House size and older children

[Allhallowseve]

I am thinking way ahead of myself but currently have 3 boys under 5. We live in a 3 bed semi and would love to stay here ( perfect location , large garden ) we have extended on the back and thinking of converting the loft to make a fourth bedroom instead of moving .
However we only have a small front living room, we have another seating area in our kitchen diner extension with a tv too. Both of these will only fit 5 of us at a push. So I'm just imaging a life with three teenage boys how often do you all sit together ? Wondering wether we can realistically stay here?

We have 3 DC, now age 20, 16 and 11.
We also have a 3 bed semi but it's such a perfect location for their school, college and transport to uni.
So we had the dining room converted just after the second was born, and the loft converted when the oldest was 13, had an en suite up there too to make things a bit easier.
The living room isn't too small but not large either. However, they very rarely sit with us in the living room. We do all eat together in the dining room though. Most of the time it's just me and DH in the living room, occasionally one will come and sit with us for a short time.

Sorry, i mean the garage converted to a dining room

@Serendipity09 ok that's interesting. We have a large kitchen/ diner so that's a positive then for the future . The house is walking distance to their primary - which I will need for the next 11 years and also catchment for two good secondary schools close to park town and leisure activities . To move to a bigger four bed would probably push us up at least £100k on the mortgage in same area.

I’ve got a 17 year old and he’s not left his bedroom for the past 5 years so I wouldn’t worry.

I am potentially being overly optimistic that we may all sit together.

Personally I've found that it's rare for all the family to be together when they're teens. Other than maybe Christmas! Your house sounds perfect for you all so I would stay put.

I have 14yo and 16yo boys. Rarely we might all sit down to watch a movie but we have such different tastes it's not often. We have both a front lounge and a conservatory with TV's so there is choice. Also we have double doors so we can open the downstairs up into one space or separate it - it sounds similar to your set up to be honest.
With 3 teenage boys storage for their piles of huge trainers and sports gear or broadband for their gaming will be the main issue!

I've not even got to teenage years yet, but I've found that everyone having their own private space they can escape to is the important bit, more than space to be all together a lot of the time. I don't even mean sperate bedrooms, just a shed or something can be enough (I have one loud child and one noise sensitive, most of the time they are best friends, other times I need to keep them separate)

My living room is tiny. I have 3 dd's 10 14 and 16 its very rare we are all in the same room. As they get older they prefer their bedrooms or are always out with friends

Thanks all I hope we can stay here . Although the front lounge is small we also have a playroom at the back which could be a gaming room or something similar also have a building at bottom of garden currently used for storage. So although the house isn't huge there is definitely lots of space for them (and us!) .

DS1 is 16 and spends most of his time in his room or out.

Sounds like you'll have enough space. You could always convert the garden building to a sanctuary for you and DH or just you in anticipation of the house being filled with hormonal teens and their giant trainers.

You could probably do quite a lot (loft conversion etc) for a lot less than the £100k + stamp duty that it would cost to move.

@BarbaraofSeville I like your thinking !

We only have the one teen boy but realistically he only appears for mealtimes (where we always eat together) or when he can occasionally be bribed to watch a film with us. He definitely hung around with us a lot more in his pre-teen years.

It's worth thinking about who gets the box room now - in most cases, that becomes the youngest child's bedroom and they get stuck there for their entire lives.

I would convert the loft and make it an en suite bedroom for you. Then give the youngest your room (they will be there longest), the middle child the second biggest room, and the oldest the small room with a bribe of a garden building. Make a gym/hangout room in the garden.

Converting the loft and building a gym in the garden (with loo if you can manage it) will be far, far cheaper than moving.

The garden room should also include smelly sports gear storage and a punch bag

We have on teenage boy (15) left at home and he spends as little time as possible either with us, or in communal areas.

We generally see him at tea time, when he makes reluctant conversation. The rest of the time he is in his bedroom. Even the boredom of Covid-19 hasn't driven him into the arms of his family for any more time than this.

We have two boys - 11 & 16. Both boys have their own bedroom and the best thing we ever did was convert our garage into another lounge. It's especially good if DS1 wants to bring friends round.

We do occasionally sit together, but probably more likely to sit in a 3 rather than a 4? The 16 year old wouldn't want to watch most of the films/programmes that we allow his younger brother to watch

Thankyou keeping these ideas stored for a future of big smelly trainers , but I think they would already benefit from the punch bag .

Bump