Should we turn the playroom into an extra bedroom?

[BirthdayKake]

Help!

Ok so at the minute we have 5 children and are wanting to have one more in a couple of years.

We have four bedrooms - one huge one with an en suite for three girls, one box room for the eldest, only boy, a small double for DH and me and a nursery for the baby (girl).

We have a playroom downstairs that would definitely fit a bed, wardrobe, desk, drawers etc to make it into a bedroom. I'm wondering whether to put my eldest girl (9 years old) in there.

What would everyone else do??

I find this idea that your children somehow have a sub-optimal life if they have to share a bedroom to be a little odd, to be honest. Most of my friends shared rooms when they were growing up, we mostly all lived on council estates and had two bedroom houses. It was how things were. We used to spend more time in the houses of friends who had their own rooms, mind you!

OP if there's a way to preserve the playroom, I would do that - not so much to keep it as a playroom, but as a separate sitting room when the DCs get older. That way those who are sharing have a 'break out' space. So you could designate the playroom as the homework room (if you want to muck around, do it in your bedroom) or vice versa (DC1 is studying so if DCs 2 and 3 want to play or have friends round, they need to use the playroom). I think an extra non-sleeping space would take the pressure off the bedrooms.

Your bedrooms sound v similar to ours - a large with ensuite, 2 reasonable sized ones and a box room. We also have a playroom. I don't think the issue is really turning the playroom into a bedroom. I think for your size of family you may have to think about fully redesigning the layout to accomodate everyone as they get older. I don't know if you have potential to extend. So using the playroom as a bedroom (maybe for yourselves?) would probably be fine for a while but possibly not as a permanent solution. We'd probably end up using our playroom as a bedroom if all dc stay living here post-18 but we only have 3 so it's easier.

@LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett that's exactly what I'd planned for the playroom (in fact we've already got one desk in there, laptops, printers etc). It was DH's suggestion to turn it into a bedroom so just wanted to see what others would do.

@LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett there is nothing wrong with sharing rooms but it must be age appropriate. With such an age gap it sets up for issues

You're considering making your 9 year old sleep downstairs and; despite already having 5 children reckon you want to continue having more?

They will be able to study in peace, don't worry
Ridiculous statement to make, in your circumstances.

You don't know my circumstances. Just a tiny snapshot of my life. But if it makes you happy to worry about whether the children of someone who you don't know will be able to revise for a GCSE exam in several years, then go ahead

How are you going to offer space for when they are teenagers? If you kept the playroom then at least there would be another social space for them to go to. Having 3 small children share a bedroom is fine but it really is unfair to expect teens to have no space or privacy.

I'm not remotely worried... 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think it depends on how big your downstairs is, and if there's any other space anywhere (eg loft room/one of those garden offices). If you have a kitchen and living room and this playroom area downstairs, but no other space, I'd be inclined to keep the playroom as it is. However, if you have more reception rooms then I would use it as a bedroom.

I don't think you need to worry about a 9 year old sleeping downstairs - it's one floor down, not on the moon.

If you haven't got more reception rooms is there space for a conservatory or a garden office or something? Or a loft space that could theoretically be a study in the future? My PIL have a floored loft with Velux window and they have their desk/computer etc up there. Our loft isn't high enough to use as a proper room but we've floored it and put things like the Scaletrix up there (and a load of junk!).

It might be that right now keeping the playroom as it is would be best, but when the kids get older and need study space, you can always re-evaluate.

You should be, though...

Hi Op
I too have a large family so unlike the majority of the previous posters I feel qualified to offer helpful suggestions. Our eldest is 20 and our youngest of eight is 1. We have a large home with 6 bedrooms.
Our kids have shared in many combinations. At one time we had our 10 year old daughter in our downstairs bedroom. To be fair she hated it as she didn’t like being on her own at night.
We never used the downstairs bedroom as we like to be close to the kids and have since remodelled it into a utility and playroom.
As our older girls became teenagers sharing was more problematic and eventually we subdivided a massive room by using curtains and book shelves. Could you provide individual space in your large bedroom?
We very nearly moved into a building project which would of provided each child with their own room. After careful consideration we stayed put. For our family this was the right decision as we are now supporting the oldest girls through university and this would have been impossible if we had extended our mortgage.
It is really mean and rude of previous posters to heckle you over the size of your family. My large family is a tremendous joy. I pray you enjoy your children today even in the midst of the trials of homeschooling.

If the nursery is a double, why don't you use that for 2 children, instead of having 3 in one room?

I am not bitter at all.

I just can't imagine planning to have 3 children in one bedroom. Yes circumstances can change so children have to end up sharing like that, but to actually plan it seems odd to me, and not fair on the children. My DS is an introvert, he would absolutely hate having to share a room with 2 other siblings, especially if they were more extrovert.

If you don't convert the playroom and you have another boy, does that mean the 4 girls would all have to share? What happens if you have twins!

I just have to say, it is your choice how many kids you'd like to have. Don't listen to these negative comments. You could give it a trial run with your daughter down stairs and see how it goes? The large room with the bathroom, do you think in the future it could be made into two rooms? (To help with the age gap)

@soontobe6 finally, an answer to what I actually asked! Thank you. I'd love to have 8, but DH wants to stop after the next one (my 6th, but his 2nd). Congratulations. I'm loving being on lockdown tbh! Wish it didn't have to end.

The big bedroom is already sort of sectioned off so the eldest has her own area, but the girls prefer being together at the minute, which is nice!

I do think I'd rather keep it as a playroom, as then when one child had a sleepover, they can have that room to stay in and get peace from everyone else!

Xx

@nymrgn we were all set to split the big room into two, but it would cut out a lot of the space, so we've left it for now.

Personally, I would leave your eldest boy where he is, keep the two eldest girls in the big room, and have the youngest 2 girls in the nursery. Your 6th baby will sleep with you until they are 2 for example. At that age your oldest two girls will be able to move to the downstairs (playroom) and your youngest girls will get the big room and your youngest the nursery.

@Tsubasa1 that's actually a really good idea. The oldest two girls are very close in age too. Thank you

@soontobe6 if money had not been an issue would you have preferred to have a room for each child?

Don't bring another kid into this fucked up world problem solved. Otherwise you have the playroom.

We found high beds a good solution to give each child their own space. Then you can put curtains around the under bed area,,put a light in there,a small desk, shelves for their own personal possessions, a bean bag/foldable chairbed/arm chair etc.

I don't see what's wrong with siblings sharing even as teenagers, I wouldn't want them studying in their bedroom anyway, bedrooms are for relaxing not working in, regarding privacy I'm sure as they get older the op will perhaps get room dividers or something.
I think keep the playroom too, do you have a dining room or conservatory too? If you do theres definitely spaces where the kids can set up in peace if they did want too and for the poster who said if one if the younger children wasnt sleeping too well and the older ones had exams surely they would bring the poorly child in with them or swap things about for a few nights.

I plan on having my children share rooms even if I have enough bedrooms for them each to have their own. I don't know why people think it's such a negative thing?

I grew up with only 1 sister in a fairly large 4 bed house. 2 years between us and we shared up until I was around 12, we both wanted to. I don’t really see sharing as a problem provided there is not a huge gap (ie teenager and a 5 year old)
We are planning a fourth and have a 4 bedroolm house so if we do have a fourth they will have to share.

I have 2 DS,15 and 13. Weve recently turned what was their playroom into a 3rd bedroom as they hate sharing. They rarely used the playroom anyway. Mainly ds2 with his Lego which he has in his bedroom instead now.

At the moment ds1 is in there with a mattress on the floor but I think they will swap at some point.