To divide or not to divide

[Todivideornottoduvide]

I have a 13 and 8 year old DD. We have a 2 up, 2 down house. They share the biggest room and have a side each with a floor to ceiling curtain going down the middle to allow for a little privacy/divide. There is no room to extend into the loft or outside. We also are not in a position to move.
They get along well apart from the odd squabble. We've been talking about getting a stud wall to make 2 entrances. They would both have a small window but it would only be a box room for each of time. Enough for a bed, wardrobe and desk with a walk way. So really not a lot of room.
The quotes we've had are around £4-6k. We can afford it but would take a chunk of savings or we would get a small loan.

I am still not sure if it's the right thing to do. At the moment they get along and we haven't had any issues around them sharing. It feels like quite a money when all we are doing is making both their rooms tiny. But proper privacy will become more important to my oldest and youngest so it would be something they'd use for years.

(We don't want to do the bunk bed divide thing. They like their room set up. The quotes are for electric works, decorating etc etc so might seem a bit high for a stud wall but theres extra bits to make it work)

Do we wait a couple of more years and see if they start to show that they need their own space?

IABU - get the wall done now, the rooms will be small but they'd have their own space
IANBU - they are fine sharing, revaluate in a couple of years, it's quite a bit of money for a wall if it's not needed at the moment

Have you asked them? What have they said. The 13 year old probably will love their own space

When I was 13 I needed my privacy. Do it now - don’t wait for conflict

We did it many years ago. My husband did it himself. Was easy his dad helped. They were into DIY. I got the high beds. Attic beds think they are called. We put shelves at the bottom end of the bed, not at their heads. 😂. Both had a small tv wall mounted on the wall at the end of the bed. Under the bed was their desk and chest of drawers. Put lights under etc, made it their own. Just an idea. Hope it might help 😀

I would ask them. Explain the cost, and the small rooms, and let them have a think as to what they’d prefer.

It's a chunk of money, we did this ourselves over a weekend. Probably cost 600 quid in materials. Is there someone handy in DIY in your family?

I'd do it though, your teen would love it.

Can you give the dimensions of the resulting box room.

It's just my sons bedroom only fits a bed and a wardrobe in it, so if the new rooms each fitted a desk as well it sounds like an OK sized room. But do you mean an underbed desk.

If they are both happy it doesn't need doing and you can re evalutate. but my slighlty older teens spend a lot of time in thier rooms for privacy.

I wouldn't spend that money. People survive sharing bedrooms and always have.

Get them headphones or earbuds to use devices without bothering the other. Eye masks for sleeping. Maybe a heavier curtain.

If they're happy, I'd wait. I think unless their room is huge, it will be a shock how tiny and restricting the new spaces will be. At the moment they have the option to temporarily branch out into the shared space for getting ready/playing plus the more open aspect. And really if its not broke, why pay £4-6k to fix it? When the time comes you can review your options.

I wouldn't really consider it. It's money down the drain. The older one will probably be off to uni in a few short years and you will be stuck with two box rooms which you then need to knock back into one either for your youngest to have more room or in order to sell the house (I imagine, it will be pretty tough to sell with two box rooms instead of one proper bedroom). Kids are fine to share the room so don't make a big deal out of it.

I'd do it but I wouldn't be paying that much for it, certainly not as a loan. As a pp said, someone a bit handy with DIY can do it in a couple of days. Get an electrician for the electrics if necessary. Then rope the girls into decorating their own rooms! They'd probably enjoy it if they were choosing the colours etc. No way should it need to cost as much as those quotes.

The desk would be under a high bed. Its about 10ft x 5ft each. So both small. It's not a massive room now but fine for them both. It's not something we'd be able to do alone. They need to move electrics etc for it to work.
They have both said they like the space now, but also like the idea of having a proper room each. Pros and cons of each

Aah. 5ft wide is narrow.

If you want to sell it would need to come down again..although you may be in your forever home so that might not be important.

Can you mock it up for a bit. Like keep the curtain drawn all the time. Or put something a bit more solid like the wardrobes as dividers. I get not wanting to do the bunk bed divide but something else might work. Billy bookcases are narrow.

It is very narrow unfortunately. They have a curtain now that does do a good job for now. But it only allows for so much privacy.

My town is very expensive so moving is out. And we love the area, kids schools are close, friends with neighbours etc. Kids have said they'd be sad to move