Do my kids need a wardrobe? Small shared bedroom problems!

[SomeKindOfFloppyWeirdo]

We have 2 kids (8 & 11) and three bedrooms. They share, and we had been planning to move ds1 into the (tiny) spare room. However, Dh will be working from home most days now and using the spare bedroom as his office, so dcs will have to carry on sharing. (Argh.) Their room is pretty small though.

So - the plan is downsizing their current bedroom so they can carry on sharing without being on top of each other. Ditching the wardrobe is one idea, using drawers instead (that could fit under the bed) and using a hanging rail in the alcove for uniform/things that need hanging up (not much apart from uniform!) Has anyone got a similar system, and are you happy with it? Or give me any better ideas as I’m stuck! Happy to buy new furniture if you know of any brilliant space saving ideas.

(Also the main bedroom is the same size as the kids’ room, otherwise I’d swap them into there.)

Would two of those bunks with desk and wardrobe underneath fit?

My teens room is too small for a wardrobe as it made it look rammed. He has bed. Drawers and bedside fraerrs.and now floor space.
His uniform is folded (polo's not shirts)

He doesn't wear shirts really but the odd ones he had I put in dds wardrobe.

@CompanyCrowdFight I’ll do some measuring up and see if they do - that would be a good solution! The room is narrow and long with an alcove at one end so side by side would be a squeeze and one at each end gets one trapped in the alcove.. but there must be a shape of bed that works.

@3LittleDucksQuack It does seem daft to have a wardrobe when they don’t have much to hang doesn’t it! Sounds like it’s working really well for your ds - it gives me hope!

Hanging rail in home office?

Presumably not much storage needed for home office so they can (each?) have a wardrobe or chest of drawers in there?

Could you not put them in the master bedroom and you move into theirs? We adults don't need the biggest bedroom. All we do is sleep in it.

Honestly, I'd expect your dh to work somewhere else. Dining room? Put a desk in the living room? A standing desk takes less space than a sitting one.

The home office is tiny - all the bedrooms are. Which is a shame as the downstairs is really spacious (but due to the layout you can’t section any of it off as an extra bedroom). The home office has a desk, office chair, bookshelf and laundry box and is full!

And sadly our bedroom is roughly the same size as the kids’ room - they actually have the better room as we have the airing cupboard and an awkward alcove in there, so have minimal furniture (and next to no floor space!) anyway.

It is a tough one!

@Stompythedinosaur I absolutely 100% agree with you but he’s not completely convinced.

My kids don’t have space for a wardrobe in their shared bedroom but we have fitted wardrobes in our room so I keep their clothes in there - they have drawers for some clothes in their room.

Is that an option?

[quote SomeKindOfFloppyWeirdo]@CompanyCrowdFight I’ll do some measuring up and see if they do - that would be a good solution! The room is narrow and long with an alcove at one end so side by side would be a squeeze and one at each end gets one trapped in the alcove.. but there must be a shape of bed that works.

@3LittleDucksQuack It does seem daft to have a wardrobe when they don’t have much to hang doesn’t it! Sounds like it’s working really well for your ds - it gives me hope! [/quote]
I think we need a sketch with measurements of their room and the 3rd room

My kids have a tiny room and share, same age so I know where you're coming from. We put the bunk beds along one of the long walls. And bought a long pole which we created legs at either end for opposite the bed. A small drawer unit at the small wall end for underwear. Works great. An open clothes rail takes up a lot less space than a wardrobe. It all gets used too often to end up dusty. One DC has the left end the other has the right. Hoping to move for own bedrooms next year but it is fine for now

Cabin beds with storage underneath are a good option, and you could have a row of hooks (the sort that are pre-fixed on a row on a painted long bar of wood) for hanging the clothes that really could be done with hanging up. You could do two rows, a higher one for the older DC and the lower one underneath for the younger DC. You can also get very small metal hanging rails, which can be moved to suit (creating a room divider?) these take up a lot less space than an actual wardrobe and usually have a shelf or two at the bottom for storage boxes.

Both DCs have a wardobe but they are shelving/ drawers only. They don't need hanging space yet and can use the hanging space in the spare room when necessary.

Are you planning to move, extend or convert the loft at any point?
If not, it's probably fine for them to share for a year or two but I reckon after that they should have their own rooms. At that stage you and DH should have whichever room is best and if need be DH should have a workspace in the bedroom.

I think we need a sketch with measurements of their room and the 3rd room

Kids’ room = 2.5m x 3.3m with 50cm x 110cm alcove (wiggly line is radiator and window)

Spare room/office = 1.95 x 2.25m. Titchy!

Thanks @RealisticSketch and @DandelionRose those ideas all sound great. V envious of those of you who have extra hanging space in the spare room! Might have to shrink dh.

@AstonishingMouse We’re renting so unfortunately can’t make any permanent changes. And no room in our bedroom for a desk - we only have a bed, wardrobe, bookshelf and there’s only just enough room left to walk around the bed - like a human sized width. I know it sounds really negative but we do love this house (despite the tiny bedrooms!) as we have loads of space downstairs, a huge garden, not overlooked, great neighbours, close to school. So if we can solve the room problem it will be perfect.

My child's room won't fit a wardrobe in. We're getting one of those high beds with a small wardrobe underneath it.
To me, I do want at least that small wardrobe because if I put all her clothes in a drawer folded up on top of each other rather than hanging up, I know she'd forget most of them were there. So my plan is to have that little wardrobe and any others in my wardrobe. And I can put mine in a drawer if needed

I've also seen a normal height bed but with like a frame - I guess like a four poster bed type frame but for a single bed. And you could hang clothes on the frame at the top if you wanted to

My DD has a row of hanging pegs on the back of her door for the few dresses etc that need hanging. It works well.

My DS has a tiny room and has a wardrobe from IKEA where you design the fittings inside to what you want. He has a hanging rail with enough space to hang shirts and then wire baskets underneath. You can fit 4 big wire baskets in with half height hanging space and the whole wardrobe is only 50 x 50 in terms of floor space.

Also I got a higher platform bed with 40cm clearance from the floor. You can then fit Drona storage boxes (IKEA again) underneath which would be suitable for clothes, toys, etc.

Can’t ds 1 have a cabin bed with a desk under that dh can use in the day time?

I’d put the desk in your room, smallest child in the small room and your wardrobe in the biggest child’s room.