Ideas for this upstairs layout

[Flyingsatsuma]

We are about to start renovating our house we have just bought and need to brainstorm options to improve the current upstairs layout specifically bathroom and small bedroom. To get to the box room you currently have to walk through the bathroom which we is a little weird. I don’t think the bathroom is going to be big enough to corridor off, but I was hoping to save the box room for storage or drying laundry but now not sure.

There are just the 2 of us and 3 bedrooms are enough, but not sure whether to:

a) keep layout as it is.
b) knock through both rooms to make a large bathroom
c) put the bathroom in the box room and make current bathroom a landing area with storage.
d) create 2 bathrooms out of the space somehow to have a en-suite to the guest room. Tbh we only need 1 bathroom though.

I think these are probably in order of cost here! We have no current plans to sell soon but circumstances change…. What would you do if it was your house? Just wanted some opinions. Floor plan below.

I’d knock through and make a bigger bathroom with a big walk in shower and storage space for towels, bedding, etc.

What about a Landry room? My mum has her washing machine upstairs and it makes so much sense as that's where the dirty clothes are. You could have storage for sheets and towels as well. Or do as above, make a bigger bathroom and have laundry as well

I would just knock them together but make the area nearest the door into a storage area/clothes drying/utility bit with maybe a large and deep cupboard when using the rest for a lovely big bathroom with shower and bath if they both fit.

In terms of "making your money back" unless this house is in a premium location you are going to struggle if you start knocking down walls etc

Personally i think 7 x 7 is virtually unusable as a bedroom and your got the pipe work there due to bathroom.

I'd 💯 turn it into upstairs utility / drying room which i think would add value and is desirable. You can air dry, store towels and linens - great for day to day living as tucked away from the rest of the house.

If the bathroom is crap/ getting ripped out anyway i might move the stud wall to make the bathroom bigger and the bedroom/ upstairs utility slightly smaller

I would knock walk through and have a fantastic bathroom big enough for bath & separate walk in shower with room for clothes dryer etc.

I agree with making bedroom 4 into a utility - have the washing machine / tumble dryer etc in there.
I'd love that in my next house.
It makes no sense to me having to take the laundry up and down the stairs constantly.
(We're a sporty family so I do at least one wash load a day)

Thanks for the good ideas/opinions so far. Yes we don’t need to use it as a bedroom and definitely not big enough but do need laundry space - particularly somewhere to hang damp washing and put dehumidifier on. There is the danger of down valuing it by removing a bedroom but priority is going to have to be making it work for us, at least to some degree.

Is there scope for converting the loft to create at least one bedroom? If do you might want to think where you would put stairs up to the loft in future before going ahead with any other changes.

It may be worth looking at floorplans of other houses on the street or local area in Rightmove to see what their first floor layout is if the houses are the same design.

It’s an individual detached on a street of mostly semis so there isn’t anything local for comparison. Can’t really understand why it was built like this (1930s house).

Wouldn’t want a lift conversion tbh as 3 bds is plenty for the 2 of us. I just want to make the best use of the space already there b

I know what you mean about the danger of down valuing it by removing a bedroom. But it’s only really big enough to be considered a study or nursery imo. And even then, to have to go through a bathroom to get to it is far from optimal so I think most buyers would only really consider it a 3 bed.

A big bathroom would have a luxurious feel and could be something that helps sell your house in future.

Is there enough headroom over the stairs to make an entrance to it from bed 4? Either as an ensuite or dressing room for bed 4, or you could make a corridor along the side of bed 4 to keep it as a 4 bed house. I'd probably use it as a dressing room if that worked and not put the corridor in. It would be lovely as a new parent as a small nursery.

I agree you don't have enough space overall to be creating dedicated corridors and I also think that you have a lot of dead space taken up by door openings.

I'm not keen on the big bathroom with storage idea because if you're using the storage fully, and using the space for drying, it's going to be more like a bath in a utility room than a luxury space.

Is this the only toilet in the house? I like the idea of making Bed 4 a bathroom and the bathroom into a utility, but if it's your only toilet that makes it a long trek from downstairs. Can you relocate the toilet to what looks like the current bathroom cupboard, make the rest of that room into a utility and remove the door to the hall, and make the current bed 4 into a bathroom? That would give you an accessible toilet, a lot of versatile landing space, and separation of luxury bathroom and clothes drying without much if any structural work.

If it’s the 2 of you you def don’t need the space so I would go for it and do a laundry room.

the overhead laundry airers are fab - I would get for the room

Are you trying to improve the house to increase its value or just trying to find a use for the weird space?

I would just use it as a laundry/utility or dressing room, if you are planning on living there and don’t need 4 bedrooms, or create a bigger bathroom if you want a huge bathroom.

If you want to do something that will increase the value of the house and gain a useable 4th bedroom, you probably need to think about investing a lot of money eg a loft conversion (using the space for the staircase), moving the staircase or the bathroom. You would need to do the sims to see if you would make a profit though.

I think most people would see the current layout for what it is and not consider it a four bedroom anyway.

A bedroom that you could end up trapped in while waiting for someone to finish having a wee, is not a very useful bedroom!

On the flip side, having a large bathroom with a separate shower and bath and laundry room would be a big selling point for a lot of people with children. I'd love to have my washing upstairs!

Alternatively, is it possible to join up bedroom four and bedroom one across the top of the stairs? Turn bedroom 4 into a jack and jill bathroom and the current bathroom into a study/bedroom? It's much more common to have a bathroom that's only accessible by a bedroom than a bedroom that's only accessible through a bathroom.

I’d move the wall to make bedroom 4 smaller, turn it into a utility and have a slightly bigger bathroom. That way you get the best of both worlds - dedicated utility and a more luxurious bathroom.