master bed with walkin wardrobe and ensuite vs an extra double bed room

[mum2015]

I am working on plan for extension. I have a choice between these two options

• master bed with walk in wardrobe and ensuite
• an extra double bed room

We already have two double bedrooms for kids, family bathroom on same floor and additional shower room downstairs. I first added an extra double bed room but to be honest I have always lived in small houses/apartments and don't really know advantages of walk in wardrobe and ensuite so cant really compare. They do look good on houzz/pinterest etc.

what would you suggest be a sensible choice for a family of four.

It depends on how much living space you have. If you have one reception room the house will be unbalanced with too many bedrooms, should you come to sell.

Do you need the extra bedroom for guests, future children etc?

Do you need a spare room? Which would you use more?

My parents have just converted a bedroom next to the master bedroom into a dressing room and they love it. But they don't need the extra bedroom as it was a 4 bed but now a 3 bed.

They way they have done it, it could be easily converted back to a bedroom if they ever sold.

Why wouldn't you get the master suite with en suite etc? If you can afford it, I can't see any downsides to having the extra nice elements. Don't agree that it'll imbalance the amount of living space, it's still only going to be a three bed house either way. En suites rock. Treat yourself!

Or from what others have just written, maybe I've misunderstood. Are you actually saying the choice is between:

• a master suite with en suite etc.

or

• two double bedrooms

if so, that's different and probably more sensible to have four bedrooms. Maybe check with an estate agent on added value, if that's a factor?

It can be used as extra bedroom for when overseas relatives visit and stay with us.

There is plenty of living area to balance. Actually the living area is bigger in total square feet than the bedroom area which also makes me think to make it a 4 bed house rather than three.

Just that I see so many houses listed on rightmove with mster ensuite as a big plus point that I wonder if I am missing something important.

I would prefer an extra double bedroom so there is a guest room, spare place to sleep when one of us is ill, you could always use it as a dressing room too. My parents used my room as spare bedroom/dressing room for my dad when I moved out.

Where I live, there's a big price difference between a 3 bed and 4 bed (but maybe because there's a lot of 3 children families) so extra bedroom would increase value more. But it's up to you!

pinkdelight,

It is choice between
2 bed+master bed with ensuite (overall 3 bedrooms)
or 3 bed+master bed without ensuite (overall 4 bedrooms)

I have two children. We don't usually have friend's staying overnight but when family visit, they stay for few days. I have option of using study room downstairs as guest bedroom, if remove table chairs from there for temporary basis.

All depends on the current number of beds / baths and living space, can you tell us more about the current house?

I'd have the ensuite/dressing room in a heartbeat.

However I'd probably only do it if I had two reception rooms and could put a sofabed in the least used one.

We have a spare room currently and yet when the MIL.visits she prefers the sofabed downstairs as it's easier not to have to navigate the stairs and like you we have a shower downstairs anyway.

current house - bungalow with all in ground floor
2 double bedrooms, 1 single bedroom(box room), one living room, kitchen, bathroom, conservatory, garage

house after extension
ground floor: I am extending the living room to become a big kitchen+dining+family room. With the other existing rooms staying as it is ground floor will become :
1 reception, 1 kitchen+dining+family room open plan, 1 study room, utility, a boxroom (it will be used a boot root as not much space where stairs will go)
first floor: that is where those two options are.

Forgot to list, after extension ground floor will have existing bathroom(will need to make it showeroom to accommodate stairs) and garage too.

Please could you take photo of the plans for extension and original house

the 10x12 room opposite stairs and bathroom can be changed to ensuite+walkin wardrobe. The rooms look big with dimensions mentioned but since ceilings will be sloped I don't want to make them smaller for the sake of adding extra rooms.

I would probably go for a compromise and make a master with small en suite plus a small double/large single room.

I would make it into ensuite and dressing room but have a door at top of stairs too

So that it can be made into a bedroom and ensuite and dressing room, it would have a door from your bedroom?

Looks great btw and also brill diagram thanks

Have the ensuite as you'll probably get more for a big three bed than a tiny single bathroom 4 bed

Actually could you have a door at top of stairs that goes both into extra room and bedroom

Then you sort of have a bedroom wing

But if you have visitors then you have your own bedroom door too

I'd want an en-suite, not fussed about a walk in wardrobe if the room is a decent enough size to take 2 freestanding wardrobes or fitted wardrobes.

I'd prefer 4 bedrooms, so if there was a way of rejigging it so there were 4 beds with an en-suite that would be my ideal. En-suites don't have to be big, it's amazing what you can squeeze in to a small space.

Looking at your plan, the middle room that is 10 x 12 has a small area that looks potentially redundant. I'd move the wall over so the room that was 12 x 17 was a bit smaller and the 10 x12 was a fraction bigger.

I would probably make it into a bathroom that all 3 bedrooms could use. I personally don't like downstairs bathrooms.

D'oh sorry just seen there is already a bathroom up there!

What is the area between stairs and big bedroom for?

Could it be joined to big bedroom?

Just for my noseyness could you please do a plan for downstairs too?

You all are great. Made me think of new ideas.

I was not covering the top of the stairs part with floor but may be some of it can be covered as part of first floor. I wish I had stairs at home to figure it out.

I am looking into the plans for small ensuites. Are they still useful even when they are small?

If I move the door entering 10x12 room further down the 3ft sq area infront of its current door plus a bit on top of stairs can be part of master bedroom and then if I take out some more space from the bedroom, there can be a little ensuite added.

Sidge,
That little space is there because I cant figure out how that portion will work with roof plan. I will play around with that wall between 12x17 and 12x10 room, once I have some idea of roof plan. I need to keep 12x17 room big as it is for my son. I am going to add a full wall of shelves for his lego models display, a book self, study table, single bed and another storage for unbuilt assorted lego bricks and still plenty of floor space for actually making legos. Sounds all crazy but it is so important to save rest of the house from legos.