Has anyone here downsized into a tiny home (under 1000 square feet)

Youngster

Youngster

Member
My wife and I are thinking about downsizing. I'd like to hear from anyone who has done this into a house under 1000 square feet. I'd like to know the good and bad issues that you've ran into.
 

Youngster said:
My wife and I are thinking about downsizing. I'd like to hear from anyone who has done this into a house under 1000 square feet. I'd like to know the good and bad issues that you've ran into.
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So would I. We are, no we are not, she is, hinting at downsizing. Look, I know that there's only the two of us, no kids means no grandchildren, but we need a big house. It's not a mansion after all, just a humble pile with five bedrooms, two of which have en suite bathrooms. It has an entrance hall and a gallery landing but hey, come on, it's not that big.

OK so it has a double garage and gardens front and rear, so what? I love it, it's just that the stairs have copulated and now they are double the height they were when we moved in, but we still manage to get up them, even if we do have to rope ourselves together in case of a fall.

Smaller homes are for height challenged people, we gave up on the idea of a motor home, given that space was so limited. We need to talk my dear!
 

horseless carriage said:
I love it, it's just that the stairs have copulated and now they are double the height they were when we moved in, but we still manage to get up them, even if we do have to rope ourselves together in case of a fall. Smaller homes are for height challenged people, we gave up on the idea of a motor home, given that space was so limited. We need to talk my dear!
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LOl. I love your home, too, don't give it up! You just need one of those chairs to ride up and down the stairs in. You could put chrome fins on it!
 
I noticed, when driving back from Myrtle Beach, that some of the new nice subdivisions included a section of very small homes.
I think it would be ideal for seniors that want to live near their children and good for the neighborhood to have senior a as part of the community.
I know I've seen nice senior homes near large home subdivisions but this one would include them if that's what they intended them for.
 
I've always lived in small places.

Now I live alone in an apartment, approximately 450 square feet. I find the housework a bit much, but if you have a cleaning person, this won't be a problem.

I wish I had more storage space. I don't have a lot of stuff, but my storage closet is filled with recycling, seasonal blankets and outdoor chairs, and various odds and ends.

If you can afford a wonderful storage system of some kind, or have outdoor storage, you can get away with less space. Otherwise, you'll be climbing over things or moving things, to access the other things.

And you will always be getting more stuff. As you age, you might need to store walkers or other health equipment. You don't want to be tripping over them.

If you have indoor hobbies or a home business, or if you exercise at home, you need space to do it in. If you entertain a lot, you need a presentable room for that (not a double-duty room). If you expect sleepover guests, you'll want a comfortable setup for them. (Probably cheaper to put them up in a hotel though.)

The two people who live there have to see eye to eye on dealing with the limited space. I lived with my husband in 850 square feet. He let me have about one foot of closet space, and expected me to run my business AND do my exercises in about 25 square feet.

Two people might or might not need time away from each other. You might want space at home for that, or one of you might have outside activities, even if it's just going to a cafe every morning.

If you have pets, they might need space as well. Sometimes I fantasize about having a cat, but I can't for the life of me figure out where I'd put the litter box.

No matter how simply you try to live, there will always seem to be a shortage of space. Having said that, I think 1000 square feet is a lot!
 
Really, I think 1000 sq. ft. is plenty for most retired couples. A lot depends on the efficiency of your floor plan, how much room your hobbies, how much of hoarder you are.

My parents retired into a house about 3000 sq. ft. and needed every bit of it, my father had to have about 600 sq. ft. for his art, another big room for his model railroad, and my mother had two kitchens, one on the basement level for canning plus a sewing room.

My brother and his wife went from a 3500 McMansion into a condo at the beach that's about 800 sq. ft. and love it.

Here's a pretty little place 988 sq. ft. Look at it and mentally place everything you want to take with you and picture your activities.

https://www.houseplans.com/plan/988...9pxt-u6KnJG-Sfh3BRdQ5MW7_sXUHYWcaAg7NEALw_wcB
 
officerripley said:
What?!
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What?! I could say, "have you got reading difficulties," but you might take that as an insult rather than a tease. It really is quite humble and truth be told, we were very lucky. We bought it when the housing market had crashed, the former owner was a soccer player who lived here with his family. Those footballers earn silly money and this fellow was no different. He bought what was originally nothing more than a two bedroomed bungalow and spent squillions turning it into a dream home.

He tried to sell it when the housing market was depressed, he should have waited but with his kind of income he just wanted bigger and better. We paid about the same as he paid, only he got a two bedroomed bungalow, we got a soccer player's indulgence, that's why we have lived here for over twenty-five years. And if the Grim Reaper doesn't have us in his diary anytime soon we could easily be here for another twenty-five years.

Her Ladyship does go on about the stairs, but come on, it's not exactly Mount Everest, The North Face of the Eiger perhaps, but that has been conquered many times.
 
We 3 live in a 2000 sq. ft. house, son's bedroom and bath, master bed and bath, kitchen, third bedroom used for jigsaw puzzles, den used for TV watching and computer table, huge formal living room, and formal dining room.

It just now struck me, that the past few years we have used that formal living room and dining room exactly once a year, at Christmas.
 
Another thing to consider is lights and noise. Let's say one person is sleeping (and insists on leaving the door open), or is doing something that requires quiet and concentration. And the other person is watching TV in the living room, or making noise in the kitchen. It could cause problems.

@Della mentioned not using the living and dining rooms much. Depending on the kind of entertaining you do, one could consider inviting people to a restaurant, etc.
 
horseless carriage said:
I love it, it's just that the stairs have copulated and now they are double the height they were when we moved in, but we still manage to get up them, even if we do have to rope ourselves together in case of a fall.
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I once asked a doctor about stairs. He said that at age 80 we might fall and break a hip, but without the stairs, might not be around to break that hip. The wife and I have been climbing our 14 stairs 8 or 10 times a day for 40 years, and it’s as easy now as it was the first time — hips are just fine. (-8
 
10 years ago I downsized to 1295 sq ft., approximately half of our family home. In some ways it’s too much, cleaning, etc. In some ways, storage for example, it’s not enough. Furniture placement has been hard. I gave away so much but I still brought too many pieces and some of them were too large. I had to buy some smaller pieces. NorthernLight gave you some really good advice on a range of topics that I can second. I experienced some of the same things.

I forgot to say I went from stairs to a rancher and that was the best part of my decision because I have knee problems and then broke a hip a year ago. I have 3 steps into the garage and that has been a blessing.
 
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ElCastor said:
I once asked a doctor about stairs. He said that at age 80 we might fall and break a hip, but without the stairs, might not be around to break that hip. The wife and I have been climbing our 14 stairs 8 or 10 times a day for 40 years, and it’s as easy now as it was the first time — hips are just fine. (-8
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When we moved last February from AZ back to PA, we were looking for a ranch style home like we had in AZ. No such luck, however, and we were down to the deadline for closing so we bought a tri-level house that was an estate sale. Hubby had just had a total knee replacement and I have bursitis in my left hip, but, those stairs have been a blessing in disguise. They forced us to exercise those areas that needed to be. Granted, we don't race up and down them like we use to when we were younger, but they at least keep us moving :)
 
I went from a house with 3 bedrooms plus a bonus room, to a very compact 1-br apartment under 600 sq ft.

Do not get rid of all your hobby, art, or craft stuff. I painted on canvas and did scrimshaw, but I sold or gave away everything to do with that except for my sketch pads and some pencils. I even gave away all my paintings because they were large.

Other than that, I don't have any regrets about downsizing. I've always been fine with selling or giving away excess furniture and dishes and stuff, but some people have a hard time with it. That's a waste of energy. You can keep truly sentimental things in the family - I kept my photo albums; Gramma's crystal went to my daughter's house.
 
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Colleen said:
When we moved last February from AZ back to PA, we were looking for a ranch style home like we had in AZ. No such luck, however, and we were down to the deadline for closing so we bought a tri-level house that was an estate sale. Hubby had just had a total knee replacement and I have bursitis in my left hip, but, those stairs have been a blessing in disguise. They forced us to exercise those areas that needed to be. Granted, we don't race up and down them like we use to when we were younger, but they at least keep us moving :)
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My wife had both knees replaced and loves those stairs. As we grow older we like them even more.
 

Has anyone here downsized into a tiny home (under 1000 square feet)​


We upsized when we moved from our 200sf mountain cabin
Heh, when we built it, it seemed so big and spacious

ZEeYNh8.jpg

especially before putting furniture in it

floor.jpg 2.jpg

but, that was while living in the even tinier cabin

We bought a place in town
800+sf
Plenty roomy for us

2 bed
one of those is my lady's craft room

No guest bedrooms (thankfully)

Rather large shop, however
gotta have that
 


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