ideal room dimensions

[mum2015]

i am at planning stage for an extension and wondering what would be a perfect room size for master bedroom and child's bedroom? At the beginning i thought as big as possible but after seeing some loft conversion master bed they didnt feel right with massive room looking sparse and not cosy.
master bedroom will have a superking bed, 3m run of wardrobes, bedside chest of drawers and an extra chest of drawer around 1.5m wide to keep documents.
child's bedroom would have 2m wardrobe, double bed, study table, a bookshelf.
so far i have thought no side of room less than 9ft.
Given a choice, what would be an ideal room size for you?

We live in a typical Victorian house with bedrooms that are approx 12ft square.

We only just about get a standard double, a wardrobe a cheat of drawers, a mirror and 2 bedside tables in.

No room left over for activities.

The child's room is the same dimensions but has more floor space due to not requiring double bed or two bedside tables and seems to work well

Just remembered that there are chimney breasts that cut into the room so this makes them more like 12x10ft, but the alcoves to the side of chimneys is where chest of drawers go

Look up the "golden ratio" which dictates optimum proportions in architecture... also this link is helpful: www.homebuilding.co.uk/room-sizes/

Thank you dilapidated and Sallylondon. I am now going through the website you suggested.

Yes dilapidated, master bedroom needs to be bigger than 10x12 for a superking bed. My current bedroom is 10x13 + bay windows. Bed fits nicely but I can only have 2m wardrobe, due to the way window, doors and chimney breast is placed.

I have always lived in apartments or small houses. This extension feels like such a good chance to design my own rooms. Do suggest what works for you and what you wish was bigger/smaller or better proportioned.

My bedroom is 9ft by 13ft (not including almost 10ft of wardrobes built into an alcove along one of the long sides). The bed - only a standard double - sticks out from one of the shorter sides with approx 2'6" of clearance each side. I don't think you'd want it any narrower than that. We also have two small bedside cabinets and a dressing table. A kingsize bed would make things very tight in here indeed.
You are unlikely to regret building it bigger than you think you need but will find yourself very limited in terms of layout and furniture if you go smaller. With hopes for large wardrobes and a bed like that, I think you want at least 12ft by 15ft as a bare minimum. You need to get some squared paper and work out how the desired furniture will go in and whether ther room will still "flow" with doors / drawers open etc, before you commit to having plans drawn.

This is a really good site for this kind of thing
www.houseplanshelper.com/bedroom-size.html

Thank you Sallylondon and Rosehips. Looks like position of doors and windows makes a difference too.

Are rectangular rooms better than square ones? is there any big advantage between a room 13x13 to a 11x13 room?

I don't think you can go too big for a master bedroom.

My last flat had a HUUUUUUUUGE master bedroom in which we had a super king bed, 6 double wardrobes, a chest of draws and a sofa and a big soft rug. Looked very cosy even with all the empty floor space.

I have a feeling that a room of ratio 3:2 is more pleasing than a square one.

I think a bedroom has to be at least 3 metres across the shortest side, then you can put a bed there and walk past it without squeezing.

If the room is then long enough, you can add wardrobes, dressing table etc.

To add a sofa or couch it probably needs to be 5 metres the other way. If you have a sitting area with coffee table it then becomes a luxurious hideaway. If you have a long low radiator, you can get away with any furniture except a wardrobe in front of it, and the heat will find its way out. Proper wood cabinets will crack by a radiator, but not modern chipboard.

Kokusai, your room sounds really grand and lovely. I guess the ones I saw didn't have sofa, rugs etc so it looked empty.

Thanks PigletJohn. I am making my notes -
3x5m (10x15ft) ideal, no side under 10 and rectangular would feel better than square.

Any recommendation on room height in proportion to room size? The rooms are getting created with pitched roof so I can add vaulted ceilings. I may sound weird as people love high ceilings but I once saw an apartment with very high ceiling and not so big rooms and felt like I was in a well sort of thing!

One thing to bear in mind is heat! We lived in a big Victorian semi (albeit single glazed) and the bedroom was about 18' x 18' with 2 big bay windows. The space was brilliant but it was freezing. If you go big, just make sure you heat it properly (and therefore think carefully about where radiators will go so you don't compromise furniture positions).

Our new "master" is about 14.5ft x 10.5ft - we have 3m of built in wardrobes, a king size bed, 2 bedside tables and a slim console table / chest of drawers. It doesn't feel overly spacious nor cramped - we could have gone slightly bigger but we chose to get an ensuite in too.

I found one rule for ceiling height: The height shouldn't be bigger than smallest dimension of the room. The rooms will have all side dimensions atleast 10ft.

Now that is good for usual room. Cant find any good suggestions for sloped ceilings of loft room. It will start with 1.5m on one side and then increase. Cant decide whether to cap it at 2.4m(8 ft) or let it go further height and cap it say at 9ft (2.7m) or may be more.

People with high ceiling rooms, what is the ceiling height at your home?

my ceilings are 3m which I think is a bit much.

I have had 2400 ceilings before, which is 8ft. In larger older houses it is common to have a white drop down to the picture rail to give an impression of lowering the ceiling. If the room is large and you are not close to the walls, you don't really notice ceiling height if it is plain white or cream matt, as the eye doesn't focus on anything to identify the distance.

I think a bedroom has to be at least 3 metres across the shortest side, then you can put a bed there and walk past it without squeezing.

I agree with this - when house hunting (and leaving the lovely massive master bedroom sob sob) I had 3m as my minimum bedroom width to fit the bed and 2x bedside tables.

we have ceiling of ground floor around 250cm I think because it has Ikea tall wardrobe and there is still some space left. it has picture rail/dado rail sort of thing and feels overall comfortable.

Now on loft conversion when I saw some photos like this, I thought oh that looks good
www.houzz.co.uk/photos/10898255/modern-farmhouse-country-bedroom-san-francisco

but I am thinking would it look alright in real or feel odd.

and something like this without that loft bed/stairs.

www.houzz.co.uk/photos/18982727/kingston-upon-thames-surrey-traditional-bedroom-london