Master bedroom with en suite or extra bedroom: please help us choose

[Claraa2018]

Hello! We are starting a renovation project including turning the loft into a bedroom and are deciding between a few choices for the bedrooms. The space for bedrooms is restricted and we are trying to determine the best use of space.

These are:

1. A four bedroom house with our en suite master bedroom in the loft. The master bedroom will be small with sloped walls and a skylight and tricky wardrobe space. We would have our own bathroom/shower (also with a skylight).
2. A three bedroom house with a first floor master bedroom and en suite. We use the loft and en suite bathroom as a guest room.
3. A four bedroom house where we don't have an en suite. We use the loft and en suite bathroom as a guest room.
4. A three bedroom house where our master bedroom on the first floor is connected to the loft by stairs through our bedroom (this is where the stairs currently are). The loft then becomes a walk in wardrobe and en suite for the master bedroom.

For options 2 -4, the first floor bedrooms have nice windows and views and we'd be closer to our DDs (ages 1 and 3).

For option 1, we don't know if this is a nice option (the lofts has exposed beams and character) or a compromise (we've never slept in a bedroom like this).

Is option 4 strange? I have never seen anyone do this?

Other factors:

I do like spending a lot of time in our bedroom with the children and I think with this option we would mainly use the bedroom to sleep. I am sad and feel a bit awkward about being farther away from the children. On the other hand, they will get older and a bedroom on the second floor may help us get better sleep and it could be nice to have our own space?

My family lives overseas and would like guest accommodation though we also have a fold out sofa downstairs.

If we don't have an en suite we'd have one family bathroom to share with DDs but could still use the shower in the loft.

I guess we'd like to hear which layout is best. Are en suites beneficial? Has anyone slept in a small loft master bedroom?

We hope that this is our permanent home so we are thinking about our needs for now though it is good to think about resale value as well. We have lived here 3 years and the house currently has 2 double bedrooms, a box single bedroom and a very small office.

I hope that makes sense. Sorry for the very long post - it is our first renovation and the house is quite tricky with lots of sloping walls and smaller rooms in the upstairs (the downstairs is a bit bigger as the house had a previous extension). Thank you very much for any thoughts.

You don’t mention how many people will be living there, but my preference would be for option 2.

Really confusing post. You say 'three bed' but talk about four. You say 'no en-suite' then talk about guest room having an en-suite

Assuming that your loft will give you a fourth bedroom, and that the reference to a three bed is a typo, does option 2 give you two en-suites? Or just one on the first floor? If it gives you two then that's a no brainier surely?

Option 4 in bonkers!

As you have little ones right now regardless of what you do I'd stay on the first floor, with or without an en-suite, then move to the loft as long as it has an en-suite once they're a few years older.

Option 2 or 1

Option 4 is odd - and impractical. Will you actually use it in that configuration?

If you are going to expense and hassle of converting loft you need a shower room up there as well.

option 1

If I've understood correctly, I would choose Option 3 because I don't like ensuites for myself but do like them for guests, and I'd prefer the extra room for an office. But many people would probably choose Option 2. Option 4 is bonkers, and Option 1 would be unappealing to me with the small bedroom.

The way you describe it is very confusing, how can you have no ensuite but also have one in the loft? Do you mean, no ensuite for the master but the guest room in the loft would have one?

I think a four bed with a main bathroom and possibly an ensuite (for master or guest) sounds great. A three or four bed with a main bathroom and two ensuites is ridiculous.

Don't do 4. Stairs in a bedroom just limits how others can configure the space.

I'm not sure on the difference between 1 and 3 other than what you designate the master. Can you explain further?

Sorry Titchy. We are all recovering from a bad bug and I'm a bit sleep deprived. DH and I I thought this post was clear but clearly it wasn't.:) Useful to hear others think option 4 is bad. We thought we had an innovative idea with that one but maybe not. To be clear we currently have two double bedrooms and a tiny box single we use as a guest room (which my very tall father doesn't even fit into when he visits). By renovating the loft and losing my study/ joining it with a bathroom, we can create four better sized bedrooms. Unless we take the loft we either give up a bedroom or having en suite. Titchy, option 2 gives us 2 en suites but only three bedrooms (one of which is the loft). I think this means a child can't use it until older and we won't have a guestroom once a child uses it.

@ChristmasCakeAndStilton the only difference between 1 and 3 is who uses the loft en suite bedroom. For option 1 we use it as our master and for option 3 we give it to guests. Thank you and sorry for the confusion. I do have floor plans if they help.:)

Floor plans please!

Unless our family increases there will be four people (two parents and two children). We do have guests so that is a consideration and I work at home a lot. I like option 2 but I am worried that three bathrooms (a family bathroom, an en suite for the master and en suite for the guest loft bedroom) is a bit much for three bedrooms? But I also can see how an en suite makes our lives easier and adds to resale value.

Option 4 is strange and even if it did end up working ok for you, it might put potential buyers off in future.
So I would personally take that option off the list as I wouldn’t want to do anything that would affect the value of my property.

In that case no to option 2. It's too imbalanced and won't give you guest (or study?) options. As I said I'd go for option 3 for the time being, then switch to option 1 once your dcs are a bit older. Your guests will also be older by then and might appreciate only having one lot of stairs to climb to bed!

Option 2. The master bedroom in our old house was large but with sloping ceilings which really limited the options for how the furniture could be arranged. And there was limited wardrobe space( although you can get round this with built in wardrobes) . I hated it , and it was 1 of the reasons we eventually moved to new build with a huge master bedroom and plenty of storage .
only problem is your dc might fight over who gets the loft space when they are older

I’d build a bedroom with en-suite shower in the loft, with proper stairs not in your room. No en-suite on your first floor. sorry can’t remember which option that is! I think that gives you most flexible options.

your kids are small now, but they won’t be forever. Keep your current bedroom for now and make the loft a guest room/study. Then maybe once your kids are older, either you can move up there or one of the kids can. We moved when my DC were 6 and 4 and eldest is now on a different floor and it’s not an issue. He’s v rarely awake in night and is capable of shouting/finding us if he does need us.

I'd go with the loft as a guest room. Wardrobe space is less of an issue for guests.

4 beds, 2 baths. No ensuites if possible. If space is an issue, why tie a whole bathroom/shower to a guest room ? It makes more sense to have 2 bathrooms that all bedrooms can use.

And 4 beds gives you the option of keeping a home office.

Unless you have guests over every month or so, excluding a whole room from day to day usage by the people who live there is madness unless you have the space to spare

3 for me.

I disagree. I like option 4. My inlaws have this arrangement and it works well. When we have big family gatherings my daughters sleep in the dressing room. Equally could you put your office in the loft

Here are floor plans we planned on carrying out - this would be four good sized bedrooms, a family bathroom on floor 1 and a bathroom with a shower in the loft. This corresponds to Option 3 on the list - we have four bedrooms overall, a first floor bedroom with no en suite, a combined guest room/study in the loft and a family bathroom we all use on the first floor/ additional shower room in the loft. The only downside with this plan is that we don't have an en suite (I think this matters for resale?) and none of the bedrooms have much wardrobe space. If we aim for a three bedroom we could have a bit more wardrobe space but I think a study/combined guest room is probably more important as we both work at home a lot and I think we can put more space for clothing in the main bedroom through built in wardrobes. I also am attaching the current floor plan which is how we bought it (the one with measurements). I am realising how confusing this post is now (sorry DH and I have been thinking about this for so long we assume things are clearer than they are).:)

@AnnaCmass Interesting, thank you. The stairs to the loft are currently through a bedroom. To use the loft as a bedroom we'd have to move them to the corridor (as you can't have the entrance to a bedroom go through a bedroom for fire safety regulations). As moving the stairs is an expense, option 4 saves us money as it keeps them where they are. But it does not seem to be a common thing people do at all and I don't know if it would be nice for us or put off buyers in the future.

@Blistory we always planned for the guest room to double as a study. DH and I both work at home a lot so this is part of the attraction of 4 bedrooms.

There was a post about this not so long ago. Overwhelmingly it is agreed that a separate room is best.

I'd go for 4 beds with the loft being a guest bedroom/study and en-suite.

I would go for option 1 or 3 so you end up with 4 bedrooms. The use of the attic room may well change over time. It may start as a guest suite/ study area and end up one of the children’s rooms as they get older. It will be good to have an extra room that has flexible uses.