Reconfigure house layout or move?

ashe

It's a bit zany, but I wouldn't want to have to go to the top floor for the bathroom. 

I'd look to try something like this - it gives each child their own defined space, probably have to be done in the larger bedroom, so means you have a downgrade. 

Upstairs room becomes a playroom and work from home space, with wardrobes, if there is space, for extra clothes or things that won't fit in your new smaller bedroom. 

In a few years when they're bigger, they get a room each middle floor and you get the loft room back 

Put a hatch and a fireman's pole into each room for turbo parnent arrival in case anything happens 😂

markin

Looks like you could make a temporary room for the baby in the loft, if the first kid old enough to deal with the toilet and stairs alone yet, or very soon.

Liverpool85

No need to move from this house unless you want to. With stair gates and some room sharing initially this will work fine. 

I would have you and baby in the big middle floor bedroom until 6m

then put both kids in there shared (you could have some kind of partition but you may not be able to completly split it if one window. Kids love sharing though!) and you in the smaller bedroom: keep the loft for office and your overflow clothes etc 

then in a few years time move you to the top bedroom and both kids in the middle

Emmia

Liverpool85 said:

No need to move from this house unless you want to. With stair gates and some room sharing initially this will work fine. 

I would have you and baby in the big middle floor bedroom until 6m

then put both kids in there shared (you could have some kind of partition but you may not be able to completly split it if one window. Kids love sharing though!) and you in the smaller bedroom: keep the loft for office and your overflow clothes etc 

then in a few years time move you to the top bedroom and both kids in the middle

I hated sharing, parents had separate bedrooms which meant I had to share at one time or the other with both of my sisters - the other one always got her own room... But I was never me, with my own room. It still wrankles slightly.

Why are you obsessed with all being on the same floor for sleeping?

GDB2222

“ Why are you obsessed with all being on the same floor for sleeping?”

I don’t think it’s fair to describe it as an obsession. Whilst the children are small, it is an excellent idea for the parents to be on the same floor. 

When we moved in here, we had the younger ones on our floor, and the teenagers upstairs. That worked out reasonably well.

silvercar

GDB2222 said:

“ Why are you obsessed with all being on the same floor for sleeping?”

I don’t think it’s fair to describe it as an obsession. Whilst the children are small, it is an excellent idea for the parents to be on the same floor. 

When we moved in here, we had the younger ones on our floor, and the teenagers upstairs. That worked out reasonably well.

Have you given up on the idea of moving?

I don’t think having the kids on a lower floor is that much of an issue. Keep a low light on the stairs for safety, but it won’t take much longer to walk downstairs than along a hall away for most people.

Teapot55

I will just say that people who have small children in the family usually have a stairgate as soon as the child becomes mobile. The children are only given the chance to use the stairs when there’s an adult there to supervise. 

Khaderbhai

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas!

Re being on the same floor, our experience so far is breastfed babies do not sleep through for the first few years so there is a lot of trips to the bedroom (once they are out of our room after 6 months+) so that is more of a practical one I guess.
The loft room in this house does feel quite far away from everything else/cut off so it’s more personal preference but would prefer to all be on the same floor if that makes sense. 

GDB2222

silvercar said:

GDB2222 said:

“ Why are you obsessed with all being on the same floor for sleeping?”

I don’t think it’s fair to describe it as an obsession. Whilst the children are small, it is an excellent idea for the parents to be on the same floor. 

When we moved in here, we had the younger ones on our floor, and the teenagers upstairs. That worked out reasonably well.

Have you given up on the idea of moving?

I don’t think having the kids on a lower floor is that much of an issue. Keep a low light on the stairs for safety, but it won’t take much longer to walk downstairs than along a hall away for most people.

There are the four D's. Death, divorce, debt, and downsizing. We will have to sell eventually, but we couldn’t find anything that we liked.