Would you convert bedroom into an en suite/dressing room?

[NamechangeyMcnamechanged]

Hi, we have a brilliant house but it drives me nuts. We're not v DIY people but nor do we have loads of spare cash to get big amounts of work done.

We have a family of 4 in a 5 bedroom house. One tiny bathroom and the two kids will soon be teenagers. We have three reception rooms.

We do have a downstairs loo which we could convert into a wetroom/shower but I don't think anyone (except guests sleeping downstairs) ever really uses downstairs showers IME of houses that have them.

I'm constantly reading about how converting bedrooms is a very bad idea but do you think it would reduce value in our case (ie given we have a lot of floor space)? I'm thinking that very few families need 5 beds and given we have the extra study/guestroom downstairs, it might just add value or at least not detract?

Or am I just WRONG!?

Hi - I would say it depends on how long you're planning to spend in the house. If you don't foresee any reason to move in the next few years, I'd say do whatever you need to do to make the house work best for you and your family, rather than worrying about the house's potential market value.

Do you have a floor plan from when you bought the house and we could advise you.
I love "mentally knocking walls down!"

If your only bathroom is tiny, it might be worth sacrificing bedroom to create an en suite and enlarge the family bathroom

People who want 5 bedrooms would also want more than one bathroom so you won't lose out by going to 4 beds 2 baths.

We don't have a floor plan - we moved here many years ago, although I could maybe try and draw one ...

Value is complicated. We're in a really odd situation (sorry to drip feed but don't want to out myself!) in which we'll never likely make back what we put in on improvement: hence the not doing it this far.

And I would move now actually but we're in a kind of Love It or List It situation and my husband really doesn't want to move. We have a lot of space but there are bits we'd have to redo completely to make the house work and we can't really afford a complete renovation, especially if we will lose money on it in future.

So I'm trying to solve the top of the list problem, which is I want my own bathroom!

At any one time how many guests do you have staying at any one time maximum? If it’s not many then go with the renovation sounds great

Really badly drawn plan of upstairs. Not to scale but beds 1&2 are pretty big and bed is smallest. I have my eye on that one for my ensuite/dressing room but bed 5 probably easiest (and use slightly smaller bed 2 as master) since then I wouldn't have to move plumbing v far.

Also the landing is massive and could be a room in itself or chopped up a bit but I really love the light and space it gives.

Should say bed 4 is smallest...

I hate ensuites.
I think they are a bit gross, and also it means only certain people can use them, unless you want to trail through other people's bedrooms.

Guests only v occasionally but would like more. It would be easier to have people stay with two bathrooms!!

Ihatemyself but that the point! I don't want smelly teens trailing through my bedroom AT ALL. They already trash the family bathroom and downstairs loo and I want my own clean sweet smelling private space!

From a plumbing POV it would be easiest and therefore cheapest to make the study into another bathroom, it could be en-suite to bed 2. Depending on room sizes you could have space for a dressing area as well.
However if bed 4 is really tiny then it might be better to sacrifice that as a bathroom.
I agree that 1 bathroom is not enough for 5 beds and most buyers would prefer 4 beds 2 baths.
I wouldn't listen too much to the en suite haters. They don't seem to exist off Mumsnet.

Fair enough!
It looks like you have lots of space and options.
How would the space flow iyswim if you had one of the doors blocked off from the landing?
Would you be better with just 2 bathrooms - theirs and yours? if guests are a priority?

In our house it's more that the teens want the bathroom at the same time.

there's only me here hating on the ensuites @Chiara, so why so pointed?
in your case OP you've got a whole room you can change so it is fine, its often the ones built out of corners of rooms, rendering them tiny and strange shapes that offend. And if you are not planning on moving, that also makes a difference.

I would do the conversion if you can afford it. 5 bedrooms with only one upstairs bathroom is not going to be very appealing to buyers anyway.

We sacrificed up our 5th bedroom to make a bigger family bathroom and a dressing room & ensuite. We moved the wall to make room for a separate shower. It made our house work for us when it otherwise would not. Study on the landing here as it is big enough for decent desk

Do you want bed 1 or 2 bed to be the master. As pp said easiest plumbing option is to change study. Need a scale diagram!

I would deffo make Bed 4 an en-suite to Bed 1.

If you are planning to stay there for a long time then in your position I would go for it. As a family of 4, even if you go down to 4 beds you still have a spare room for guests. Having an ensuite is bliss when you have smelly teenagers cluttering up the other bathroom

Personally I’d rather have two family bathrooms that everyone could use for a 4 bed house. Otherwise it’s an en-suite that can only be used by you and then 3 people having to share the other one. I know you like the idea of not sharing with messy teens etc but maybe worth thinking about if it means you can choose whichever room works best, not the one closest to your bedroom?

Bed 1 is currently yours?
Which ones are your children's and what ages are they?

The extra advantage of using study is that you gain that little bite of landing where bathroom and study doors are.
Depending on how big the study is, you could possibly have a smaller en suite with a little walk in wardrobe. This makes up for the bedroom 2 being smaller than bed 1

Ooh you're all good at this! I've ahem amended my drawing for CalmConfident in the absence of an architect/surveyor qualification but I've added in current beds and furniture/storage.

And yes I lied to try not to out myself further, but fuck it - they're already teens, at age 13 and 15. And yes they are filthy and stinky. 13 yo has bed 2 and 15yo is in bed 3.

New drawing not to scale either but bed 1 is bigger in proportion than I've drawn it here relative to bed 1. And there's just room to pull out the underbed to make up a double in study/bed 5 but in reality not as much space to walk round it as my drawing implies here!!

Yes bed 1 currently ours.

We have a downstairs toilet with shower and the kids and I use it. DH prefers to use the shower over the bath in the upstairs bathroom, so don't rule it out necessarily.
We didn't have space for an extra bathroom upstairs.