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Original poster

Loft conversion - master suite or 2 rooms?

39 replies

JanuaryPinks · 08/01/2022 15:05

We have a 3 bedroom Victorian terrace, layout basically identical to this one I found on Pinterest. We have a DS and a DD, 3 and 1. In future when they’re older will probably need a (live in) au pair.

At the moment we are in the master bedroom at the front, kids share middle bedroom, spare room at the back. We are planning a loft conversion.

I’d prefer to stay in the master bedroom. When they’re older one of them can move into the back room so they have their own room, and the loft can be 2 rooms: one office/spare room and one for guests/au pair, with separate bathroom up there. I think it’s nice to be on the same floor as them and for visitors to be separate. Also the master bedroom is a lot bigger than bedroom 2 so I think it would be unfair for one child to have it.

DH on the other hand thinks we should do a master suite in the loft. Kids can share for now and the master can become a big playroom now, room for one of them later. Guests/au pair can have the back bedroom which is still fairly separate from other rooms. They’d all have to share a bathroom though.

Which is better for (a) family life and (b) house value? No plans to move any time soon but wouldn’t rule it out in future.

NB photo is from Pinterest - we haven’t done loft yet so it’s just ground and first floor in our house.

Loft conversion - master suite or 2 rooms?

OP posts:

Classicblunder · 08/01/2022 15:10

We have a very similar house and children of the same age. We plan to do as your DH suggests - we used to be on a different floor to our kids in our old house and it was absolutely fine.

My rationale is that when the kids are teens, it will be really nice to have our own bathroom and it seems silly to have a bathroom in the loft conversion for guests rather than for us. I also think it will be nice for us to have more separate space from them then - e.g. we may go to bed earlier than them!

MrsKDB · 08/01/2022 15:17

Ours is a slightly different layout - was four bed terrace, now five - we’ve created a master with dressing room / bathroom in the loft and I absolutely LOVE it. It’s so good to have space away from older children / teens and I love having my own bathroom. I personally don’t like small loft rooms, they feel crammed in. And although I liked being on the same floor as my children when they were under 11 now I really REALLY like my space away from them.

1winterblues · 08/01/2022 15:22

We also have a three bedroom Victorian terrace, but bathroom is at the front of the house next to master room.

We have 3 children so we converted the loft into 2 bedrooms and a shower room. They are not massive rooms but bigger than our small room, snd as kids get older they have less toys and need less space. I prefer being in the middle of the house so we can hear the children especially if they come down at night. Or when they have friends over they have privacy but we can hear them go down.

The spare room is used as an office which has been great for home-working

1winterblues · 08/01/2022 15:24

Sorry forgot to add, the downstairs space is quite big. We have two reception rooms and a large open plan kitchen/ dinning room with tv sofa area so the upstairs feels more balanced now and the house would suit a big family so o hope this will help in the future for selling

Covidclaire · 08/01/2022 15:30

I’d go for the two rooms plus bathroom. Otherwise you leave yourself with no spare room if you do get an au pair.

And when the kids are older you can stick them both up there if you want.

titchy · 08/01/2022 15:33

If you're not going to extend the ground floor then go for master suite in loft. The ground floor isn't big enough for a 5 bed house - it'll be very top heavy - as the floor plan of the one you linked to is - 5 beds but only one loo

titchy · 08/01/2022 15:35

And let au pair have the suite - it could be a really nice bed sitting space for them.

Original poster

JanuaryPinks · 08/01/2022 15:40

Thanks for replies. We are also planning to extend the ground floor into the side return to make a big kitchen diner. Our house (unlike the plan in the pic) also has a small utility room and downstairs loo between the kitchen and back reception (and in our house the two receptions are knocked through).

So I think the house will be able to take 5 beds when we’re finished with it!

OP posts:

Classicblunder · 08/01/2022 15:47

We were thinking of trying to see if we could get a master bedroom, bathroom and small study up in our loft so that our kids could have a bedroom each and the back bedroom would be the spare room. We may get an au pair in the future but I have to say that - sorry if this sounds mean - no way would I be interested in giving her the master suite!

1winterblues · 08/01/2022 15:47

That's what we did - extend the side return. It's made it into such a great family space most of the rest of the house is redundant

LakeShoreD · 08/01/2022 16:02

We have the same style of house. Our loft (currently in progress) will have 2 beds and 1 bath. We’ll stay in the current master at the front on the first floor, youngest in the room next to us, the back room on that floor we’re going to set up as a kids TV/playroom with sofa bed for guests. DD will have the bigger of the loft rooms and the other will be DH’s office which will also feature an adults only roof terrace to catch the last of the evening sun. There will also be a small shower room up there, not an ensuite so anyone can use it. We’re also doing the side return at the same time.

Callmejudith · 08/01/2022 16:14

We were a 2 up 2 down with a big bathroom where your third “back” bedroom is. We did two bedrooms in the loft and the bigger room has an en-suite. DS1 is in the big front bedroom, Ds2 is in smaller loft room and we are in loft big bedroom. The other room is a dumping ground/office/spare room.

Next year DS2 will move to the spare room and his room will become an office so we’ll have the whole loft space which I am really excited about. Agree with PP that when the kids are older it’s lovely to be away from them

It seems silly to me to have a lovely loft room for guests and au pair

roses2 · 08/01/2022 16:16

My house is identical to this. You can get a separate bathroom on the rear loft, not ensuite. This means it's accessibly to the whole family if needed and makes the loft master suite bright, big and beautiful! It was an extra £3k compared to ensuring at the time we built. Hopefully this photo shows the design clearly

cityloftslondon.com/wp-content/uploads/DSC_6193-1080x675.jpg

We also got a side return and a toilet under the stairs 10 years after after loft. Worth every penny!

Houseplantmad · 08/01/2022 16:33

We have our bedroom and a bathroom in the loft. Our DCs are 18 and 20 now and when they're home I am glad to not hear them crashing in at 2am. I'm also glad to have a separate bathroom from teenagers.

Original poster

JanuaryPinks · 09/01/2022 17:07

Thanks for the replies so far…majority are saying we should take the loft for ourselves which has definitely given me food for thought. Tricky while the kids are still so young though…I don’t really like the thought of being on different floors now. I wonder if the way forward is to make 2 rooms in the loft for now with the possibility of converting them into 1 when kids are older. Has anyone done/considered this?

OP posts:

Chloemol · 09/01/2022 17:14

I would do as you want, loft into two rooms plus a shower room if you can

Who knows where we will be with wfh and a room at the top of the house is out of everyone’s way. Then also a room for the au pair

If you do it as one room where would guests stay if you have an au pair or use the room in the middle as a large play room?

DragonMovie · 09/01/2022 17:27

I think a nice big suite at the top of the house is more attractive to most people but they would be easy to knock through as the walls won’t be supporting anything, so just do as you please.

Make sure you think about insulation/air con/heating. The beautiful loft conversion in my last house was icy in winter and boiling when it got past 24 degrees, so it was always just a spare room.

WelshRain · 09/01/2022 17:35

I think get an architect to talk you through the practicalities of both plans. You may find with fire/ building regs etc that some of the space can't be used and won't support 2 rooms of reasonable size so a master would be better.

Or it may be fine.

We had hoped for a loft conversion but due to our style of house it would have involved taking the whole roof off and raising it to make a decent space.

Original poster

JanuaryPinks · 09/01/2022 19:22

Thank you - really good tip on the air con - the upstairs of our house is sweltering in summer as it is so think it will really be needed.

Neighbours with the same houses (actually smaller as ours is end of terrace and a couple of m wider) have mostly gone for one room up there but some have two plus shower room and it’s fine. The layout means you get one good sized bedroom and one smaller room that would be fine for an office.

OP posts:

Classicblunder · 10/01/2022 13:04

@JanuaryPinks

Why not make two rooms in the loft and use one as your bedroom and one as a study or dressing room or whatever?

What's your concern about being on a different floor? We did it for a while with a toddler and baby and it was fine, though we did use a monitor for longer than is the norm

Original poster

JanuaryPinks · 10/01/2022 13:20

My 3 year old often comes into our room in the middle of the night asking for us to come and tuck him in, or just checking we are there. I don’t like the thought of them maybe needing us in the night and not being able to get to us easily. There’s a chance we wouldn’t hear them on a monitor I suppose. Maybe in even a few years it would be different though - planning to start work next year.

OP posts:

Classicblunder · 10/01/2022 13:42

@JanuaryPinks

All children are different but for what it's worth, my son was almost 3 when we moved house and in the previous house we were on a different floor, he was very quick to realise that if he needed us, he should talk to the baby monitor. We are currently on the same level as both kids and to be honest could probably hear them better in the previous house with the monitor than we can in the room next door now - we recently went back to using a monitor for our younger one.

Wilkolampshade · 10/01/2022 15:48

We've just done the two rooms and bathroom in the middle version on an almost identical house. We have young adult children, one recently returned from uni and one student.
I think you definitely get a more glamorous space with just a big master bed up there, but we wanted 5 clear decent size beds as the kids look like they'll be here a while yet....

WombatChocolate · 10/01/2022 16:15

By the time you do this work, your little kids will be bigger. That phase where you strongly feel you need to be on the same floor as them really is very short and I think it would be a mistake to make decisions which will impact you for many years, based on that.

The 2 scenarios you mention will suit different set-ups.

A luxury suite with you in the loft will work well for a family as you are now without an au pair or many guests.

If you're thinking of an au pair, tucking them away and also giving them a bathroom (doesn't need to be luxury) is a really good idea and would make you a more attractive employer. They could have a small bedroom with an Ensuite in the loft, leaving you with another small room in the loft. They get some or act and so do the family away from them.

IF you go for 2 loft bedrooms, th non Ensuite bathroom is best. Both bedrooms can use it, as can anyone else in the hose if they really need to. Often, both bedrooms won't be occupied, so essentially the one bedroom ends up with a private bathroom, but for the odd times when the other room is occupied in some way, they have a bathroom too.

Most people choose a master suite in your position unless they have lots of kids and want each to have their own small bedroom. Most people in your situation with 2 kids put themselves in the loft.

I know a family with a similar layout, but the back bedroom on the 1st floor is a huge bathroom. This family have just 1 child. The parents have the big front bedroom and the child has the other decent sized bedroom on the main floor. Their huge loft room with Ensuite is their guest room/office. It's big enough for there to be a double bed for guests plus a permanant office, and benefits from being just one room. The office has plenty of space and on the odd occasion guests come, the office areas is simply tidied and it's a great bedroom. The Ensuite is used during the day by the home worker based in the office. What's nice is that the office and work is separate from home and bedroom area, so allows better switching between 'home' and 'work'. As this family are just 3 and have a huge family bathroom, they don't feel the need for the suite for themselves so just use the family bathroom. The Ensuite then allows visitors privacy when staying and also keeps the family bathroom free from their guests. It works for them, but with 2 kids, it would make sense for the parents to be in the loft I think.

MrsKDB · 10/01/2022 16:41

they are 3 for such a short time though. do you want to be sleeping that close to your 13 year old? I promise that you will value the space and distance!

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