yikes! I think I gasped after reading up to 'body' in the first line. lol!

I do think having the rooms open to each other makes it look bigger. Also the high ceilings help with it. I have some of that here. mine is about 1400 sf and sometimes I think it seems huge - like when I have to walk to the kitchen for something...then back to my bedroom. Then remember I forgot something and have to go back to the kitchen... then back to my bedroom. yep. seems huge then - lol! The LR/DR is open front to back also. about 24' and then half of it is about 13' wide and then it opens up to maybe 16' or so wide on the back half. There's a doorway into the kitchen on each part. one where it's skinnier and then 1 where it opens up. In between the doorways is a partition with glass from about 30" up to w/in a ft or so of the ceiling and that is open. So it does appear very open. It has a huge window across the front and patio door on the back side of it.

I've actually stopped at a few places to ask people about their houses back when I was looking to see what I did want. Surprisingly several invited me in and showed me around. also surprisingly - I did it!

very neat that they were from dhs hometown area and knew some family there.

I did the same thing Steph! I thought someone delivered a body to Chris' house at first, lol!

My house isn't very open and it feels small to me, so yes, I think the open concept makes a house feel larger.

LOL @ Steph and Marti. You both know I am a kook so anything goes in this house. I did have to email the neighbor across the street to let her know it was NOT me standing in the front window constantly trying to spy on them.

I keep thinking on their comments and some others have said the same about the house being so large. I know how large it is so that is not the case.

Steph your house does sound very open. Do you like it that way? One place we considered buying had a large room I was going to use for studio and it was 16 foot long. That felt large to me. I felt I had the option to create a nice storage area at one end for my art supplies. I guess if we do have large open rooms there is always the option to tuck some thing in them to make a storage space. Like ML's door headboard storage corner.

Marti with the more closed rooms it seems like it would give more mystery to a house. Here you can almost see the whole house in one glance. Only the sewing room ,studio and bathrooms are out of sight in the first glance.

I don't know it just seems interesting people think this house is so big. Maybe walking across the front porch adds to it but it is only 8 foot deep.

The 800 SQ FT house we had also felt large because it had a 16 by 20 living room. hummmm It did have two bedrooms and the kitchen which was also open to the living room by a wide arch. There was also a dinky just barely a one butt bath. So it was not quite the one room cabin but I bet the families that lived in it mostly lived in the living room. We even had our small dinning room table in one corner of the living room.

Hi Shades !
In order to make our space appear larger we knocked out a small useless coat closet that was situated as you enter the apt. Now the space between the kitchen & sitting room is open except for the kitchen entryway molding.
The kitchen cabinets are inset so they really make the kitchen look larger too.(10x12') I couldn't believe the visual difference when the cabinet doors don't sit outside the cabinet. I'm so glad I persisted and bought inset cabinets.
What really helps with the space though is we now have STRAIGHT walls. We replaced all the walls and added crown molding and windowsills(9") and trimmed out the windows so they are deep.(our pussy cat requested this) The ceilings are 9ft the crown molding makes it appear that the ceiling is even higher. Also ceiling fans carry your eyes up too. I also put a chair molding in the sitting room. Paint colors make a difference too. There is a rich dark paint color(BM Morrocan Spice) below the molding and a pale color(BM November Rain) above that continues down the small hallway. November Rain reminds me of Ireland. :)
I don't have internet at home(I don't want any contracts and can't find an affordable pay-as-you-go service), right now I am at a park soaking up the sun. I know I owe you guys pictures ! :)I keep forgetting to bring my camera to the library so I can transfer them.
Since we haven't completed everything yet I haven't seen my friend's reactions--I'm sure they won't believe the transformation. It was crumbling around us before. Not fun in 500sq ft.

ERF your post reminded me of our last house. We had kitchen and living room two rooms only open to each other through a doorway arch.Maybe a little wider than regular door but not large opening. I remember wishing there was a way to open that area up. There was no way at all to do so.

I can not wait to see your new kitchen cabinets. I have not heard of this style before. I did put glass in the doors on the upper cabinets at the last house and that really opened that room up. It was not a small kitchen but the glass doors were wonderful.

Our laundry room here is small and I use a laundry cart to take the clothes in and out to the line. This little cart was always in the way. My husband made me a nice hanger for it on the wall behind the door. Just that little change cleared the floor space and opened up that room.

Ours isn't a traditional home. It's an MCM post-and-beam, and visitors get a sense that it is something different as they drive up. But it doesn't really "open up" until one steps inside and sees the very large space (LR, DR, KIT, garden in one room) and floor-to-ceiling glass on two ends. So it makes a big impression every time.

Shades, one of the principles that Sarah Susanka preaches is to make LONG VISTAS through a house to add a feeling of spaciousness.

Diagonals are popular for flooring for that same reason.
And one reason I'm trying so hard to be able to see from the front of the house out the back to our deck is this spaciousness feeling.

We have a traditional house, but by the time I knock out two walls the south side of our house will be like one continuous room....almost....but with any remaining walls perforated by really wide (5 feet and more) doorways. With no doors on them......except I do plan on French doors being rehung to block off the living room as a guest room.
If my current well loved sofa wears out, I'm thinking we'll put that Murphy bed thingy on the wall of the living room, our seating in there on loveseats is totally RIGHT. It sure makes the room feel MUCH BIGGER.

With our smaller homes, making the furniture SMALLER SCALE is the way to go. Let the rooms BREATHE. I think they say we need about 20 house plants to improve our air quality, and if I make them BIG houseplants, as I prefer, then the furniture MUST be smaller.

Shades, maybe one day you'll tape a video for us. That would be outstanding.

LOL ML that might be fun. I will see what I can do. For now this one will have to do. LOL BAD BAD KITTY And some of the messy house. Kitty was just having a fit all on her own. Poor thing has gremlins. My husbands comment in the very beginning is."Don't get too close."

Here is a link that might be useful: Abby

Video later Had to wash the slip covers. MUST get those pads ordered. I think they will save me so much time.

I guess the deer prefers the boat port. Joe is working just around the corner of the shop on his old truck and she could care less. Nap time for her.

well, she sure feels safe and comfy coming over for a nap, doesn't she?

I'd say they walk in and feel: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

At least at the moment... :)

Yeah, the deer is probably hiding out there until deer season is over. ;)

Shades, your kitty looks even wilder than my cat. He does that thing too where he grabs at my leg when I'm walking by. But I can tell he's going to do it by the way he is looking at my feet.

Young gardener, that is exactly what I was going to say. Actually, they probably feel like we are hoarders right now. I have started putting things back in the kitchen cabinets though.

Shades, should I assume from the pic that you don't have a garden you are always chasing the deer out of? My deer would be like "here comes that crazy woman screaming about here tomatoes again, RUN!"

LOL Kali615, We let her have whatever she wants. There is enough to share. She also likes the plums but I worry about the pits?? She spent hot summer nights in the squash. Whatever. She really was not all that bothersome.

LOL younggardner on run for your life. I have a bit of a mess going on in here too this week with working every day last week. Now I am flat out too tired to clean it up. Maybe after a good nights sleep.

Well then Shades, I would take your one over my troop of garden robbers any day. She seems lovely....... Unlike my ungrateful, tomato plant thieving, carrot stomping, fence jumping, bunch of hooligans. (I'm not bitter)

Now that my garden is done for the year though they are wonderful. I had 8 in my back yard this evening. The kids love them..... But come spring, I start running and yelling again ;)

I never answered the OP.

It is hard to say what peoples feeling is when they come into our house as it is completely unfinished right now. BUT, they all tend to say the same two things---

1- Boy, this place is old.

2- Do you really burn that thing? - referring to a very large ornate base burner coal stove that sits in the main room right when you come in the front door. And YES we do. It is our ONLY source of heat in the winter until the renovation is done. And we will probably burn it through the coldest months of winter when we have another heat choice also.

I'm kind of partial to the saying:

If you are coming by to see me - the door is always open
If you are coming by to see my house - better give me 24 hours notice, or something to that effect, lol!

I am trying to take to heart the mantra that when my kids are grown and out no one will think back and care if the house was always spotless when they were young. And those aren't the memories that I'd want anyone to cherish anyhow. I could work ALL DAY LONG on cleaning up after everyone and it really doesn't matter nor does it bug them one bit.

Hubby on the other hand, he prefers the house to 'look' like there isn't a big old dog and 2 crazy boys living here. I have given up on that goal and have moved it to that don't sweat the small stuff category.

As for other people when they come in, I'm not sure. They probably would think, hmmm they must have just moved in because my claim to fame is definitely not decorating. Our walls are pretty stark and we have been here 14 years! We do have a clock hanging on the wall. Maybe the next house...I'd seriously have to hire someone. The thought of it alone stresses me out.

Shades - that deer is awesome, very cool! I love seeing stuff like that. I am surprised it hangs around with your dogs. They don't give chase? I am hoping when we move we'll see critters like that.

The people that came by the day that started this post have become friends. They told us ,then, their house was decorated close to the same way as our house is.Yard sale eclectic. We dropped into see them and she was totally right only I think their antiques are so much nicer than mine. Anyway it really was a pleasure to visit them and compare. In a good way.We do have many of the same kind of furniture pieces. We laughed a lot. Their house is fairly large but two stories each story has a bath. Stairs were a bit steep but manageable.

We all laughed in the uniqueness of their house and how they made it work for them. I could move in there and be wonderfully settled in with out any trouble. Even though our house is a totally different lay out. Their upstairs is just a little smaller than our whole house. A person could live in the upstairs with out even using the lower floor which was a daylight basement. One whole side was not filled in and a nice door to the outside. It used to be the garage and work room or?? Made into a wonderful man cave for him on one side which would double as guest suite as it had the bath. On the garage side now closed in with large windows is a pool/ping pong table and washing machine dryer.

If we were ever looking for another place to live this would be a wonderful house. EXCEPT it was on 20 acres. UGH

"I wish I'd taken an allergy pill."

Autumn I meant to comment about the animals in the house. I am more lax about house work than I used to be. I do try to do a mad dash pick up daily and looking around right now. I can see it did not happen today. Tomorrow morning will be soon enough.

One thing I did for myself was to buy a new vacuum. Not expensive at all and mostly it is just for the vinyl floors. I have an upright for the carpets that are left. This little(under 50 dollar) vacuum has changed my life as far as cleaning. It is easy and fast to use. My only complaint is the cord is too short. Otherwise it is a dream. Those clouds of dog and kitty hair are going to be history. AND it is light enough for me to hold it to get to the cob webs in the corners on the ceilings. We have vaulted ceilings and I am vertically challenged.

LOL @ Nancy. Allergies are not at all fun. I am sure people think that when they come in here.