To think this house IS big enough

I was just about to add this into my post! Think of all the improvements you could make with £20k and you wouldn't have the stress of moving.

Moving costs a lot now with stamp duty, solicitors,, estate agents. Cost us 20k eight years ago. That's dead money.

Sorry if I am repeating what other people have said, OP, but I would convert the garage into a guest room/home office. Then I would get a good joiner and get them to build in as much storage as possible, using every inch of space possible, like building drawers into stairs for shoes etc, multi purpose furniture. We did this in our first place, a tiny two up, two down terraced house that had been extended to include a kitchen diner and a small shower room and it was amazing how much space it gave us. There are loads of fantastic ideas online for small spaces, like studio apartments, that a good joiner could copy. Ikea hacks is another good site. I have loads of books and our joiner built in bookcases under our stairs that had a hidden door that opened up so we could access the cupboard underneath it for the hoover. He put little rods in that braced the books and stopped them falling off the shelves when the door was opened. If the garden is big enough for a small garden office, I would put one out there when the kids are much older and can play unsupervised and make it child heaven - it's kid junk in your living space that really gets you down, imo. That house is NOT too small, you just need to be a bit creative when you don't have acres of space, as very few people do.

Yeah OP... why don't you just buy something bigger....?

(Hopefully the sarcasm doesn't need pointing out, but just in case)

I know its crazy now that there seems to be the trend for a bathroom for every bedroom. It really isn't needed. If you were to take the floor space that each bathroom takes up in some of these new builds you could easily have a whole room to use as a home office, bedroom, separate lounge, dining room. So much importance seems to be given to a room that most people will spend the least amount of time in

My ds didn’t need planning permission to convert his garage but he did need building regulations.
It was a very simple conversion though.

YABU as you'll be squished and stressed. But if you want a child more than you want to consider how the children will feel about it, then:

No guest room; no hosting guests.
Move the office into the single room.
Give 2 of your children the current guest room/double to share somehow. Perhaps a bunk bed in the middle with 'walls' that divide the room into halves like you see on the internet suggestions.

Alternatively, they each get their own room, no guests, and work in the kitchen if you have to WFH.

I'm mind boggled by some of the replies on here! For most people it's not possible to just move to a bigger house!?

Anyway OP, you could definitely make this work!

I think if you don't want any of the children to share a room, which I also think is completely acceptable, then a garage conversion would be a great option which wouldn't cost as much as an extension. You could convert 1/3-1/2, so you'd still have storage space.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/query/hallway-office

Ideas here

Op if you want a third, you'll find space for stuff.

You don't say how old the kids are, so what the ages will be re sharing. If they're currently 2 and 3 it's fine, if they're 12 and 13 not so much.

If they can share, the office goes in the small room and "sorry, we only have air beds / you can have our room" for guests.
Second option for me would be garage. If it's properly insulated etc you could even let the kids use it as they get older.
You say your garden isnt huge so I wouldn't want to take up too much space in the garden especially with three kids

There's plenty of room for a desk, chair in the hall.

I'm seriously aghast at all the responses calling this a very tiny house, stating the have to move, everything is far too small. I do think MN is like another planet sometimes. I'm raising 3 kids, and was raised as 1 in 4, in houses smaller than this and not only is it completely fine, they were both very happy and thriving households!

You’ll only need planning if you change the front eg replace garage doors with a window
You don’t need planning to convert the inside of a garage into a room

I don’t think it’s a very small house, it’s absolutely fine. It’s a 4 bed house with three bathrooms, a dining kitchen and a living room large enough to house a dining table. Where I live Victorian era one bed flats with large kitchens and boxroom are very often converted into 2 bed flats y making the boxroom into a kitchen, what was the kitchen turning into a bedroom and the dining table goes into the living room.

Re the garden studio @Coconutsandpalmtree says her garden is small. Removing space for children to play safely isn't a great idea imo.

I know this is MN but there's absolutely no reason someone in a four bed house with two kids HAS to move to a bigger house

Just build a garden office. Leave your house alone - keep your walls, bathrooms and storage intact, and have a nice shed office. Really, really the easiest option lol

Well reading this thread I'm thinking o might have to put our third child on Etsy. Two youngest share and likely always will until eldest moves out. One living room. No garden office opp etc. I hadn't realised how awful my children's lives were going to become over the next decade

Agree- i'm currently living in a 2 bedroom flat with 3 children and i WFH. It's far from ideal but it's liveable until we can get a deposit for something a bit bigger.

New builds do tend to be a bit crowded but I think you can do it wiht a bit of workaround (garage office or convert a bathroom).

That’s a very small house. Even if you fiddle with floor plan it has no storage. Can you build a garden studio? Tbh, I’d buy something bigger, it seems skimpy for number of occupants and the bedrooms are tiny.

You could just not work from home but use a shared working space. It would cost a bit but would be a steady cost rather than a big outlay in one go for a renovation.

My friend has three young children, similar set up. Her desk set up is in the hall with a desk, tiny filing cabinet and laptop, three days a week.

It's the quietest place in the house 😂