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House Remodel - need some opinions
Mar 29, 2009
in Home and Garden
I live in a house much like the one pictured above. One main floor with 3 small bedrooms, on somewhat small bathroom, a living room and a kitchen/dining area. There is also a somewhat finished basement with god-awful wood paneling. There is also a bathroom with a small stand-in shower. With the housing market being terrible right now, my hubby and I have taken on the state of mind that if we can't move into something bigger and better, then we might as well put our money we've got into renovating what we have.
One of our main space issues is the fact that our bedroom is like 10 x 12 maybe. Which once you add a Queen bed and a couple dressers, doesn't give much space. And the closet is tiny. If you have seen my lists, you know I am the kinda girl who needs a walk in closet, and what I have isn't cutting it. Hubby's clothes are already banished to another room, and I still don't have enough space. Anyway, let me get to the point. Hubby wants to re-do the basement with drywall we can paint, and to make the one 25' x 25' area into 2 bedrooms and one rec room. We would then move our girls 5.5 and 2.5 down into these rooms. Then we would demolish the closet separating our bedroom and the other bedroom upstairs and make it one with a walk in closet.
Now, my initial response is was negative. One, I didn't think it made sense to do this much demolition and remodeling to a house. That with that much change, we might as wait out the market and buy a new house. Two, I worry it will hurt our resell customer range. Would this turn away potential interested parties having two bedrooms downstairs, one master upstairs and a small office size bedroom upstairs. Three, I felt that this would be too scary for the girls, and maybe potentially dangerous, though I had trouble figuring out why it might be dangerous.
Now, I also had some positive thoughts. One, we wouldn't keep the girls awake at night with our tv watching or if we had company over. Two, I wouldn't have to be woken up by the sound of my 5 yr old singing to herself at the top of her lungs. She will play in her room for a period, and I usually get a little extra sleep that way, but lately she's very loud in the morning. Three, we'd gain much more room in the main bedroom, and that might be a selling feature later on and something that would set us apart from other homes in the neighborhood for sale. Four, we'd go from a 3 bedroom home to a technically 4 bedroom home, with one room being a large master bedroom.
I'd like to know what you guys out there think. If you have kids, let me know what think from the viewpoint of being a parent. If you're married/engaged and think kids are in the picture, let me know what you would think if you saw this master upstairs, other main Bedrooms downstairs idea in a home. Or if neither of those fit you, think of how might have taken the idea as a kid or if you were a parent. Definitely let me know if you have ever lived in a house laid out that way, and what you thought about it.
So, to sum up. Thinking of making the basement rec room into two bedrooms for girls aged 5.5 and 2.5 + a smaller rec room. There is easy access to a bathroom downstairs. Kids are good sleepers. We would probably use a monitor to keep an ear on the kids. We would then turn the main bedroom upstairs into a twice its size master suite. We would gain 2 bedrooms. Looking for input as to a general opinion on the idea, especially considering kids safety and later resale issues.
Thanks!
One of our main space issues is the fact that our bedroom is like 10 x 12 maybe. Which once you add a Queen bed and a couple dressers, doesn't give much space. And the closet is tiny. If you have seen my lists, you know I am the kinda girl who needs a walk in closet, and what I have isn't cutting it. Hubby's clothes are already banished to another room, and I still don't have enough space. Anyway, let me get to the point. Hubby wants to re-do the basement with drywall we can paint, and to make the one 25' x 25' area into 2 bedrooms and one rec room. We would then move our girls 5.5 and 2.5 down into these rooms. Then we would demolish the closet separating our bedroom and the other bedroom upstairs and make it one with a walk in closet.
Now, my initial response is was negative. One, I didn't think it made sense to do this much demolition and remodeling to a house. That with that much change, we might as wait out the market and buy a new house. Two, I worry it will hurt our resell customer range. Would this turn away potential interested parties having two bedrooms downstairs, one master upstairs and a small office size bedroom upstairs. Three, I felt that this would be too scary for the girls, and maybe potentially dangerous, though I had trouble figuring out why it might be dangerous.
Now, I also had some positive thoughts. One, we wouldn't keep the girls awake at night with our tv watching or if we had company over. Two, I wouldn't have to be woken up by the sound of my 5 yr old singing to herself at the top of her lungs. She will play in her room for a period, and I usually get a little extra sleep that way, but lately she's very loud in the morning. Three, we'd gain much more room in the main bedroom, and that might be a selling feature later on and something that would set us apart from other homes in the neighborhood for sale. Four, we'd go from a 3 bedroom home to a technically 4 bedroom home, with one room being a large master bedroom.
I'd like to know what you guys out there think. If you have kids, let me know what think from the viewpoint of being a parent. If you're married/engaged and think kids are in the picture, let me know what you would think if you saw this master upstairs, other main Bedrooms downstairs idea in a home. Or if neither of those fit you, think of how might have taken the idea as a kid or if you were a parent. Definitely let me know if you have ever lived in a house laid out that way, and what you thought about it.
So, to sum up. Thinking of making the basement rec room into two bedrooms for girls aged 5.5 and 2.5 + a smaller rec room. There is easy access to a bathroom downstairs. Kids are good sleepers. We would probably use a monitor to keep an ear on the kids. We would then turn the main bedroom upstairs into a twice its size master suite. We would gain 2 bedrooms. Looking for input as to a general opinion on the idea, especially considering kids safety and later resale issues.
Thanks!
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Comments (9)
We started out with a ranch house very much like the one you are describing, but none of the basement was finished. When our fifth child was born, we finished part of the basement and made one large bedroom downstairs. That's where we sleep. I would not buy a house with children's bedrooms downstairs in the basement.....at least not the way my house is laid out. There is only one way out...up a staircase, and the water heater, washer and dryer, furnace and oil tank are in the unfinished part of the basement....all POTENTIAL fire hazards. It is actually against the building code in my state to put a bedroom in the basement with a small basement window. Several years later, my parents needed a place to live....we had the roof removed and added a second level to our house. It is more expensive, but IMHO much nicer and much more attractive for resale. Best of luck to you....Paws72
Thanks Paws72 -- our water heater and all that is in a separate room downstairs. So that is something I hadn't thought of. We would have to have egress (spelling?) windows put in each room for them to be up to fire code. But we'd have to be able to teach the kids how to get out of them I suppose. 5 yr old maybe, 2 year old, probably not. Though if we always used a monitor, and put a fire alarm IN the laundry room, maybe that would be a little safer?? But I bet a lot of one day prospective family buyers might still not like the idea. We would LOVE to add a second story. But, all the other houses on our street are one story. Down another street a block away are some two stories though. And as you said, that is of course much more expensive. Hubby thinks a master in the basement would be MORE of a deterrent when we sell it than putting two 'kids' rooms downstairs.
I think a master suit downstairs in the basement is a better call. I would be much more comfortable being in the basement then my kids. The windows are very small down there and it is going to be closer to the heater etc (which would make me worry about CO2 poisoning, although there are CO2/fire alarms that I highly recommend you getting).
Either way, as a mom of two it would be a little scary being separated from the kids like that. I worry about burglars breaking in (and would I be able to hear it). Or if there was a fire, would I be able to get to them in time. lol I'm sure you know the feeling, as moms we have to think about everything!
But with a big master suite downstairs, you'd still have the original master upstairs which gives people options. Future potential buyers could pick which one they would want to use. The downstairs room could be a guest room, a mother-in-law suite or even a large office. Either way, I think it's best to make it one large room instead of two more smaller rooms, because it seems like there are more options that way.
Have you thought about adding onto your space? Like bump out the wall at the back of your closet and enlarge it that way? I don't know if you can do that or not where you live. :)
this probably isnt ideal but have u considered making the three main floor bedrooms into two? your girls will have to share a room but at least you'll all be on the same floor. then maybe when you get closer to wanting to sell, you can make the basement into half bedroom, half rec room? im thinking three bigger rooms would be a lot better than five smaller rooms, ya know?
I have been through many remodeling/moving experiences. We have 4 kids in our family growing up with 2 boys and 2 girls. I wouldn't go the route of having the girls share a room as a long term solution because once they get to be teenagers....they are going to want their own space. On that note, if they do end up sharing now, you could plan to have a room in the basement where the older one could grow into. I would also be careful of that if there is outside access from the basement though because teenagers are known to sneak out! As for selling perks, I know that my parents looked at alot of houses (I remember weekends full of real estate) when we moved and one of my mom's absolute no no's was having the kids and parents on seperate levels. She wouldn't even consider a house set up like that, even if everything else was perfect. Having a big master is a huge seller though. I might make the playroom/office downstairs and have the girls share a bedroom upstairs, that way the older one could eventually move downstairs and with all that space currently, they could do their singing down there. If you end up doing anything, I would get rid of the wood paneling!!! haha. good luck!
Sadybella -- unfortunately the way our house is set up, its difficult to make the 3 top bedrooms into two. We can take the main bedroom, and add it to our oldests room to make a master, but the room our youngest is in right now is very small. We might be able to fit bunk beds in there, but there'd be no room for my other daughters toy box, bookcase and dresser. They'd have to consolidate toys, and they already don't share well. Plus my oldest and youngest both use their rooms when they want alone time from each other, which makes sharing difficult. The smallest room can't be made bigger either due to the already small bathroom on the one side of it, and the dining area on the other. We could eat some of the dining area, but due to the shape of the rooms, we couldn't add much without it looking weird.
Decordiva -- A lot of parents I've talked to have said the idea of kids being on a different floor than them is an automatic rule out. That's what I told my hubby and he doesn't believe me. So that's part of why I wanted to get input from outside sources to show him that I am not crazy. That we really would be eliminating a large portion of our selling market by doing this.
afraid that i a do like your first plan but then i'm a mom who left my daughters at home with our spanish speaking babysiter, no english, right off the bat. also my husband and i have enjoyed the privacy of being on a seperate floor and look for this in a house - especially now that our daughters are teens. however, i would want to be absolutely sure that the kids could get out through a window and would have them practice this before moving them down there. We have remodeled three homes and built one. We really like to have the girls in a seperate area of the house from ourselves and they like it too. safety is always a concern but as long as there is access through a window - which i feel sure codes would require, i think that you are alright putting girls downstairs. -now i've complicated things. Good luck!
Nadiner - thanks for the input. I would definitely want the kids to practice getting in and out. Which is why I think maybe they need to be a tad older before we consider this remodel. 5 yr old might be able to get out the window, and understand she's no to go out it under any reasons but fire. 2 yr olds, not so much. Once they are pre-teen/teen, then heck yes, seperate floors no problem! IDK, maybe they could sleep in one room together, play in the other ones downstairs til they are older. Just beds in one room, everything else downstairs.