Would you split a bedroom into two very small rooms to ensure children have their own space?

[Wiifitmama]

We are in a 3 bedroom flat with 3 kids (all boys). Eldest teen has smallest bedroom which is fine. Two other boys have a shared room. It's double, though not massive at all.

We recently tried to sell to move to a bigger house without success. We have decided to stay put for a good few years now. We really do like everything else about our place, but wanted the two younger boys to have their own rooms as they got older. (11 year old is already expressing his dissatisfaction with the current situation). I should also mention, there is no possibility to extend our flat at all as we are in a conservation area with very strict rules.

We plan to do a rebuild of kitchen/conservatory now that we are staying and could possibly gain a little space for their bedroom when we do this as it has a shared wall with the kitchen. If we gain this small amount of space, I think it would be possible to split their bedroom into two small rooms (each would be like their elder brothers which fits a high bed with desk and chest of drawers under, a single wardrobe and a book shelf - no extra floor space really except to walk through). We have high ceilings so it works to go upwards with furniture and doesn't feel as cramped.

My gut tells me this is the right thing to do as they could have their own rooms. But I do wonder about resale in the future. Our bedroom is a very good sized master bedroom with ensuite, but it would leave three other very small bedrooms.

So would you do this?

I'm a mechanical engineer and daughter of a very DIY enthusiastic retired civil engineer. On this occasion we muddled through, with the help of Pinterest for inspiration. So many amazing ideas in one place - I'm a pinterest obsessive for project inspiration.

My dad and I like a project to keep our minds active and we reused our old beds for the frames just purchasing extra bits where necessary.

DD's room is based on a caravan bed/ table arrangement. The table drops down and one seat rest clicks back to form a bottom bunk for a friend.

Things like Flexabeds get a very good price on eBay so probably better to sell than hack apart for materials, though - if you've decided they're not right longer term.

The actual building didn't take that long, it's the playing around with ideas and designs that take time.

We needed the location our house is in. We wanted to be very close to town, family and special schooling for our eldest but the house size was a big compromise. Downstairs we've completely rehashed and its a bit bigger than upstairs so with creative use of the space we have it's all adapted to suit our needs.

There is a company that does bespoke mezzanine platforms, factory built then you DIY assemble, it didn't appear extortionate but we didn't have the height. With your height this is definitely something we'd have considered.

Good luck with it all.

We had a joiner make us a custom loft bed that goes wall to wall across dd's bedroom along with a very sturdy ladder/stairs fixed in place. I think he charged us under £400 and the only floor space it occupies is the landing space for the ladder. Ours is high enough that 6ft tall DH can stand underneath, and it's sturdy enough to take full adult weight (necessary for changing the buggering bedding!)

This company makes customised bedframe at very reasonable prices I discovered it when looking for offset triple bunks.

www.pinebed.co.uk/index.html the music is awful btw!