7 signs you’ve outgrown your home.

Apartment living, one daughter, one husband: We’ve been there.

Yep – when you’ve outgrown your own home, it’s not fun.

Here are seven signs that you might have outgrown your home, speaking from experience…

And if you’ve ever been in the same boat? You’ll be nodding along to these.

1. The clotheshorse blocks off access to key areas in the home.

In winter when the need for the clothes horse arises, there is an immediate conundrum, like an unsolvable puzzle. No matter where you assemble the clotheshorse, it is awkward to walk past, and you are prone to catching it with your arm and collapsing the entire contraption.

It’s either in the way of everyone trying to access the couch area/TV, or it’s simply blocking a doorway, or right in front of the heater where everyone else wants to be. It’s a lose-lose.

2. When a cubby house is under construction, the lounge room is off limits.

That’s because the only option for your child to build a cubby house involves utlising the sofas, a cleverly hung sheet or two, and inviting all available teddy bears to the opening gala. Adults may not fit in the space, and they have also lost access to the sitting area.

The child is hopeful the cubby house will stay that way for at least a few days, and you don’t want to stifle their creativity, do you?

Related: The Blakes are packing up and moving on into a $4.5 mill house.

3. Dinner parties are a logistical challenge.

Dinner parties are a crafty game of “how can we fit everyone around the table?” The table may consist of indoor and outdoor tables, fitted snugly together, with varying heights. Often the kitchen is within arm’s reach of the dining table. And the stereo and the panty cupboard.

There will always be one person stuck in a spot that requires an entire row of dinner guests to exit their seats should the bathroom be needed.

4. The neighbours are far too close for comfort.

One of the joys of apartment living, semi-detached houses or generally small houses, is the proximity to neighbours. Lovely, vocal, lively neighbours. When you can smell their cigarette smoke wafting across your balcony? Yes.

When you can detail the twists and turns of each argument between the rambunctious couple next door? It’s amazing how quickly thoughts of moving to an entirely new state start to pop into your head.

5. The bathroom is strictly built for one.

Anyone who’s resided in a small house or apartment knows that the bathrooms were often built for one person at a time. In full view of the mirror, with the basin all yours, things are fine. Add a husband wanting to urgently shave, and things become tense.

Add a small child wanting to find their special step and climb on it to lean over and brush their teeth right in front of you as you apply mascara, and things can become volatile quickly.

6. Three people can reach the footstool at any given time.

In your lounge area, furniture is arranged in such a way that all members of the household can lay claim to the footstool at any one time. While a quirk of small house living, it’s also a source of mildly simmering tension, often linked to remote control management.

Related: “My son wants to know why his friends have nicer houses than we do.”

7. Play dates mean parents are banished to the bedroom.

Finally, when your child has a play date, and of course the kids want to watch TV and play video games, there’s the little question of where the adults go. The bedroom? The kitchen? The options are not so limitless…

If you relate to these, it might be time to ask yourself, have you outgrown your space? Sometimes it’s as simple as ensuring that your home loan is still relevant to your circumstances. A home loan health check with Choice Home Loans is a great way to ensure you’re still getting a good deal and getting the maximum benefit out of one of life’s biggest purchases. And if you book one before November 30, you’ll be entered into the draw to win $10,000.

There might be some handy things you could invest in with ten grand. Like some noise cancelling headphones.

How have you outgrown your home? How did you deal?

Speaking of little houses, here are some of the coolest cubbies around: