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 ?

Moving the wall and having the door open out will help, but ultimately you are just buying a bed's length of storage space for chests of drawers, and a few toys if you're lucky. It'll never be somewhere they can play. I can see why you want to give your son the bigger room but I think that within 3 years,the twins will struggle more in the boxroom than he does. I think that boxroom can work for one child, with good planning and investing in built in shelves etc. 11 year old into the boxroom with the wall moved sounds like the best option to me.

The biggest thing that can help is finding a way to make a play/gaming/social space somewhere else in the house, so whoever has the boxroom has somewhere else to go. Eg could you carve out a bit in a dining area, or add a cheap conservatory and suck up the heating costs to make it useable?

We have decided desks in bedrooms just don't work. Giving up on them entirely has improved the functionality of the kids' rooms no end. Children work at the dining table or on lapdesks on their beds.

I'd move the boiler.

They can also disturb your sleep and be pretty noisy.

Looking at the plan, I would describe bedroom 3 as a study not a bedroom. I really don’t think it’s fair to put 2 children in there.

I know you’re going to extend one day anyway. I would move in myself in the short term ( and move the boiler to the garage ASAP) or move the 11 year old in with promises of a better bedroom than the twins after the extension has been built.