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?

If you don't really need an extra room, why pay the extra? If friends and family stay over, you can probably afford to put them up in a five-star hotel and pay for taxis for them and you'll still be quids in by miles!

It's not the bedroom number that's an issue for me but the effect a 2 bed will have on the ground floor space.

It's having decent living space. A two bed with a ground floor extension would be fine. There are fewer 2 beds around where I live with 2 decent sized reception rooms and kitchen and a downstairs toilet.

2 rooms for sleeping in is fine. You don't need a guest room.

Personally I do like spacious living space - plenty of room to cook, eat, have people round without being on top of each other. And decent outside space. Might be hard to get with 2 beds. DH and I both have an office but we work at home a lot. So even if we were only using two bedrooms would probably need a 3 bed to get that.

But obviously it is entirely up to you and your priorities. A good location is so important, and so is enough spare money to relax. You definitely shouldn't feel you have to get a bigger house just because other people are "aghast".

I love our house, but sometimes I crave a smaller house!

The only thing we've found, is it's nice to have a 'together' room, and then also have another room that's comfortable enough to hang out in if the activities in the first together room don't suit you (eg. the kids are playing plants vs. zombies and you want a bit of peace). With 3 people that's totally possible in a 2 bed, as long as you have a bit of room somewhere like a dining room/big kitchen.

For 4 people we're finding it a bit of a squeeze, and have given the kids the big room so they can hang out there rather than in the living room to play noisy games.

We have a four bed and there are 5 of us, so no guest room here. People just can’t stay over and if therapy really have to, the dc have to double up or come in with us on the floor for the night, which is what your ds would do. I certainly don’t think it is worth paying out for an extra bedroom on the off chance someone will stay in the guest bedroom for one night every couple of months! I wouldn’t want to compromise on location to get a bedroom you don’t really need.
I know some really happy families with only one dc. As long as you and your dh are happy with that decision, that’s all that matters.

Obviously a guest bedroom/study is nice to have but not at the expense of a good location.

YANBU I've always had a 2 bed when my only child lived at home. Now he is grown up I'm thinking of getting a one bed for myself.
I'm not spending more money on a 2 bed just in case I have an overnight visitor.

It depends whether money is tight. I live in a cheap part of the UK and wouldn't want all our money to go into a house.
But
I firmly believe that you can never have too much space.

30 years ago we rented a two bed one living room cottage while waiting to move into our house, a barn conversion. It was cosy and lovely but I can't tell you the joy of moving into my new house. It has a large 25' square kitchen, dining room, two sitting rooms and a conservatory as well as four bedrooms. There was just the two of us and I never for a moment felt I had too much space.

We currently have a spacious two bed flat in a beautiful South East village. DF has offered us a sizeable amount of money (reducing his estate) to upgrade but it wouldn’t be enough for a three bed in this lovely village so I’m putting his offer on hold for now.

People think I’m mad, especially as we want another child when DD gets closer to 2, but I’d much prefer my DC had memories of growing up in a gorgeous village with their grandparents nearby, than in a nondescript town with less desirable schools.

Personal opinion; some prioritise property, some prioritise location.

Its entirely up to you. You sound completely clear on what you want.

For me, I'm so glad we bought a house with an extra/spare bedroom. We did it to get a guest room (although we rarely have guests) however I snore. I didn't snore when I was younger. But in order for both me and DH to get a decent nights sleep, I need somewhere to de-camp if it gets too bad. This is not something I would have taken into consideration when DS1 was a baby (12 years ago) So I use the spare room a whole lot more than the once a year when my step mum visits that I anticipated.

I'm a cleaning goddess

What's with the humpy face plunkplunkfizz? I think it's great that women recognise when they're good at something and give themselves credit for it. No fucker else is going to!

OP we're in a two bed - no DCs, although DH and I sleep in separate rooms due to various medical issues / disabilities between us so still don't have a spare room. It works fine for us but we have boarded out the loft and put in a proper loft ladder over the landing so we have easily accessible storage space. Perhaps think about a house with options for expanding upwards if you ever needed more space, OP?

I’ve always loved a 2 bed house.

I have a larger downstairs than upstairs so works out that there is plenty of living space.

A third bed would be a nice luxury but I wouldn’t want to compromise on other things to get that when it’s not a necessity

Off road parking and decent garden with a kitchen big enough for a table are priorities over a 3rd bed

(Family of 3, potentially 4)

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

I was thinking the same thing!

I live in a two bed. Went to see a show home 3 bed and was amazed to find the master (grr, but don’t want to cause confusion by call it the mistress) bedroom was smaller than what I thought was my teeny Victorian terrace bedroom so agree with the comments about size and storage space being the most important thing (and yes to comments about having both fireplaces and radiators being a bit restrictive.

Three bedrooms cost more but tend to sell better as people like a study/home office even if they don’t actually need all 3 bedrooms. Thinking of iceberg’s comment about loft conversion, I’ve noticed that being done a lot in my road and that would give you more room if needed eventually.

Any chance you are on you tube or Instagram for decluttering/tidying tips, takehimon? You sound as if you will create a brilliantly organised home.

We live in a 3 bed but my 2 DCs share, so we don't need the third room - it's currently a playroom. However the 2 beds in our estate have a smaller living and dining area and a smaller kitchen. So you don't only lose a bedroom but also additional common space.

I'm in a similar position - it's just me and DS, two bedrooms, great street, great location, I love it. But people are always sending me links to ugly 3 bed houses on grim looking streets, further from transport, and saying "Look! You could have all this space! And a driveway!"

I can't say "Ugh - I'd hate to live there!" because it's usually close to where the sender lives, but...I'm not moving to a place I like less, just for extra space I don't need.

We bought the tiny (c.700sqft) 2 bed house in a lovely area rather than a bigger 3/4 bed somewhere less nice. With DC1 on the way sometimes I regret it and feel a bit panicky, but mostly because DH is a hoarder who hasn’t come good yet on his promise to declutter. But that soon passes because I really do like our beautiful cottage in a “naice” area, and think it will have some advantages for DC compared to some of the areas we could be living in. If money were no object then sure I’d love the 4 bed detached round the corner, but for how much we had I don’t think prioritising space would have been the right decision for us.

Also, next door have raised 2 DCs (now adults) in a house the same size as ours and seem to cope fine with it.

I have two friends with just one. Past the age of five they seem to have to be far more focused and give more of 'themselves' to entertaining the sole child, while ones with siblings play together. One friend is in particular run ragged by her very talkative, engaging only DD. That isn't a negative by the way! But you mention the being 'me' bit and I would say, I now get FAR more time out of school/activity hours to be 'me' while my children play together than my compatriots with only children.

If your DS is a toddler, keep an open mind. If he's already 5-6 and you're finding it just what you want then great!

I was an only child for 11 years. In a way It was the case that the only company i had was my mum but I wasn't as 'young' in my years so it wasn't really like having a regular 5/6/7/8 year old, according to my mum. I find that to be true for a lot of only children I've personally met and know, they seem overall a lot quieter and more chill.

My DS is currently a little whirlwind though

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

Most definitely! I didn't really know it as such a big thing to have people staying over... In life so far, most people I know and see go for dinner or see each other, and go home again.

It's not the bedroom number that's an issue for me but the effect a 2 bed will have on the ground floor space.

I didn't really think of this and it'll definitely be something to consider, that's for sure!

We've got a "spare room" but as it's quite big, it's an office cum bedroom for when the dgc stay. We've got used to the convenience, so we'd miss it if we didn't have it.

It's fine to say 2 beds is perfect for you but I think the house has to work for everyone. So if your DH and DS would like a guest room/study/play room then you need to discuss it as a family and decide on the optimum size for everyone.
We've just moved to a bigger house and DS loves it because he can have more playdates, sleepovers, etc. DH has had friends and colleagues to stay. I find a house that 'just' fits doesn't lend itself to being as sociable.

Lil DH is a creature of comforts and doesn't really like people coming in and out anyway. He would never ever invite a friend over for dinner and to stay, for example. He likes to go home and relax. He would go out and socialise, but that would be that.

DS doesn't get a say because he is a young child.

I have two redundant rooms in my house. (3-4 adults, DS1 at uni)

One is the 4th bedroom which, to be fair, I do use as an art room and I can leave two sewing machines set up there; but it is a dumping ground.

The other is having had 2/3 of the integral garage set up as a second sitting room. It has a treadmill in it which does get used in winter but other than that, and DS1 home from uni setting up his computer in there, that too is full of boxes.

I sort of wish we hadn't done the garage conversion, if I'm honest.

I’d be looking ahead. Can you afford a bigger house? Bungalows are generally more expensive than a terraced. If you are intending on a terraced and want to change to a bungalow when you are older, this could be tricky. Or if you want to downsize, travel and enjoy your retirement or give your ds a lump sum deposit on his own home, there’ll be no equity to do that.

Extra bedrooms or rooms with shut doors really don’t need much cleaning. Pre DD I used to spend around 8 hours a week cleaning a very large property totalling about 400m2 - only the areas we used but as you can imagine the area was vast and took an hour just to hoover the ground floor. I didn’t clean the 3 spare rooms often. Of course it took longer than our little modern 2 bed terraced. With dh, our dog at the time and me I spent about 4 hours. If you’re talking about the difference between a 2 bed or a 3 bed semi, the difference is minimal.

I find that to be true for a lot of only children I've personally met and know, they seem overall a lot quieter and more chill.

Oh I wouldn't count on that! My observation is that only children are way more work because in the absence of siblings they focus all interaction onto their parents. However you avoid the sibling rivalry at least.

We're in the process of buying our first house, just me, DH and the dog. We don't want children.

We were looking for a two bedroom but as it happens, this three bed property was spot on in terms of location and price. It means we will have our bedroom, DH's dressing room a spare room and I get a small office.

A one bedroom was never on the cards - I feel cramped just thinking about having "just enough" space.