Absolutely. Smaller homes are easier to care for, as you mentioned, leaving more time to enjoy life. I also think that smaller homes make the things you own more special, because you have to carefully decide what to keep due to space constraints.

Big houses kinda suck in many ways. Bigger HVAC system to replace. Bigger roof. More flooring. More paint. More cabinets. More plumbing fixtures. Bigger tax bill. Bigger utility bills. All of that means more time and many to maintain or replace.

1200 sf townhouse. I can clean it top to bottom under an hour. It takes 5 minutes to mow the lawn. Only time my electric bill tops $100 is August, and gas only in January. No one even thinks about you hosting family gatherings or parties. Don’t have to buy a monster TV so you can see it across the 20’ room.

I suppose, if you really like gardening, or hosting parties, then those could be negatives, but it seems like the main reason to have a big, fancy house is so other people know you can afford a big, fancy house. Personally, they make me uncomfortable, and I would hate to live in one, nevermind the maintenance.

I like something in-between. I have hobbies where I use some equipment for building stuff. A smaller space would have worked if I could have changed some things in my old apartment, like being able to change the layout of my closets. (So I could store my stuff in a way it’s easier to get to. I could work around it, but it wasn’t optimal.) My family is also pretty messy, and I only have so much “effort” in me in a day. In certain small spaces, it’s pretty involved to try to get to something if your family blocked it, didn’t put it back, or just otherwise disrupted the “flow.” A little extra space means I have some wiggle room, and I am able to make sure our stuff doesn’t expand to fit the emptiness over a longer period of time.

I do like to have people over and entertain… It’s possible in a smaller place but a touch more space and it’s comfortable.

I don’t like big living spaces. There is too much space for things to get lost and there is more to clean and maintain. I like to buy stuff in bulk when there are sales, but there is a point where it’s just too much.

When I live by myself, all bets are off. Small spaces all the way. I don’t need to consider anyone else’s needs and I can make everything super efficient.

Our home isn’t small (3 bedrooms, 1200sq ft) but with two kids that’s decently sized.

Getting something bigger would mean more surface to clean, a larger mortgage, more taxes to pay, and would require more stuff to not make it feel empty.

I like where I am right now, so no need to upscale.

Even my land isn’t very big, it takes me about 45 minutes with a manual push lawnmower and the grass trimmer to cut it all.

If I was living alone, I’d probably get one of those tiny house and optimize the shit out of it, like one of these (but not on a trailer) and with a bit more space for a washing machine & dryer, then try to make it more eco-friendly by using solar energy for some of the components inside.

“I used to see a large box by the railroad, six feet long by three wide, in which the laborers locked up their tools at night, and it suggested to me that every man who was hard pushed might get such a one for a dollar, and, having bored a few auger holes in it, to admit the air at least, get into it when it rained and at night, and hook down the lid, and so have freedom in his love, and in his soul be free. This did not appear the worst, nor by any means a despicable alternative. You could sit up as late as you pleased, and, whenever you got up, go abroad without any landlord or house-lord dogging you for rent. Many a man is harassed to death to pay the rent of a larger and more luxurious box who would not have frozen to death in such a box as this.” - Henry David Thoreau, Walden

There is an optimum size, and going above it is almost as bad as going bellow. (But larger homes don’t get bad as quickly as smaller.)

Not sure what a studio is to you, but here in the UK it’s a 1 room apartment with everything in one room? Kitchen in the corner, couch and a bed. Bathroom. Usually a separate room though. Bedsit is the other name.

But what you describe is presumably a 1 bedroom apartment? Separate rooms for bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom?

I crave medium density housing so badly. Give me townhouses, duplexes, row homes, multi family houses, and mixed use buildings with apartments above shops any day. Not only is the size of the housing nice, but so is the sense of community. Suburbs of single family homes are deserts where you don’t even know your neighbors’ names. Living in a place where you can see people walking on the streets, going about their lives, at any time of day or night is so healing for the soul.

My mother wanted a large house. When my parents divorced, my dad had a much smaller house. I liked that better. There were no unnecessary rooms. There had been unused rooms in the other house.

I grew up to be a socialist, so take what you will from that preference. I hate waste.

Yeah, I currently live in quite a large house (originally a 2-family house with a large garden, but we’re only 2 people now) and it’s an unbelievable amount of work to keep it all maintained. It definitely has its perks as well, like I can dedicate a room just for my VR setup, but if I had the choice between this and a house half the size, I’d take the latter. I do prefer a house to an apartment though.

Small, yes, but I draw the line at multiple adults in the same bedroom. Hard pass on hearing my dad farting and groaning from the other side of the room all night.

No way. There’s definitely a point of excess that lots of people cross but I couldn’t even imagine living in a <1,000 sq.ft place at this point of my life. Too much good stuff that I like

All I know is that your possessions tend to grow to match your surroundings. I used to live in 1100sqft and now I live in double that. Everything got bigger and more numerous. It’s really hard not to desire variety in your surroundings and to have everything you want at your fingertips.

Yeah I always found small places cozy and makes you feel more connected with the person you live.