Sacrifice a bedroom for a large landing/ gallery?

[Tatlerer]

Hello
We're on the cusp of commencing a large scale refurb of our 5 bed house. We're adding on 2 bedrooms in a top floor extension and knocking another 2 through to make a master suite, leaving us 6 in total. However, the builder has now suggested that we could consider sacrificing one of the smaller existing doubles to create a large landing/gallery type area at the top of the stairs. The pros would be that it would allow a lot more natural light into a quite dingy top floor landing, and would add a bit of 'wow factor', especially if you added a feature light, small sitting area or something, but the con would obviously be losing a bedroom! There are only 3 of us so we don't need 6 bedrooms, but I guess logic has always told me that more bedrooms equals higher resale value if we ever needed to move. I thought I might ask an estate agent what their thoughts might be- but do you have any? Thanks!

It would look absolutely fabulous. But I can't really see the logic in building two extra bedrooms you don't actually need, and then fretting about losing one you already have...
Are you renovating it with a view to selling it on immediately, or is it your family home?

Surely removing a bedroom reduces the value?

Have a look at houses for sale in your area and compare prices. If a 5 bedroom house is up for the same price as a 6 bed then maybe I'd be tempted. If theres a price difference then I wouldn't.

Do it!

Have a look on Pinterest for landings or window seats. If it has a window that would be great. I have a landing with a window that could have been a bathroom/bedroom and now it's a landing library/study area. Much nicer. When you get to six bedrooms people are looking for quality of life not purely bedroom numbers.

This country can be a bit mad on bedroom number and the rest of Europe do square metres - much better.

I also can't see the added value in getting work done that you don't need and I wonder if the house wI'll seem too full with the extras compared to the intentions of the original design. When we last looked to move I only considered houses that were largely mostly unchanged and built originally to a high standard.

Thanks both. Flogging on reading my post back I can see that it would sound odd! The two new bedrooms are essentially going above the garage below. As well as 'balancing out' the proportions of the house we can make one of them en suite which would be great for DD as she gets older.

Resale value kind of depends on where you live IMO. Case in point there is a gorgeous house near me that was built by the current owners. It's 6 bedrooms and really is stunning. Been on the market for around 2 years. Obviously owner wants a good price for it due to size and how nice it is however, anyone who could afford the price they want would be mad to spend that money around here. The local market just isn't interested in huge 6 bed houses.

So I'd check out the local market if you're bothered about resale. Or just do the work and enjoy your lovely house.

Odins yes that's what I thought but the builder suggested that there's not much in monetary value between a 5/6 bed and the extra light/space on the landing would make up for it. I need to do some more research!

Thank you girl. yes, it has a lovely large window to the front of the property and would get bags of light. I will start to stalk Pinterest for inspiration! Yours sounds great!

We live in a house with huge landings and it's the thing I love most about it, you never feel cramped or on top of one another.

Surely once you go over 5 bedrooms extra bedrooms don't add much value and it's all about the space planning/square footage.

duds we'd 'need' the rooms at Christmas I guess :). And to put up our groups of friends who we left behind when we relocated from London last year. I dunno, just like the idea we can extend it and never have to worry about space.
The house was built in 1925 so we're being careful to restore original features, extend sympathetically etc.

I'd do it. You can have a light and airy space that looks really impressive and you can enjoy all year round rather than a sixth bedroom that will lie empty except for a few days at Christmas.

We opened up our landing by moving a wall and putting in a huge roof light. Also a big modern chandelier. It is one of the best things we ever did.

I don't think there is much difference in price between 5 and 6 bed. Unless it is a family with 5 children or they need rooms for constant visitors it probably won't matter. Quality of house matters more!

Less bedrooms with plenty of bathrooms is way better! 5 beds and 3 bathrooms is desirable. I have three en suite bathrooms and only two bedrooms share the main bathroom in the main house. No arguments! No queueing! Never make bedrooms too pokey. Space sells - not lots of rooms. This is why open Plan is so fashionable!

I would do it too. And use as library or study snug.

I'd also do it as it will make the house nicer. Value-wise, I wouldn't be surprised if it makes the house even more valuable- it will look a lot grander the second you walk in and beyond 5 bedrooms it's probably more about sq footage and impressiveness than bedroom 6...

Another thing to consider is the balance between ground floor space and upstairs space. For example it's not worth having enough rooms to sleep say 8 people upstairs when downstairs there's only enough space for 4 people to spend their waking hours comfortably.

I think decent 'circulation space' is what makes a house feel spacious and grand, not more rooms. So I would definitely go for it.

I think it's a great idea. You're very lucky to have the option

Could you have some kind of bifold or pocket doors so you could use it as a guest bedroom if you needed to? I think I saw something like that on one of Sarah Beeny's programmes and it looked pretty good.

Yes I would. 5-6 bedrooms is similar price wise. And it can be used at a good additional daily space ie reading area, study area, play area at any point without being shut away

I would if it is as you mention, dingy, and would have better light.

I would do it as it will make your house a more pleasant environment

On the odd occasion (Xmas etc) when you have lots of people staying then I doubt guests would mind sleeping on an air bed on the landing

We have this in our house (done by previous owners). They removed a bedroom and made a double height landing with spiral stairs and chandelier. It looks amazing and gives the house real wow factor. I would definitely do it.

How many communal rooms, bathrooms and toilets will your house have?

A 6-bedroom needs to comfortably accommodate at least 7 people during the day.

Personally, I love a sense of spaciousness, of not being packed together, so I would choose the landing over the 6th bedroom.

Thanks all. Turns out there's a third option too- to remove the floor of that bedroom entirely, so that as you come in and look up you'll see the stairs leading up and around to the bedrooms on top, so more like a gallery than a spacious landing. Similar to the poster who talked about the staircase and chandelier - sorry, can't namecheck as an on my phone. DH not convinced- but I am- so it's a work in progress!
Re questions on size of house- thankfully the downstairs is pretty big already and we're extending further, so as well as a hallway room we'll have a formal dining room, large drawing room, downstairs loo, coat room, study, large kitchen/family room, wine room, utility room and gym. I appreciate how lucky we are, I read that back and I can't quite believe it. What I do believe is how bonkers the London housing market is and how much further your money goes outside of it

We have a galleried open landing on a 5 bed house and it does make an jnstant wow factor. It can make sound carry thligh from upstairs to down easily but we have a lot of downstairs living space so don't really spend time in bedrooms in the day anyway.