From top: a tiny home less than 200 square feet, a 1000 square foot condo, a 2500 square foot home and a 5000 square foot home
What's your ideal living space? Recently we installed cable and I have fallen in love with House Hunters International. There is something utterly romantic about packing up and embarking on an adventure with your family by immersing yourselves in an entirely new culture. I've noticed that when people are looking for a new property internationally, they seem to be either focussed on a beautiful vista or the location, primarily, they want to be in the thick of things. But, when you watch House Hunters (USA) you see that the North American mindset is completely different. On that program, families want sprawl! sprawl! sprawl! The more bedrooms and bathrooms the merrier. I'm often blown away that 3000 square feet is often brushed off as too cramped for a family of four. Apparently junior needs his own office and ensuite, even though he's in grade two. And doesn't everyone need a room to wrap gifts in? I mean, you can't wrap a gift in just any space. I guess I'm a bit of a size-ist. I just don't find homes that stretch out a few city blocks to be very much like a "home". I remember going through one of those 8000 square foot lottery homes once, noticing that there was seating placed everywhere. There were chaise lounges lingering in the hallways and armchairs paired with mini tables strategically straddling rooms. It was as if trying to maintain a home of that stature forced people to collapse into the nearest seat with exhaustion. Either that or the rich think standing is for peasants. That being said, I don't think I'm ready to become a minimalist like those in the tiny home movement. But, I admire the fact that they live with freedom from a mortgage and have stripped their lives of most possessions. Are you happy with the size of your home right now? If you took a list to a real estate agent of your "must haves" for your next home, what would it look like? Or, does your home already meet your needs? Do you believe less is more? Or, do you dream of your own private compound? Personally, my top priority is a home with a lot of natural light pouring in. I wouldn't have fared too well as a Flintstone. I'd also love to have an open concept kitchen/family room with enough space to entertain (right now I can really only seat four people comfortably, six if they don't mind locking legs), three bedrooms, two bathrooms, storage space to keep gear (ie: bikes/strollers) and a yard that's easy to maintain (self mowing?). It might sound like a lengthy list to some, or not a lot to others, depending on what your household needs are. I just wouldn't want my family to be so spread out in a home that we'd have to text to find one another. I think my dream home would be around 1500 square feet. What's yours?
