To think this house IS big enough

[Coconutsandpalmtree]

For 3 kids and wfh (needing an office)

im not sure it is, but surely it should be and I’m missing a trick as to how we can make it work, DH and I have decided we’d like another child.

it’s a new house (6yrs now) so I took a pic of the floor plan from the developers. It’s pretty generic but it’s tight on space.

the front double is our bedroom, built in wardrobe and the space by the ensuite is a chest of drawers that we really need.

the smaller back ‘double’ (on floor plan) is more a single tbh, but that’s my eldests room. Front single youngest. Other double is a guest room/ office.

we really need an office for wfh. There’s no place for stud walls due to the windows.

we do have a garage though and a classic new build garden aka small.

what do you think? Can another kid fit here?

yabu- no way
yanbu- yes with some outside the box thinking that I’ll share :)

It's the amount of stuff we all have. Inter/post war 3 bed semis are usually about 950-1100 sq ft, they aren't huge. When they were built, people had less stuff and it was easier to manage. It's not always going to be possible to move when houses are ££££.

I'd ruthlessly declutter, you can get small desks that can fit into the lounge/bedroom and look at storage solutions.

Bloody hell, some if the responses on this thread. Some of you need to check yourselves. A 4 bed house with kitchen dinner, living room and several bathroom options is a lot more than many have. It feels like some people are just coming on to make the OP feel bad.

You’ve asked people if your (small) house can be converted to fit the purposes you have outlined, many have said no and your response is to be super arsey. You are considering buying a house with no potential or storage, and will reap the rewards of your poor decision making or small budget, maybe a combination of the two.

We don't all have it. Many just keep the amount of stuff that fits.

My god, you really are coming across as very unpleasant.

Bit rude.

People are answering your question, OP. You're wondering yourself if the house is too small to do everything you want and need it to do AND add another child into the mix. People are responding with their own thoughts, as they do on AIBU.
And many think YABU. Many don't.

IMO, you don't have a lot of space for 3 teenagers and working from home as your house currently stands. I say that as someone with 3 teenagers, who take up a lot of space and like to have their friends round, and you need to recognise that your 3 will eventually be teenagers. To make it work, you're going to have to do something extension-wise or garden shed wise, etc, and even then, you don't have a lot of space downstairs. It is something to think through.

I think you can make anywhere work, it is a lot more than many people have. The idea that we all need to upsize isn't always realistic when houses are so expensive.

I have a slightly different perspective on this due to my experiences OP but I’d say go for it. For most of my life between age 7 and 17 I shared a room with my sister and it was fine. For a long period (13-17), we were in a literal shed sharing 2 bedrooms*, one bathroom and no proper cooking facilities with our parents, younger brother and two cats. My sister and I are fine. It’s not an experience I’d repeat for my kids, but it also wasn’t the defining experience of my young life, and you’re not even proposing to do anything nearly as extreme.

*for several months we were all in one large uninsulated space as the bedroom was built. Also, there was no ceiling insulation, so if it rained, you couldn’t watch TV

i already own the house

I agrée, thé comments about having a low budget and making poor decisions are quite nasty.

we already live here, we bought it when it was just dh and I. I think it’s another world saying 400k is a low budget too

If the children are used to having their own room . I think it would be unfair to take it away. Is an office AND a guest room really needed? Can't the guest room double as an office. Maybe you could get a good sofa bed or folding bed

Having been one of those children as the eldest of four, it really didn’t figure at all. And it’s not like the age difference between us is small, my sister is 5 years younger

These responses are nuts. Op, my parents had six kids in a one bathroom three bedroom terrace house, and we all survived. Buy captain beds with storage/desks underneath for the kids and either convert part of the garage for an office or put in a garden pod. There is plenty of room in a four bedroom house for three kids you just need to maximise all space not just the floor space. Built in floor to ceiling storage is your friend here

Here’s the thing, I agree with you! For 3 it’s small

but I think there’s some decency missing in some of these answers. I’ve said long term we’ll likely move so this is a short med fix I’m talking about. But there’s a lot of comments saying how tiddly the garden is (no info I’ve provided to say this other than compared to older houses it’s small) and then the other
comments saying how small it is for 2 kids, and it’s a tiny house etc and I’ve got no budget, can’t afford it, made poor decisions. This is my home at the end of the day.

Haven’t rtwt
OP the house looks great, loads of room. Definitely don’t put off a third on that account!
personally I’d convert the garage into two spaces or a divided space of an office and a ‘den’ where the kids can have friends when they’re older.
my friend has converted her garage recently, was about £17k

Op, seriously look into garden offices- you can get some pretty decent quality ones for not insane amounts of money. Our garden isn’t massive but we have one with a partition wall splitting it into 2 small rooms and it’s perfect for wfh. I think if you did this and then all the kids had their own rooms you have more than enough space.

My dad was also one of six (sharing a room with 3 of his siblings and a drum kit!). He thinks people from small families are “poorly adjusted”

How the heck is that a 'small' house?
Jeez I didn't know how many people lived in mansions in the UK.
I grew up in a 2 bed terrace and survived just fine, in fact the best memories of my childhood are in that home rather than the bigger home we moved into later.
Also 400k is a small budget?! Wtf are you people on???

Sorry just to add op- many garden offices don’t tell require planning permission so straightforward to just go ahead if you want to

Well that's fine it's not your forever home so adjust cheaply. Keep saving and put your money into your next move or maybe two.

Personally I’d find it way more unpleasant to be convinced to buy a house that didn’t work for my family. It’s a very costly mistake that has financial and far reaching repercussions.

Garden pod.

I'd never delete a bathroom; surely that would devalue the house?

I shared as a child it was 3 to a bedroom.

We have also Been homeless/in temporary accommodation and very over crowded. So lots of room sharing.

I'm just not sure its fair to take it way once they have had their own space. Especially for a guest room that's going to be empty most of the time.

Well lots of people have 3 kids in much smaller houses so of course it’s doable! It might not be particularly comfortable though as I think there will be a general feeling of everyone being on top of each other if you add a third in. I grew up as one of three in a house that looks similar in terms of size and layout but we played out on the estate a lot and rarely had friends over because there was literally nowhere for us to go.

Fair enough, and sorry you had those experiences. Personally, all else being equal, I do disagree that having your own room for a short period as a child makes it unfair for you to share later on. Obviously this does depend on whether you broadly get on with who you’re made to share with and any number of other things, but in most cases I think it’s absolutely fine.