Moving rooms around so DS has more space, we sleep downstairs?

[PoppySeedRoll]

We are eventually going to have to let our teen DS have our bedroom to sleep in - his is tiny and he is very tall. He has a purpose built bed in there now which fits wall to wall but I think he will only get another year out of it.

Plan is to let him keep his own small room for his clothes, books, desk etc and just sleep in the bigger bed. DH and I will sleep downstairs on a sofa bed.

We have a longish lounge but can’t section it off to make an extra room as it isn’t that large plus is also my workplace (CM). We could even put a proper bed in the lounge and cover it in throws during the day, the minded children would probably happily play on it.

DS could also have the option of the downstairs bed but would prefer to be upstairs. He has ASD and I know he doesn’t want to be downstairs on his own unless this changes as he gets older.

Has anyone done something similar? We can’t afford to move or extend so need to work with what we have here. I don’t want to surrender our own room altogether.

Did this 2 years ago, best thing we ever did. We have a wall bed though...check out WallBed King (can't do links), this is where we got ours from.

Will have a look thank you! Did you give up your bedroom entirely?

Yes we did, we have a wardrobe in one of the kids' rooms with our clothes in.

I would turn his current room in to your dressing room.

Surely you wouldn’t want to be having to knock on his door anytime you needed something ?

I’m imagining you’re not going to be able to store your clothes and personal items downstairs.

Is there any way you could move a wall to reduce the size of your bedroom and increase the size of his (if this is going to be your long-term home?). My mum pinched 2 foot from her bedroom to make their tiny bathroom bigger, it doesn't sound like much but made such a difference.

His room is next to DD’s who is very autistic and although we’ve considered it, moving the wall would cause too much disruption to her and she wouldn’t cope.
Using his room as our dressing room is a good idea too!

I wouldn't let him have both rooms if you're sleeping downstairs. As pp suggested I'd use his current room for your clothes and other stuff that way you still have a degree of privacy

I think using his room for your clothes/dressing room would be a better idea, then DS properly gets his own room and he can entirely relax in it.

Get a nice ottoman to store your bedding in the day

I second a wall bed, so that you'll have plenty of space during the day. Some are designed so that the bedding stays in place when the bed folds against the wall. They are pricey though. You can get sofa beds which are comfortable enough to be used every day. Also pricey...

It might be worth having a small fold out bed or a mattress in your new dressing room, to be a back up in case you or DH are ill or exhausted during the day.

When I was young my parents slept in the lounge, as did several of their friends. Perfectly workable, but with hindsight I am amazed at how tidy all the parents managed to be!

How long will you have this set up for? I'm just wondering if likely to be more long term, I'd look at creating a kitchen living room, then a separate bedroom downstairs. May not be practical if you are a CM though!

I like the wall bed idea - I think I need to see some installed somewhere so I can see what they look like. Bit worried about the safety of them with small children around.

At the moment we have a massive sofabed futon covered in throws in the lounge- I leave it open a lot for the kids to play on. It’s nice but not comfortable for more than one night. So the concept of a bed in the lounge isn’t entirely new to everyone.

If we take all the stuff out of his room including the joiner built bed we should be able to fit maybe two wardrobes and a small chest of drawers in there.

We always assumed he would have DD’s room and they would be at uni by next year but that’s not going to happen now so this is our plan B. The cats will be delighted to have us sleeping downstairs

Hi Poppy. We have a similar issue, 2 older kids in college with ASD who are unlikely to be moving out any time soon & a severe lack of space. DD2's room is also tiny. She literally has a bed in there but nothing else. All her stuff is in our room. We have been desperately trying to move to no avail for a year now. Unfortunately, our sitting room is too small to have a bed in & still be a sitting room or i'd seriously consider the ideas you have been given, plus we need a downstairs loo for DD2's toilet issues which we don't have. We really need a lot more space all round so have no choice but to continue trying to move on. Sounds like this could be a good option for you & I wish you luck with this.