Making the most of a small house

[nananoo]

Hi. We have a lovely home, in a area we really like. The schools in the area are not bad either! Problem is... we are running out of space.

We have 2 and a half bedrooms (smallest room is only a cot room) and two children (with a ten year age difference between them - making sharing a room difficult). The house is listed, so we can't extend. There is no garage for storage, only a damp cellar which is unsuitable for converting into another room (we've checked!). We have two small reception rooms, and I have thought of converting one of these into a bedroom - but it would make our living area tiny if we do this. I also work from home, so I have to squeeze in a desk somewhere (preferably quiet).

I would love to hear about any creative ideas anyone has had for making the most of their small homes - especially as their family grows up.

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

would a single futon get round the height issue? you could then use wall mounted shelving like String shelves on the walls above.

[MinimalistMommi]

Can't you put a single bed in your cot room for one DC and the other DC has the second bedroom? And then the main bedroom is yours and DH and you could put a desk in the corner for your work? Then each DC has a bedroom each.

[mycatlikestwiglets]

I was going to say a futon bed would solve your height problem in the small bedroom but CharlotteBronteSaurus beat me to it!

I have lived in some tiny properties (studio apartment and a 1 bedroom house, literally 2 rooms upstairs and 2 downstairs) and my top tips are: get rid of clutter immediately - be ruthless with yourself, keep surfaces and floors as clear as possible, underfloor heating frees up the walls for storage (no radiators in the way), make as much of you can of your garden space and any potential for storage there, board your loft and use it for storing items you don't need access to regularly. Also having furniture made to measure for your space can really help, although I generally find that free standing furniture helps to make rooms feel bigger. Any unused nook or cranny can be an excellent space for a desk or computer table - you have to be creative with the space you have

[MinimalistMommi]

Just so I'm clear OP, do you have 2 1/2 bedrooms as well of two reception rooms downstairs?

[MinimalistMommi]

Murphy beds: www.murphywallbeds.co.uk/pictures.html

[mistlethrush]

Being a listed building certainly doesn't mean that you 'can't' do extensions, conservatories or garden offices, it just means that you need Listed Building consent to do them. Whilst that makes it more difficult to achieve, it is not out of the question.

You also haven't said what the listing of your house is related to - if its to do with group value etc (ie external appearance in its setting), internal alterations could be acceptable fairly easily - you would need to get some guidance from your Conservation Officer.

If there are any similar listed buildings nearby, what have they had done to them to create more space? Again this is a useful guide, although it wouldn't necessarily guarantee you would get consent.

[MinimalistMommi]

Also this UK company makes special sized beds to fit awkward small rooms and they're a great price. So you could have one made to fit cot room.
www.pinebed.co.uk/

[MinimalistMommi]

Another bed option for cot room that would work because it would sit below the window: www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/20161836/

They have these in ikea in the UK, although I cold not find a pic online for you with UK price, I saw it there a week ago when I visited Ikea! It's basically a wooden slatted floor bed with cream iron frame, they made it to slide under there Tromso ikea day bed as a trundle bed but it would work just as well alone! I think it was about £50 not including mattress.

[southnorwoodmum]

OP I don't see how your house is small, unless your rooms are ridiculously small. What you describe as 2.5 bedrooms is probably the most standard 3 bed house (normally with a shoebox 3 bedroom) and you have 2 receptions rooms! Sounds more than enough!
"Office" in a cupboard is a great idea. As well as a custom-made bed for the shoebox room.
I love houzz website, when you searching just add "small" to each search, i.e. "small bedroom" etc. Lots of great ideas.

[noddyholder]

How small is the box room.Could you make it a multi function computer room office with long worktop type desk and 2 comfy chairs plus shelves.then they can share but the older one can do homework and computer friends round stuff in the study if the little one is in bed and you can use it as office in the day? Give them the larger room with a partition and you have the smaller room with xcellent storage?

[janek]

Hang on, if the room is 7' by 9' then that's big enough for a kingsize bed! If the door opens outwards anyway...

So you and dp sleep in there (on some kind of low-framed bed) and just store your stuff somewhere else - share a wardrobe with youngest dc? Keep it in the cupboard under the stairs? If your low-framed bed were under the window then you'd have room for a chest of drawers at the foot of the bed too, i would have thought. And room for teeny tiny bedside tables between the bed and the wall if you're lucky!

[3smellysocks]

can you get a bed made for the small room? Something high up with storage below?

[BehindLockNumberNine]

We have a house similar to what you describe. Dd has the small bedroom. It is 8ft x 8ft but a large chunk of floorspace is taken up by the stairwell...

It is perfectly usuable as a single room. She currently has a mid height bed over the stair box bit but we are looking to change it around a bit and have a low level bed underneath the window and incorporate the stairwell box into a desk / cupboard arrangement.

[TinyDiamond]

is it a terrace? I'd be tempted to use under stairs/over stairs cupboard as your workspace, shelves up to top and desk with chair under, there should be enough space to fit in. could you build your bed up to a mezzanine level in your room? you could then have your workspace underneath it with wardrobe doors/a curtain to shut it away.

[damppatchnot]

My sons bedroom is very small as the headroom of the stairs cuts into it. We got a metal frame single bed that just fits under the window across the width of the room. He has a double wardrobe and bedside cabinet and his toys are in plastic buckets under his bed and on top of his wardrobe and his book on wall shelves above his bedside cabinet. The room is 6ft by 9ft but has a corner taken out so one wall is only 7ft. We manage ok! He still has enough floor space to play on