Where is it more important to have lots of space - upstairs or downstairs?

LydiaJ

When choosing a house, which is a higher priority to you - space downstairs, or space in bedrooms? It's something I've been thinking about.

Thanks.

puddy

thats an interesting question. i havent thought about it before, i said living space, we dont have children in the home.

obviously given a choice i would like both! but the reality is that there isnt enough money for that. we have just had a utility room spruced up to make it functional, cupboards, heater, put lots of airers on the walls and an indoor washing line. it makes such a difference not to have washing hanging about in the winter in the rest of the house (although OH constantly moans that it doesnt dry as well in there as it would in the living room). our kitchen is small so it also helps with storage, doing messy things like peeling muddy potatoes at a different sink, storing the hoover, mops, brushes. the cat litter trays are out there (thank god). it has made such a difference to the downstairs.

Fire_Fox

Depends how you use your home: most parents spend very little time in their bedroom yet kids will often play and entertain in theirs, so I never understand why adults usually occupy the largest bedroom. To me additional downstairs space is a lot more flexible, it can be used as an office, dining room, playroom etc. Families frequently complain they don't have enough space when actually they have a ton of personal possessions that they never use and not enough clever storage!

g_attrill

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Depends how you use your home: most parents spend very little time in their bedroom yet kids will often play and entertain in theirs, so I never understand why adults usually occupy the largest bedroom.

Recently somebody posted a topic about how they were trying to move from a council flat into a house - they were complaining that their boys were "squeezed into a tiny bedroom", and I think only one person suggested that they take the smaller bedroom so their kids have room to play, since they won't be using it nearly as much.

DVardysShadow

Oh, brings back memories of young fools in Estate Agents!

Go in, introduce selves as middle aged couple, no kids. EA fool asks how much we are looking to spend. State requirement for detached house with useful down stairs accommodation, separate lounge diner, no need for more than 3 beds, no more than 1 bathroom, workshop would be good - we are looking to meet the spec rather than a price. EA fool says"yeah but, yeah but" al the way through. Finally we let EA fool interrupt - "yeah but how much do you want to spend?". We reiterate and reinforce "the downstairs accommodation is important to us". EA fool presses for budget, reluctantly we tell him a figure and make clear it is indicative, but stress that the spec is more important.

EA fool says "OK, we have several which meet that", rumages around in filing cabinet, producing 3 sets of details, all priced 20k above indicative. First one is 5 beds, ensuite, jack and jill ensuite, bathroom, through lounge diner and integral double garage. The others similar. Repeat up and down Estate Agent row.

BitterAndTwisted

I think it's important to have the most space in the room/s you spend the most time (awake) in. Therefore, for me, it would be the reception room/s. Having small children means having a decent-sized bedroom to play in would mean a whole heap of kiddy!!!! wouldn't need to be lying around waiting to be tripped over downstairs where guests are entertained.

Doozergirl

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I think it's important to have the most space in the room/s you spend the most time (awake) in. Therefore, for me, it would be the reception room/s. Having small children means having a decent-sized bedroom to play in would mean a whole heap of kiddy!!!! wouldn't need to be lying around waiting to be tripped over downstairs where guests are entertained.

I agree. A nice balance - enough space downstairs to entertain and not trip over each other, enough space that all the kids stuff can be kept in their own area upstairs and out of the way of visitors!

sunshinetours

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Oh, brings back memories of young fools in Estate Agents!

Go in, introduce selves as middle aged couple, no kids. EA fool asks how much we are looking to spend. State requirement for detached house with useful down stairs accommodation, separate lounge diner, no need for more than 3 beds, no more than 1 bathroom, workshop would be good - we are looking to meet the spec rather than a price. EA fool says"yeah but, yeah but" al the way through. Finally we let EA fool interrupt - "yeah but how much do you want to spend?". We reiterate and reinforce "the downstairs accommodation is important to us". EA fool presses for budget, reluctantly we tell him a figure and make clear it is indicative, but stress that the spec is more important.

EA fool says "OK, we have several which meet that", rumages around in filing cabinet, producing 3 sets of details, all priced 20k above indicative. First one is 5 beds, ensuite, jack and jill ensuite, bathroom, through lounge diner and integral double garage. The others similar. Repeat up and down Estate Agent row.

Made me chuckle! We had exactly that when we last looked to move. We were pretty specific in what we wanted and even created a sproperty spec sheet stating the "must haves" and "would likes". One of the must haves was detached - first agents we go in the 18 year old "estate agent"
skim reads the sheet after asking what it was (even though it was pretty obvious) and then says no problem and goes and gets about 30 properties out of the filing cabinet about half of which were semis - cue us standing up and leaving with all property details left on the desk! Repeat this several times till we found one who actually read and got the only two out of his cabinet that actually pretty much matched the "must haves". We also marketed our house through them after that - it pays to listen!

Back to the OP - I voted downstairs (with kids) was more important as you spend most of your time down there. Kids bedrooms of a reasonable size are more important as the kids grow up I believe, or maybe an extra bedroom which they can then use for their own entertaining space as they grow up

silvercar

I think downstairs space is more useful long term. If the kids have small bedrooms but a playroom they can call their own downstairs, you have an extra room you can use when they don't require their own space.

Also there is an age where you don't want them disappearing upstairs with their friends

delmar39

As a young family we spend most of our time in our living room. When we bought the house we made sure we had a big living room and a seperate dining room. Since having the little un we hardly ever use the dining room and because we have a table and chairs in there we cannot use it as a play room. The new house we are going to has a smaller living room and doesn't have a seperate dining room. I'm slightly concerned about the reduction in space, but we're moving for the location and have had to make a sacrifice on space in order to afford the property, that's in a good village near to pubs and schools. As long as you've got space to be together and have sufficient storage to prevent clutter, it doesn't matter where your main space is - as long as you're happy.....!

Wickedkitten

I'm not fussed on bedroom size at all because the only things we have in ours are two bedside tables, our bed and a wardrobe. I much much prefer having a big living room and big study instead because those are mainly where we spend our time. It would be nice having a bigger kitchen because a galley kitchen so is very long and narrow, but on the flip side, that's just more to keep clean.