Really small 3rd bedroom for 2

[Lotsofsunshine]

Purchasing a house and not far off completion.

Like many places hardly anything was coming on the market and what did was going on day 1 for over asking. Just got divorced and have a lump sum to buy- currently renting so need to buy as the longer I rent the less my money will buy.

Saw this 3 bedroomed house - ideally wanted a 4 bedroomed but just nothing about or more than I want to stretch to.

Love the house - lots of potential and planning permission for changes to conservatory to allow foe 3 big bedrooms.

But the smallest room is very small - 1.8m x 2.90. Plus it has the boiler in there in a little cupboard so even less room. I can move the boiler to the garage (will cost £2.5k) but not sure whether to do that if I may be doing an extension in the next few years as it may then need to be moved again. But that may be fairly straightforward to move it slightly at some point? I can't commit to the extension immediately as need to go back to work.

I was going to put my 6 year old twins in the smallest room in bunkbeds but just not sure it would work without moving the boiler. And even then very very small.

I did wonder about taking 40cm or so from the biggest room next door by moving the partition wall. I know it is meant to be messy but thought that could make a difference.

Does anyone have a similar size room with bunkbeds? I could afford custom made bunkbeds and to spend a bit of money trying to make the most of the space. Or has anyone slightly moved a partition wall? Is it loads of hassle for the sake of 40cm ?

You have 5.22 Square metres there.
My dc currently share 6.43 square metres (2.4x2.68) so not much more). They are 8+11yo, it was a stop gap which is nearly 4 years in and one more year to go, so started when they were 5+7. It has been prefectly successful though we'll be glad when it changes) .
They have their bunk beds, clothes rail and small book case in there. Room under the clothes rail for 3 toy boxes. Room under the bed for two good drawers.

Our bunk beds are standard size (bought from Very) and are1.98 long so you could get that in yours along the long side. So you could put clothes rail along the other.

Moving the wall isn't a major project if its only a stud, but not small either. You rip out the wall. Install it further along assuming there is something solid to fix to where you want it. Then you have to make good the wall +celling plaster and the floor coverings on both sides of the new wall. Complications might be wiring runs along where light switches are in relation to existing /new wall.
Then you'd want to decorate both rooms.
Whether it would gain you much to make or worth it I don't know, maybe you should sketch it out to decide what you would gain.
But sharing the tiny room is do-able in the short term I think

We once had a 3 bed where the 3rd bedroom wss tiny. We converted it, just under half of it as a stairway into loft, the remainder into an ensure. Then converted the loft.
Middle floor had family bathroom, 2 large bedrooms, 1 being en suite.
The loft room wss huge and by far the best room.
Git mates rates, cost us £20k, but increased house value by more and gave us so much room

If you could get shorty bunk beds along one of the 1.8m walls (depending on where the door / window is), something like this shorty bunk beds it will make it feel much more spacious.

How tall are your twins? Our 6 yo twins share the box room, off the top of my head I think it's 2.2 x 2.8m. Our twins are pretty small so are shorty junior beds atm. Have bought them shorty bunks but they're happy as they are atm.

Our boiler was also in that room, such a stupid place!! made the room utterly useless. ours now lives in a spare linen cupboard, like you would expect

Is there a floor plan? Is there a linen cupboard in the hallway (common outside a box room) that you could maybe link into to give wardrobe/ toy space?
Is there any way to improve how the door opens to give more useable space?
Would offset bunk beds going round the corner work better?
Personally I'd want the boiler moved

Thanks for all the comments - shorty bunkbeds are certainly an option as they are only 5.

Attached is the floor plan. I think I do need to move the boiler. There is also a cupboard upstairs which I could use for extra storage for that room.

I would move the boiler and the cupboard it's in straightaway, it will really open up the room.
I wouldn't move the wall, it will make bedroom 1 really narrow.

Is there a reason the twins can’t have one of the bigger rooms? That seems the obvious solution.

No point doing major changes if you are going to build in the near future. Make do for now.

Who is sharing the second bedroom? Are you trying to accommodate four children? Definitely move the boiler. What if it leaked fumes? Plus they can be noisy things.

I would also move the boiler, the other bedrooms aren't that big.

I wouldn’t move the wall, it’s not worth the hassle. Moving boiler sounds like a better idea, but I’d only do that if we absolutely couldn’t manage otherwise - £2.5k when you’re planning to extend in a few years seems silly- just save it and have the extension sooner (if you can!).

My eldest who is 11 is going to have one of the other rooms. He spends more time in his room whereas the twins don't plus he needs a desk etc.

He is in the smallest room now and really struggles and this bedroom 3 is even smaller than his current room.

Obvious solution is that you have the smallest room - sorry!

You would fit a regular double bed in that room with no much room to spare, or you could get a small double. Think about clothes storage elsewhere - can you have a wardrobe on the landing? - and clever space-saving stuff like a bed with storage underneath, wall hung bedside table, etc.

In fact, looking again, I think I’d create a sort of walk-in storage area in the twins large bedroom with a huge IKEA Kallax to partition off a corridor by the built-in cupboard. Should give them room for bunk beds or normal beds, your DS1 a bigger bedroom and you get the smallest room but with storage in the twins room.

I think I’d be tempted to take the small room myself, as a double bed would fit, with a shelf along the wall with B1 as a ‘dressing table’.

We used to have a house with a 3rd bedroom smaller than that (7'10 by 5'8 wide). We used it as a study but our next door neighbours, whose house was identical, had bunk beds in it.

As the twins are only 5, I'd leave things as they are and then do the extension when you can afford to.

Ah see why you are struggling. Wouldn’t take from the other bedroom as it isn’t wide enough.
I would rehang the door so it opens against the wall and knock out the cupboard. Would that give enough width for bunk beds across the right hand wall looking at floor plan? Otherwise they will compromise the window. Shorty ones will be fine (longer than toddler but not full length).
Could a wardrobe go in the hallway the opposite side of the wall into the room?
Then just have low level drawers or Kallax type storage so it doesn’t dominate the rest of space

You have to take the small room and give them the bigger one.

I agree that you should consider having bedroom 3 and give the twins bedroom 1. In bedroom 3, you can put a double (with under bed storage for jumpers/jeans etc.) against a wall and have bedside table and chest of drawers. You could then use the built in wardrobe in bedroom 1 for your things. That way, you can do the extension whenever you have the time, inclination and finances and don’t have to rush as the twins are outgrowing their room. They will use their room more and more over the years and you can still read/ watch tv on your bed.

And choose your bunk carefully to get the most storage possible
www.wayfair.co.uk/children-nursery/pdp/isabelle-max-sasha-european-single-bunk-bed-with-drawers-and-shelves-anfl1257.html?piid=39039529

Put the twins in bed 2.
Put the 11 yr old in bed 3, with a mid or high sleeper.
My 12 yr old has a mid sleeper, pull out desk in it, chest of drawers under the other end.
Wardrobe on opposite wall.
Rejig once you've dont the extension. No point spending money for the sake of it.

Thanks for all the advice - has given me loads to think about!

This is a very similar layout to our house and the bulkhead of the stairs is in the little cupboard. Do you have that issue as that will limit what you can do if so.