Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - would you rather live in a large house or small house?

genuinegirly · 04-08-2011, 08:50 AM

A giant home filled with lots of people.
Or, a tiny home filled with just us two.

I like small spaces. I also like community.

Growing up, my family had a fairly large home. It felt far too big for the number of people living it. I often wondered where everyone else was, and did my best to fill it with my friends in the afternoons. I swore up and down that I would never have such a large and lonely home.

My now-husband and I used to live in a single room in a cooperative house that had a lot of people. That was fun. I would happily live in a huge house again if I had it filled with friends, family, co-workers, or even random people. I love the dynamics of a large and diverse community crammed into a small space.

When we moved into our first one-bedroom apartment, we shared it with another person. We partitioned off the living room with a curtain and it worked out well. It was a bit lonely, though.

Then we moved across the country to another 1-bedroom apartment. It had significantly more square footage. We felt isolated, lonely, and we couldn't possibly fill all of the extra space that we had at our disposal. We had no idea what to do with it. So next we moved into a smaller 1-bedroom apartment that was about half the square footage of that place. It was just about right for everything. But we became frustrated with needing to store our bycicles in the living room, needing to visit a laundramat to wash our clothes, and having no garage to work on our own cars.

This weekend we're moving into a 2-bedroom townhome. I'm pretty sure that it's going to feel like far too much space. The big draws for this place: our own attached garage, and a community setting. There's regular social events and a community gym, pool, etc - plenty of time to interact with neighbors, which we're really hoping will be fun.

We miss the comraderie of community living. I hope we have an opportunity to live in a cooperative setting in the future.

04-08-2011, 08:50 AM	#10 (permalink)
genuinegirly Eat your vegetables Super Moderator Location: Arabidopsis-ville	A giant home filled with lots of people. Or, a tiny home filled with just us two. I like small spaces. I also like community. Growing up, my family had a fairly large home. It felt far too big for the number of people living it. I often wondered where everyone else was, and did my best to fill it with my friends in the afternoons. I swore up and down that I would never have such a large and lonely home. My now-husband and I used to live in a single room in a cooperative house that had a lot of people. That was fun. I would happily live in a huge house again if I had it filled with friends, family, co-workers, or even random people. I love the dynamics of a large and diverse community crammed into a small space. When we moved into our first one-bedroom apartment, we shared it with another person. We partitioned off the living room with a curtain and it worked out well. It was a bit lonely, though. Then we moved across the country to another 1-bedroom apartment. It had significantly more square footage. We felt isolated, lonely, and we couldn't possibly fill all of the extra space that we had at our disposal. We had no idea what to do with it. So next we moved into a smaller 1-bedroom apartment that was about half the square footage of that place. It was just about right for everything. But we became frustrated with needing to store our bycicles in the living room, needing to visit a laundramat to wash our clothes, and having no garage to work on our own cars. This weekend we're moving into a 2-bedroom townhome. I'm pretty sure that it's going to feel like far too much space. The big draws for this place: our own attached garage, and a community setting. There's regular social events and a community gym, pool, etc - plenty of time to interact with neighbors, which we're really hoping will be fun. We miss the comraderie of community living. I hope we have an opportunity to live in a cooperative setting in the future. __________________ "Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq "violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy Last edited by genuinegirly; 04-08-2011 at 08:54 AM..