We are in the middle of selling our house and buying something new, and this process has naturally made me think more than usual about what we want in our living environment. I have made some interesting conclusions:
1. what I want is not the same as what the mainstream seems to want (maybe not that suprising)
2. what "everybody wants" still is cheaper in the market than what "nobody wants"...doesnt make any sence really!!
3. people seem really locked up in traditional ways of thinking about living arrangements. It seems diffucult to think a bit "out of the box" and think about what is the actual need we have, and what is only us being fed the "only solution" to these needs.
So lets take a short look on these points:
1. I want a smaller place, easy to maintaine and in the center of the city. Apartment with a balcony with a great view is what I want. For our 6 persons family, I found that a 90 m2 apartment would have been more than enough. My husband did not agree with me on that one though... The less bathrooms, the better, since I am the one cleaning them mostly... Most important is location. Kids must be able to walk to their hobbys! Almost everybody I talk with are saying "how could you fit in that apartment...you need lots of space... garden is a must...etc....
2. Considering the aspects above you would think that apartments would be way chepar than one family houses. But no, they are not!! We would get a one family house, 150 m2, for 50 ke less than a 100 m2 apartment. More or less in the same neighbourhood. I honestly dont understand this! In my mind this only shows that people actually DO want the easy living apartment more than the house..
3. How often is the living room and the "master bedroom" in use the same time? Hardly ever! So why do we need 2 separate rooms for these purposes? Why not sleep in the living room? Or how often are the parents in their bedroom during the day when the kids would need some space? Hardly ever.. So why not give part of the master bedroom (if you must have one) to be used by the kids during the day? And storage: firstly: why do we need to store a lot of crap that we never ever use? And to the stuff we do need: does the storage really has to be in your house?? It might be cheaper to rent a separate storage than to buy an oversized house just to have storage space!
And then the garden thing: many people have both house with a garden and a summercottage/boat. So they are hardly ever in their garden during summer. This is the case also for us now. So the garden only offers work to keep it maintained, and yes, we spend maybe 8-10 nice evenins in the garden during the year. Not worth it, in my personal opionion.
It is however a good thing that my husband is also making decisions with me in this matter, otherwise we would soon be living in a 30 m2 1 room apartment :)
Here is btw a link to our house-for-sell advertisement :) Please share!
http://kuluttaja.etuovi.com/crometapp/product/realties/common/public/search/item/item.jsp?portal=eo&list_id=14012016839560&itemcmd=move2&listSize=7&doListClickStat=true&itemgroup_id=50.1&itemgroup_id=50.7&item_id=41.2336409
1. what I want is not the same as what the mainstream seems to want (maybe not that suprising)
2. what "everybody wants" still is cheaper in the market than what "nobody wants"...doesnt make any sence really!!
3. people seem really locked up in traditional ways of thinking about living arrangements. It seems diffucult to think a bit "out of the box" and think about what is the actual need we have, and what is only us being fed the "only solution" to these needs.
So lets take a short look on these points:
1. I want a smaller place, easy to maintaine and in the center of the city. Apartment with a balcony with a great view is what I want. For our 6 persons family, I found that a 90 m2 apartment would have been more than enough. My husband did not agree with me on that one though... The less bathrooms, the better, since I am the one cleaning them mostly... Most important is location. Kids must be able to walk to their hobbys! Almost everybody I talk with are saying "how could you fit in that apartment...you need lots of space... garden is a must...etc....
2. Considering the aspects above you would think that apartments would be way chepar than one family houses. But no, they are not!! We would get a one family house, 150 m2, for 50 ke less than a 100 m2 apartment. More or less in the same neighbourhood. I honestly dont understand this! In my mind this only shows that people actually DO want the easy living apartment more than the house..
3. How often is the living room and the "master bedroom" in use the same time? Hardly ever! So why do we need 2 separate rooms for these purposes? Why not sleep in the living room? Or how often are the parents in their bedroom during the day when the kids would need some space? Hardly ever.. So why not give part of the master bedroom (if you must have one) to be used by the kids during the day? And storage: firstly: why do we need to store a lot of crap that we never ever use? And to the stuff we do need: does the storage really has to be in your house?? It might be cheaper to rent a separate storage than to buy an oversized house just to have storage space!
And then the garden thing: many people have both house with a garden and a summercottage/boat. So they are hardly ever in their garden during summer. This is the case also for us now. So the garden only offers work to keep it maintained, and yes, we spend maybe 8-10 nice evenins in the garden during the year. Not worth it, in my personal opionion.
It is however a good thing that my husband is also making decisions with me in this matter, otherwise we would soon be living in a 30 m2 1 room apartment :)
Here is btw a link to our house-for-sell advertisement :) Please share!
http://kuluttaja.etuovi.com/crometapp/product/realties/common/public/search/item/item.jsp?portal=eo&list_id=14012016839560&itemcmd=move2&listSize=7&doListClickStat=true&itemgroup_id=50.1&itemgroup_id=50.7&item_id=41.2336409
