[nizmow]

My wife and I were hunting for a new apartment a few years ago, and after looking a few houses in a village around 30km from Amsterdam we stopped at the local pub for a drink. Got to talking with an old local and explained that we were torn whether to live closer to the city, or get a place here that has a lot more space. He said to us, "More space? What's the point of that? All you'll do is put useless things in it. Move to the city."

He was right of course.

[eecc]

Well, as far as I have seen space in the Dutch sense is not about functionally rather for show. Living room. A lot of living room, something you could play soccer in (or have many friends for dinner.)

Bedrooms, studies, bathrooms as small and cramped as feasible

[jbverschoor]

It's not for show. It's design 101. You spend the most time in the livingroom, diningroom or kitchen, so it makes sense to use the most space for that. There's only so much space you can divide up.