Need help making my home work better

[Boxhedgeflaterpillar]

Our home is 55sqm. Small, but we are happy here and like the area. I don't want to move mainly due to the expense. The problem then is a lack of space. It is a 2 bed house, one of which is really a single. We are 2 adults and 2 DC. DD7, DS4. There is room at the back for an extension, but I don't want to take on an extra mortgage with the worry over the cost of living looming. Do we (CAN we!) do something clever with the layout and keep our sanity and find some peace in a house with growing DC? Do the adults sleep downstairs? Will that drive us crazy? Should I spilt the main bedroom into 2 with a stud wall? Both rooms would have a window. Could DH and I sleep in the single room? There is just space for a double bed if we take off the door and replace it with a folding door. Can I buy a cheap caravan and stick it in the garden as an escape room? Maybe the last idea is a step too far. Maybe.

Would appreciate hearing your ideas and if anyone has had a similar dilemma. We have 26sqm approx upstairs to play with. I'll try and upload a floor plan..

[VerveClique]

Honestly, I think that spending a couple of grand getting your storage really sorted (and I'm not talking about a few plastic containers here - I mean really good loft space although not a conversion, good shed space but not an outdoor room as such) will get you a long way without having to make massive decisions about the structure of the house.

Your DC will be fine sharing for a while. Ours shared until DD was 9 and DS was 6. They loved it.

Decide then what to do - you might be in a different position altogether.

[Calmdown14]

I wouldn't do anything too drastic.

Is your bathroom fairly new or in need of an upgrade? If the latter, I'd consider whether you could switch it to a shower room and steal a bit to give the smaller room a run of fairly shallow wardrobes on that side (if it's a load bearing wall though then not possible).

Otherwise consider whether switching the way doors open would help to get more furniture into the smaller bedroom to use as yours. It could open outwards or get a folding one. IKEA do narrow pax wardrobes so you might get these along the wall next to the main bedroom. Buy some huge plastic storage boxes for the loft and once a year swap summer and winter clothes, coats, shoes etc to minimise room storage.

I'd split the big room with a room divider that doubles as storage. Something like IKEA kallax securely attached so it can't fall. Loads of images on Google.
Decorate each side a little differently to divide the space further. Give each child a wardrobe each from the built in cupboards and put drawers or wire baskets inside them.
Choose their beds carefully to maximize what you can get under them etc. You may want the size above toddler but not a full size single

[Thissucksmonkeynuts]

How attached to all your 'stuff' are you? Could you have the loft boarded and have a good pull down ladder, massively de clutter and use the loft for less frequently needed items? Then divide the 2 windowed room into 2 for your dc?
My house was a 2 bed with a 2 windowed bedroom, I'd imagined dividing the room into w for my dc and opening both rooms into the loft to create mezzanine. Bit of a fantasy, I'd been watching too many George Clarke programmes. In the end we have extended, the cost has been eye watering, but we love where we are and can't afford to move.

[parietal]

I saw a TV-renovation program where a family with 5 kids and a tiny house opened up the attic & had loft-beds for the kids above one of the other rooms. The kids loved it & it gave them a lot more space. Like having a mezzanine. If that is possible, it might work.

but 55sqm is tiny for 4 people, so you might do better to save as much as possible for 3 years and then aim to move.

[Boxhedgeflaterpillar]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. Replacing internal doors with folding or sliding ones makes good sense. It will give us more easily accessible storage nooks and space.

I now think that very small houses should be built with folding internal doors and extra large windows AS STANDARD! Light and storage space is so important.

The loft and shed storage ideas are great and we can get working on those now. A calmer, decluttered home should give us a little breathing space for a year or two while we save and plan.

Also, I saw some room divider panels at B and Q, which I might be able to install myself in the main bedroom. I'm loathe to move DD out of her bedroom, she is SO proud of her space. DS might think it cool to have them up between his and our area and he can cover them with dinosaur pictures.

[ellerman]

I've come to say about the George Clarke programme that did the opening up of the loft from the small bedroom to create a sleeping space, accessed by a ladder, then the bedroom floor space was for toys or another bed. It's worth watching that episode.

[User7493268965]

As PPs said I would get your loft properly boarded and get some good storage sorted up up there, put a decent loft ladder on it and you could store loads up there, after you have done this reassess with the bedrooms as you will know how much needs to fit in them