Just read that the average house built in 1970 had about 1,500 square feet

I was looking at some old house plans online for my ranch home, trying to figure out a layout change. I stumbled on a government housing report from a few years back. It said the average new single family house in 1970 was around 1,500 square feet. My place is a 1972 build and it's exactly that. It just hit me how much bigger new homes are now, like over 1,000 square feet bigger on average. All my projects, like opening up the kitchen or adding storage, feel like solving a puzzle in a tight space. It makes you think differently about using every inch. You ever look at your home's original size and feel that shift in how we live?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa_lewis1d ago

Tell me about it. My house is from 1965 and it feels like a shoebox with windows sometimes. I spent a whole weekend just trying to figure out where a trash can could go in the kitchen without blocking a cabinet door. We've definitely traded cozy for colossal, haven't we? Makes all my DIY fixes feel like playing a really annoying game of Tetris with drywall.

the_jake1d ago

Ever think about just using the oven as a trash can?