The bigification of our houses....
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
Forum Description: For mums, dads, parents-to-be, grandparents, friends -- you name it! And you name the topic you want to chat about!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35624
Printed Date: 27 July 2025 at 7:53am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: The bigification of our houses....
Posted By: Emmecat
Subject: The bigification of our houses....
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 7:49am
|
.....what do you think? Just read an interesting article about the 'bigification' of our homes over the last 60 years or so....without an increase in the size of our families! The (American) article stated that the average house size there had gone from 983 square feet in the 1950's, and recently (2004) the houses are an *average* of 2,349 square feet! I'm not sure of NZ figures but would imagine them to be following the same trend.... Do we need these increases do you think? Is it vital for our children to each have a room to themselves or is sharing the way to go? Does having a big house need to = status? Hmmm big questions lol but I just wondered as our home is a small 3 bedroom +study house (98 square metres) and our babies will definately be sharing a bedroom as they get older, as will our stepchildren when they come to stay. We wouldn't give it up for the world though as its quiet and peaceful and has a HUGE section full of places for children to play...(and a lot of fruit tress and garden for me hehe). I couldn't imagine living in a MASSIVE house or being able to afford it actually even if I wanted to. ? -------------   http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
|
Replies:
Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 8:23am
|
Im not sure if NZ would have the same growth tbh.... Looking out my window and the houses around here are Teeny!
I know I would like a 4 bedder with a rumpus room and a double garage... but I will survive with my 2.5 bedder, single living and carport. Our house is actually smaller than a 1950's house! -------------   
|
Posted By: BeLoved
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 8:42am
Our house is old built by the original owner in the 60's its about 140 sq's on a 1500 sq section its 3 bedroom but the rooms are all of a very generous size and really open plan, amazing really for such an old home, I would not want any bigger but it would be the section I would find hard to give up I love there is space to play and run and have vege gardens and build huts (for myself as much as DD  ) Our kids will possibly share a room unless we have a boy next then possibly not, but I loved sharing a room (most of the time) when I was little, its part of the fun of growing up isn't it?
I cannot stand the large monstrosities your see in the new subdivisions that have 2 or 3 stories and look like they must have 5-6 bedrooms and goodness knows how many bathrooms, I just think of all the cleaning 
I definitely think its a status thing, I don't think its necessary unless of course you have a large or extended family living in one house, but then look at the huge cars people drive these days, half of them don't need those! ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
|
Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 8:45am
We have a 110sqm 3-bedder atm, and it's big enough. A bit lacking on storage, but plenty of space. We have been looking at a big 5-brm house recently (not cos we want a bigger house, but cos we want a bigger farm, and this one is on a bigger farm). We were discussing how if we bought it, we'd still make our kids share rooms at least while they are little. I think sharing builds good social skills as well as close bonds between siblings  ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 9:47am
 we have just extended our house! It was about 94m2 and is now about 160m2, it will be 4 brms once we finish. We are on about 800m2 section
For us it wasn't a status thing but a sanity thing for me, plus DH is doing a building apprenticeship so he did all the work. I went insane in our house last winter before the extension as I felt so crammed in. It is definately the biggest I would go though, definately don't want more house to clean! I don't mind big houses, what I don't like the look of is the HUGE houses on postage stamp sized sections. They look horrid ------------- Lindsey 
|
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 10:08am
|
I ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">   [/url] Angel June 2012 |
our 4 brm home with loads of space and plenty of section for the kids to play in. Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 10:11am
|
Added to say this is one of the joys of living in NZ is there is plenty of space to build the home of your dreams. I can't stand the huge monstrosities on tiny sections either. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: monikah
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 10:11am
|
we have a 145sqm house which seems huge. no section whatsoever. however...we bought our house so that ppl could come and stay with us really cheap when they needed a leg up for any reason. the last week has been the first time we have not had ppl staying with us and someone new moved in this sunday. so total 8 days in 3 years without a boarder. our kids will share once finn is out of our room, i do like having the large lounge and stuff but i think id feel bad about having empty bedrooms. we have 4 bedrooms and have had up to 6 adults and 1 child her for a year ------------- 
|
Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 11:53am
|
The house we own is 92m2 and 2.5 bedrooms...I find it small and cramped, but it's possibly the way that it is set out, rather than the actual size. The house I now rent though, is only 80m2, but 3 bedrooms....yet it's far more spacious than the house we own!! Even the bedrooms are bigger, as is the bathroom...the kitchen is tiny, but it's big enough. The girls will always share a room I think, at least until teenage years...
I would LOVE a 4 bedroom with a big lounge and a playroom, and enough yard to be able to play in, in a rural area... |
Posted By: SquishysMum
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 12:13pm
| We have a small/big house. It's about 120sqm, 2 story block, with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The bedrooms are all doubles (that's the big part) but the living room is actually smaller than the master bedroom, and the kitchen is a bit of a galley. We currently have 3 adults and 1 child living here, and 2 extra kids during the day (when 2 adults are at work). I would LOVE more living space for the kids to play in on rainy days, but we'll get that when we lose the flatmate (and reclaim his room as a play-room/office lol). I grew up in big houses (5 bedroom, 2 lounge, massive kitchen/dining) so I think our house is small, but then go visit the neighbour in their little 2 bedroom unit, and can't figure out how they fit 2 adults and 2 teenagers in it! |
Posted By: millymollymandy
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 12:21pm
|
Our rental is a typical schoolhouse, about 120 square metres, with 3 bedrooms, kitchen dining and a laundry. Its got a great sized kitchen and a laundry next to it, which i love (I had to go downstairs & thru a basement in our old house). Dining area, and biggish lounge. It's the warmest house we have lived in. There's a 800 sq m section, which is fully fenced. The school has just built a massive deck on the north side to replace the dangerous old rotting one, so all good. The poxy bits are the way every internal bedroom wall is in the line of a door or next to the lounge, or in DD's case, the toilet grggh...
If I were to build, I'm not sure if i'd want to too much bigger, maybe an extra small/study bedroom and some kind of playroom? Would like a walk in wardrobe as our clothes everywhere drive nuts. There's house in New Plymouth that we know of that has 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and takes up the whole section, my Mum physically shudders everytime she drives past it. I'd hate to clean it. I have also heard of someone who built a $250,000 kitchen... WTF! I think these big new home are so ugly, and a waste of precious resources. Give, me small, green, warm and enegry efficent any day. I don't know if these big homes promote family's playing together either. We used to own 5000 sq of garden and bush. TBH it was a nightmare to look after, heaps of possums, neighbours dumping rubbish, jasmine taking over the bush - never ending work. I'd rather spend time playing with my kid. |
Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 12:40pm
|
I don't understand huge houses on tiny sections, where do the kids play?
ours is 120sq with a 750ish section, I think it is the perfect size for what we need but I would like the bedrooms to be a little bigger. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: Lulu
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 12:43pm
|
I do think that particularly in Auckland, that modern houses are being built bigger and bigger. Our first house (which we built) was huge, approximately 300 square metres and it was beautiful, but at the time it was just DH and I, and we ended up feeling a bit lost in the place. (we had spent the previous 4 years living in our garage while we built, so were use to being together in a small space) We sold that house and bought a delapitated old bach near the water and did a full renovation. This place was 120 square metres. We then rented that house out and bought 25 acres and our house on this land is only 95 square metres! We now have a 3 year old Daughter and find particularly in the winter that this house feels a little too small. Ideally I would like another bathroom and at least one more bedroom that could be used as a playroom/spare bedroom. In the Summer it doesn't really matter as the majority of our time is spent outside.
I think my ideal would be a house of around 200 square metres. ------------- Lou http://www.babysfirstsite.com"> 
|
Posted By: kiwigal
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 2:35pm
|
We have a 193 sqm house on a 573 sqm land it is a average size 4 bedroom with two lounges but later we want to build a much bigger place around 250-280. We are finding this one okay but not ideal for what we want. Ou next house will be a 5 bedroom home with a seperate room for the kids to play in. |
Posted By: ooEvaoo
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 2:41pm
|
Our current home has 5 bedrooms, 2 lounges, 2 bathrooms (one an ensuite) double garage. There's 4 adults, 2 teenagers and one 3 year old. The place is 2 years old and has some space outside for our son to play not as much as I would deem as ideal.... but enough for the time being until we build our own house next year. Definitely want a decent section for the kids to play on...and I don't mind kids sharing rooms...I shared with my sister for years ------------- 
|
Posted By: Mum_mum
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 4:03pm
|
At the moment we have a two bedroom 89sqm house with a single garage and a good size backyard. We defniatly need more space though as our house looks cluttered and there is no storage at all (specially for all the manly things plus add the babys and its overflowing!)
In DH's ideal world we would move to a 4bdroom place on 10 acres with double garage and workshop..... Me, i'd just settle for 3bdroom, a nice backyard and storage space. I would NEVER live in a new subdivision though - they are massive houses with tiny backyards and people staring in on you from all directions! And NZ homes are definatly not as big as the american houses! If they were we'd be making HUGE money (DH is a carpet layer )------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
 Angel baby - May 2008
|
Posted By: Shelt
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 8:05pm
|
I have one of those monstrocities on a tiny section My house is 210sqm on a 300sqm section! Its two stories and 5 bedrooms (or 4 plus a rumpus). Not new though, it was built in the 1960s and a developer before us carved the rest of the section off and built a new house behind ours. We brought it because my husband at the time had a band and he had band practice at our place, plus we had a boarder to help pay for the place, plus I had an office because I work from home. The house never felt too big to be honest, I loved the feeling of space. The backyard isn't big but there is enough space for a climbing frame and trampoline plus a table and chairs so not to bad. DD & I don't live there at the moment becuase my husband and I are separated but I miss it. The house is big and sunny and I loved it. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: monikah
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 8:14pm
we have little section but still enough for the kids to have a trampoline or a BBQ and all that kind of stuff. we live in super close proximity to shops. the beach and the rugby fields and parks too. we can get to uni/work so quickly which is amazing cos rush hour can be a nightmare going from the hutt to wgtn so it makes it way easier. the living areas we have are huge so the kids can still run around and spread out heaps even inside and we have doors that open out to the small side yard. so it all feels real open -------------
|
clover wrote:Posted By: Febgirl
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 9:43pm
|
We have an average size 3 bedder, 120m2, small section. We're about to sell and move, I want min 180m2, preferably over 200m2, 3 or 4 beds, 2 living areas, flat area of lawn enough room for a trampoline/swings etc. Our house doesn't have enough living area for two small kids and I am sick of the toys taking over the lounge!
I think kids need their own personal space, sharing might be ok when they are really young but once they start school it's important for me that they have their own rooms with decent space for a desk etc. And since we have 2 girls, a bathroom for them to share and a separate one for DH and I is important too! (in an ideal world, I'd have my own bathroom without DH using it, but that's not going to fly! )
Our next house will (hopefully) be our 'forever' house so it needs to suit us now as a young family until the girls grow up and leave home. I don't see the trend towards bigger houses necessarily being about status, in urban areas infill housing and land use restrictions mean a smaller section size but people still want space for leisure so the focus has moved to providing that indoors. We choose to live in an urban area within walking distance to amenities like shops, community facilities, schools, libraries etc and the trade off for a smaller section is worth it to me. I would never live somewhere where I had to get in the car to drive to get to basic services like a supermarket, doctor, school etc. Someone mentioned energy efficiency - there is an argument that building larger houses on smaller sections with a diversity of land use (not just residential) within close proximity is a much more sustainable use of resources than the kiwi traditional quarter acre. ------------- Two little girls under 2! 
|
Posted By: NovemberMum
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 10:03pm
|
we live in a 3 bedroom 100m2 house which to be honest even with only 2 children am finding rather cramped Id love an extra 50m2 (excluding garage) so an extra lounge and another bedroom ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 10:27pm
|
TBH I can never work out what size our house is LOL but we've got a 1/4 acre in town, love it, hate the lawns!
We've just made it from a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom & 2 living into a 3 bed, 1 bath, big open plan area. I would like a bigger lounge but we've got 2 massive bedrooms, plus a normal double which I've changed into a playroom. My two share although I do feel sorry for Cooper cause his big sister is such a mess. We've just had 4 townhouses put next to us & I hate it, they are really big on their small space of land, I'd hate it. I definitely think that some new houses are rather massive! I'd hate cleaning them too. They have surprisingly small bedrooms though with massive living areas. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: kiwi2
Date Posted: 07 September 2010 at 10:31pm
|
Gosh this is so close to home for me.
I moved back from the states last december and left my 3800 square foot house behind. We still own it but it is leased out. We couldn't sell it in the current market as we would lose too much. Boy I loved that house. If I could have picked it up and brought it here I would have. My ensuite was bigger than my current dining room. It just had space and with three kids there was always somewhere I could go to catch my breath. It was 4 bedrooms, study, Formal lounge, formal dining, breakfast room, family room, games room 3 and a half bathrooms. It was a PITA to clean though. And it was worth the same amount if not a little less than our house in hamilton. We have a 250 square metre house here. It has been really hard to fit our stuff into this house. I feel bad when I moan about it as it is a big house but it is suffocating. We don't have a lot of stuff it is just that what we do have is big. I sold the big couch and brought the small ones from the formal lounge and they are still bigger than normal kiwi couches. Mind you it is also nice to clean out and get rid of stuff. We are back in NZ for family and the slower pace of life. It is lovely to see my 13 year old destressed and living like a normal teenager. Schoolwork is cruisy and she loves her school. She has more freedom and although she is craving a good shop as I am there is more than enough to make up for it. She is still pretty materialistic but we are trying to wean it out of her and only time will tell. My 9 year old is enjoying the way we learn in nz. Less sitting and listening and more hands on and my 4 year old gets to play at kindy and create things rather than paste a pre cut out object into a craft project. The whole class ends up with the same item. But we couldn't afford our US house here. The electricity bills alone would kill us. Getting new carpet etc would cost too much. Curtains or blinds would cost a fortune. |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 08 September 2010 at 10:38am
|
That's huge kiwi2, I think if I was ever in a position to afford a house with that much space and facilities I'd have to factor the cost of a cleaner too! ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: 4thtymlucky
Date Posted: 09 September 2010 at 8:29pm
I know that we need a bigger home that's for sure!..lol..we live in an average 3 beddie built in the 80s weatherboard home but when we bought we only had the 2 girls..now we have an 8 month old and we are expecting another in Dec. so will have to consider extending or upgrading to a bigger property..I'd rather extend at this stage but it won't happen for at least few more years yet, until then it will have to be bunks very soon!
|
Posted By: emz
Date Posted: 10 September 2010 at 8:04am
| We have a 106sqm (exc garage) 3-bedroom 60's 50's bungalow. It's got great room sizes, but we're going to outgrow it in the next couple of years. Need a better layout (lounge is a walk through) and would like an extra bedroom and a study, and an extra lounge. Looking at building but not sure yet, will be going for about 250sqm (inc garage). |
Posted By: RedHeadDuck
Date Posted: 10 September 2010 at 8:13am
|
We have quite a big house, it's a old Character Villa. Has the patterened windows and all that? (I forget what they are called?) and all the high ceilings, with all the fancy patterns. It's HUGE, well, actually its only the bedrooms that are huge! its 4 bedrooms, all like king sized bedrooms with room to spare, 2 a great big wide hallways, but then our living area is small, we can only just fit our 2.5 seater couch + 2 lazy boys in! We have a funny dining area, and a alright sized kitchen.
Cos its 4 bedrooms though,we actually have a curtain hanging up in the "corner" of the hallways, and we only heat the front half of the house, so 2 bedrooms are really cold. We don't see the point in paying to heat them when we never use them! We're going to move though, probably by xmas next year, I'd be happy to go somewhere with smaller bedrooms, but I'd like a nicer living/dining/kitchen area |
Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 12 September 2010 at 1:50pm
|
Our current house is 98m sq. It is 2 bedrooms, separate dining, and sunroom off the lounge. The bedrooms are a fantastic size. In the master we manage to fit our bedroom suite and DS cot and change table in with plenty of room to spare. The size is perfect for us at the moment, however its the layout that annoys me. All separate rooms typical of its era. It would be great to be able to knock out all the walls to make it open plan, but its not really possible.
We looked around for another house a few months ago and really struggled to find anything with decent sized bedrooms. The "double" bedroom now days is only really big enough to fit your queen bed and perhaps one dresser. Like others have said I would forgo some house for extra yard for the kids to play. I would love to one day get a lifestyle block like I had growing up.
-------------  
|
Posted By: TheKelly
Date Posted: 12 September 2010 at 3:41pm
|
our current house is 4 bedrooms plus a tiny study , our bedroom is huge because it was two rooms that were made into one (so it has two doors, two wardrobes etc etc ) C's room is also big and Ty and babies are a decent size, it has a huge balcony with a gate and a big back yard, I love it and its a perfect sizr for us, I shared a room up until I was 18 with my sister and I hated it, I want my kids to have their own room as long as its possible , (esp C since there is such a big gap)
I love looking at big houses, but I sometimes find our house big enough, a big big house I would think to myself "all the more places for robbers to hide " cos I have an overractive imagination .... ------------- 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: TheKelly
Date Posted: 12 September 2010 at 3:46pm
|
oh and I went with my friend once to a house she used to babysit at , out at Whitford, wasn't a house, it was a mansion and the kids had their own separate wing....it was overwhelming at first, then it just seemed TOO big , everyone seemed so far away from each other -------------
http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: freckle
Date Posted: 12 September 2010 at 6:37pm
|
We live in a big house (don't own it unfortunately!) - we have 5 bedrooms and two large lounge rooms, seperate dining room and massive section, dunno the size though... I love living in such a big place, esp with the teenager as when she has her giggly, screaming girlfriends over they have their own lounge and we don't hear a thing ... It is a big place to clean though and heating in the winter gets a bit difficult so we shut off some of the rooms for winter as we don't need them all... ------------- mum to 3 lovely girls :D |
Posted By: kiwi2
Date Posted: 12 September 2010 at 8:22pm
| We lived in texas so summer air con was the equiv bill to a nz winter heating bill. Over summer our a/c bills were $500-700 US dollars due to the size of the house. That wasn't even keeping it that cool. I could easily have gone a few degrees cooler if it wasn't going to cost my first born. |
Posted By: flakesitchyfeet
Date Posted: 13 September 2010 at 8:39am
|
Our house is 98sqm, 3 bedrooms. It's big enough for now, I get a bit housebound sometimes but that's more to do with being a SAHM I think. We can afford the mortgage on one income so with DH heading back to uni we'll hang on to it for a few years yet. It maaay become our investment property, but thats probably unrealistic. At the moment the kids have their own rooms, I'm not knocking anyone but my ideal is that each kid has their own space to retreat to when growing up, although when #3 comes along, someones going to have to share.
We're in a small country township as well, and section prices are way more reasonable than in town. I like space, but it does come at a cost. My ideal would be to transform an American barn into a family home, via finds on TM etc. It'd be a bit eclectic lol. Still working on DH It would have to be on a bit of land for my pony and house cow, and kune pig, and vege garden, and childs tree swing......
the beauty of dreams  -------------  http://lilypie.com"> |
Posted By: Mrs_B
Date Posted: 13 September 2010 at 9:02am
|
Our house is a pretty standard layout 107m2 1970's 3brdm house. I hate it. It was okay when it was just DH and I and we were working full time but know that we have a rampaging toddler and all the paraphernalia that comes with having a child and me being a SAHM I find it so cramped. There is not enough storage.
We have it on the market at the moment and are looking at building and would love something like http://www.signaturehomes.co.nz/zoom,2340,1.sm - this The section is a good size @ 745m2 but we are country people at heart and are looking for a rural section, not one of these 5000m2 "lifestyle blocks" that have ridiculous covenants that mean you can't have sheds unless they match the house, no paddocks or farm animals! Who wants to mow 2 acres of lawn!? May as well live in town! -------------  
|