1287 sq. ft. on the books.
The house was built as a rectangle, and then had two additions.
First the dining area was added to the kitchen. It's nice, with 3 large windows looking out at the neighborhood, although the temperature swings are wild. The East end of the large living room was originally the eating area. For us it's a kids' play area.
Later the bedroom on the North side was added. The hallway to that room was taken out of the bedroom on the West side, as was a small hall closet. The hallway takes 60 sq. ft. but offers very little in return.
I don't know when it was built, but there's a tiny water closet in the North bedroom. Toilet only, no sink. I imagine the original owner, a G.I. who had this house built as he started a family in 1950, had a hard time making the trip to the bathroom at night, 50 years later, so he had that toilet added. It belongs to our cats today.
There is forced air heat in the original bedrooms, bathroom, and living room. The North bedroom has baseboard electric heat, which stops us from putting furniture in useful places. The dining room has baseboard heat that we never turn on, because we're only in there for a short time each day, and because the floor is uninsulated, so it would be lost quickly. The kitchen is unheated, but when we're cooking it's not bad.
A big complaint I have here is that there's nowhere in the laundry space to leave a basket of laundry. It only needs another 10 sq. ft. to be so much nicer.
While I'm at it, there is a cold air return in the floor in a high-traffic area. It hurts to walk on barefoot, and the kids' toes get caught sometime - very painful. Also, the hardwood floor finish is in very bad shape.
Our landlord offered to sell us this house, but it's more than we wanted to spend, and refinishing the floors would mean moving out entirely anyway, so what's the point?
Anyway, there's a point of reference for ya.
Is there an issue with having the entertainment portion of the house share a wall with sleeping children? Something that we're noticing right now is our inability to carry on normal tone conversation after bedtime because sound travels so well in our home.
ReplyDeleteAlso, are you worried about the use of space in the general "great room"? Could having a built-in dining table (bench style) on the shared wall with the master give you more usable room in that space?
I just found this comment awaiting moderation. Apparently I hand't turned on notifications properly.
ReplyDeleteYes, having the entertainment equipment against a bedroom wall can be an issue. The house we're in right now has exactly that arrangement. But our tastes in movies has gotten quieter, our sleeping schedules more regular, and our noise tolerance has improved. So it doesn't bother us at all.
The great room arrangement is funny. We're leaning towards no built-ins, because it lets us shift things around as needs and tastes change. At the same time, there's something very cozy about built-in eating spaces.