Teen daughter upset about having a small room

[rollonthesummer]

DD is 13 and is in one of the two rooms we had built when we had our loft extension. It's a small room with a dormer and she is fed up that most of her friends seem to have huge rooms with double beds and desks in. Because of the shape of her room, she can't have a cabin style bed to gain more space and there's nowhere else the bed can go. She could have a desk in there (which is what she wants) but doesn't want it to take up all the floor space. She is suggesting getting rid of her small wardrobe and having a desk there instead but she has come up with no solution of where her 'hanging' clothes would then go?! I suspect they would be scrunched up into tiny balls and shoved in a drawer which she'll then get fed up about in 6 months and the want her cupboard back!

Does anyone have any suggestions?! Do I let her get rid of the wardrobe?! I think it's a really stupid idea but accept she is trying to make her 'mark'!!

I suspect this is all becaus she is cross that her older brother has a bigger room that she thinks is wasted on him!!

Let her get rid of the wardrobe. How many genuine hanging clothes do teens have anyway? Put a couple of hooks on the wall that can take a couple of coat hangers.

Can't her hanging clothes go into another wardrobe in the house? I think a desk is going to be pretty essential for her I'm the next few years.

Can hanging clothes all go on hooks on the back of the door? Is there maybe space on the wall to have a small clothes rail? Or one of these www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk/home-storage/coat-hook-valet-rail?cr=fgl&gclid=CKjqw_XUydACFWgq0wodyvEDPA

She will need a desk - how much clothing does she have in the wardrobe at the moment? It would be tricky to have no hanging space for clothing at all though, is there anywhere else in the house she could use?

If her brother has had the larger room for some time, perhaps it's her turn?

I had a box room with no desk or wardrobe, but liked it. Kept clothes in wardrobe in my brother's room: we had ground rules for me getting them!

I have a small boxroom, it literally just fits a single bed and one other piece of small furniture. I keep my clothes hanging up or otherwise in another bedroom. There's no rule that says clothes should belong in the owners bedroom.

She really needs a desk more than she needs a wardrobe. Most clothes can be folded neatly in a drawer - things that absolutely must be hung up could go on the back of her door or in someone else's wardrobe.
I was like your daughter as a teenager, stuck with the box room whilst my brother and sister had much bigger rooms, it's not nice for her however much she understands and is gracious about it. Not having study space where I could lock myself away and having to study at the dining table whilst revising gcses and a levels was not a great situation.

Let her make the most of the small space she has; there are loads of ideas on pinterest for living in small spaces.

Why did her brother get they bigger room? Why can't they do 12 monthly swaps???

One of mine has a small hanging rail in her room instead of wardrobe as it takes up less space.

I have a small boxroom, it literally just fits a single bed and one other piece of small furniture. I keep my clothes hanging up or otherwise in another bedroom. There's no rule that says clothes should belong in the owners bedroom.

I like that back of the door rail idea. I would move the wardrobe elsewhere or get rid of it entirely. I agree that a desk would be much more useful long-term.

Wardrobes are not essential - I got my first one in my 30s! Definitely swap it for a desk.

Could she have a fold down desk that hooks up on the wall when not in use?

Something like this?

A folding chair could hang next to it?

Man its great what you can hang from walls and stuff now, I might investigate myself

Can't her wardrobe go in your room or her brother's room so she can have her space and somewhere to hang her clothes?

Wow-thank you for all of the replies!

I never had a desk in my room-not until I was in halls at university, yet used my wardrobe a lot ;) Maybe I'm coming at this from a clothing-biased perspective!

Nothing can be attached easily to her walls easily as they aren't proper solid walls that you can screw things to because of the loft conversion (partition walls-is that what I mean?) but yes, she could hang stuff in her brother's room, that's a good idea.

Thank you-lots to think about!

You could still screw a fold-up desk or shelf/desk to the wall Op even with partition walls. My kitchen cupboards are in partition walls and hold a lot of weight with no problem. You'd just need to use wallplugs. At least with a fold down table or shelf, she'd still get floor space and perhaps could also have a rail fitted to hang her clothes from?
Get yourself into the IKEA website for some ideas, honestly with some IKEA kit and a bit of imagination anything is possible.

Have a look at the IKEA Algot range.

Algot is what DD chose

This is the most space saving

www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/storage-furniture/storage-systems/algot-frame-with-rod-mesh-baskets-white-spr-49184045/

Mine didn't have desks in their bedrooms even though they were big enough.
I liked homework done downstairs so we could supervise, help and support if need be.
Most dc do it on laptops now anyway so they can do it anywhere.

My dd has wardrobes and cupboards over her bed with bed going lengthways inside the gap iyswim, there's loads of space then and you can have a double if the room isn't really small. My dd has the box room too.

We don't hang anything. It's all folded in drawers.

My DS2 is in a room 7 ft x 8 ft.
4 foot small double bed and ikea units (Nordli) and a very small wardrobe along the 8 foot... a desk would fit instead of the Nordli if we needed to. It surprised us how much bigger the room looked and the 4 foot bed gave him more stretch space (he's 6 ft) without cramping the room.

How about a piece of board along the foot of the bed which can be used as a desk? (So you sit on the bed with your feet under it and use as a desk). I remember my friend having a desk like that when we were teens.

Agree that a desk is pretty essential as you get further into coursework - working at the dining room table is fine when doing a workbook but a 4 page essay on Jane Eyre really needs quiet and unbroken concentration!

If the room is a loft conversion, can you open up any under-eaves space for hanging storage. We have a forward facing rail (ie the other way round from a wardrobe) in between 2 beams, in our loft conversion. It's only a foot long, but holds a good few hangers. Got the rail and fittings at B and Q, and they cut it to size. Can also recommend Ikea wall mounted folding table, about £29 and excellent quality.