Are these room sizes decent?

[EllisRoses]

Purchasing a 4 bed detached property off plan and I can't get my bearings of room sizes. The lounge seems plenty long enough, maybe slightly concerned about width. I was chatting to my mum about how happy I am to finally have a utility room and she replied it was a tiny one. I've been going off the floor plans and thought it was a pretty generous sized house? For a family of 4 plus a dog I'd hate to feel cramped?

A new build sounds amazing to me, as someone who lives in a draughty, Edwardian house with wonky and bumpy walls, and an absolutely ancient boiler which the guy who comes to service it says will be unlikely to last the winter (he has said this for the last nine years as well).

Yours will have a lovely finish and everything will work. Your children will have their own rooms and it will be all new and clean and ever so exciting.

Please see the positives. There are many. This is a hugely exciting event for you all. There are amazing storage solutions available now to maximise space. Shelves above doorways etc.

Something that occurred to me that could make a difference to how much storage space there is in the bedrooms is how the doors open. I have no idea if it is possible to change them, or whether this contravenes any regulations or whatnot, but if they opened onto the landing, rather than into the rooms, you would be able to use the space behind them. Ditto the downstairs rooms into the hall.

Remember that you have an under stairs area and an attic for storage so if space happens to be tight in the bedrooms, you may have to be ruthless about putting away things that are seasonal only, keeping things like Christmas decorations that are used from year to year at a minimum (maybe embrace natural materials instead eg holly, twigs etc) and buy a decent sized shed.

Hmm, I actually think the bedrooms are fine, but for four bedrooms it isn't an awful lot of living space. That said I think new builds are smaller but because they don't have all the alcoves and fireplaces older properties have they feel bigger because there is more choice where to put furniture. Our living room (2 bed terrace) is 4m x3.6m but because of the shape and fire place only 3.5 x3 m actual space for furniture.

The only thing ‘wrong’ with that house is the master bedroom is tight, however we all have to make compromises on a house in the main, you just have to decide if that compromise is worth it, I like the layout of your house, your living room is long, in my first house it measured 22 x 11 it was a lounge diner and never felt cramped and yours is just a living room!, kitchen, room for a dining table so all good there, to make your utility feel bigger get the builder to have the back door opening outwards into the garden, honestly it makes a massive difference, have just done this with mine and now I have an area where I can hang up coats etc as I don’t have a door blocking the wall when I come in from walking the dog, it’s brilliant!, can’t believe how a small change has made life so much easier! You said yourself you were not worried about a big bedroom so that’s where your compromise is I think, the rest of the house looks great and anyway further down the line could you build over the garage for another bedroom or extend the one you have? Look at what the house could be long term. Enjoy your lovely new house!

Big sigh of relief, we are buying from a small developer and I just phoned them up. They were so so lovely. They said they can easily switch out the en-suite for a walk in wardrobe, and they'll email us over details and also give us a price for built in storage as well. I asked about all the finishing touches costs like with other companies and she said they don't do anything like that as everything is included, only things like built in storage etc need to be requested. She said the most important thing is the house works for us and they'll work with us to make it what we need. The build quality is grades above what I see with other new builds. The one we viewed felt like an old sturdy house but looked like a new build. I'm really hoping we can make this work.

@ZaraCarmichaelshighheels

The only thing ‘wrong’ with that house is the master bedroom is tight, however we all have to make compromises on a house in the main, you just have to decide if that compromise is worth it, I like the layout of your house, your living room is long, in my first house it measured 22 x 11 it was a lounge diner and never felt cramped and yours is just a living room!, kitchen, room for a dining table so all good there, to make your utility feel bigger get the builder to have the back door opening outwards into the garden, honestly it makes a massive difference, have just done this with mine and now I have an area where I can hang up coats etc as I don’t have a door blocking the wall when I come in from walking the dog, it’s brilliant!, can’t believe how a small change has made life so much easier! You said yourself you were not worried about a big bedroom so that’s where your compromise is I think, the rest of the house looks great and anyway further down the line could you build over the garage for another bedroom or extend the one you have? Look at what the house could be long term. Enjoy your lovely new house!

Thank you! Great idea about the utility, we will request that.

Your house looks fine to me, and its detached! 😍
I live in a 'normal' house, my rooms are smaller then your rooms. Your living room is the size of my living/dining room. I dont have a utility room, or an en suite. We all live comfortably in the house.
My son is in the box room (1950s house) so the smallest room. We have turned his door so it opens outwards into the hall and this has given him so much more space. We also turned the bathroom door to open out.
A family makes a house a home ❤

I think turning the en suite into a walk in wardrobe is a great idea and will make all the difference. I think it will also add value. Many folks would much prefer a walk in wardrobe rather than an en suite.

Honestly I think you should be excited about your new home.

I also think you can make this into a great home for your family with some careful planning at this stage, so that you can work with your house builder as it’s being built. It just needs more storage and a carefully considered layout!

The wardrobe instead of the en-suite will make a huge difference. You have the depth in the room (1 metre) to make 2 wardrobes - one in master and one in bedroom 4, split down the middle across the house. Sliding doors would be best. This would mean you wouldn’t need built in wardrobes in beds 2 & 3 which are a good size and flexible as they are.

I would definitely do the drawings on paper. Measure out the rooms and some of your furniture and have a play around with layouts. You should find out if you’ll have enough space for the stuff you have and/or really need.

Then I would take some time to really think about where the radiators are going - builders often just whack them on a nice useful long wall. They are much better in “wasted” spaces, such as behind doors or under windows. You’re early enough in the build to ask them to be in particular places.

You have rooms downstairs which will be great as they’re double aspect. Rectangular rooms can feel like corridors though, so think about how you’ll “square” off the space with furniture to make it friendlier, particularly the lounge.

Hopefully you can feel positive again about this move with some careful planning now.

...and, I would also ask for the door from kitchen into utility to be re-hung to open into the utility, rather than the kitchen. With this being route to garden and with kids likely running in and out, if it opens into kitchen it will be super annoying! Looks like you’d end up getting bumped from behind with the door while working in the kitchen.

I’m sure lots of other folk will have ideas about how to make the space work better too - the point is you’re lucky to be able to do these things now, as it’s being built, rather than change later.

There is also other things you can do, for example you don’t need to actually have a utility you can just ask them to make that part of the kitchen. Making your kitchen visibly much bigger.