repurposing rooms??????

18 years ago

Hi,

We have been in our home a year. There are three bedrooms on the first floor and one bedroom upstairs ( along with a bathroom, closet and attic (cottagy cape style home around 2000 sq feet) We also have a large finished basement but DH is taking out a wall and putting new floors. This will take a while. We have a toddler who NEEDS a playroom. Basement won't be done soon b/c we are doing it ourselves. THere is a guest room on first floor and then the large room upstairs which the PO used as master suite. It needs new framing and a proper door b/c its a weird doorway with the closet sharing part of the framing we need to pay a handyman to do it for us. But it would make upstairs usuable for us as well as toddler. Problem is we are 1.5 hrs away from my family. THey like to each have own room and bed to sleep when they come every few weeks. Right now we have a double bed and a aerobed that is not comfortable. I REALLY want to have upstairs entrway framed and a door put on for a den or office and temp playroom. But then do I need to have a huge double bed for family? Ceilings are sloped but its big room. I want the home to work for us but feel pressured to keep two room free for family. I really want to get rid of double bed but hate to spend even more $$$ when we have carpet and door etc to pay for. I am SAHM so I spend a lot of time at home.

Any advice is appreciated

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Comments (3)

teacats
18 years ago
In our small home -- we have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Our family (on both sides) lives far away and when they visit -- they might stay for weeks! :)

So when we created out home office in the third bedroom -- we invested in a good sofa bed. Ours is queen sized -- but a double-sized one (or even a futon) might work for your new playroom/office AND then it could be moved into the new basement when it is finished.
Melissa Houser
18 years ago
Sarah, You don't say whether you want the family to be comfy when they visit so that they stay longer or if you'd rather encourage them not to stay so long. ;)

I'm assuming that you spend the majority of your time downstairs and that you use the bedrooms on the 1st floor for you and your child. I would create the third bedroom on the first floor as your child's playroom/your office and add in a futon as a couch/bed in the playroom. That way she could nap in there during the day if she wanted.

The upstairs bedroom could be set up as a nice guest room/sanctuary for visitors without too many changes, I think. I would put twin beds in the room with matching spreads. Twins can be rearranged many ways, including side by side to create a king-size bed for couples. If you look on CL, you can often find a twin bed for $50-$100, at least around here. You might even put the double on CL as a barter for two twin beds with sheets.

Once the basement is finished, you could create a second guest area down there, if space permits. Or, you could put two guest areas down there and use the upstairs room for other purposes. Maybe you and DH will decide to move your master up there eventually, but it would be a great space for a home office or a craft/sewing room. It might even make a great space for kids to share a room when they get a bit older.
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sarschlos_remodeler
18 years ago
What about a twin-sized daybed with a trundle underneath that will pop up to the same height as the daybed? That's what we use in our DD's room (she's now 4). The nice thing about the 3-sided daybeds is that you can add a safety rail for nappies/sleeping that is easily removed for guests and play time. I would keep the playroom/office downstairs. You don't want your daughter playing upstairs where you can't check on her regularly.