Has anyone split the main bedroom in a mid terrace into two smaller rooms?

[planthenact]

I would like to split the main bedroom of my 2 bed mid terrace into 2 smaller rooms by building a L-shaped stud wall down the middle and creating a small corridor so both rooms can have private entrances.

I want it to look something like the attached image.

The room is about 14ft by 12ft and already has two windows. Walls to be insulated and plastered. Each room would need to have new radiators fitted (there’s a long single radiator currently), new ceiling light(s) and new wall switches and sockets. Also, internal bi-fold doors to each doorway need to be hung.

Has anyone done anything similar? How much did it cost? Were the rooms spacious enough? Did it impact sale value if you sold later on?

I've never done this, but my front bedroom is about the same size. I don't think the rooms would be spacious enough, especially with the added corridor, and you'd struggle with storage I think. Unless you have a large back room or have extended into the loft, you'll end up without a master bedroom.

I can see how it might meet your needs if you have young children, but would it work long term as they get older? When you come to sell, your target market would be restricted IMO.

Have you considered a temporary solution using bunk beds as a room divider? Example here:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/bunk-bed-room-dividers-what-are-they-proscons-and-diy--694961786241111587/

Hey OP, yes we did. I can't remember the cost. I think our front bedroom is slightly shorter than yours (10ft vs 12ft) but the width is similar.

The smaller room has space for a single bed and a desk that I use for WFH. It's also got a walk in wardrobe so that maximises the space. It is pretty much the same size as all box rooms I've seen in 3 bed semis around here. The slightly bigger room is actually not a bad size. It has a built in wardrobe space for chest of drawers and reasonable floor space. The difference I think we have is that the room has a deep chimney breast which does eat into the space. I've attached our floorplan as we're selling right now.

Should have also said, if you'd like to look at the pictures of the rooms with furniture, PM me and I'll send you the rightmove link :)

Will the window space in each room meet fire regs in terms of being wide enough to function as an escape route?

Or is the window only wide enough if both panels are opened?

Should also say, reason for splitting the room is for children to have own rooms. Son is 10 and Daughter 15.

Need privacy for both so room dividers are not suitable.

Windows in both rooms are both large.

Ours was like this when we bought it but without the corridor-so you go through one bedroom to get to the other (which means it doesn’t officially count as a bedroom) and there’s no door, just a little arch. Space wise it’s not bad for our kids as they are young but maybe a little cramped for teens- DD couldn’t get a desk in her room unless it was a tiny one and she sacrificed her bookshelves.

I initially thought to just have the stud wall straight down the middle with a door so you have to walk through from one to the other, was trying to maximise the space in both rooms, but I think the lack of privacy for the room that’s walked through wouldn’t work.

Yes, our old neighbour's did BUT the room that was split was massive - more like 16x12.
They split it unevenly, and the smaller room was pretty small - I think a 9ft and 7ft.

If you are going to do it, I think I'd put in the corridor and do it properly, but id also try and arrange the rooms with a "wall" between and see how it feels moving round the space.

I definitely looking to get it done professionally. The smaller room was my main concern because with a door opening into it, I was concerned it would really limit what furniture could be put in there. I’m hoping the beds can run wall to wall to maximise floor space and to use bi-fold doors to try and minimise how much space the doors take up.

I’m currently thinking it’ll cost around £2000-£3000? Would really appreciate any insights on if this sounds realistic given what I’m looking for.

A couple of thoughts. Will the rooms be big enough? What is the full floor plan like?

Resale will be impacted as I am assuming the other bedroom isn't master size ?

Costing, I am in Ireland and I would expect to pay more, two new radiators, plumbing, electric points, lighting re wired , new flooring, wall, insulation etc there is a lot involved.

Is it one window at the front? It will be really hard to have a wall against that and might look a bit odd.

Would it work at all just having tall room dividing cupboards at least as a trial run?

It’s a traditional mid terrace (1905). Large master at the front, middle 2nd bedroom ( would fit a double, maybe queen size bed, with space for wardrobe and a little left over floor space), what would have been the third bedroom at the back of the house has been converted into a large bathroom.

I was thinking that most of the electrics could be routed through and located on the new stud walls and the lights would be fitted from the attic so as to minimise disruption to existing solid walls. There are a lot of moving parts though so I’m trying to get a ball park figure.

Yes we've done this. We used pocket doors which slide into the walls so there's no need for a swing space. We also deliberately made the dividing wall with a sort of dogleg in it, specially fitted so single beds would nestle in both sides, which made the most of the space.

If you could draw a sketch of the room with dimensions, location of existing door and windows, and existing radiator, I could probably give more advice.

I'm thinking of doing this and creating a larger bed room with a smaller bathroom (not an ensuite ) next to it. I haven't done it yet though!

You can do two doors in a v-shape on the stud wall.

I think minimum room size is 6.5m2 so as long as they both meet that it may even increase value if done properly

I can't do it well on my phone but like this. We split a front to back bedroom into two rooms and the doors are like this. It works fine.

We did.
Bedroom 1 and 2 were originally one room, with the door being the door on bedroom 2. We made a new door off the landing.

That should be bedroom 1 and 3 were originally one room and doorway was bedroom 3 door.

If you have high ceilings you could potential ALSO have a high platform built in one room for the mattress/bed which would give storage or desk space in the other.

Probably some very good examples somewhere on Pinterest just need to not compromise the windows.

Is there no option to squeeze a bathroom in elsewhere and change the back room back into a bedroom? If the rear addition is long enough you can change existing large bathroom into small bathroom and small bedroom. Or if it’s not maybe you could carve a bathroom out between the front two bedrooms.

We converted the bathroom into a bedroom and created an internal bathroom in about a third of bedroom two.
It's worked really well.

We will be doing this in new house as its a 3 bed and we need a 4 bed.

The room we are splitting is 4.12m x 3.88m and it will basically give us a single room (2m x 3.88m) and box room (2m x approx. 3m).

Can't you just have two doors going into the hallway