I think as long as you don’t downsize too much you’ll be happy to do it.
One thing I know from upsizing when my kids were middle school age is that with a larger house everyone stays to themselves more which I don’t think is good. If you have one large living area and the bedrooms are smaller you’ll have more togetherness as a family and you’ll never regret that.
We don’t have kids, but my husband and I just moved to a smaller flat last month and we absolutely love it. Cleaning out all the things we don’t need or use any more from our wardrobes and storage space was amazing, and it’s already had a noticeable effect on our free time as we don’t have to hoover and tidy up as much, and we just don’t have as much stuff. We kept all our books, of course, but things like fancy dress costumes one of us bought and wore once, or second-hand board games we never play but a friend gave us for free, were taking up space and psychological energy and not giving us anything back in return. We moved from a 1000sq ft flat to a 600sq ft one.
That’s all well and good until your friend comes over, asks to play that game, and gets mad that you threw it out. 
This makes complete sense.
I don’t have kids, but when the psycho ex and I shared a 3200 sf house, we really only used three rooms - the office, bedroom and kitchen. Well, the bathroom too, I guess.
When his kids came on weekends they spent inordinate time in the (large, well-appointed) spare bedrooms texting and playing games on their devices.
I moved from a 1200 sf house on a small city lot to a 650 sf house on a very large lot and love it. The two bedrooms are tiny, which is fine and cozy. The kitchen and living room are almost one large room which makes it feel relatively spacious, and this winter’s project is to open up the wall between the office and the living room to make it a much bigger “common area” space. Then a smallish bathroom and large mudroom in the back for muddy dog paws, tools, washer/dryer, and utility shelves for general junk.
I don’t have tchochkes much, but tons of books. Many walls are lined with book shelves and two large antique armoires with lots of little drawers to keep things organized. I’m currently looking for one of those antique wood or metal kitchen cupboards that has built in bread drawer, flour sifter, like that. Furniture That Stores Stuff has become a premium.
Property taxes are cheap and so are my utility bills.
I have to work just as hard - if not harder - to keep things clean and organized, though.
Clutter isn’t a function of space. I could get rid of a lot of “stuff” but that would consist of car parts, misc items from my parent’s estate and my own crap that just needs to be thrown out.
clutter is magazines, paper and toys scattered all over the house. It’s a function of time. I have parts from every car I ever owned in the garage and basement that can be thrown out or sold. Just need the time to do it. Space allows people to save time sorting through clutter.
Has anyone ever downsized and regretted it?
Pamela Anderson?
A big backyard means more pulling weeds, cutting grass, trimming trees, and killing bugs, just to keep things in perspective.
Our last house, in the city, was twice as big as the current one, and had a yard 1/8th of the size of the lot this house has out in the sticks.
I would kill to have that space inside rather than outside again.
Take it from someone with two boys (now college-age) who have always had to share a room (we live in a two-bedroom apartment), you do not want your kids to have to share a bedroom. I’ve found that as they get older, they need more room, not less, and they will want their privacy.
I would love to also have a guest bedroom. So I would say, be careful if you are considering downsizing to fewer than four bedrooms.
I beg to differ. That sounds exactly what a clutterer/hoarder says when someone points out all the stuff they have. “I can sell/fix/give this thing away one day!” Meanwhile it just sits, collecting dust and being ignored.
I had all my art supplies lined up on window sills, shelves, and those little wire cubicle things you can buy at Target. All in my massive studio/spare bedroom. When I had it nicely organized, it didn’t look like clutter. It looked like stuff that was just waiting in the wings to be used.
But it was rarely used. No, the stuff that I use regularly is kept in a couple of big totes. The totes also hold my brushes. That way, I can be portable when I’m creating. My tendency–when supplies run low–is not to search through the enormous stock that I have, but to do the easier thing and just go to the store for a re-up. Hence, the stuff in the studio is largly unused…and unused art supplies (particularly paints and clays) don’t age well. So it becomes clutter. Even if it all has its place and isn’t on the floor, getting in the way.
It was nice to show off the art studio to visitors. It was nice to be able to walk into the room and admire all the stuff. But when it’s time to move (and there’s always a time when it’s time to move), then you start regretting all of it. To me, anything that you realize you don’t want or need when it’s time to move is probably clutter. It’s not about frequency of usage (I have an electronic keyboard that I haven’t played in a couple of years, but it’s nonetheless making the move with me). It’s about its true worth, when it’s time to ship out somewhere else.
Yes, it’s harder to be clutter-free in a smaller space. Yes, you’re going to miss the space you had as the kids get older. (They get bigger and their “toys” do, too.)Yes, you’ll be giving up the ease of entertaining that you have now, because it’s just harder to fit people around your stuff.
Sounds like you want a change. You say your present house is not your dream house and the next one wouldn’t be, either. Why? Why not go for your dream house now? This is what interests me.
Otherwise, why sell in a bad economy when home values have dropped? You sound like you have plenty of dough but…for how long, unless you keep making wise financial decisions. There are so many people out there right now who never expected to be in the fix they find themselves in. Unless you have money to burn I don’t see how this could seem like a good idea since there’s no true NEED for such a move.
Like I said, it sounds like you want a change. So why not do something with fewer (or maybe better) repercussions? Travel, or go back to school. Volunteer somewhere and learn how other people live.
Ask yourself why you’re restless.
This is sort of related (I hope) - when we moved two years ago, the first question everyone asked was, “To a bigger house?” No, actually, to a house of almost exactly the same size, because this is all the house we need (well, it’s more than we need, but we’re comfortable in this much space - it’s not too much, and it’s not too little). It doesn’t sound like you’re at your right-sized space yet, Elret.
(monstro, we cat-proofed our fenced back yard when we moved here, and the ladies just LOVE going out there - they’re in and out all day, every day.)