How would you layout this house. Floor plan attached

[artdecohome]

My house is very quirky. It has a fairly small living room and a kitchen that fits a dining table in but isn’t large by any means plus a separate large utility/WC in.

On the first floor there are two double bedrooms a bathroom and a box room.

On the top floor there is another double ‘bedroom’ that has beautiful views and a balcony...

At the moment we have downstairs as described, the middle floor is used as two bedrooms and the box room was a nursery and top floor as a hideous multi coloured playroom littered with every toy known to humankind or so it feels.

The house is quite narrow and could resemble a town house in its layout but we’ve chosen to keep only the ground floor as living space as it’s ok that way for us but it is quite tight since having dd tbh and all her 1000’s of toys.

Time has come to sell and we are now wondering if to change the house about. We think the top floor should be changed into a second living area to make the most of the views and the box room an office as we need one really but the desk got squashed into the toy room. The attached pic is how the last estate agent decided it should be sold as but we won’t be changing the middle floor into a living room now.

Any ideas? The house is a beautiful Art Deco one and super quirky with curved walls, I love love living here but we want to relocate and sell so alas.

Why does the plan say it's a second lounge in middle floor?

Personally I'd concentrate on making walls less colourful and de clutter - box room works as a nursery for some but office for others just depends on where you are in life. I wouldn't spend too much time changing as the potential purchasers may have a baby on the way hence move?

Make the most of the master room IMO and any rooms that are tired looking give them a spruce up paint in white or pale colours

Good luck!

Boxroom study, attic master bedroom

@flumpybear I don’t really know. That’s how the EA sold it to us but we’ve made it into a bedroom after the room was pretty empty on purchase.

Also @flumpybear thanks for your response but the nursery is still a nursery and the cot is going to a friend as dd now an actual dc still in toddler cot so will be moving into one of the double rooms until we sell as think that should work. Unless you think that’s a disaster?

Thanks also @Labradoodliedoodoo. The top floor is an actual floor with stair case rather than simple attic room. It’s the best room in the house ie everyone who walks in says wow look at those views so wasn’t sure if making it into a bedroom would waste this?

A friend lives in similar. I would have keep it all the same except swap the middle floor lounge and make it a bedroom...top of house is a nice lounge with balcony for drinks etc.

@Chinnyreckoning that’s what we are thinking but worried prospective buyers might not see the layout in a positive way or rather it was a bedroom but we have no idea!

I’d put the master bedroom on top floor, make sure the box room is decluttered enough to see that it could operate as a single bedroom, then sell the house as a 3-4 bedroom house, with the first floor loung described as “additional sitting room/bedroom 4”. That way you are offering different options to appeal to the widest buyer base.

I'm not sure top floor is naturally a lounge, if that makes sense? We live in a town house with a similar layout. We tried using the top floor as a lounge but schlepping between the ground floor kitchen and the top floor lounge with cups of tea etc was a total pain in the arse, so we turned the entire thing into our kids' room, it's half bedroom/half playroom.

I'd make it the master bedroom.

Hhhmmm depends on how much vision people have - it's difficult as it's not one size fits all

I'd definitely concentrate on de clutter tho and painting neutral and making the top floor a 'wow' factor and let people decide if it's bedroom or lounge for their needs

Thanks @lillylollylandy we still go up and down as the balcony is good fun to have dinner on but maybe if made into a living area we would put mini fridge up there. Or maybe not. I kind of just want to stay here forever but we are trying to move areas to reduce commute.

As there is no ensuite/loo on top floor i would have that as a lounge and middle floor as bedroom.

I would keep all the upstairs rooms as bedrooms, but have them as clutter free as possible so that viewers are more easily able to imagine alternatives.

Is yours the only house of it’s type on the street or are there several? Have a look at sold prices on Rightmove and see what other people have done. You might find there’s a common layout. Present the house in its best light - you want it to have as broad an appeal as possible.

I’d have top floor as bedroom but (if you have them) put some cosy chairs near balcony end.

I wouldn’t sell it as an additional lounge on 1st floor. That would put me off as a buyer as it looks like a town house then.

I'd make the top floor into the lounge/living room. Who ever is showing round can say it can be a bedroom. I'd probably be more interested in buying a house where the lounge had a view than a bedroom.

I can understand why they have made the lounge a dining room, it makes it sound bigger and better.

If dd needs a play room then I'd use the box room. Paint in neutral and have a huge tub to just stick all toys into when anyone is looking round.

@sashh good point re why EA made it a dining room. Not happening with me though
Feel like I’m drip feeding here but the house sells at a premium due to the views hence trying to make most of it. Has good views on all three floors but the top is more special due to it being on a balcony and you can really get some nice views at all angles when you’re out there.
Saying that I’m sure some people would like a bedroom as well with views. Sigh.

I think you are overthinking this.

Make the top room either a lounge or bedroom but say to viewers you could use it either way.

First floor room make a bedroom.

Just focus on making the house presentable and de-clutter.

We have a roughly similar house, in that it's a 3 story town house (but a Georgian one). When we bought the vendors were pretty lazy in dressing the rooms but still had plenty of viewings. Do you have a garden/parking/what kind of area are you in? I only ask as realistically ours is unlikely to be a family house, although ironically it did have a family living in it for 20 years. For that reason, while there are 4 bedrooms, I doubt very much that anyone who bought ours would use all 4, we have one as a study and one as a lounge. We will turn the lounge back into a bedroom but will probably leave the study as it is. When we viewed, they had a study and one room laid out as a cinema room.

What you do with both the box room and the top floor room would depend for me on who your likely purchasers are. In a family house I would dress the box room as a nursery as I think people can more easily imagine fitting a desk into a nursery than cot etc into a study, if that makes sense.

My area is full of town houses. They call the ground floor lounge the “family room” as most people use them as playroom/lounge etc as families spend most of the day on the ground floor.
The second floor always has a more formal lounge and the rest are always bedrooms.

There’s something very adult about a top floor bedroom with views and balcony. Set out bistro table. Imagine breakfast out there

The reason my friend went with living room at top was the views over the river and Scottish islands. If there wasn't much of a view then maybe it's less important

OK if you are keeping a lounge/sitting room on the ground floor as someone else said make that into the family room and then make the balcony room an adult get away

The middle floor front room should say lounge or 4th bedroom

I love Art Deco! I thought it might be with the curved walls. I would want the master bedroom at the top and like the EA have the middle one as a sitting room. I don’t think it matters too much as long as it is uncluttered though, you can talk about different options to people looking round.

I'd more or less stick with the previous agent's way. Minimal, neutral playroom on the middle floor, which people won't need much imagination to see as a bedroom if they want to be on same floor as 2 children's rooms, and master on the top. Do without the office while selling or is there a nook in the top floor room that could be used? Maybe styled as a dressing table for viewings.

I'm not keen on lounge at the top, it's too far from kitchen and other lounge. The connection between the living spaces is important to me as children get older and need more semi-supervision, especially when you have family friends round - gang of children plus a few adults.