Loft conversion not as master plus en suite

[wouldthatbeworse]

We’re thinking of getting the loft converted in our 3 bed Victorian terrace. DH doesn’t want our bedroom up there (pure laziness). Everyone we know who with a conversion has a smart master with bathroom and sometimes walk in wardrobe.

Anyone used there’s for something else?

For info we have 2 kids (3 and 4 mths) very occasional house guests but we do each work from home once a week.

Thanks

If you are planning on selling at some point I’d have it as a master suite, even if you don’t use it as one

We love having our bedroom up above everyone else’s, a quiet little sanctuary!

We have a dormer bungalow with added dormers so have master bedroom, bathroom, walk in wardrobe and laundry room.

What does DH want to use the space for?

In our last house, we looked at this and we would have had two bedrooms and a small shared bathroom. It was a very good sized loft though.

I don't like a massive main bedroom myself if you're happy with the room you have how about a double room, study and small bathroom.

Your needs will differ as time goes on. For now, why not have it set up as a guest bedroom /office with shower room and storage. As your dc get older, it could be a bedroom for the eldest and their current bedroom become an office.

We have just done one and use it as a chill out room with music, beanbags etc. We plsm to put a futon up there so guests can stay

Thanks everyone. DH thinks maybe a kid’s bedroom or a chill out/playroom for the kids. The latter is what his parents had 🤦‍♀️. This doesn’t work for me as we still won’t have space for a study/to hang laundry. He thinks we can have the study and play space in one room.

I long for a grown up bathroom

All first world problems I know. We’re lucky to have a 3 bed.

I would convert it as a master with ensuite but use it as a spare bedroom/office. I think while your kids are so little you want to be on the same floor as them when you can.

We use ours as a nursery (bedroom and play room).

I would convert it as a master with en suite, but use as a guest room / office.

It’s adding maximum resale potential if you decide to sell later down the line, meeting your needs for an office now as well as giving guests a great space. You could use the en suite as your grown up bathroom too.

Having it as a play room seems like a waste of space really, if you have kids rooms and space to play downstairs already.

I'd definitely use it for a master en-suite. If you use it for children please remember that they grow up. In 10 years time you could find yourself lying in bed trying to sleep but wondering just how the baby elephants got into your lovely loft conversions. Bitter experience here.

We have a huge playroom for the boys and a smaller office for DH. I love that their mayhem is out of sight. I Ignore these rooms for months at a time

I've often considered converting the loft into a master bedroom but instead of having an ensuite I would have a bathroom accessible from the top landing. We currently have one bathroom between 4 bedrooms and it would change the ratio to 2 bathrooms for 5 bedrooms.

Don't put the kids up top, whatever you do - think of the noise that herd of elephants will make!

@May30 advertising? Not allowed I think!

I am not sure young children should be shut away in a loft. It’s 2 flights of stairs from where the parents are and my DC usually wanted to play around me!

Bedroom and en-suite are best but you can use it as you wish. If your main bathroom isn’t great I would sort that out first! Storage in the eaves is worth considering too.

We found having an office space upstairs limiting too. Too far away from coffee! Other people seem to like shutting themselves away but I think it’s not great for teenagers. You might want to keep a closer eye on them!

My friends converted their loft recently and put 2 kids' bedrooms up there and a bathroom in between. It works brilliantly for them (their kids are 9 and 12). They already had a very nice, big master bedroom on the 1st floor so didn't need another one upstairs. It also means the kids have similar rooms (otherwise one would have been massive and one much smaller).

We had 2 bedrooms and a shower room in the attic.
Perfect for secondary aged children. Like previous poster, we already had a large bedroom

We're planning to convert ours in the next year or so, we'll have two double rooms and a shower room, long term they'll become a bedroom and study for DS although I want him on the same floor as us while he's young, I don't want to share a bathroom with a teen. Our bedroom is a good size with a lovely bay window, and our bed is huge, don't think I'd ever get it up into an attic. This way I'd get my home office back on the second floor and the back room would stay as a guest room, the third reception room downstairs would go back to being a morning room rather than the study it is currently. We don't have an en suite but DH and I would be the only ones using the main bathroom. Neighbours a few along from us have a similar set up although they have two teenagers who occupy the loft space

We converted ours to 2 medium size bedrooms and a shower room and then as the kids got older split one of the bedrooms into 2 smaller ones so the 3 boys shared a floor but each had their own bedroom.

We put one of the kids upstairs in the converted loft (no bathroom) and converted their bedroom into a lovely en suite for us.

So we had the master suite on the second floor and a bedroom above.

So essentially a 4 bedroom house with one bathroom became a 4 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms.

I guess the only think you'd need to decide upfront whether you want one bigger room plus bathroom (could be master bedroom, kid's bedroom, playroom, office & guest room) or 2 smaller rooms plus bathroom. I think I'd be tempted to go with one big room. Get a great sofabed or daybed with trundle and use as guest room and office for now. When the children are bigger you can start using it as a games room, with the bed in sofa mode unless guests are staying.

However, if your DH doesn't want to go up there out of laziness, would he actually use it as an office either? Or would you just spend all that money and it'll sit there unused?

I wouldn't plan to use it for laundry. It's too far away, it's be a right faff. It sounds to me like a conservatory or other office extension on the ground floor might suit you better.

We (couple, no DC) just did an L-shape one on a small Victorian terrace.

The main layouts for an L-shape like ours are: Big master with tiny en suite shower in the slice between the top of the stairs and the eaves and a small back child's room or study in the L; Really big master with the same en-suite but the L as part of the main space; and Big master with decent separate bathroom in the L.

We have gone for the last except it's not a master, it's a combined guest room and office.

We didn't want the master up there because (1) loft rooms can get very hot in summer, and (2) while the floor space is good, the long thin shape and variation in ceiling height really limits furniture placement.

We wanted a separate bathroom because it's a bit more flexible (doesn't disturb someone in the office), because the under-the-eaves style en suite is very poky, and because not doing the en-suite gives the main room a squarer shape.

As a bonus it meant we could fit in a bath and shower, so once finances recover we will make the main bathroom a luxury shower room instead.