Sherry’s post a few months ago about what furniture & decor we still own after downsizing prompted me to look back through photos of our previous house for the first time in a while. It was a fun stroll down memory lane — can you believe it’s been 2.5 years since we moved? It also reminded me how much “extra house” we once had: rooms that were underused to the point I’d almost forgotten they existed.
Don’t get me wrong — we loved that house. But it was much larger than we needed (spending a summer in our smaller pink beach house made that obvious). We downsized to our Florida home happily and with relief. In Virginia we had 3,150 square feet; here we have 1,400 — less than half the space.
Some rooms here are simply smaller, but more notable is that several full rooms are gone: we went from three bathrooms to one, and we no longer have a garage, a dedicated home office, a formal dining room, and other spaces. Over the past 2.5 years — through a pandemic that required a full year of at-home learning — we really tested what living with fewer rooms looks like. Since we’ve adjusted so well, I wanted to reflect on which rooms we don’t miss and which we do.
6 Rooms Versus 14 Rooms
Our current home effectively has six conditioned rooms: a multifunctional downstairs space that combines kitchen and sitting area, three bedrooms, one bathroom, and an upstairs family room that functions as TV room, office, crafting area, and play space. Here’s a snapshot of those six rooms:
If you want more about each space, I’ve linked posts with additional photos below.
- The Kitchen/Sitting Area
- Our Bedroom
- The Bathroom
- Our Daughter’s Bedroom
- Our Son’s Bedroom
- The Upstairs Family Room
We’re fortunate to have generous outdoor spaces — a large upstairs deck, two porches, a pool area, and other outdoor spots — which expand our usable living area year-round. Inside, though, those six rooms are it. We also have a laundry closet in the kitchen and a small hallway, but they don’t qualify as full rooms.
By contrast, our Richmond house had fourteen rooms: kitchen, family room, dining room, office, downstairs bathroom, foyer, master bedroom and ensuite, daughter’s room, son’s room, hall bathroom, art/homework room, laundry room, and a finished bonus room. We also had a giant walk-up attic, a two-car garage, and a large outdoor shed — three storage spaces we no longer have. Downsizing cut out eight rooms plus those extra storage areas, which meant we needed to pare down and organize much more intentionally.
The Rooms We Don’t Miss
Everyone’s needs differ, so this is just our experience and not a prescription. The goal here is to share how downsizing felt for our family and what spaces we’ve found unnecessary in daily life.
Don’t Miss: A Foyer
We once prized a formal foyer, after years of living with front doors that opened straight into living rooms. But the foyer in our old house ended up being underused since we mostly entered through the garage. In our current home the front door opens directly into the living area, and it hasn’t bothered us. We prefer a functional entry with storage — a small mudroom or a laundry closet with hooks — over a grand but unused foyer.
Don’t Miss: A Laundry Room
We spent time and money creating a full laundry room in our last house, but it turned out to be more space than we needed. In practice, laundry never lingered in that room — clothes went from hampers to washer to dryer to folding elsewhere. More importantly, the tucked-away location meant we often forgot about loads. Here, a laundry closet in the kitchen area is centrally located and suits our habits: it’s convenient, has enough room for basic tasks, and hides noise when closed.
Don’t Miss: The Dining Room
Formal dining rooms have become less essential for many families, and ours was rarely used. We usually ate at the kitchen island, and the dining room became a staging area for packages. Now our single indoor dining table seats our family comfortably (and can expand to seat up to eight). We also host outdoors frequently by the pool, so a formal dining room wasn’t missed.
Don’t Miss: The Bonus Room
Our finished bonus room in Richmond was a great multifunctional space, but we’ve essentially recreated that utility here with our upstairs family room. It serves as a kid-focused secondary living area with a TV, art desk, and open space for games and crafts. Having two living areas split between floors makes this smaller house feel much larger in daily life.
Missed It At First: The Office
As two people who work from home, we were initially concerned about losing a dedicated office. During the pandemic and a year of virtual learning, that was a real challenge. We improvised — working from bedrooms, the kitchen table, and carving out desk zones in the upstairs family room. Over time the space evolved into a bright, comfortable workspace, and we’ve adapted to a flexible setup where we can work outdoors or retreat to a quiet bedroom when needed.
Do Not Miss: The Garage
We debated this one — a garage is handy — but for us it became a chronic storage problem. We repeatedly cleaned and organized it only to see it fill up again. Not having a garage forced better habits: immediate sorting of donations, less impulse accumulation, and more weekends actually spent doing things instead of cleaning. We do miss secure covered bike storage sometimes, but simple solutions (bike covers or a small alcove) handle that, and overall we’re happier without a garage to maintain.
Sometimes Miss: Our Ensuite Bathroom
We don’t miss having multiple bathrooms as a daily pain point, and we’ve paused plans to add a second bath because it isn’t necessary right now. But I do sometimes miss the specific marble-clad ensuite we renovated in our last house — largely because we only enjoyed it briefly before we moved. That bathroom was a recent finish we didn’t get to savor for long, so it feels like a small casualty of the larger, worthwhile decision to downsize and change our lifestyle.
The Trade-Offs Of Downsizing
Downsizing is a series of trade-offs. We traded a marble ensuite for an outdoor shower and a single shared indoor bath, a garage for a large second-floor deck and easier weekends, and a huge kitchen for proximity to shops, restaurants, and the beach. Our internet can be spotty, but we have a pool and a walkable neighborhood. Less square footage means easier cleaning and lower heating and cooling costs. The move to a smaller, more walkable home near the beach has been worth those trade-offs for our family.
If you’re curious about more on downsizing, our posts linked throughout this piece cover kitchen organization, what items we kept, smart storage solutions, and reflections on the process. We chose to give up square footage in exchange for a lifestyle that gets us outside, closer to the beach, and less burdened by excess storage — and for us, that’s been a win.