DesigningOrland.com

When planning a house the size of the family and the size of your budget are two very important considerations to keep in mind.

Size of the family

The number and size of rooms needed in a house depend largely on the size of the family and the manner in which they are accustomed to living. In some parts of the world, a room 8′ square is considered adequate for most purposes, and two or three such rooms make a complete livable house. Much depends on one’s style of living-and what the neighbors have is sometimes a consideration.

The types of activity that are interesting to a family will determine to a large extent the size of the room needed. If your favorite indoor sport is to read the newspaper, you do not need a very large room. You need even less space in which to read a magazine or book. A real bibliophile, however, needs a lot of shelves in which to keep his voluminous library. If you like to entertain with large parties, you will need a large beautiful living room.

In this country every young couple wants a house that is exclusively its own. In many places of the world, a family is likely to include what we would call several families, including grandparents and several married children and their offspring. With a house for only two people, perhaps we can get along with a moderate amount of space.

It is a mistake to build a house with only one bedroom, even for a couple without children who seldom have overnight guests, as such a house is hard to finance and is often difficult to sell. Select a lot where all the houses are approximately in the price class as the house that you want. Sometimes it is all right to build a little below your neighborhood if you are sure to make the house especially attractive in appearance.

The Building Budget

Most of us have to be careful to keep the cost within a certain limited budget, and sometimes it seems very limited indeed. But that is not always the handicap that it may seem. If there were no limit to the cost, we might get such a monstrous house with so many rooms and so many fine things we could not half care for them and would be worn out with so much housework.

To keep the taxes as low as possible, do not let the house get too large, but do not on this account cramp your rooms too much. Have the living space you need and can use to advantage, but do not go too much beyond this just to impress the neighbors. What a person wants is happy and carefree living.

The budget limit requires us to do more careful planning, to use our space wisely. Of course, the actual number of square feet in a house is not a true measure of its cost. The things you put into a house are what actually determines the cost. You can keep a house warm with a $500 heating system or with one that costs $3,000. You can get a fireplace for $400, or you can spend $1,500 if you wish to do so. There are many qualities of nearly all building materials and furnishings. We have to balance the space we need with the quality we can afford. A smaller house of better quality is usually to be preferred to a large house built in the cheapest possible manner.

Houses are costing anywhere from $8 to $20 a square foot, depending on where they are and how they are built. I know of a good warehouse that was built recently for less than $3 a square foot, and it is a good substantial building. The cost is not so much for enclosing the space as it is for what is put into that space. Plan your house with your family size and your budget in mind and you will get the house which will suit you.