Would you rather a ground floor bedroom or an extra living room?

[hiccup88]

We have an extra room on the ground floor that can be used as an additional living room or a bedroom. (See the lower right corner of the attached photo). On the upper floor, we have 3 bedrooms (2 double and 1 single) and a master bathroom.

What would you prefer to use the space for if it was your house?

If I sold this house as a 4 bedroom (3 upstairs), would you consider it so?

A study with a sofabed that can be used as a guest bedroom.

If I wanted a 4 bed, I would want a room downstairs that I could shut off the kitchen. Therefore I wouldn't want that floorplan as a 4 bed, as there would only be one room downstairs.

If you can shuffle the downstairs shower to be right next to the bedroom reception room you might appeal to people wanting an annex type arrangement.

Ooh make it a proper laundry room with proper sorting clothes area, with slots and everything, but make it a workable shower room too. Maybe a toy storage area as well? So many opportunities for a room that size.

Market it as a 4 bed definitely for maximum price but I’d probably use it as a playroom, snug or office.

I'd use it as an extra lounge but have a sofa bed for occasional guests.

I always find this hilarious.

Mumsnet: I would never consider a downstairs bedroom a 4th bedroom. It makes me so angry when people market them that way! Such a waste of time.

Mumsnet: My mum really needs to move out of her house as the stairs are becoming unmanageable but there's nothing suitable nearby, all the bungalows have been snapped up.

@Stepbystep100 Today 15:53

I think if you are in process of planning this, I would make sure part of the utility room provides a decent ensuite shower room. Then you've got a downstairs bedroom arrangement that would suit some families perfectly.

Really agree with this. As long as you're doing the work you might as well create maximum flexibility

Would make a great spare/work/office/ in future teen bedroom!

But I wouldn't have an open plan kitchen/dining/living room... no where to hide! You'd all be on top of each other when trying to cook or watch tv .

Kids don't hide in their rooms until they at least 12/13

Extra living room for me, even if it were a playroom, a snug, or tv room; the thought of sleeping on the ground floor gives me the heebejeebes. That's just me though!

What is the seemingly dead space in the middle of the house? Do you need a door there into the boot room op if there is a door from the kitchen and also in the extra bedroom/reception room. Can you block it off and make a walk in closet/cupboard for the extra bedroom/reception room?

I would have that as a ‘formal’ ( adult) sitting room, where the mess of daily life doesn’t intrude. Especially as it has a working fireplace.

Personally , I like a kitchen dining room as long as it is big enough for a proper table and has some degree of separation from the kitchen. I can’t see the point of a long row of stools which back onto the dining table, why not just use the table?

I would prefer have the working area of the kitchen at the left side , so the dining area and the living area flow together , and you didn’t have to walk through the kitchen to get to the table. You could still have units along the back wall, just not the sink/ cooker.

It’s a great layout but that isn’t a bedroom. It would be great as a snug, playroom, office or teen den. I don’t think downstairs bedrooms ever really count, unless it’s actually a bungalow but even if you have a potential buyer wanting one for Grandma who can no longer do stairs she’s probably not going to want to walk through the living room and kitchen in her nighty to get to the loo. Adding an extra door gives flexibility so I’d def do that if that’s the way you’re thinking. But if I wanted a 4 bed for my 3 kids I wouldn’t consider it.

Playroom, I wouldn’t want a bedroom downstairs if the kitchen/dining room/sitting room was all open plan.

That small space in the middle is the understairs storage. It currently houses the fuse box and main power connection which I just realised was a pain to move! (bureaucracy with getting the work done via the energy network operator). I would've used the space for something else but I'm put off by having to move the power mains.

I think, with an otherwise totally open plan living/kitchen/diner, you might appreciate an extra (separate, quiet) living space - somewhere peaceful to retreat to. But there is no reason why that space shouldn't be fully flexible to be either a study or a bedroom when needed - space is expensive, so I am a big fan of wringing as much use out of it as possible.

You can get excellent folding wall desks (check out Pith and Stem) if home office space would be useful.

If a guest room would be more useful, then the obvious choice is a sofa bed. I'm not a huge fan of them, as I don't think they are especially comfortable in either form. The best ones are from Furl but even those are a bit hard as sofas for my liking, and by god they know how to charge for them!

My preference is for a wall bed, in a full width built in cabinet that also gives you storage at each side. Very practical, and much more comfortable.

I would definitely use the downstairs room as another living area , on cold winter nights I’d rather snuggle up in a smaller room that is going to stay warmer rather than the open plan area. Also as children grow and have friends round i would have been a bit lost without a room I could retreat to without feeling they were taking over every space when they were younger , or feeling that you were getting in their way when they are older . I know they can disappear to bedrooms , but I found that only happened half the time .

You could market as a 3/4 bed I guess , a friends home has two bedrooms upstairs and two down , but also has two separate living spaces , definitely a 4 bed house , just doesn’t follow the norm .

Personally I would love the huge utility room , wouldn’t be bothered by a shower downstairs , but would like the downstairs loo not to be minuscule.

Why do you have to do any of these changes yourself? Surely the joy of buying a new house and perusing floor plans is you take a look and think, 'oooh, there's a nice space downstairs, I wonder if we can turn that into a proper bathroom" or "I really need a separate room for TV watching...is that possible with this house."

Because everyone has their own preferences. So the trick is to ensure that you are making it clear that there are options.

Oh, sorry, I thought it was for a sales process.

IN which case, it's entirely up to your own family requirements. For us, we'd use that as a second reception room as I can't bear to have a single open plan space, but I'd do it in a way that allowed us to use it as a 4th bedroom for guests - sofa bed etc.

I wouldn't consider it a bedroom. It sounds like the only potential way to add a downstairs bathroom is if it's off the boot room and I wouldn't want to have to walk through what I consider a outsidey 'dirty' sort of place to get to the bathroom (dirty as I have dogs and therefore lots of muddy feet and boots, no insinuation about your cleaning skills!). I also personally wouldn't want my bedroom door to be right next to the front door, though I'm not sure why. For me it would be much better served as a separate sitting room, open plan can be a mixed blessing and I think having the option of a separate, enclosed living space would be a lot more appealing than a massive bedroom next to the front door with the bathroom a smelly slog through muddy boots and dog leads. Are you planning on staying or moving? As if it's for you it doesn't really matter what I'd want, it's what would work for you. I would say that with small children who will turn into big teenage children, you may well find a shut away space very useful as a playroom that gradually becomes a den as they grow up, or even just keep it as a nice tidy place away from the chaos of daily life!

I'd list the big room as study/lounge/bedroom 4, it's just a good square room so can be flexible.

I'd make bathroom a good sized wet room, so long as you can retain enough utility space for washer, dryer, airer, freezer, sink and outdoor wear storage.

I'd use it as an office but with a sofabed or pull-out guest bed in it.

I’d have it as a separate living room. I’d be disappointed if I went to view a 4 bedroom house and one bedroom was downstairs and all the receptions rooms/kitchen were completely open plan.

I hated listings that had a downstairs bedroom listed as a bedroom - I'd mutter - that's not a bedroom it's a study, and immediately discount as I was looking for a true 4 bed and not a 3 bed priced as a 4 bed.

Personally I wouldn't view it as a bedroom even if it had a bed in when I viewed the house. I have two reception rooms in my house and I refused to turn one into a bedroom as it was just inside the front door and I thought that was weird! But people will use it for whatever they want.

Our house is almost identical in layout to yours except the boot room/shower room is larger and comes back past the level of the kitchen/lounge/diner a bit. We have this as the downstairs bedroom and the front room as a second lounge. (Your garage is out utility though)

If you could move some walls around you could do similar and make a bedroom and lounge?

For a four bed house you would expect a footprint that befits four bedrooms in terms of living space downstairs.