How long could a small three-bed flat work for our family?

It's fine? If the two kids are the same sex you have a bedroom, an office and a kids bedroom. Job done. If they're opposite sex you'll need to split their bedrooms or move in about 10 years. It's perfectly doable. Is it going to feel right sometimes? Yeah. But be smart with toys. Not big things that take up space while being used or not. Not loads of little toys that are keep put away. Go to the park alot. You'll be fine.

I think the biggest question you need to be asking is how you're gonna have kids when you both work all day and all evening? That's not sustainable.

No you can't work from a sleeping child's bedroom. That's entirely unacceptable. You need to share the office. Most people work in shared offices.

I mean, I wasn't suggesting you personally did it. But at some point in the next 5-10 years if the boiler needed replacing you could consider having the heating engineers look at re-siting it somewhere more convenient to give you more usable space in your bedroom.

You're planning well ahead with school locations but you can also do some planning ahead with reconfiguring your living space while also embracing that your needs are likely to change over the years and being open to be flexible about some of these things.

I'm guilty of this at the moment as someone who works primarily from home. My kids are usually out at school so I have the run of the house and all the wifi bandwidth. Then it's the school holidays and kids are around, wanting to talk to me, asking what there is for lunch and when I'm taking a break, inviting friends over and gaming and slowing down my internet connection.
I get frustrated. Then have to give myself a talking to. This is a home, their home, and I can work from it as long as it's convenient to. If it's not comvenient, I can work from the office, a coffee shop, the gym, I can rent a desk in a shared workspace, I can pick my laptop up and go and sit in a different room to take a call.
I think I took exception to the idea of working next to your kids bed while they're sleeping because it seems so intrusive to their dedicated space in their home and prioritising the work over the comfort of a small child.
But my main point is - you don't have any kids right now and you get the keys to your 3 bed flat in a few weeks.
Just move in and figure the rest out as you go along.

Would be knocking out that chimney breast, re-siting the boiler and putting a dormer or velux in loft if it was suitable for sleeping / working in. Do you want to share a floor plan?

For me the key things are layout and storage for everyday things - pushchairs, coats, boots, bags when you come in.

As much seamless floor to ceiling built in storage as possible to hide kids clutter / toys. Things that can be bulky are often early years stuff like high chairs, pushchairs, playmats, bouncy chairs etc - but they are only temporary.

What floor are you on? Is there a lift?

To add to my comment above (and slightly peeved that some claim your flat is too small, when my house is smaller yet has worked for 20 years!) I WFH in the living room. I have a secretary desk (an Ikea one) that I fold out during the day (I use a riser, an extra monitor keyboard and mouse - proper desk set up) and put away at the end of the day. Setting up and closing down is my commute.

I’m sure there will be space for you to have something similar. There’s also a very posh brand (Pith & Stem) who do gorgeous wall mounted fold away desks.

My DC are opposite sex so had a room each and even though all rooms are small we’ve managed to fit a double bed in the box room!

You are planning ahead so can choose furniture that works. Most of our furniture does double duty.

Our bed = storage
living room sofa = spare bed
Living room foot stool = storage, extra seating or with a tray a table
Desk = storage and workspace

Also think walls and height.

I saw a lovely desk/bookcase by La Redoute (called Marcela) that would work for your flat and allow you to maximise space/room use.

Planning ahead is such a good idea. Good luck.

Both parents plan on wfh full time, with a baby and toddler in the background. Forget the size of the apt, that sentence alone is impossible. If they’re relaying for childcare they may find it cheaper and wiser to save towards a bigger property!

3rd floor - no lift. Ouch with baby, toddler, pushchair, car seat…..wouldn’t go for 2 under two in that instance. Getting two toddlers up and down 3 flights of stairs safely will be your biggest issue. If you have a car you could leave pushchair in boot?

If there are 3 flats below - do you mean 4th floor ?

You cannot padlock a buggy to communal stairs.

The stairs will really be a big issue. And what about when you're bringing shopping in. Even if you get it delivered they'll deliver it 4 flights down from your home. How're you going to do that with a toddler.

The space is fine. You could easily make it work, you are being restrictive yourselves with the how but you'll find you just have to sacrifice and work in a shared space. But the stairs are just a killer. Especially if you have a c section, god I can't imagine. And I'm 30 odd weeks pregnant now, no way I'd choose to climb 4 flights of stairs with my 1yo.

You'll manage, you'll have to. But it's not a wise choice.

Are you sure - some flats have banned this due to potential fire hazard or either other residents don’t want the clutter. Hope you can park your car close as wrestling a sleeping or fractious toddler out of their pushchair, collapsing it in the steer to put in the boot (would need to strap baby / toddler into car seat whilst you do this) and then humping sleeping, fractious, tired, wriggling baby / toddler down the street, into your block and up 3 flights of stairs - will not be fun. You will have to strategically plan going in and out and shopping.

I had a baby in a second floor flat (with the laundry in the basement) and it wasnt as bad as some peoole make out. You do need a decent baby carrier however (I recommend going to a sling library) In fact having bedrooms and living areas on the sane floor was easier in a way. Im glad we moved before toddlerhood though.

i think the size of your flat is fine. However being 3rd floor might not work for you. When I was pregnant we lived in a flat. Top floor (2nd). I ended up with pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy (sometimes needed a wheelchair). I had to crawl up the stairs. Then when DS was born (big baby) I struggled. We moved to the house when he was 9 months old.

Size is fine. Being on the third floor might not be!

I WFH a fair bit and would feel dreadful making them share their bedroom space with my working life, so no that won't work. They could share one bedroom, is the other room big enough for both of you to work from? If not can one of you work from the kitchen / dining table permanently or hire a workspace somewhere. I have a fold out desk I get out of my wardrobe or work downstairs in the kitchen or living room.

I get planning ahead but basing location around catchments when not even pregnant is a little
premature. Plus the falling rolls means schools lose funding and close…

Has OP said they don’t intend to use childcare?

I agree with a PP the size is doable with one or even two babies but the 3rd floor with no lift and a shared communal hall really isn’t.

I posted earlier saying how well it worked for me but we were 1st floor with our own front door, small enclosed entrance hall just big enough for a pushchair and I could leave the baby asleep down there if necessary. Only one flight of internal stairs with a stair gate at the top.

I can’t imagine how you could possibly get a baby, a toddler, all their stuff and any shopping up and down all those stairs and it would be really disturbing and unfair to your neighbours while you were doing it. They might also be working from home, shift working, or even unwell. Small children can be particularly noisy on stairs and if you’ve woken a baby at the bottom to take it out of the push chair and carry it upstairs it’s not going to be very happy.

The space is fine. The stairs are absolutely not. Your question should really have been ‘how could a flat on the third floor without a lift and a communal hall work for our family?’ other people may have experience of living in similar circumstances and be able to advise.

Forever if you give the children a bedroom each by the time the eldest is 8 or 9, and compromise on your work from home set-up (one in your bedroom, one in a lock up desk unit in the living room, or take it in turns to work from a co-working space.). One or other of your working arrangements may very well change over the years meaning working somewhere other than at home.

No. You don't put your office in a child's room, you put it in your room and you keep the other portable between a lock up set-up in the living room when the children are at childcare or asleep, or your room or a co-working space when the children are being cared for in the living room/ older and hanging out in the living room.

Are you sure your building rules allow this? It's usually against fire regulations.

Your updates suggest that actually this won't work at all. Your OP was misleading. You can't plan to work in children's bedrooms while they sleep, and while some families manage third floor without a lift with babies, you can't usually keep a buggy in a communal hallway because it's in everyone's way.

I think third floor is even more of a dealbreaker than 2xWFH. I also doubt you’ll be allowed to padlock a pushchair in the hall for fire escape reasons and getting baby, toddler and say stuff from a day out up the stairs by yourself is going to be really hard.