Loft conversion - what did you use the rooms for? Kids or guest?

[sellotape12]

We're thinking of getting our loft done in a Victorian terrace. Yawn, I know.
What was your plan for room usage and why? Would you do anything differently in hindsight?
For instance, did you put the kids up there, or keep it as guest room, or something else? Finding it hard to imagine future needs when we only have one DC, age 3.
What we need is an office space and possibly a second child's room if we have baby 2. Options are

• use loft as guest room and office. Downside is our guests will mostly be aging parents, and it's another set of stairs for them.
• use loft as kids rooms, keep guest and office on first floor. Downside is kids are on a different floor to you (probs great when they're teens but what about night wake-ups when they're young?)
• Put master bedroom and office up there, keep kids and office on first floor (as above re rushing downstairs to soothe night wakes)
• something else?

Interested to hear from people who have teens too!

I agree.

Two bedrooms , used for children ,one double and one single - but it’s actually quite big just an unusual shape so you couldn’t walk round a double bed. Also a small bathroom than is accessed off the loft landing. We have normal stairs so it just looks like a third floor as we didn’t need to take any space from existing bedrooms.

Yes, the reselling issue is what's making me hesitate. But I don't expect to sell the house for another 20 years, if even then.

The loft space would be small enough that the bathroom would have to span the whole back of the house (which would be narrower than the front, due to the stairwell)

we've just had ours done and it's a lovely huge space that we will use for lots of different things. home office, storage etc. definitely no toilet or bathroom. to me that's just a waste of space and how often do you spend in the loo and bathroom to need another one? plus maintenance of said bathroom. horses for courses

@StartsAgain, we have a blink camera in our toddlers room. So it’s not on / active for us to view all the time (like our old baby monitor was), but we can go on our phones and view as we need.

As of yet, our little one hasn’t started potty training (so no night time toilet trips), and we haven’t had any issues with nightmares / vomiting etc. He does wake and cry out for us sometimes, but perhaps he is just a very loud child as I can hear him immediately and wake. And then I can look in the camera to see if he needs me or is settling himself down again.

I think it’s probably one of those “as and when it starts to happen, we will reassess”. But right now we’ve enjoyed 2 years (our toddler is 2.5yrs old) of sleeping on a separate floor in a lovely space with no issue. I guess for us we can’t logistically plan for something that’s never happened so will enjoy the ignorant bliss while it lasts.

And tbh if that did start to happen, I’d first switch back to a baby monitor than move our bedroom. Or stay in the guest bedroom on the same floor on a temporary basis rather than give up the loft space as our own.

We bought our Victorian terrace already converted. It was a large double and a family shower room on the side (not an ensuite).

Perfect when it was 2 of us! Used the loft bedroom as a guest room and an office.

Had baby 2 and then we split the bedroom into a separate office and a smaller kids bedroom (with the shower room still there). The space works for us although the downside is - it is so well insulated up there that it gets so hot 🥵 (even at this time of year)!

@SEL0ndon we can’t logistically plan for something that’s never happened

Really not trying to freak you out (or suggesting you move your room) - but not having protective measures in place because something hasn’t happened (yet) isn’t usually the best strategy when it comes to children’s safety - a monitor would easily sort it out and doesn’t seem to involve any tricky logistics?

Illness could come on at any time, even if they seemed well when going to bed, and a seriously ill or choking child (eg if they vomit when asleep/half awake, which both my kids have done) might not necessarily make enough noise to wake you from a different floor. Kids are unpredictable, unfortunately.

We did ours when our first child was a baby, and we used it as a multifunction space, office and play room mostly. We moved out of that house pre-covid but I expect by now it might have become a bedroom for one of the kids if we had stayed. Didn’t have a bathroom up there because it was a conservation area so no dormers permitted, so wouldn’t have made it the master bedroom.

@StartsAgain , don’t worry I am absolutely not freaked out! I appreciate you wanting to give advice, but we’re comfortable with the choices we’re making in our family home.
I think we can leave this thread to concentrate on loft extensions rather than whether I have a baby monitor or not for my toddler and whether others think that’s required for safety.

@SEL0ndon apologies if I’ve annoyed you - personally I think it’s a good point to flag on this thread as you’re obviously at a stage where you haven’t anticipated these kinds of things happening, and others may be too. Like you say, when you’ve got a good sleeper non-toilet trained toddler, you may not have thought about this stuff.

I definitely fall down on the side of wanting to respond to my kids immediately when they need me though, and I do appreciate everyone has different parenting styles and priorities.

passive aggressive level = 100. stick to your loft, @StartsAgain !!

I would do two rooms and separate bathroom. and make it the master + office. we are planning the same thing in our London terrace.