tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny bedrooms...

[RunnerDuck]

I don't know where this belongs. This seems like as good a place as any.

I am trying to work up the balls to tell DH I want to seriously TTC #4 . Not just hope it happens... not tell strangers who ask (why the hell do they ask??) that I want another, he is not sure - but sreriously try.

So.

The main thing holding me back is where the hell are we going to put him/her???

We have an old house with weird bedroom space. Overall the house is listed at 1850 sq ft which is pretty roomy, with a huge partially finished basement besides (not counted in the sq ft'age, for whatever reason...) But the bedrooms are weird.

On the second floor we have a bathroom and 4 rooms. 1 is listed as 11X9, in the real estate listing (we just bought the house last fall) - thought it is really slightly under. It's small but it works. My son has that room.

Two of the rooms are listed at 12X15. I never measured them to verify... but they feel HUGE to me. One is the "master bedroom" - a term I still feel is ridiculously grown up and sophisticated for me. The other is the girls' room.

The 4th is listed as 11X7. It's really 10something by, I think, 7 1/2 ish... it's only 16 inches narrower than my son's room. We are using it as the computer room.

It's small. It can't be used as a bedroom because if you put a bed along one wall it blocks access to the closet. Along the other long wall, the radiator is in the way.

I hate the radiators.

If we were to move the closet door - you could use the room as a bedroom. The closet runs the whole width of the room. It's a 1 1/2 story house with those weird sloped long closets.

So if we moved that door - it would be cozy but you COULD fit a twin bed, chest of drawers, and small desk or book cased and chair. It would be tight, but it could work.

Of course, if we had another girl, I think we could fit 4 kids in the girls' room so it wouldn't be an issue. Really, only if we had another boy, would it matter.

If we did need to fit a boy in this tiny tiny room - there is also a huge room on the first floor we are using as a toy room now - I figure in time that will be the "kid office" should the kids want room for computers, books, whatever. (We have a few options for where to move our computer and filing cabinet etc from this room)

I guess what I am wondering is.... is it mean to have another kid ... and expect him to have a very tiny room???

The ceilings in the small bedrooms are sloped so lofts, bunks, etc - not a good option. There is one small bunk at IKEA that could work but DS and this child would be pretty far apart to share a room.

I think what I am looking for is commiseration from others with tiny or otherwise weird bedrooms. Is is wrong to think this room COULD be a bedroom??

Adding to the uncertainity is, I don;t think this is our forever home. We may well move some day. But assume we don't... this is what we have to work with.

[Whistler]

Just my own opinion here: kids have lived in small spaces for centuries. And it didn't hurt them. They have shared small beds and lived in small bedrooms.

It's only our greedy modern First-World mentality that says each kid needs 300 square feet of bedroom space.

We live in a small house where the kids have small bedrooms and I don't think they care a bit. Also, we plan to have more and not move *gasp*

So that's my $0.02. Take it or leave it!

[meemee]

oh mama just go and do it.

if you asked my opinion you are thinking waaaaaaaaaay toooo far. it is a valid concern but you have at least 2 to 3 years before you will need it. at least.

however if you feel your dh might bring this point up as his argument you might have to have an answer.

how about adding on? can you build another room?

and like you say, you have no idea how life might work out. and if you have a little child like my friends they will hate sleeping by themself.

[laohaire]

I don't have weird bedroom space but I say go for it. I would seriously not let something like that stop me from having another kid if I wanted oine. Things have a way of working out. You might move. You might have a girl. You might have a boy who LOVES his cozy space. You might cosleep for years. You might get rich and have the money to move some walls around. Maybe not, but it'll work out somehow. Worst-case scenario is you have a son who someday complains he wants a bigger bedroom. Oh well.

[4evermom]

A lot of kids would be thrilled to have their own tiny room.

I wouldn't let something like that stop me. What if you just take the closet doors off and stick the head of the bed in there? I've also slept on floor beds right next to radiators. Didn't seem to be a problem.

[jeanine123]

The only thing I would be concerned with is whether or not there's a large enough window in the room. Both for ventilation, especially during the summer, but also in case there is a fire or other reason that a person would need to exit quickly but can't use the regular door. Otherwise I say go for it. If you have a room downstairs that can be used as the kid's computer/homework room then you don't even need to put a desk in the bedroom. And if the closet is as large as it sounds you could probably put shelves in part of it with baskets or something like that and use it as a dresser.

[mamalemon]

I saw a darling set up once in a house that was for sale. It was a TINY child's room where they had put the head of a twin bed in the closet and then draped curtains over the top and sides. There were some shelves on the back of the closet wall and a little chair and reading lamp snuck in there too. It was adorable and a totally creative use of space.

I wouldn't let small room/creative set up determine whether or not to have another child. S/he will love you all the same!

[jlobe]

Instead of gender determining room sharing, what about age? Younger three in the larger room and older one in the smaller room?

[Anastasiya]

We have the same kind of bedroom. The closet takes up the whole side of one wall, and the way the door and window are arranged there is only one tiny place to put a bed.

Knock out the closet, open the room up a bit bigger, and get kiddo an armoire for clothing. That'll limit the amount of clothing one can own, but when has that ever been a problem?

[bethanyclaire]

Originally Posted by mamalemon

I saw a darling set up once in a house that was for sale. It was a TINY child's room where they had put the head of a twin bed in the closet and then draped curtains over the top and sides. There were some shelves on the back of the closet wall and a little chair and reading lamp snuck in there too. It was adorable and a totally creative use of space.

I wouldn't let small room/creative set up determine whether or not to have another child. S/he will love you all the same!

:

It surely wouldn't stop me! I have seen some adorable rooms done in small and/or unconventional spaces. My best friend growing up had to flee her abusive father and her family moved to CA to live with family. They shared a TINY 2 bedroom house with 5 people. My friends room was really the kitchen pantry. I did have a big window but it was barely big enough for a twin bed. It was SOOO cute! She was the envy of all her friends! A tiny space wouldn't stop me from having a much-wanted, much-loved babe!!!

[alfabetsoup]

If you have a boy, you and DH could give the boys the master bedroom and take the smaller (not tiny) room. Use the tiny room for the office and your clothes storage.

[MeepyCat]

We converted our sewing room into a room for our DS, and my basic thought on it: He is two. He does not care how tiny his room is. It's a great size for a nursery - everything is within adult reach from pretty much anywhere. No racing across the room to get another burp cloth.

When he gets older, we will reevaluate the space and see if we should shuffle bedrooms or do something else, but for now (and for probably quite some time), it's a perfectly good setup.

[MPsSweetie]

My DS has a tiny room, maybe 7x11. It is so cozy, we all love to be in there. The closet situation works out well for us though. I think it would be easy to make it work though!
Go for it!

Oh, and if we ever have another boy.... they will have to share this room! We aren't moving!

[foreverinbluejeans]

My husband left me while I was pregnant with baby number 3. We lived in 2 bedroom apartments with the three boys rooms being as small as 7 by 9 while I was a grad student and we lived in university housing.

My boys are now 29, 25, and 21. I'm disabled and can't work. My oldest and youngest lived with me in a 3 bedroom house so we could all manage financially. Then my 25 year old son lost his job. So now he, his wife, my grandson, their dog, our dog, & our three cats share the 3 bedroom house. Good thing they had all those years of living in small spaces - 5 adults and a baby in a little over 1000 square feet.

[amandaleigh37]

I'm due with #2 in a matter of days, and all we have (besides our "master" bedroom, which is pretty tiny itself) are 2 VERY small bedrooms upstairs. One is DS's (he's almost 3yo). We expect the baby to be in our room for around 2 years, but no I'm not concerned that they will have tiny bedrooms. All DS does in his is sleep. It's about 10x10, and just big enough for his youth bed, 2 dressers, and a small table with his fish tank on it

Small space definitely wouldn't stop me from having another child....

[34me]

We have less than 1000 square feet with 3 big kids two bigish dogs and two adults. The size of that room would be the last thing that stopped me from having a babe. In the future you could make a master out of the basement or the toy space and open up the master for whichever two (or 3) could use it most creatively.

[RunnerDuck]

Knocking down walls is not a possibility just due to the design of the house... and adding on would be akward at best. There are lots of options for juggling space and people down the line, though. It's just of course seeing this room as the next baby's room for the long term is easiest... but I feel like it's mean of me to use what some people might consider a closet to be a bedroom.

A neighbor has a room that is bigger than this, which is used as a closet. I don't have anywhere near that many clothes! Yikes!!!

There is a window - same size as the window in my son's room - this room is the same as his only a little skinnier and I don't know why they put the closet door where they did. When you open it the access to the tub plumbing is right there but ... how important is THAT? You access that once every, what, 30 years? You can go through the other end if the door was moved just fine. Seems like being able to use the room as a bed room should have been more important than being 4 feet closer to the plumping when you open the closet door. Very weird.

Oh well. Just so I am not crazy to think of actually using this tiny room as a bedroom some day.

[lishoprah]

Could you put a loft bed in next to the radiator? (Basically a raised bed, a bunk bed with no bed on the bottom.) If there was room for it over the radiator? Or, if you have a boy that smaller room could have the dressers/ clothes/ toys for the boys and the other room could be sleeping only? With either a bunk bed or pull out trundle. We have friends who do this -- one room for toys, one room with only beds so that all three of their girls can share a room.

[mazajo]

What's the basement like? Would it be possible to use it as a bedroom sometime in the future?

[flapjack]

There was a fantastic house on Grand Designs where the kids (three boys) had an entire floor of the house as a bedroom, toyroom, everything. It was an open-plan layout but the furniture was positioned to create privacy- so you could make that space work for you.
It's not that you don't have the room- it's that right now, the space isn't working intelligently for your needs, and this is something that can be changed.

Oh, and I know this goes without saying but a bed is a mattress with a bit of wood or metal underneath it: therefore, a bed can be any size or shape appropriate for your needs. Custom-making the bed could also work