To think this house IS big enough

Yes that’s the one. She has so much energy!

Understand but this isn’t ideal for anyone is it. She could have stopped at one, two or three children. Definitely by 6. Personal space is so so important.

@buttnut is that the lady that built a bed to fold into her wall. She does great

I follow a lady on TikTok (she does lots of cleaning and organising sort of videos) and she has 6 children in a small two-bedroom council house 😳 and it does look cramped (although they seem to manage). The OPs house is absolutely fine for a family with 3 kids.

Yeah i agree it's definitely fine to share. It's the take away bit for a guest room that will mainly stay empty that I think it a bit unfair.

I agree. It’s one thing if you have twins and they need to share etc but choosing that is different. Also - you never know with a third child, it could twins! Or they might have needs meaning they need their own space, literally anything

Yup! 4 people here - one older adult -me and 2 20+ year olds and a teenager - all female- one bathroom - we manage fine.

I did move from a three bed to a 4 bed when they where younger because sharing just didn't work - they had their own rooms at their dads and hated sharing at mine - to the point of constant fighting - I looked at converting the en-suite to the family bathroom and the bathroom to a 4th bedroom but it wasn't doable so this was the compromise!

I'd look into converting the garage to a home office/guest room if I was you OP - seems the best option.

Technically yes of course you could all squeeze in. Many people have more kids with less space, and you are already getting the we-had-six-kids-in-a -two-bed-flat-and-survived posts. I personally think it’s too small. Sorry. Children need their own space as they grow up and having another one which would mean, eg two sharing a room, is selfish - just my opinion.

The thing is, yes OP could make it work, but this is a hypothetical scenario. As it is, each of her kids has their own room, they have a much needed office. If they decide to have a third this will change - affecting them all in some way. No I wouldn’t do it. The ideal situation is always for kids to have their own room. A great upbringing is possible with kids sharing, of course, but why would you choose that?

Fair enough, and sorry you had those experiences. Personally, all else being equal, I do disagree that having your own room for a short period as a child makes it unfair for you to share later on. Obviously this does depend on whether you broadly get on with who you’re made to share with and any number of other things, but in most cases I think it’s absolutely fine.

Well lots of people have 3 kids in much smaller houses so of course it’s doable! It might not be particularly comfortable though as I think there will be a general feeling of everyone being on top of each other if you add a third in. I grew up as one of three in a house that looks similar in terms of size and layout but we played out on the estate a lot and rarely had friends over because there was literally nowhere for us to go.

I shared as a child it was 3 to a bedroom.

We have also Been homeless/in temporary accommodation and very over crowded. So lots of room sharing.

I'm just not sure its fair to take it way once they have had their own space. Especially for a guest room that's going to be empty most of the time.

Garden pod.

I'd never delete a bathroom; surely that would devalue the house?

Personally I’d find it way more unpleasant to be convinced to buy a house that didn’t work for my family. It’s a very costly mistake that has financial and far reaching repercussions.

Well that's fine it's not your forever home so adjust cheaply. Keep saving and put your money into your next move or maybe two.

Sorry just to add op- many garden offices don’t tell require planning permission so straightforward to just go ahead if you want to

How the heck is that a 'small' house?
Jeez I didn't know how many people lived in mansions in the UK.
I grew up in a 2 bed terrace and survived just fine, in fact the best memories of my childhood are in that home rather than the bigger home we moved into later.
Also 400k is a small budget?! Wtf are you people on???

My dad was also one of six (sharing a room with 3 of his siblings and a drum kit!). He thinks people from small families are “poorly adjusted”

Op, seriously look into garden offices- you can get some pretty decent quality ones for not insane amounts of money. Our garden isn’t massive but we have one with a partition wall splitting it into 2 small rooms and it’s perfect for wfh. I think if you did this and then all the kids had their own rooms you have more than enough space.

Haven’t rtwt
OP the house looks great, loads of room. Definitely don’t put off a third on that account!
personally I’d convert the garage into two spaces or a divided space of an office and a ‘den’ where the kids can have friends when they’re older.
my friend has converted her garage recently, was about £17k

These responses are nuts. Op, my parents had six kids in a one bathroom three bedroom terrace house, and we all survived. Buy captain beds with storage/desks underneath for the kids and either convert part of the garage for an office or put in a garden pod. There is plenty of room in a four bedroom house for three kids you just need to maximise all space not just the floor space. Built in floor to ceiling storage is your friend here

Having been one of those children as the eldest of four, it really didn’t figure at all. And it’s not like the age difference between us is small, my sister is 5 years younger

If the children are used to having their own room . I think it would be unfair to take it away. Is an office AND a guest room really needed? Can't the guest room double as an office. Maybe you could get a good sofa bed or folding bed