To think a 2 bed house is perfect and more rooms aren't necessary?

[takehimonwillyou]

For us.

It's just me, DH and DS.

I do not want any more DC. I am done. DH thinks I will change my mind but I cannot stand children in general, although can't get enough of my DS. But he is enough. I think I've hit the jackpot of balance with life, work, DC and being 'me'.

Friends and family think I'm mad for saying we will be looking for a two bed. I want to stay in a fairly nice area of the South so more rooms would compromise location and just aren't needed.

In addition to this, I'm a cleaning goddess and I like to do everything myself in a particular way so wouldn't ever want a cleaner to treat myself to an easier life. Having just 2 bedrooms makes this much easier as it probably equals a smaller property.

AIBU?

Sounds fine to me - I’d just want to be sure I had plenty of living space.

2 bedrooms sounds perfect in that situation. Definitely no more than 3 but the extra one would be a luxury (saying this as someone who grew up in a household with two adults and four children squeezed into a tiny three bed house, the concept of a ‘spare room’ is totally beyond my comprehension and definitely not a necessity!)

YANBU to want the size house you want. I’d ideally have a spare room for visitors though.

Yes, a 3 bed would definitely be 'nice' to have since I'd quite like a guest room that will never get used. But again, I'm willing to compromise!

Don't you want the option of having people to stay?

first it depends on your finances
then personal preferences
No one else can decide for you

I personally find bigger properties easier to clean and maintain (within reason obviously) because more space need you don't need to pile things up and get things out of the way when you want to reach something.
I also prefer to have at least 1 room per person , so everybody gets their own space, but including the living room you have got that.

If you buy a sofa bed and don't often have guests, you don't need a spare room. I would miss mine, I need a room to put "stuff": luggage when I am packing for holidays, presents that need to be wrapped or waiting to be given away...

We never have people to stay so if I had one child 2 bedrooms would be plenty.

Sounds fair enough. We don’t have a spare room and neither do most of the people I know (we live in central London). Spending a whole load more (or having a longer commute) so someone can stay over four times a year is madness.

Personally I would look at 3 beds, only because we're in a 2 bed, dc1 is coming and we have alot of "stuff" in what would be the baby's room and nowhere to really put it.

If it’s a house, two bedrooms upstairs mean less space downstairs so that would put me off. Plus an extra bedroom doesn’t have to mean it’s used as a bedroom, a study or dressing room is my dream!

If you want a 2 bedroomed house and it's big enough then that's fine. But do think ahead. Might there be a time when you or your dp work from home in which case a 3rd bedroom would be useful as a study. Or do you have family come and stay regularly?
Personally though don't compromise on location just to get a 3rd bedroom if you will rarely use it.

Not being able to have people to stay is a positive advantage in my eyes

I'm in your situation, 1 DS, not a fan of children generally, love DS to bits, with just one we can have a really nice life and offer him a lot of opportunities, I won't be having any more.

We have a three bed and bought it before we had DS thinking we couldn't have children without IVF and even that might not work, BUT, I love entertaining and having visitors. Before DS his room was my home office and had a day bed so could be used for guests, I only work from home sometimes so it's not a necessity. The other room is a permanent guest room, which now we have DS rarely gets used unless DH snores and I make him sleep there, eventually DS night live in the add it's bigger and his room can go back to being a study which he can use for homework too.
However I wouldn't have the downstairs living space without the third bed, we have three reception rooms and a separate kitchen (that I want turn extend with a conservatory or sun room at some point). The morning room now has my desk in it and I can see will become an office/playroom and we still have a living room and dining room, we like to eat at the dining table every night so that's important to me, and whilst our kitchen is spacious it's galley style (why I want the extension on the side) so nowhere for a table. It depends what you want to use your home for. Even if we'd had no DC I would've been happy with our house and people probably would've said it was too big for just a couple. Get the space you need and want not what others say you should have

Up to you, but we like having a mancave, a womancave and a study.

My SIL and her husband live in a two bed with their son. They are completely happy with their home. They have plenty of visitors, who stay at a nearby hotel.

I'm in a 4 bed with 2 DC. The 4th room is so rarely used it's ended up as a dumping room where everything gets "tidied" to. I'd be happy downsizing to a 3 bed to stop me doing this.

Only you can decide whether or not you're happy in your home. Don't let others question or second guess your happiness.

I think sometimes people go for more bedrooms than they ‘need’ in order to get decent spacious living space. Also it can be hard to get two double rooms - more commonly you get 3 beds with 2 decent rooms and a box room.

I would look for the amount of living space you can get within your budget, with any extra bedrooms being simply a bonus. Our last house was a 2 bed and when we were looking to upsize, partly because the boys really couldn't share any more, we sifted through details of dozens of 3 and 4 beds with less living space than our 2 bed! (and a fair few 3 beds with less square footage, full stop.)

Sounds sensible to me OP. Having a third bedroom for occasional guests might be nice, and would save THEM money, but could add another £30K onto the price for you.

Provided you don't having hoarding tendencies and you keep things tidy, a small house is fine. Controlling clutter will be key, but that's a good thing, no matter how big a house is.

Sounds OK to me.

Provided you don't having hoarding tendencies and you keep things tidy, a small house is fine. Controlling clutter will be key, but that's a good thing, no matter how big a house is.

Cannot stand hoarding, tidy house means tidy mind to me. I don't do clutter and even DS gets old toys taken away as soon as they're outgrown, and will have to start choosing a toy to get rid of once he's older and requests the occasional toy as a treat outside of Christmas and birthday.

Definitely fine.
I'd consider the actual layout as your ds grows. Maybe bunk beds for if he ever wants a mate over.
Could you add a conservatory if you needed to.
Is the second bedroom big enough for all his stuff, if you don't have surplus downstairs.
No matter how minimalistic you are even one child accumulates shit they don't want to give up.

I am entirely with you, except on the cleaning front. My husband and I have got cleaner and cleaner the bigger our houses have got, simply because there is finally enough space for everything we own in our current house.

Re: guests - an extra bedroom would, I guess, put another hundred pounds a month minimum on the mortgage. I would personally pay my guests ad hoc hotel fees myself rather than commit to that if I didn't want to!

It depends on the size of the house imo. Some 2 beds semi detached and terraced houses are really small. And when you take into account corners and fire places you have very small space left. You might struggle to get decent bed, table, and some sort of wardrobe in your DC’s room. Also you won’t have space downstairs for additional toilet and decent dining area.
To get more space on the ground floor and bigger bedrooms you might need to go for traditional 3 bedroom semidetached with 2 good bedrooms and a small box room. Or for bigger terraced, which will probably be 3 bedrooms as well.
Also in my area 2 bedrooms mostly have yard or quite small garden, rarely parking space or garage so depends what you’re after.

Nope. Me and my partner are looking to buy next year and I only want a 2 bed as it's us and our DD. I like minimalistic and can't stand clutter so as long as it's not tiny and you aren't cramped, nothing wrong with it!

I'm a cleaning goddess