To extend or not to extend - that is the question

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We have moved into a beautiful home - absolutely our forever home. It’s three beds (all good sized)

We had planned to extend up on an existing kitchen extension to get a forth spare bedroom.

Initial drawings have come back and it seems that to do this we will have to compromise on bedroom sizes overall.

We have a good sized downstairs and could probably create a spare bedroom and shower room off the dining end of the kitchen.

This would probably be considerably cheaper but would mean a downstairs bedroom and we would need to compromise on the size of a planned utility room.

Being cheaper it would mean to undertake all the other things we need to do such as sorting the garden.

Would be really interested in peoples views? Just worried that we will regret a downstairs bedroom, I suppose as it’s not conventional

What is the purpose of the room?

Regular use by someone who lives in the house? Frequent visits by non-resident dc? Regular visiting family members eg parents, siblings? Infrequent friends? Study? TV room for teens?

I think for all but the first purpose a downstairs bedroom makes sense BUT may be harder to sell on as a 4 bed property iyswim. But how much that matters depends upon how long you think you’ll live there.

If it's definitely your forever home, absolutely go for the downstairs option. Guests certainly won't mind staying downstairs and you'll get all the other things done that will improve the property and make it even lovelier for you all. What it will sell for is less important.

We will be here for 20 years plus I hope! The room will be used by friends / family - I would say probably once a month on average.

We are lucky that we already have a study, so we could stage this room as a spare bedroom / den style room as the DCs get older.

To get the forth bed upstairs and have good sized rooms we would need to extend out further on the ground floor and then go up.

Essentially that’s 100K plus for a 4th bedroom. Seeing as we don’t need it for us everyday that seems crazy. But I just want to understand what others would think

I’d go for the downstairs bedroom. It gives guests some privacy/separation from everyone else.

I wouldn’t buy a house with a downstairs bedroom, but if there was an extra downstairs room that could be a study or playroom then I would be keen - it all comes down to how you’d present it when you sell!

If it’s your forever home, then do what works for you. If it’s just a spare room, why not create a downstairs playroom/office which has a good quality sofa bed. Multi use rooms as so much better than a spare room no one uses!

As its not an everyday room I think that's fine. Good for guests not to feel on top of you, as long as there's a loo nearby.

In terms of resell if you are there for the long term then no dramas. Some will see it as a selling point for a playroom /office/granny flat type thing but others with a young family needing all the bedrooms would probably be put off.

Will your garden still be a decent size after the extension?

I’d definitely go for a house with a downstairs bedroom, as long as the addition of it didn't compromise the existing layout such as blocking light from other rooms.
I viewed a house with 3 upstairs bedrooms and one downstairs once, being a family with two children it was quite exciting thinking that we could use the upstairs rooms for sleeping and have the downstairs bedroom as a flexible space such as a playroom whilst the children were young - it was a really versatile space and I think most viewers would feel the same. Unfortunately it got snapped up by someone else before we could buy it.
Also without to be too gloomy, for older buyers it is nice to have the option of a downstairs bed and bathroom to future proof the house - somewhere to sleep if for example you are recovering from an illness or operation which make it more difficult to go upstairs.

Thank you all, these are really helpful replies.

@Definitelysometime you struck a chord with me, in that we have dreamt about this move for years - there is so much we love about this house. So having the money to make it perfect for us as a family seems so much more sensible than spending loads to create a room with occasional use.

Just need to think about how we create a inviting room that will be a lovely space to stay in for guests.

Need a floor plan

If it's your forever house, do what works for you. My concern would be that most people would view it as a 3 bed house with a playroom / snug etc, so you wouldn't get that step up in terms of value that a 4th (upstairs) bedroom would give you. If re-sale value isn't really a concern as you're staying put for the long term, do what suits your family.

We are absolutely staying here long term.

Here is a floor plan of the ground floor. Hoping to make a utility and also this spare bedroom out of the space in the circle

I would usually say that downstairs bedrooms are rubbish, not really bedrooms, but as more people work from home an extra downstairs room is a bonus! Especially if it is large enough for a decent sized bed, it can be used as living space or as a bedroom.

Considering you are staying long term, do what works for you. It's not to be sniffed at to have the money left to do up the garden etc. as you'll enjoy having those aspects done.

We have 3 bedrooms downstairs and one upstairs 🙂 nothing wrong with downstairs bedrooms.

Looking at the floor plan I’m a bit confused.

How will the rooms link together?

I don't think that room's location lends itself to a bedroom. You'd have to walk through at least 2 other rooms to get to the loo.

What about putting the bedroom where the existing kitchen is and put the kitchen/utility where the circle is?

Did you get drawings from an architect? Did they not come up with a number of options to meet your brief?

As it's for infrequent use, I would put a REALLY good sofabed in the downstairs room. We have one from Willow and Hall, and it is perfectly fine for visitors (or we'd happily swap and sleep on it ourselves).

That way you can have the room as a snug/library/home office when it's not being used as a bedroom.

Thanks all.

drawings have only been for the proposed extension to get a 4th bedroom upstairs.

Never thought about swapping the kitchen with that room - that could work well, although that would been other than that room the only access to the kitchen is through the sitting room - I really like how the house flows from the front door now.

It is far from the downstairs loo - but we are talking about a guest room rather than a bedroom for someone to use all the time.

I’m hoping we can work through a solution for accessing the rooms, clearly going to need to move the wall between the family room and study somehow