Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Can I split this loft room to make 2 bedrooms...help

132 replies

Delilahx · 14/10/2020 19:01

Hi, I'm after some advice. I'm fingers crossed finally moving out of rented after leaving a horrible marriage. I've finally got enough together for a deposit and have offered on a property. The loft is done out as per the pictures. I was wondering if there is anyway I could split this room into two and it work out ok. It's for my 2 oldest boys, late teens. Oldest has ASD. I think it would mean one going through the other ones room to get to the stairs because of lack of space. The whole house needs redecorating. I was hoping someone would have an ingenious idea that is staring me in the face but cant see! But it could just be impossible too. Thank you in advance.

Can I split this loft room to make 2 bedrooms...help
Can I split this loft room to make 2 bedrooms...help
OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
TW2013 · 14/10/2020 23:17

I.e. have two long narrow rooms.

Mumsnorthernmonkey · 15/10/2020 00:51

I think you just need room dividers and share wardrobes?

BurgerOnTheOrientExpress · 15/10/2020 07:08

When 'splitting' small rooms like this I used to create a bunk bed layout. One bedroom would have a 'working' space at floor level and the adjacent room would have a bunk bed over the top of that work space.
Hope you can picture that and it make sense.

Finally, as suggested above, check LA building control regs. on exit requirements due to fire.

RandomMess · 15/10/2020 07:39

Bunk beds aren't going to work as there isn't the head height and these are near enough adults Confused

Persipan · 15/10/2020 07:44

I would like at partitioning either bedroom 1 or the lounge into two small bedrooms, with transom windows all along the top of the partition to give the inner room some light (and, if there's an exterior wall along the outside, you could always add a window at some stage). You don't have the headroom issues that you would with the attic room, and although they'd be small rooms they'd be big enough for everything they need.

Beautyoftheirdreams · 15/10/2020 07:52

B&Q do some great and affordable room dividers. They are about £50 and are adjustable. I can't do links but if you Google B&Q room dividers it will come up

RandomMess · 15/10/2020 08:24

I actually was just thinking about using furniture to split the lounge into a bedroom and then a small dining area? The current dining is large enough as a cosy lounge, how often will the DC use it with the op? My teens will come for an hour at a time tbh life is in their bedrooms...

Trumpton · 15/10/2020 08:41

I have been mulling this over .
If the boys don’t use the sitting room for sitting ( as they are lurking in their rooms ) then I would use the dining room as a small living room for you mostly and also the loft for you . They can have the two other down stairs rooms .
You need and deserve a good bedroom to yourself and if you have the loft you could have a sitting area at one end .

Mooserp · 15/10/2020 09:12

At their age I'd be thinking about privacy with girlfriends. I don't think it would be sufficient to just have some furniture dividing their space.

Mooserp · 15/10/2020 09:21

Is it possible to move walls downstairs? Make bedroom 1 smaller and the dining room larger so it can become the lounge. Existing lounge becomes another bedroom

Can I split this loft room to make 2 bedrooms...help
Itisbetter · 15/10/2020 09:28

Put a bed platform above the door as you come in (or even better above the stairs).

Murmurur · 15/10/2020 09:30

I can totally see where PPs are coming from with giving the living room over to the boys, but this is OP's house, hard won, and a home she is providing for them all. How many of us IRL would buy a 2 bed house and sleep in the main living room with the sofas (and step daughter), or give the living room over to their teenagers? I think it's important that the house feels like a real, mainstream home to OP. To me that doesn't mean giving the main living room over to be a teenager's bedroom or spending most of her time in the dining room or loft conversion while the teens inhabit most of the full height spaces in the house.

I am normally all for creative solutions, but this house needs to feel like a permanent, safe home. I think the teens having less than ideal bedrooms in the loft is the right way forward. A communal table to eat at might be important too.

OP you say the gaming needs privacy more than the sleeping but does it require privacy or just separation? I think one decent bedroom upstairs (with gaming) and one tiny room upstairs with gaming stuff in dining room (with table) could work.

goisey · 15/10/2020 09:52

@Trumpton

I have been mulling this over . If the boys don’t use the sitting room for sitting ( as they are lurking in their rooms ) then I would use the dining room as a small living room for you mostly and also the loft for you . They can have the two other down stairs rooms . You need and deserve a good bedroom to yourself and if you have the loft you could have a sitting area at one end .
This is my favourite solution on here. Plus there's more room for your SD when she stays in your (loft) bedroom - you could have a sofa bed in the loft for her.

I'm so invested in this thread!

RandomMess · 15/10/2020 09:53

I agree it needs to be the op home where she is happy etc only she knows how well room sharing will go or whether it will create unbearable conflict.

As for the suggestion of girlfriends staying over Confused that's very easy "no"!!!

Mooserp · 15/10/2020 10:07

Really? You don't expect late teens to have girlfriends (or boyfriends) in their rooms?

TheFormerPorpentinaScamander · 15/10/2020 10:14

We were never allowed boy/girlfriends in our bedrooms growing up. And my mum was certainly not unusual in that respect Confused

nickelbabe · 15/10/2020 10:26

You've said you won't swap lounge and bedroom 1 around because of the fittings.
I don't think it's hard to take out fitted wardrobes (if they're not part of the structure), and if you're splitting the room the fireplace wouldn't matter either.
I would get a stud wall partition in the lounge to make 2 dc bedrooms, have the bedroom as the lounge and the dining room as the dining room and have the upstairs room as your bedroom.
The alternative is to have the lounge and bedroom 1 as bedrooms, the loft as bedroom and have dining room as lounge. If you do that, you must have the biggest room as your bedroom so that you can use it as your own personal space if you need it.

Trumpton · 15/10/2020 10:53

@goisey
Thank you >

RandomMess · 15/10/2020 11:11

Allowed in rooms yes, staying over no.

If they want privacy for a sex life then they'll have to move out/go to a hotel etc!

Daydreamsinglorioustechnicolor · 15/10/2020 12:08

@RandomMess

Allowed in rooms yes, staying over no.

If they want privacy for a sex life then they'll have to move out/go to a hotel etc!

With children staying at home well into adulthood these days, I think it's fine to think about providing private spaces for them to spend time with a partner.
Pralinelatte · 15/10/2020 12:35

How about using the living room to make 2 long, narrow bedrooms for the 2 boys? They can share the window. If they are anything like my teenage boys were, they just want a fairly private space to play games with their mates, and to chill out. You could divide the space with kallax units, or temporary wooden 'walls' (B&Q sell attractice, cheap mdf floor to ceiling screens) then you won't be committing yourself to permanent changes until you decide if they work or not.

Then keep the dining room as it is, and create a family lounge in the loft. Another advantage of this is that you can have a sofa bed in the attic living room for guests, and still have a shared sitting/dining area next to the kitchen when you have visitors.

Congrats on your new place!

ivykaty44 · 15/10/2020 20:13

id take the loft room for myself

give the lounge to one ds and bedroom one to the other and dinning room as a small snug/sitting room

as pp said

ivykaty44 · 15/10/2020 20:20

I'm so invested in this thread!

ive already ripped out that carpet and im decorating the bedroom....

like the bedroom in this house www.realestate.co.nz/3864687/residential/sale/6-rugby-street-merivale photo 15

Original poster
Delilahx · 15/10/2020 21:10

Thank you all so much for the comments. Sorry there are too many to thank individually but murm has my feelings spot on. It's more than the house.
I want it to feel and run like a normal house and have a normal life (sounds a bit dramatic I know but it's been a rough few years) I might want what I cant have and feel like I'm squeezing us in to desperately try to make it work.
I want the boys to be happy and settled but I'm not giving up the lovely sunny living room that we can eat in and share (when they do come down) and have family in to squash into the small dining room at the back of the house.
I really appreciate the time everyone has taken to help with loads of fab ideas and diagrams!
I will update this thread (with pics) when I'm in and post pics of how (if) I make it work.

Thank you again xxx

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread