have been many threads on this before - some of which have got a bit out of hand Anyway, I think the question is way too broad - far too many variables - quite apart from the obvious one of budget and liveing within your means - but some people have larger families, extended families, different lifestyles - eg some want home theatres, home office if they work from home etc etc. Others would rather not squeeze as much house as possible onto the block but leave space for a bigger garden and outdoor area. 40sq is certainly a large house. I agree with emilygirl - bigger isnt always better - I could easily afford to build bigger - but why, I dont need or want it I have a 23 sq house, that includes 3B, 2 liveing areas, 2 bathrooms, double garage - does not include the 'alfresco' area as that was built on afterwards. Plenty big enough for 2 of us and one child - he is moveing to go to Uni next year anyway, then it will just be 2 of us. Re: What would you consider a good size? 5Apr 02, 2010 6:01 pm Our plan has 4 bed + study. 3 Bathroom and 3 living areas (main living, kids rumpus and media) We were going to put in a games room for a pool table but it makes the house quite large so we may wait and leave it for when we build a room out by the pool. We had a plan done up with standard sized rooms WITH a games room and it came in at 350sqm. I've seen a lot of smaller houses with an extra room. We've been pretty generous and made kids rooms and study 4x4 and made the living areas a bit more roomy so it doesn't feel so closed in. Now I am wondering if I am being stupid. Helyn we are on acreage so we have more than enough yard. I understnad what your saying. Our house is low 20sq. 4 bed 2 bath 1 full living and the dining is kind of a room and a half and I always said it needed a kids playroom and an extra bedroom for guests and it would be fine. But when we've looked at building you want bigger kitchen, butlers pantry, bigger laundry etc you wonder where do you draw the line. Re: What would you consider a good size? 6Apr 02, 2010 6:04 pm Quote: Helyn we are on acreage so we have more than enough yard. I understnad what your saying My comment wasnt about your situation in particular - just an example of how peoples priorites can differ Re: What would you consider a good size? 7Apr 02, 2010 6:06 pm Helyn - far too many variables - Agreed. We have a 525sqm block and wanted a a yard. There is only the two of us so we didn't need many bedrooms or too many living areas. We opted for a double story with a footprint of only around 140sqm. So we have a larger than these days, sized backyard. The downstairs living area as well as a smaller tv area upstairs for when we want to watch something different. Study and one bedroom used for our own 'hide away' and the other minor room for who ever needs to stay if the need arrises. So you need to consider what you want from the house and land. If you think its the right size and affordable for you and your family to be, then it is. NO EXPECTATIONS, NO DISAPPOINTMENTS! Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=27441 Landscaping Thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=43969 Re: What would you consider a good size? 8Apr 02, 2010 6:25 pm How many kids will you have? (and you might want a crystal ball; because I was only having two, but somehow ended up with three.... plus a stepchild. And three step-grandchildren. ) Will either or both of you work from home? Do you need space for hobbies or to accomodate frequently visiting relatives? Big yard, small yard, no yard? How big a block do you have? ....how much can you afford to spend? Re: What would you consider a good size? 9Apr 02, 2010 6:38 pm kek How many kids will you have? (and you might want a crystal ball; because I was only having two, but somehow ended up with three.... plus a stepchild. And three step-grandchildren. ) Will either or both of you work from home? Do you need space for hobbies or to accomodate frequently visiting relatives? Big yard, small yard, no yard? How big a block do you have? ....how much can you afford to spend? haha yes it definitely doesn't always work out how you planned. We would like two but would be very lucky for it to happen. I may one day work from home which would just require a computer and we are leaving one spare room for guests, my mum stays with us sometimes. No hobbies, just a shed for hubbys race car. Huge yard we are on 4000sqm and we can afford to spend a lot more than what 40sq is going to cost but don't want to overbuild for the area. I think we might go through some display homes again and look at the room sizes we like and take the measurements down. Its hard to judge by a piece of paper Re: What would you consider a good size? 10Apr 02, 2010 7:23 pm As a kid, I lived in a big house and developed a "taste for space". There were rooms in the house that were only used for infrequent entertaining and there was a big lounge-room that housed the "radiogram" - I reckon I was the only family member that used that room, cause I loved music and wasn't a TV fanatic (except for 77 Sunset strip on Friday nights - sorta dates me, doesn't it? ) Anyways, over the years I've lived with a wife and kid in accommodation as small as a studio flat in Sydney where the only "bedroom" was a bed that folded out of the wall in the lounge room. My take on it is you adapt to what you've got. But, where there's a choice, I'll favour space - both inside and out. We're now retired "empty-nesters" in a 420 sq m house on 20 acres with 2 massive sheds - one set up as another house and one that houses the tractor, trailer truck, horsefloat, workshop etc etc. We enjoy the challenge of continually improving the property - it's a hobby, lifestyle and passion. Material possessions don't really mean that much to us, but we'd prefer to have a home we love to most other things you can have instead of money in the bank or in investments. Because home is where you LIVE and it affects most hours of your life. The fact that it will never be "finished" is fine, because "what would we do then?":? Personally, travelling around Australia as a "grey nomad" and maintaining a small "lock up and leave home base" would be another viable option for me, but wouldn't suit Mrs zeke. Similarly, a waterfront home with a nice big boat. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that we are all different and have different priorities. We all make compromises based not only on age, health and finances and family circumstances - but also on the basis of what's important to us and those with whom we share our life. So, I would consider a "good size" to be whatever you're comfortable with. I don't judge friends and rellies that live in tiny houses in spite of owning several investment properties. That's what suits them. So I trust them to accept and respect the choices we have made. I guess this rave is partly prompted by the unfathomable nature of the origin question and also by an increasingly uncomfortable feeling lately that some people think we're crazy for living in a property that's bigger than we "need". Maybe we are, but life's too short to not be a little bit crazy sometimes - and it's a lovely feeling that we never have to avoid having big parties, family gatherings etc or providing accommodation for interstate visitors due to insufficient space. We're happy to put in the work required to maintain and develop a big property in return for the joy it gives us every day, the healthy exercise it "forces" on us and the warmth of having frequent visitors and guests who seem to love staying here. And there'll be nice memories if and when we have to relinquish what we have now for a nursing-home berth. (May it never happen) Just my 2c worth.... Cheers zeke Re: What would you consider a good size? 11Apr 02, 2010 7:40 pm As someone with three children, I don't think it's necessarily about size but use of the space. Our current houses size would be perfect if the space was used better (maybe one extra room), but each room is closed off, no open space and you feel like you're in each others face all the time. So rather than size I would look at efficient use of space. That said, our house is 29sq plus alfresco. Re: What would you consider a good size? 12Apr 02, 2010 9:39 pm We raised 3 children in a 4br, 2 bath, 2 living areas of 180sm and it was fine. We had rules about no tv's in bedrooms so that we would watch tv together. I wanted to be with my family. Now we're downsizing to 147sm living area. I sometimes work from home so we'll still have a separate lounge room. Hubby sometimes works from home so bedroom 3 is his office. We'll have a guest bedroom, then a combined living area at the back of the house along with a good sized master br. So while we're downsizing, it doesn't seem like by very much but every room will be used in some capacity. I do have to admit I'm awed by some of the McMansions going up now but maybe I'm just jealous although I wouldn't want to clean all the ensuite bathrooms some of these homes have. I guess for me, I wanted a home in which we could be a family and not just a group of individuals who have to all have their own massive space where they don't have to negotiate with anyone else. But this is only my opinion. Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: What would you consider a good size? 13Apr 03, 2010 11:01 am Hi Mrs P, there are some large homes around where you are building, the advantage of being on acreage is that you can build a 40sq home as a single level and not as a 2 storey homes as we have done. All that matters is if it the design that you are happy with and it in your budget and your are not over capitalising for the area, just go for it. Cheers Lou http://take2-customdesigndownslope.blogspot.com 07-10-09 omg they have cut the block 14-05-10 we finally have the keys Re: What would you consider a good size? 14Apr 03, 2010 12:16 pm acruise emilygirl :) As pp said 30/35sq....Id hate to clean any bigger and I hate wasted space. We went and looked at a 5o square home and it was so wasted...big isnt always better. hey yeah i also hate any bigger one and wasted space, 50 square houses size would be perfect if the space was used better, in bigger you will have to face a problem of cleaning & maintenance Regards Dan hos I think that is a mistake people make with building bigger. My hubbys dads house is 75sq. master and ensuite are rediculously oversized. It only has 3 living rooms so big that the furniture sits in the middle of them and there is enough floor space sitting around to make up more rooms. Not a house I would want to clean. 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