How big is/are your bedroom(s)?

[BuffyFlanket]

Will hopefully be starting our extension soon to turn our two bed into a three bed with study (plans show four beds but we’re going to make one bigger and one smaller than on the plans so one won’t really be bedroom size).

The room we sleep in currently feels very large. We only have a double bed just now but there’s lots of space around it and at the foot of the bed with furniture in place too. We are considering letting our daughters share this room when the extension is finished and we will take the new bedroom downstairs.

This room will only be 2.9m by 2.9m. Ideally we’d like a king size bed in the future.

Does anyone use a room of this size as their master bedroom and feel it’s ok size wise? We could slim down the ‘study’ by another few cm but don’t want it to feel like a prison cell in there.

Our smallest room is 2.8m x 2.8m so not massively different. We have had a double bed in there previously when it was just a guest room but it was a tight squeeze and it had to be right against the wall on one side to allow a bedside table on one side. I think your dimensions wont work as a master. Think about where the radiator will be, allow for the door opening etc and you'll see how tight it will be.

I would be tempted to get rid of the study.

Ah, I know the answer to this as it was discussed with OnePlan when she was working on our project... take the bed size and add a min of 800mm walk way all around it. And if there's no separate dressing room the add in 600mm for your wardrobe on one, two or three walls. That is the minimum bedroom size you should have.

This is the space we have to play with for bedroom and study. As you can see he’s made them equal size. This is because originally it was to be a two storey extension with the whole of this same space on the second storey being our room. It’s now only going to be a single (for now, we will eventually create that second storey).

We currently have one very large room, one snall one which the kids currently share with bunk beds and then will also have this space. So yea, we could have a much bigger room but no study and I really have my heart set on one

The architect did say this room was a small double or large single but that was when the plan was that the extension would be much bigger iyswim. So we’re just compromising for now UNTIL we eventually have our huge room upstairs. I’m not overly comfortable with either/both the kids being downstairs and us being upstairs.

One thing I did think was as well as making the study much smaller we could take space for a fitted wardrobe out of the study in order to save space in the bedroom.

Any thoughts on this space would be greatly appreciated as I think I’ve just looked at it too much now and can’t see the wood for the trees.

No it would be very cramped

My 3rd bedroom is 3m x 3m it has a single bed , single wardrobe, chest of draws and my desk. I could fit a double in there minus the desk. But a kingsize would mean losing the chest of draws or getting a very slim wardrobe and in turn would be very cramped. That room is dual aspect so makes it feel bigger but limits wall space.

The issue is with a room that size you either need to push the bed against the wall so no walk around space or get creative with the furniture. Hard to open doors with those dimensions. Taking an extra 20cm off the width for a kingsize would make most layouts cramped or impractical.
If you could steal a section off an adjacent room for a built in wardrobe it would work.....

I’m assuming 30cm off each end for walls btw because these are the external measurements.

Large - I couldn't have a small bedroom like the one that you described if there was a choice. If it's going to be three bedrooms plus a study why not give the girls a bedroom each?

Could the girls each have a bedroom downstairs, then use the room they are in with bunk beds as a study, and then you stay in your room?

Either that, or create a study space in your bedroom. You won't be sleeping at the same time you are studying, and you could get either a folding desk maybe, or something that's quite light in colour and without too many drawers etc ? You could then have an extended fitted wardrobe with space for storing papers, filing things etc, so it was all hidden out the way for when you were sleeping but nicely organised for when you want to use as the study?

I just don’t feel right about either or both of them being down their alone.

If only we could afford this second storey just now but we can’t. Maybe we do just need to lose the study, give them our big room and use their smaller one as the study then rethink everything when we do the second storey.

Probably makes most sense just to use all that space as a bedroom doesn’t it.

Ours is 4.5m x 3.5m
I wouldn't want it any smaller tbh. We have a super king size bed in there, two small bedside tables and a triple wardrobe. Then its pretty much full.

From your floorplans, if that is dimesions on the outside, then inside its about 5.3m x2.8m. Personally I would leave that as one room not two. Its very narrow, and you can squeeze a study area in at one end, but with a wall dividing it you will loose even more space.

I think you need to consider (a) how long it'll be before you get that 2nd storey and (b) what you'll do with this downstairs space then?

If it's a couple of years away, then let the girls share for now upstairs, use the small room as a study and have one big space downstairs. If its realistically going to be 5+ years away & they'll be at an age when they want their own space, it might need a different solution?

I’d make the study a lot smaller and use it as a walk-in wardrobe unless you particularly need a study.

Do you actually need a study, I know they were very popular about 10-20 years ago when people had those PCs with a tower thing but unless you do a lot of work/study won't just a desk and shelf/small filing cabinet in a corner be OK.

Single storey foundations often aren't suitable for a second floor so be sure your builder knows you are going to extend above in the future.

We've rejected houses with a 9-and-a-bit-foot square master bedroom. There was nowhere to put the cot and if you put in a king sized bed, that left hardly room to swing a very small mouse. However you're not talking about making this the master really are you? You're talking about you both sleeping in it for a few years(? Or forever?)

As a medium term temp solution, I think you could nobble some of the study and make it work. But if you're talking new master bedroom, no. Obviously if that was all the space you had then fine, you've crack on with it, but we're talking about what is sensible in a good size house.

If you have any eye on resale (you may not) then bear in mind that anyone with children looking to buy in future will have the same dilemma with the downstairs bedroom. So making it work for a couple now is not a bad shout anyway.

Thanks all for your replies and some really great ideas.

Yes, eventually the bedroom we are discussing will be the third bedroom so I feel it will be a decent size for a third bedroom when you look at newbuilds and see how small those bedrooms are.

I think what we will do is just use all that space as a bedroom with a desk in the corner. That’s the most effective way to use the space then when the girls are older we can rethink it all. They’ll be happy sharing for a while yet I imagine.

That sounds like a good idea and its not just new builds that have small bedrooms, our 30s house, box room as I can't bring myself to call it a 3rd bedroom is very small.

I live in a new build, the master bedroom is 20sqm and the "small" bedroom is 18sqm.

9sqm is TINY. In fact my last bedroom was 10.1sqm and the council condemned it as environmental health agreed with me - that it was a single bedroom not fit for occupancy by 2 adults...,

Sorry I really didnt mean to be disrespectful towards new builds. That was a big generalisation - I should say other houses we’ve seen.

I didn't think you were being disrespectful. My point was your planned bedroom is woefully small if it's size means my local authority wouldn't let it out as a double room.

My biggest bugbear is having to shimmy out of bed or past the end of the bed, especially if your wardrobe is there.
We purposely made our master-room huge in our extension (it's 5m by 7m including dressing room and ensuite).
We both start work at a similar time so are often getting ready together so the space is really useful

Our bedroom is 2.9m by 3.2m and it's really small and makes arranging furniture hard with our standard double bed.

The previous owners installed narrow fitted wardrobes along the longer side and we can't open the doors full width as they bang the end of the bed and it's a tight squeeze round the end of the bed. The other way round makes it really narrow down both sides of our bed.

We're planning to reduce the size of the bathroom next door and gain and extra 40-50cm length so we can put wardrobes on the short side and it will make a huge difference.

I would try to make it at least 3.5m by 2.9 if you can

My master is 4.9 x 3m. I have a king size bed which goes across the smaller width. I would like a chest or seat at the foot of the bed but it's too tight to fit comfortably. My guest bedroom is 3.3 x 3m with a double bed, bedside tables, chair, small wardrobe and a large chest of drawers. The room is cosy rather than spacious. I don't think you could put a king size bed in there if the room was in daily use.