Small vs. Large

I'm not saying small rooms or flats are bad. My perspective is bad as I'm living in a tiny room at my in-laws, so there is no privacy and I can't really make this place my own. It's a horrible feeling. It makes me feel more enclosed and like I have no space to be me. I do miss the spacious rooms in the US and am spoiled with the idea of having a nice open space. We shall see how I survive.

We did that for what was supposed to be about six weeks ... but which turned into more than a year. It was absolutely dreadful and you have my complete sympathy. Just keep reminding yourself that it's not forever! And I promise you, when you do eventually have your own place, you'll appreciate it all the more. I know I do! 

Definitely lack of privacy. I'm grateful to have a home to live in but it has made relations worse having to live with them without my husband being here. I hope things get better soon or I might give up and head back to the US.

Getting acclimated to smaller spaces isn't so much of an issue. The lack of openness with living spaces is, however. We've moved into a 2 bedroom terraced house with doors everywhere. Sometimes I just feel like taking a sledge hammer and knocking down some walls and combining living/dining/kitchen spaces. I guess I'm much more used to open concept living, so the idea of living in a house where every single space is contained has taken a bit of an adjustment.

But heh, less space=less to clean!

The problem with traditional UK building practices is that you can't just whack out walls, as you might be able to do in the US, because everything is load-bearing.
The other thing that bothered me was the way doors would open into a room -- so if you have a door in the corner of a room it doesn't open towards the right-angle wall but into the room itself. So it takes up more space. I was told this was so when the maid brought in the early morning tea, she wouldn't see you in bed first thing. Wha?

I was told this was so when the maid brought in the early morning tea, she wouldn't see you in bed first thing. Wha?

That's not an issue in our 1960s bungalow! 

Couldn't you rehang the doors so that they open the opposite way, though? Provided you're handy enough, that is.

Couldn't you rehang the doors so that they open the opposite way, though? Provided you're handy enough, that is.

There is that slight problem. Old doors tend to be heavy.

We've moved into a 2 bedroom terraced house with doors everywhere.

All of the doors do drive me a little nutty, but that's probably because really don't like closed doors, so am forever propping doors open. 

If we had space to store them, I'd take the kitchen and living room doors off their hinges and stow them somewhere.  They're both weighted, so they swing closed and slam with unfortunate frequency.
 

If we had space to store them, I'd take the kitchen and living room doors off their hinges and stow them somewhere. 

That's exactly what I did in my old house. Now we just leave them all open. But we have big rooms, so it's not really a problem for us.

I had a HUGE house in the US and I hate our tiny house here in the UK.  This house could literally fit inside my US house at least 5 times.     Luckily, we found a nice big house and we'll be moving soon so I don't have to deal with this shoebox much longer.

The size of the houses and the size of the rooms is bad...but what's worse (to me) is the closeness of other houses.  Most houses are not detached and there is limited privacy (you can hear through the walls, if you're talking in your garden the neighbors can hear everything you say, etc.).  After growing up in the country where the nearest house was miles away...that's my major problem.

I grew up in a large, Victorian-era house with really tall ceilings, and I remember being surprised by how small my friends' newer houses were.  This was in Wisconsin.  In California (by whose standards, the house in WI was very modest indeed), I rented a room in a giant house.  Despite the size of the house, the room was tiny--certainly no bigger than a room in an average terraced house in Britain.  However, there was a giant open "shared" space in the centre of the upstairs, that never got used, although the bedrooms all around it were rented.  Same with the space downstairs.  It was just wasted.  The house next door was owned by a family, and they didn't use all the space either.  Their upstairs part was just scattered with toys and had no furniture, and the downstairs had a formal living room they never set foot in and a tiny den where they spent most of their time.  I think big houses are a waste of space unless really large families live in them.  It's more important to have well-planned layouts, big windows, and high ceilings.  Now DH and I live in a one bedroom flat, about a third the size of the house in CA, though nearly as big as a lot of houses in WI, but the rooms are airy and light, and we don't feel cramped at all. 

That's not an issue in our 1960s bungalow! 

Couldn't you rehang the doors so that they open the opposite way, though? Provided you're handy enough, that is.

I'm quite fond of the English bungalows I've seen around here.

Rehanging doors and banging out walls, however much it drives me bonkers, isn't a possibility since we rent

And granted, I've only been here a month. I'm sure it'll grow on me, especially in the winter when rooms NEED to be cozy and warm.

 I used to live in a 350 sq foot 1 room studio apartment in Chicago, so if I can do that I can do that anything.

I think the reason UK houses have so many actual doors is because of drafts. The British are terrified of drafts. It's OK to be freezing cold but never drafty. Perish the thought!

I think the reason UK houses have so many actual doors is because of drafts. The British are terrified of drafts. It's OK to be freezing cold but never drafty. Perish the thought!

Genius that I am, I thought it was some sort of fire regulation -- closing off different rooms.  Until I realized that our doors are all made of wood.   

My BF (British) is an architect and he's forever trying to design open planned living spaces for people and the clients come back and say "Oh that's great, but can you put a wall up here and here for a closed off living room and dining room?"  

It drives him batty!  He just wants to have a nice, flowing, open planned, well designed house (that are affordable to people's budgets- and less walls means less money!) and they just want "sh*tboxes" (as he calls it, not me)

We also just had a fantastic housing fair, which was showcasing all these interesting, unique, different, open planned, eco friendly designed houses - and you could tell all the architects about loved it (and me!) but the public's comments were so funny to listen to! I don't think they were ready for such a grand affair up here    as apparently they're having trouble selling them now!    

When we had a reno on my parents' 1950's ranch we added a dining area opening off the kitchen and a small sitting room/garden room open off that and connecting back to the living room. Just wide open doorways (no doors) and it really opens up an otherwise tiny house.