Cool idea or bad idea?

[va32h]

It seems to me that you have alot of extra stuff that you could possibly move elsewhere. I too think if you got one of those loft beds, you could move the desk under there and save some room. Also use a divider curtain or something so the oldest has some privacy.

I know and totally understand you wanting to have a room for your mom, is there a way that you could move the play kitchen and some of the younger one's toys in there in a corner or so? Your youngest could go in there and play when grandmom isn't staying with you, and then when she is staying with you, you could move them into the corner of the living room, if it's only for a few months. I think decluttering is the best, especially if you have an extra room that is only used a few months out of the year.

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Loft beds are too wide to fit into that space. If they are wider than three feet (and a twin mattress is over 3ft in itself), it's too wide. I tried to explain the dimensions in a post above.

I don't do toys in the living room. I realize that's not for everyone, but that's how I was brought up and that's how I like to have my house. The kids are certainly welcome to play in the living room but all their "stuff" has to go back to their rooms at the end of the day.

And we do have other guests - my MIL, sister, father, stray soldiers that my husband brings home...it's not as if that room is sealed off and never used any other time.

I'm comfortable with the decisions I've made regarding who sleeps where at this point and am really just going to focus on how to make the girls' room comfortable and fun for them. The room isn't really cluttered. It might sound that way in a list, but when I walk in the room, there is plenty of space and it doesn't look crowded at all.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

[/IMG]

Does it look something like this??

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I was going to suggest leaving the girls sharing a bedroom, but setting the alcove up as a place just for your older dd to get away. You could put her clothes in there, but how about a desk and a reading/hang out area. I wouldn't get the chair. If she has friends over is there enough room they can sleep in sleeping bags in there?

 

[va32h]

No, flip that long piece on its side. Here is my rough sketch, and not to scale:

The alcove used to be the dining room and the bedroom itself used to be the formal living room. There are 3ft of wallspace on either side of the opening between the bedroom and the alcove.

 

[familyS]

I can't see the photos while I am viewing from work, and haven't read all of the posts, but have a suggestion that may help.
My sister and I shared a very large bedroom for about 3 years. It was about 10 x 24. We placed our mirrored dresser back to back to divide the room. The closet was on my sister's side and the door was on my side, so we did have to walk through each other's space. It still worked out very well. Maybe you could use the existing furniture to provide them separate spaces.

Edited to add, I could see your sketch after I posted. I would consider removing the walls between the alcove and bedroom if they are not load bearing. You'll have plenty of room to use my above suggestion. You could also place a couple bookcases back to back, since that room looks wide (I know it's not to scale).

 

[irishbosoxfan]

[/IMG]



Remove the closet doors and put the top of the bed in it then arrange her furniture around it--this keeps the doorway accessible

Hang beads or folding door between alcove and main room and she has some privacy.

Leave bookcases and desk in main room.

Or just remove the closet doors and hang some beads--she's not really going to care if her bed blocks a little of the doorway.

 

[poohandwendy]

Can the younger DD use a youth bed for now, maybe? Then, because youth beds are so much smaller, she could have the alcove part for her bedroom and the older DD could use part of the main room as her part. I would put in a room divider, to keep older DDs bed private (I think a loft bed would be perfect for the older DD). Then you could have some of the main room for shared space...each could have their own areas (like the toy area against one wall and maybe the DDs desk,etc on another wall:

rough idea of what I am suggesting, the main room could be configured a bunch of ways:

 

[Stepht5]

In two years they will be 14 & 6. Can you really see them still sharing=a teen with a 2nd grader?

My oldest 2 girls did and they have turned out just fine -- the older one is in her 20's now and hte younger one is 16........ I shared a room form the time I was 2 until I left the house (when getting married). I turned out just fine! LOL!

 

[Imzadi]

The twin mattress is slightly over three feet wide, and that's just the mattress, without the actual bed frame, which is well over three feet.

What if you got a different bedframe? Or just set the mattress on the boxspring on the floor, no frame?

Another thought is, do you really need the closet to function as a closet? What if it's turned into a recessed area for books & toys, that is used less often or not at all. This way you'd have that wall to place furniture against. Get an armoire for the clothes, that you could place anywhere in the room.

 

[Darcy03231]

It has sort of odd dimensions, but I'll try to explain. The main room is 14ft X 16ft, your standard box.

The alcove is approx. 8ft wide, and 14ft long, but on the 14ft side, it is not a solid stretch of wall. It's 3ft of wall, 8ft of doorway, 3ft of wall. On the opposite side of the room, it's 3ft of wall, 8ft of closet w/bifold doors and 3ft of wall.

I showed this to DH (he's a contractor) and he had a couple of suggestions.

1) Move the 8' doorway from between the alcove and the bedroom and make a standard doorway on one end (80" x 30"). According to him its a pretty simple thing to do. It will involve some reframing and drywall. This way you would have a long wall of approximately 11.5 feet making the space much more usable.

2) Fill the doorway from the bedroom to the alcove in alltogether and put a doorway in from the kitchen to the alcove. Again, according to him, a simple thing to do (framing and drywall). This would give you a 14' foot wall to work with in the alcove.

From the sounds of it you have a 2 bedroom house. By doing either one of these things it would give you a 3 bedroom house (since you already have a closet in there) which could increase the value of your home for very little outlay.

 

[fltwinmom]

Hmm... I'll have to think about this one. I'm kinda swamped at work right now, but I'll take home the sketches and the dimensions you gave me and work on it.

Also, as the question from every designer is: how much are you willing to spend? THAT will ultimately be the final condition on what is possible and what is not.

Take a picture of the space if you have time and PM me.

 

[Hedy]

I think the pull-out Ikea chair would be fine-esp. as she gets older she'll find a lot of her peers have beds like that.

 

[PaulaSB12]

OMG! Not "someone". My MOTHER! My 72 year old mother. Heck yes, the comfort of my elderly mother comes before the comfort of my perfectly healthy 12 year old.

And FWIW, my kids adore their grandmother and would never dream of turning her out of "her" room. They ask all the time when she is coming back.

Oh - and by the by - she stays with us because she cannot afford to live on her own, having stayed home to raise five children for most of her adult life she doesn't have much Social Security. She takes turns staying with me and my other siblings.

My mom has worked hard all her life and done more for me than I could possibly say - she deserves the respect and comfort of her own personal space. Yes, she deserves that more than a child does.

How about this one make up the alcove with the chair bed in for your daughter to stay in when her grandmother comes to stay, but let her use the spare bedroom when grandmother is not using it.

 

[va32h]

I showed this to DH (he's a contractor) and he had a couple of suggestions.

1) Move the 8' doorway from between the alcove and the bedroom and make a standard doorway on one end (80" x 30"). According to him its a pretty simple thing to do. It will involve some reframing and drywall. This way you would have a long wall of approximately 11.5 feet making the space much more usable.

2) Fill the doorway from the bedroom to the alcove in alltogether and put a doorway in from the kitchen to the alcove. Again, according to him, a simple thing to do (framing and drywall). This would give you a 14' foot wall to work with in the alcove.

From the sounds of it you have a 2 bedroom house. By doing either one of these things it would give you a 3 bedroom house (since you already have a closet in there) which could increase the value of your home for very little outlay.

I don't think my landlord would let me do that! Sorry, I should have mentioned that we rent. But thank you for the suggestions!

There are three bedrooms down the hall; the master with attached bath and two other bedrooms across from that. I also have a son, and he occupies the other bedroom.

We rearranged the room this afternoon, moving everything but the beds. So far, everyone likes the new setup - dd12 has a place to sit and read or just hang out (I put an easychair from the living room in there for now) and she will just get back in her bunk to sleep. I really don't think she cares much about total privacy while she is actually asleep!

Thanks for all the ideas guys.

 

[aprilgail2]

Couldn't you just use the space in your spare room for the toys while your mother is not there-that would free up space for the bedroom and the older daughter wouldn't have her space cluttered with kiddie toys. We don't do toys in the bedroom here-the toys stay in the playroom or in the rec room in the basement not in the bedrooms. You could use the guest room as a playroom for the months your mother is not there and have much more room to split the other room into 2 areas for the other 2 kids.
Thats actually a big room, its to bad that you can't put up another wall and divide it into 2 for the kids.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Sounds like a very creative way to use the space you have. Your older DD has a space to be that sounds like a cool hang out.

I think it is awesome that your family shares your Mom. By keeping that space for her, it represents to Mom and the family the value you place on her stays. Kudos to you!

 

[MareQ]

What about a loft bed that goes across the doorway? She'll have to slightly duck to get under it - but not by much and it will enhance the privacy for her as only a small portion of her bed will be able to be seen from the main room - kwim?

 

[7beasley]

Hi

You have gotten lots of good suggestions so far - I will throw in my 2 cents.

What about taking off the closet door and then blocking 1/2 or less than 1/2 of the closet space with the bed -- your daughter would most likely still be able to access the closet - I am guessing she would have 1-2 feet to get at the closet still.

Good luck == I am sure you will figure something out and it will work great -- keep us posted!!