Just Say No to McMansions. You Don't Need a Bigger House.

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Let’s talk about space. I’m in enough mom groups to know just how often families think they have outgrown their houses and they need more space. I always have the same reaction, and as Thumper says, if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. OR write an entire post about it….

In general, most Americans seem to have this obsession that bigger is better. This has led to these ridiculous looking mcmansions with windows that are clearly only designed from the inside and look absurd and unbalanced from the outside (definitely from the backyard).

I realize that some families do indeed need more space, if they bought a house for 2 adults and 1 kid, then had 3 more kids or they need to allow a grandparent to move in etc. I am not speaking about those situations. I am speaking about people that have a 3 or 4 bedroom house with 1 kid and when the 2nd is on the way they suddenly must have more space and can’t possibly imagine life in such a tiny house. 

Before you know it, these same moms are complaining about how they need a housekeeper, they need a gardener, they need a nanny that does laundry and the dishes, or prepares meals for their families. There are very few people in the US that actually need to hire all those people. 

Yes, if you and your partner are both high power executives that are working 80 hour weeks you probably need some help. However, if you married a dud of a partner, that just isn’t pulling their weight around the house, that is not a reason to take on a jumbo mortgage and get a giant house you can’t take care of. 

If you just accumulate crap you don’t need, you have 3 containers of holiday decorations for every.single.holiday, enough fast fashion that you are taking over extra closets throughout your house and you kid(s) have more toys than a small independent toy store. You are the problem, not your house. Decluttering is actually the best way to increase your current square footage.

Before I completely rip them apart, let’s get a few things straight. The average size of a US family has decreased 24.3% from 1960 to 2019. While the average size of a US house has increased by 42%, we are having smaller families and demanding more space. We’ve all seen the demand for man caves and she sheds, don’t even get me started there. Every kid needs their own room, we need media rooms, craft rooms, home offices etc.

A family of 3 or 4 people cannot possibly use 7-10 rooms at a time. Be smart, make some multipurpose rooms, organize your stuff, get rid of shit you don’t use. If you have been able to use a guest room as a landing pad for crap you don’t know what to do with for 2 years, you have too much space.

We don’t need more space, we need less stuff. The more space you have the more time and money you need to manage it.