In the spirit of LordM, when the kids were out of the house, we moved out of the high-ranch part of the basement. We had three rooms down there (plus workshop and pantry and big storage area which we kept using.) Their purpose changed as our family changed. At first it was a spare bedroom, daycare toy room and tv room. Then the kids moved down when they turned 13 and by then we had the office in the third room. With the kids gone, the spare bedroom upstairs, no need for a family room and living room, we just moved the office upstairs and moved the TV into the living room. The rooms remained relatively empty until we moved.
Tearing off additional bits of the house didn't make sense because it wasn't a bungalow. But I could see doing that in a bungalow!
We had 3200 square feet of living space, so not a mansion but a large home. And while the bedrooms were small, the living spaces were huge so it felt a bit mansion-y at times. The apartment is also large, 2000 square feet, so I got to keep my big furniture from the house. One our neighbours downsized to a condo and then moved into this building and had to buy more furniture to fill their apartment. That was not a problem for me.
This place is much quicker to clean (not that I have since I got home and it desperately needs it!) Less distance between places, more hardwood or tile floors and no stairs makes cleaning faster. Plus bathrooms, which never took long, really take no time here because they are so tiny. No counters to empty to clean because we have no counters. No towel stands or benches to move when mopping because there is no floor space. A bathmat in dh's bathroom would give him wall-to-wall carpeting if he used one!
Cleaning is on the to-do list for tomorrow. Plus hair cuts. Burgers for dinner. So that day is nicely planned out. I'm going to fold ds's clothes now (they are done) and then head to bed. Dh can't sleep at night and so he wanted an early bed.
I wasted the evening by watching episodes of Scandal. I'm now hooked so have made a promise to myself to only watch them while on the treadmill. I had watched the first episode months ago and though, meh. I'm glad I watched the second one because that hooked me.