My family of 5 moved into a 3-bedroom duplex. I was dreading downsizing at first, but I'm glad we did.

The author's family of five moved into a three-bedroom duplex. Courtesy of Melissa Noble Most of my previous homes have been bigger, two-story houses. However, my family of five just moved into a smaller three-bedroom duplex. I was dreading having less space at first, but there are unexpected benefits. I've always loved the idea of having a big family home . I grew up in a two-story house with six family members, and it was always loud, fun, and messy. Now that I'm a mother of three, I have a very different perspective on what it actually takes to run a busy family home. After living in multiple two-story houses in the last few years, I've realized that bigger isn't necessarily better in many ways. In August, our family of five downsized to a small three-bedroom duplex in Labrador on the Gold Coast, Australia.