Would you convert this bedroom into a bathroom?

[EcclefechanTart]

We are considering making an offer on a house. It has this layout upstairs, with another bedroom in the loft, but no extra bathroom.

We would want a bath, but the bathroom is currently too small to fit one in, so we are considering if the rear bedroom (bedroom 3 on plan) could be converted ? But then we would lose all or part of the bedroom which would be a pain.

It's a 4-bed house (even though it's advertised as a 6-bed - they've counted the two downstairs rooms as bedrooms too!)

Would you extend this bathroom, and if so, how?

What is the downstairs layout?

Like this! Another tiny shower room, but still no bath.

Yes I would knock it through to the cure net shower room to make a nice large bathroom

• current

What's the communal room? I assume it used to be let out?

One option is to put bathroom in communal room, utility in bathroom and have kitchen

Could you fit a bath in the upstairs bathroom behind the door? And then have a separate toilet eating into bed 4 and give bed 3 back the shower space?

How many bedrooms do you need?

if you don't need all the bedrooms, then fine. you could make a really big cupboard too which is very useful for linen, towels, and general stuff.

Bed 3 seems too small to be of much use so I would do a separate toilet where current one is with a sink (so reduce current bath but retain a separate room) and then a family bathroom in the rest

As you have the plumbing you could have a small utility room where the bathroom is - always nice to do the washing on the same floor it is created and needs to be put away!!

It looks like the bathroom has been carved out of bedroom 3 in the first place. Bedroom 3 is such an awkward shape it's not really useable as a proper bedroom IMO. It would probably feel much nicer to reinstate the room to its original proportions.

You would then end up with a dual-aspect bathroom, which might be a waste of light/need some thinking about privacy. But personally I think it's good to have a big bathroom - people are always trying to squeeze a bathroom into the smallest possible space but really it's nice to have somewhere you can comfortably bath the kids / hang washing to dry etc. Actually thinking about it you could probably site washing machine in the bigger bathroom and free up some kitchen space.

Hmmm....interesting ideas that I hadn't thought of - thank you!

If we converted the communal room , we would then have a downstairs main bathroom, which I'm not sure if I'm keen on. I will think about that though.

The communal room is a small living room - it has been an HMO (hence "6 bedrooms").

I think the idea about cutting off part of bed 4 and putting the loo there is a very good idea. Not sure if a bath would fit behind the door but it might fit with its end in the current shower cubicle. Of course, we wouldn't be able to give bed 3 back the shower space then though.

We need 4 beds, btw - forgot to say!

How many beds do you need?

Xpost! Is the fourth a guest bed?

At the moment, a guest bed-cum-office, but in the future possibly another DC's room.

As in you have 3 kids and when they are older you'd like them to have a room each or you have 2 and planning a third and don't want them to share?

If the former, I would make a lovely family bathroom and laundry room in bed 3 and have communal room as bed 4

How about using bedroom 2 as the 4th bedroom/study and turn bedroom 3 into a bathroom, leaving the shower room as us. I would then knock through the kitchen to the communal room to give a large kitchen/dining room leaving the front room as the sitting room?

The latter - we're planning for a future DC, and if this is a long-term home then at some point they wouldn't want to share.

Lots to think about! Thanks so much for all suggestions.

Wouldn't it be odd with a bedroom between kitchen and living room? I can't quite imagine it.

Put bedroom in communal room and leave the two beds downstairs as a big living space.

Or put bathroom downstairs of you want all 4 rooms together (I would rather two shared the big front room though and had nice family space upstairs)

Any chances of doing a loft conversion so you could fit two single rooms up there? Not necessarily now but in the future

I've seen people slice a section off the front bedroom and turn that into an additional bathroom (so bedroom 5 would be the same width as bedroom 4 and there would be a bathroom to the right of bedroom 5. You'd set it back slightly so you'd have a tiny extra bit of landing and, if you were to walk towards that area, a door to your right to take you into bedroom 5 and a door straight ahead to the new bathroom). It all depends on whether the plumbing will allow it though.

I'd make the communal room the main family bathroom and then make the current bathroom a utility room and keep upstairs as is. I wouldn't want to have a young family and have three bedrooms over three floors.

Not sure about the plumbing for moving bathroom to front - would have to check. Thanks for all the ideas (most of which hadn't occurred to me). I'm leaning towards idea of extending bathroom into bedroom 4 on plan - think it was BYOSnowman who suggested it upthread.

Anyway, it seems clear that something could be done, so I am happy to put an offer in. :)

I would move the bathroom into the bedroom, but keep the old bathroom as a study, or dressing room. I wouldn't knock them together.

But can I also jump in and say that in our house now and the last one the 'bathroom with a bath' has been downstairs. It is great for bathing the kids.

So I have changed my mind. I'd make the Communal room a big bathroom, the downstairs shower room a utilty, the upstairs shower room smaller if poss, and reclaim the square bit for Bedroom 3. Then the front downstairs bedrooms could be a lounge. I'd move the door to Bedroom 2 towards the front door, then knock down the wall to make a large kitchen/diner.