There is always a question to ask when we try to find a house to move in: How big should the house be? The house that you live in now may feel too small, with not enough space to put your stuffs and to do things, so you may wish to move to a larger house. Or you may find your house too big, demanding extra efforts for cleaning and maintenance.
There are no exact formulas for the ideal size of a house for a family. But some of the following points might be useful:
Family size
Family with only one or two children will require different house size from those with six. Normally we want at least one bedroom for each child, probably less if they wish to share bedroom. Then other rooms should also have the right size to accommodate this size of the family. A living room with space only enough for a small sofa might not be enough to accommodate a family of six who like sitting together. Also imagine those hectic mornings when everybody need to be in the kitchen at the same time. The age of each child may also determine how big your house should be. The needs of your newborn will be different from the needs of your teenagers.
Family lifestyle
The same family size does not necessarily means the same ideal house size. The size you need also depends on how your family like to go about your everyday life. Is your family a homebody type, with every spare time spent doing family fun together at home? Or do everybody in the family like to go out all the time, thus require less space for spending time at home? Do you like cooking together in the kitchen? Do you like gardening? All these things will also determine the house size that your family needs.
Family change
Then there comes a problem, that no family stays the same. Children grow very quickly, and your house may soon become too small. And it won�t be too long until they become independent and leave your home, which will then become too big for you. We cannot avoid such changes, but at least we might give it a little thought when looking for a house so that it will have the right size for our family, now and in later years.