Newbie looking to hire an Au Pair but is our spare room too small?

[girlwithapearl]

New to all this, but seriously thinking of going down the au pair route as I'm starting a degree in September with all sorts of weird hours (it's in midwifery) and my 3 will be school age - youngest will be 4, just starting reception. Anyway... we have a 3 bed semi - the 3 boys all share a room anyway, so the "spare" is currently a playroom/junkroom. It's big enough for a single bed and with a bit of creative furnishing (ie one of those high beds) could have a desk and wardrobe in it too. Some might call it a box room - it's a bit roomier than that, but not much. Is this acceptable for an au pair? Oh, and we only have one bathroom. Thanks for any advice.

What are the actual dimensions of the room?

so long as you are really open about it i the ad you should be ok - might be easier to get a male AP (who won't care about this) than a female. TBH the size of the room will probably matter less than the bathroom situation...

My AP has a small room. She has a single bed, a small chair, a bed and a chest of drawers. I was upfront that it was a small room but it's all brand new and nice and modern and she seems to be happy to stay there. She also has TV, stereo, freeview and a laptop in there. We only have one bathroom too but again it's new and modern and doesn't cause a problem

my ap has a small room too. She really likes it - she has peace and quiet and privacy which is more than the rest of us have! (we are all squashed up too). There is one main bathroom too (although a couple of extra loos around the house).

We also provided a tv, dvd, freeview and cd player. We would also provde a laptop, but she (and our other aps) brought her own.

The room is 2.1 x 2.48m (6'8 x 8'1 in old money.) It's recently decorated, nice carpet and we would happily spend money on nice bed, drawers, stereo etc. The bathroom is big and modern - separate walk-in shower and there's a downstairs loo too. Is it common to post a photo of the room online?

Be open about it, and it should be OK.
you would be amazed, how many ads say nice furniture, tv, dvd player....then the poor AP arrives and there's a Z bed and nothing else. Or so my APs tell me.

I've had APs ask me to email photos of their room to them. It's surprisingly hard to take a photo that doesn't make it look very small (ours have single bed, chest of drawers, desk, wardrobe and just enough floor space to stick a single mattress on the floor for sleepover guests, so not huge).
NighbyNight - I'm shocked by that! Don't the APs go home/look for other families?

well I think many of them do try to change family. But that can lead to visa problems, and you can only change families twice if you come from outside the EU.

Our aupair's room is small but perfectly formed.

We made sure she has decent storage as they tend to accumulate quite a lot of stuff during their stay. She has a wardrobe, a tall boy and underbed storage. There is a low table that doubles as a bedside table as it is next to her bed, where she can put the laptop and books. A little airer thingy that goes over the radiator for her to dry her smalls. A huge mirror over a small antique fireplace, she can use to apply makeup.

Also, we only have one shared but comfortable bathroom.

I mention this to the aupair before she arrives and send her pictures if she asks. I just say that houses in London tend to be smaller. None of them have minded so far.

The good thing about a small room from your point of view is that the aupair is not likely to bring her friends to stay overnight. She tends to disappear into her friend aupair's houses over the weekend.