AIBU to suggest sharing the home office so the children can split bedrooms?

I get your DHs objection I would be the same. No way would I want to share my home office with my other half, or anyone. That the whole advantage of wfh - you don’t have to share with anyone.

Part of the reason we moved was to resolve this. I hated sharing an office space with DH - nothing personal but he was on calls almost constantly and I need a bit more quiet to concentrate. I agree you need to find a solution though - our DC loved sharing for a while but then really wanted own space

I think you should make your office into a bedroom but keep your desk in there. The only issue then would be school holidays when the DC are older and not in childcare and want a lie in..

I would say he changes his wfh days, goes to a we work space, or he shares.

He needs to put his children first.

You don’t have a ‘spare room’: your DC share a room & it’s no longer working.

I couldn’t share workspace with DH for reasons other posters describe.

So in your situation would find an alternative to take turns in, eg kitchen or living room. & adjust it so you only have one workday both at home.

Just work from the kitchen / dining room table and tidy your stuff away at the end of every day, that’s what I do

Every time the kids bicker and argue send them to him to sort out. He might change his mind.

what does your wfh policy say?

we are not allow to share with anyone not connected to our organisations.

I would pay for a co working space for those 2 days. Depending where you are there are cheap ones and you can take turns on who sues the co working space and who uses the office

I think its different sharing an office with someone from outside of your organisation

I think separate desks are better.

Put your desk somewhere else, use dining table or wfh different days so can both use the office. Cant get my head around kids sharing a room when you have a spare one

Is he using his “office” as a quiet space for himself when he’s not actually working

It would drive me nuts sharing my study with DH when working. It would be a hard no for me.

Would your employers be happy for you to share? Seems like a confidentiality/GDPR risk - overhearing what you are saying on calls, paperwork lying around etc.

OK, I have a solution.

Put your desk in your bedroom and move your husband’s clothes into his office to make space for it. They won’t distract him on calls.

Clearly your children are reaching an age where they need their own bedrooms.

Keeping your desk in what will become your children’s room isn’t going to work- you’ll have work days when they are off school, there’s a danger that visiting friends will meddle with your stuff.

This. You have the office Monday, he has it Friday, the other person works at the kitchen table. Or someone changes their wfh days. Just lazy and entitled of him to expect everything to revolve around him getting the space he wants.

The best solution here is for you to put the older DC in the larger of the two bedrooms but with a good sized desk which you use during the day and s/he uses for homework after 5pm. Can you add an under desk drawer unit which can house your work and desk supplies so everything can be tidied up quickly?

Hearing my husband ‘speak corporate’ was an ick for me

I have a Pith and Stem folding desk in the dining room. It's expensive but it has paid for itself in train fare savings. You can hardly tell it's there. I appreciate not everyone has a dining room though, but you may be able to put it in a bedroom or living room.

Is the entire garage conversion made up of the office? If so it must be much bigger than he needs, and could be split into 2 separate offices.

Me and DH have a double desk in our study unfortunately we both have sensitive confidential calls which shouldn’t really take place in the vicinity of each other so he uses the dining room begrudgingly.

Is the study big enough to have a bed and desk? Then it can still be used as a work space during school time

I spent the first half of COVID sharing an WFH space with my partner. Oh it was painful, apart from a confidentiality issue between both of our roles and industries, I learned just how loud he was on calls to the point it became a borderline ick when I knew my colleagues could hear him on my calls and recognise his voice despite never meeting him in person. Even if he talked on work calls at less of a foghorn volume waking up, working for hours next to him and then ending the day with him became unhealthy and unbearable - even when we moved back to hybrid working. If both children need separate rooms is there any space to make a half WFH space so that one person can use the nice office desk set up in the garage and the other in more of a as needed space elsewhere in the house so you can swap and change as needed?

Yes course the kids should have own room as you have 3 bed home

maybe to share back again if have guests but otherwise be a bedroom for the children to have one each

it must be quite a good size if has a double in it plus desk currently

How old are your kids ?

if school age can a desk /table /make up table be put in their room and work there

a folding table in your room ?

what do you need office equipment wise

if just a laptop can you work via a kitchen /living room table ?

or is it more equipment

it would prob drive me nuts to share a small office space and be with dh 24hrs a day tho one day a week might be ok

renting office space ?

There is enough space in our office for two desks but DH and I could never share. I’d get distracted and want to chat all the time, I’m too loud on the phone and would annoy him!

I wfh less so have a fold out desk in the dining room that tucks away when not in use.

When we had guests they would use my room and I’d share with my sister.

it does feel like 50% of the permanent residents of the house are coming third on the list of priorities!