A few questions about a house I want to buy...

[curiousgeorgie]

Do you think it would be reasonable to put a double bed in an 8'2 x 8'2 room? I really need an occasional guest room for a friend who stays usually one night a week for work, and when my parents come over... I know a bed is 4'6 generally but is it silly to cram a double in there? there are two other bigger rooms but it seems a bit mean to out my daughter in a small room iyswim.

And also, our number one requirement was to have a playroom... This house has three rooms, but all open plan with arches... Think bay window to front of house dining room, then living room, then slightly more substantial archway to extension room with patio doors to garden. All in a line. Seeing as its not strictly a separate room do you think it would be a nightmare as a playroom? And if so which end would you have it? (given that one end has to be dining room.)

The house is just beautiful but these are two niggly things that I'm trying to convince my DH about :)

8'2 square is really tight for a double bed. In cm thats about 248cm. Although a double bed will be about 150cm wide (so you'd potentially have 50cm either side), they're about 210-220cm long so you'd have about 20-30cm at the end of the bed - not enough to walk round, you'd have to shuffle sideways. And thats based on an absolutely bare room - if you have a radiator for example that further limits the space. Our 3rd bedroom is 8'9 square and although we have had a double bed in there, there is no room for anything else and its a tight squeeze to get around the bed.

I can't really see what you mean about the playroom - is there any option of putting doors into one of the arches to make a separate room? Otherwise you need lots of storage to hide away the toys!

I just mean do you think a playroom can work in an open plan space?

Can't you just put a temporary bed, air bed or settee bed in the room instead? That way you have a reading/study room that doubles as a bedroom.

Just because the whole 'going to make up the bed' gets quite annoying when it's so frequent...

Have a single bed with another single underneath, you will have to make it up fresh when your parent come (& get the under bed out) but can leave it made up the rest of the time for your friend.

If you don't need that room for anything else then it'll be fine.

You can get 4 foot beds (small doubles, sometimes called "three-quarter beds"), if you want a bit more space.

Yes, I wouldn't need the room for anything else. Only have 1 DD and although I'm sure her cot etc would fit in the small room, I really want to give her a lovely big room.

Are four foot beds okay for two people then?

They're fine for a guest bed. Unless your guests are particularly large. But A normal double will be fine in that room, if it's a room with no purpose other than "guests sleep here".

Where is the door to the bedroom? Doors usually open inwards to a room. With a double bed in there you won't be able to open the door.

I have a double bed in a room similar size it's literally a bed in a room. This was the only 2 bed place we could afford and the DDs have the big room and me and DH sleep in the little room. You'll be fine don't worry

DH and I sleep on a three quarter bed when we stay at the in-laws. I wouldn't say it's the most comfortable night's sleep I ever get, but on an occasional basis it's do-able.

How about a double futon - we had one of these, made up with duvet on it and then folded up to make as a sofa. Had some of that rubber no-slip carpet/rug gripper stuff between the base and the mattress to stop it slipping and the duvet was pulled up to hang over the back of the sofa a bt more - again to stop it slipping. Worked fine, used to sit and read bedtime stories to DCs and then easy to click down to a double bed, shuffle the duvet over a bit and voila...

Pricey but something like this?