En suite or study/box room?

[Sofapotatoo]

Hi
We’re looking at plans to extend our 3 bed. At the moment we have a toilet downstairs and a small family bathroom upstairs.
The architect has drawn a plan for a bigger family bathroom (with no external wall so would need a skylight) and changed our existing bathroom to an en-suite which would join on to our bedroom.
We’re wondering if we need 2 bathrooms (so 3 loos in total) or if we’d get more use out of a study/box room? So extend the current bathroom and use the proposed new bathroom as a study instead?
I’m trying to think about the future. At the moment our kids are young but when they’re teens will we want a bathroom to ourselves? It will be tiny so not my ultimate private dream bathroom!
Or would it be better to have a room that can be used as a spare room/ study/somewhere to work/practise music /whatever the kids are into??

Depends on your area, but over here a small 4 bed house (and it would become a 4 bed if you use the room for anything else) with only one bathroom never sells.

I’m in the south east. That’s interesting.
I know it’s important to think about resell value but I’m thinking when it comes to it the space will still be there we could possibly convert the space to a bathroom then if needed.
But that it a helpful thing to consider.
I’m trying to work out which option would be most beneficial to us as we’ll hopefully be here long term so needs to work around our needs now and in the future.

If you think a study would be more useful, now, do that but have the builders run pipework so that the room can easily be converted if you need to do that.

Thinking about it, it’s a pretty sought after road so not sure we’d have issues selling in the future.
Do people expect 2 bathrooms for 4 bedrooms? Even with a downstairs toilet too?

@Sofapotatoo

Thinking about it, it’s a pretty sought after road so not sure we’d have issues selling in the future. Do people expect 2 bathrooms for 4 bedrooms? Even with a downstairs toilet too?

What do the 4 beds on your streets have? You’d be competing with that even if no other properties come on the market.

I disagree it wouldn't sell. If there is the potential to create another bathroom then most people will be able to see that. You need to do what works for you and not worry about resale at present. You could always add the bathroom yourself in a few years if you wanted to.

We're looking to add another loft bedroom to our house (so six bedrooms altogether) and we decided not to have an ensuite but to just keep one bathroom on each floor, so retaining the two we already have. We don't need a bazillion toilets and I've got better things to do than clean them! If someone wants to add an ensuite when we sell then there's the potential to, but I prefer the bedroom space at the moment.

You say you have a tiny bathroom at the moment. When the kids become teens you will need appreciate having another bathroom. The small bathroom you have now would make a reasonable en suite. I do think people are starting to expect 2 bathrooms as standard in 4 beds. New builds often have an en suite with 3 bedrooms.

If you would prefer to have the 4th bed/study room another alternative might be to extend the downstairs loo into a shower room. You have the plumbing in place because of the downstairs loo. If that was possible you could have both.

I like having an ensuite bathroom because I'm lazy its handy for a last minute wee before bed, or brushing teeth, and our family bathroom is very small, but a lot of MN are appalled at the idea of their DH doing a poo in the same town in close vicinity to their bedroom!

I’d never go back to not having an en-suite. In fact we moved last year from a 3 bed and looked at various 4 bedroom houses. We discounted any with no en-suite.

My teens love that they have their own bathroom and it saves a lot of hassle when everyone is getting ready in the morning.

Would then the study / boxroom need a skylight?

I think I'd rather have another bathroom

The study will become a repository for junk. Have another bathroom. There’s a reason houses are built with both a family bathroom and an en suite: people like them.