Splitting a room

If they're only 2 and 5 do you need a permanent solution right now? I'd go for one of the massive Kallax units from Ikea down the middle to divide it a bit then (as you said moving the hot water tank isn't really feasible financially atm) go for a permanent solution later on.

Fwiw my dc shared a room that was slightly smaller than 10ft by 9ft for 7 years so I think those room sizes will be fine!

The lobby is by far the best solution IMHO. I had a flat share where the landlord had done this, it was fine.

As for the lighting, you can get a motion sensor light for the room which doesn’t have the switch, and then use table and standard lamps for main lighting. You can also run led strips from a plug.

I’d do the lobby but also separate the bunk beds as previously pictured, so that the smaller room has exactly the same floor space as the large one, with the bed in the air space. You still create walls and doors so it’s private spaces as per your plan, but with one bed on the air you maximise space.
I’d take out the current door into bedroom one so the lobby area just has the two doors. Making them sliding into the walls is also a great space saving idea. Can’t remember the name of them but definitely googleable.

If costs an issue or even just to get a chance to try it out, you could initially have a more informal partition like dividing screens or wardrobes where the partition would be.

.

.

Something like in the top picture might save space

I think this is very doable, yes they’ll be small single rooms but that’s fine as they’ll have their own space. They’ll have a window each as well so ideal. Personally I’d do something like I’ve attached, so a door each from the landing. I think as long as you’re clever with furniture etc in the rooms it will be fine. I’d also ignore the previous poster’s suggestion of making bedroom two smaller! This will be your space to escape so important it’s a nice space for you.

I think stud wall and adding a door is a relatively cheap thing to do. So hopefully you find someone who can do it :)

If you're going to be there for the long-term, this is what I would do. I'd have one bigger and one smaller room, but have really good built-in storage in the smaller room to maximise space in there (desk near the window with cupboards above and built-in wardrobes). I'd also move the cupboard in the current Bedroom 2. I don't understand why it's not already in the alcove so you have a nice, big, square Bedroom 2. I'd also leave a little bit of space for a built-in bookcase in the new corridor so that it's not just wasted space - you only need 25-30cm for built-in bookshelves and, that way, you could store the kids' books there and free up space in their rooms.

You would also have to tell your mortgage provider,and insurance company if you make structural changes. We wanted to remove a little inner lobby, between the porch and living room. Had the property survey,it's not a load bearing wall, bungalow,he said although we own the property,no mortgage now,we would still have to have building regulations sign it off.

Your children are very young. Why not use a screen / bunk / furniture division for a few years while you save up and decide how best to do the division? You don't need to do it now. Living with the house for a few years will help you know how to do it best for how you use the space.

I did similar op by removing the tank and wardrobe from the main bedroom to create a larger hall and walkway to the further bedroom, it works really well and has made it a proper 3 bed. Removing the tank was not a massive job but I dont think it's a DIY job, I used a gas engineer who does building work too. It cost me about £7k 5 years ago but that included the new combi boiler and a separate radiator and light in one of the new rooms as well. It was well.worth it as is a proper 3 bed now. I'd definitely save and do it properly if you have to, we did a very simple split to begin with but it made one of the rooms really small and there was no radiator in there either.

If you use sliding doors that go into the wall you aren’t losing the space in a small room for the door to swing open. Last week’s George Clark programme had a whole section on them and worth taking a look.

Can you extend into loft?

I think I would just use a room divider while they are little and then see what they want as they get older.

Possibly a shelving unit back to back with another but securely bolted to the floor, wall and ceiling.

Course this is Mumsnet. Two 'boxrooms". They would be roughly 10 x9, hardly a box.. That's a double room in a lot of new builds. I did see a brilliant divider on casters shown online. Think it was B & Q. we were looking because we only have one spare room for the grandkids to stay,our room is a lot smaller than that
.

If you’re planning to be there for quite a
long haul, do allow for bookshelves, desks for computers, sports and music paraphernalia etc. also enough power points! In particular, don’t go for one of solutions that make the third room really small! Some of the suggestions would give what looks like about 8’x6’ which would give very little space once you had a single bed in.
Re bunk beds, isn’t 5 usually considered a bit young for a top bunk?
Could you consider letting the share for now and saving for a loft conversion?

I feel these are your two best options for future proofing it, you’ll immediately add value as you’ve gone from a 2 to a 3 bed. Doing your original plan won’t do that as people won’t like the odd layout.

Is it going to be a long term home? If you are planning to stay till they are much older I saw a great idea of an interior programme. They made the wardrobe area a communal area and then they had smaller sleeping rooms. You could use stud work to create two sleeping rooms with either pocket doors or curtains and then share the rest of the space, negating the worry about an additional door.

These bunk beds are a great way of dividing a room and maximising space.

We did this 20 years ago, stud wall so you can remove if needed.

It worked well.

Also, given the 2 windows, it suggests it was originally 2 bedrooms. If there are similar houses adjacent could you ask one of the neighbours for a look at their upstairs to see the original layout?

I would do the wardrobe split for now and deal with it in a few years when they’re bigger. I’d actively encourage them to share until the eldest is 8-10 anyway.

We have reconfigured our house a number of times with stud wall changes as the kids have grown bigger. If only I’d anticipated it all up front I’d have done it in one go, but didn’t realise how their needs (and size) changes over time.

Just one design thing, put the doors so they open flat against the walls rather than into the room. Adds more space. Might be slightly awkward when it comes to light switches but running the electrics into new walls is easy.