How many people can comfortably fit in a 1300-1400 sqf home?

amother

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 6:24 pm

Around how many people can comfortably live in a 1300 - 1400 square foot home? Comfortably - meaning while I don't mind trying to stay organized and make the most of the space, I don't want it to be to small that it's unhealthy for kids.

Just trying to think ahead if we should stay in our community or move. I know prices change and income changes, but looking ahead that seems likely the size house we would be able to afford if we stay.

happy chick

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 6:32 pm

A lot depends on your homes layout. If you have more bedroom space you will naturally have less living space. And vice versa. It also depends on what's important to you (ie bedroom or living space).

amother

Bronze

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 6:33 pm

You need to factor in if one or both parents needs a room as office space. Layout makes a big difference too.

amother

Brown

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 6:35 pm

happy chick wrote:

A lot depends on your homes layout. If you have more bedroom space you will naturally have less living space. And vice versa. It also depends on what's important to you (ie bedroom or living space).

Agree that it really depends on the house- layout, availability and sizes of rooms, and storage options. By the time we were six it felt very tight in our similar sized home.

zaq

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 6:38 pm

To paraphrase King Solomon: Some families can live happily in a single room while for other families of the same size, a house a mile wide is too small.

notshanarishona

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 7:02 pm

Depends what city / country and what the norms are. Israelis are great at fitting many people into tiny apartments comfortably .

watergirl

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 7:04 pm

We are 5, sometimes 6 with a few dogs in 1400 and change not including our finished basement. It’s fine. More room would be better but this is what we could afford. One day, we may cut our master bathroom down so we can have a master bathroom. Maybe. Most likely not.

Last edited by watergirl on Sun, Jan 24 2021, 9:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

mha3484

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 7:06 pm

We have 6 people in a 1400 sq foot ranch. I feel like it’s not squished but not super spacious. We have a full basement of an additional 1400 sq ft that I hope to finish as soon as I have the funds and it will make a huge difference.

At this point kids are all under 10 I think when they get closer to teenagehood we will need more space.

bouncy

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 7:54 pm

not more than 4- ppl. 1300-1400 doesn't offer too much living space- unless you have a large deck/backyard and your kids play out there. I'm now in 3000+ and I can really use 4000 sqf to be able to do my hosting...

amother

Papaya

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 7:59 pm

Depends on layout. Lived in a 1500 4 bedroom townhouse as a kid. Bedrooms were nice size and the downstairs was a bit open so if we had extra guests (which we normally did) we could 9pen another table. Living we have 5 (2 parents and teenage-young adult kids) and it was totally fine. For YT or shabbos probably slept 12 at 1 time and fed 30 at 1 time and no one felt particularly squashed.

amother

Aubergine

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 8:14 pm

zaq wrote:

To paraphrase King Solomon: Some families can live happily in a single room while for other families of the same size, a house a mile wide is too small.

Of course happiness comes from within and not from a big house, but anyone who quotes this never lived in a tiny space with a family , and constantly bumped elbows into doorknobs, and tripped over stuff and had random items tumbling out of closets and cabinets on a daily basis.

amother

Brown

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 8:17 pm

watergirl wrote:

We are 5, sometimes 6 with a few dogs in 1400 and change not including our finished basement. It’s fine. More room would be better but this is what we could afford. One day, we may cut out master bathroom down so we can have a master bathroom. Maybe. Most likely not.

A finished basement adds a lot. It's not really comparable to without.

amother

Indigo

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 8:18 pm

My dh and I brought up 5 children in a
3 bedroom 1200 sq ft apartment.
3 girls in 1 bedroom
2 boys in 1
11/2 bathrooms
Front porch
I would have loved 1 more room as a playroom/ guest room
They had friends over for shabbos
They had sleepovers
We hosted
They are now married bh
It’s all in the way you perceive it

amother

Copper

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 8:19 pm

We are 8 ppl.
We have lots of living space.
My kids are actually very happy and we are the most popular home in the block. For some reason on an average Shabbos we have 15 kids hanging out here - many who live in bigger homes.
The only problem is we live in Lakewood so compared to others it’s considered teeny tiny.
I also wish I was way more organized.

silverlining3

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 8:28 pm

Comfortably, I'd say 5-6 kids. Though it depends a lot on the layout and the age of kids. I find older kids need and take up more space.

finprof

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 9:02 pm

It totally depends on how the house is laid out and how old the kids are. We had 4 kids in 1300 + a boarder (7 in total) but the house is laid out as a 4 bed, 3 bath so that helps.

amother

Olive

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 9:07 pm

We're 6 ppl in 1500 sq ft. It's working right now because my kids are relatively young, but my oldest will need his own room soon and that would mean I can't have another child because there would be no space for him/her to sleep. We do have a finished basement that's currently being rented out, but we'd need to be in a better place financially before we could give up that source of income.

We host nice sized Shabbos meals (or we did before Covid) and I feel like we can just manage to squeeze ppl in. However, the kids don't have a designated play area so our guests are always stepping over toys. It would be nice to have a play room.

watergirl

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 9:08 pm

amother [ Brown ] wrote:

A finished basement adds a lot. It's not really comparable to without.

I’m not sure how you could say that without seeing my house and see what my finished basement layout is. The space is not quite usable for anything more than a guestroom and laundry. I have 600 sq ft in the basement. It adds literally a guest room.