Home trends of lofts instead of walled bedrooms

[LuvOrlando]

Anyone know why open lofts instead of closed bedrooms is such a trend?

I keep seeing giant open spaces on the second floor that could easily be rooms but they are just left open and I simply don't get it. I can't imagine the benefit. The noise will be awful and will amplify all the sound. It will make temp in the home super difficult to manage as all the heat will collect up there in the summer and winter. Then there is the obvious issue of privacy and not being able to use it for sleeping quietly or dressing with privacy, even disallowing it as a private workspace or permitting another family member to watch their own TV shows. I can't see it being useful in any way on the second floor although I do like wide open concept a lot on the mail floor that allows a lot of choices for living space use.

Is this a zoning benefit thing? Is this an insurance benefit thing because bedrooms drive up value and the goal is to keep it cheap? There has to be a nuts and bolts reason because the space seems like such a bad idea but I keep seeing it and it is even in renovations.

 

[Christine]

I bought my house in 1994 and I have an open living room up to the second floor. It has not caused the noise or heating/cooling problems you cite; however, for sure, I could have had a bedroom above my living room and had a ceiling there instead. In hindsight, sure, I would have liked more space on my seond floor but it hasn't been a huge deal.

I think the draw of it is that it creates an openness and feeling that people were looking for back then. My builder was still doing 8 ft ceilings then so I think that's part of it. Live in a colonial with lower ceilings and nothing open, and it's a bit closed up feeling and that was the cause for this. Shortly after that, I started seeing standard 9 and 10 ft ceiling builds which made all difference.

 

[neverlandsky]

Playroom for littles or a media/gaming room for teens/young adults/adults. Second living room area off the main bedroom if upstairs. Also, from a builder's standpoint it's cheaper for open spaces vs. putting up walls. It's also an illusion that make the home seem bigger as well. Don't like the open concept that's everywhere.

 

[BrianL]

I like lofts, but not as a proper bedroom. They are good as a media room or hobby area, etc.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

When we were looking at houses a few years ago we saw one where the master bedroom had a loft area in/above the bedroom. Was a strange space that I couldn’t figure out how we’d utilize. Not a fan.

 

[barkley]

Is this a zoning benefit thing? Is this an insurance benefit thing because bedrooms drive up value and the goal is to keep it cheap? There has to be a nuts and bolts reason because the space seems like such a bad idea but I keep seeing it and it is even in renovations.

where i live you are more apt to see it with a wide open finished basement but i have seen it with some lofts as well-and yes, it can be a zoning or cost saving thing. fewer legal bedrooms results in lower value for property taxes. there's also restrictions on how many bedrooms can be built on a given lot depending on how the sewage is set up. it's not unusual around us to see houses that are legaly fewer bedrooms than they actualy are lived in as.

 

[Robber Baron]

The lofts are sometimes dramatic but I don't really see them as practical unless the house is occupied with just a couple, no kids. Frequently the lofts I've seen are the master, oops, primary bedroom and I just can't relate to that setup.

I was in a construction related industry and I have seen A LOT of projects where people are closing in those 2 or 3 story foyers because they are a waste of space <opinion> and the space can be used much better making upstairs rooms larger, or, adding walk in closets, larger bathrooms, etc.

I have done work on one 30,000 sq ft house where the 3 kids all had bedrooms with lofts. You would walk into their large bedrooms then turn around to see a spiral staircase leading up to the sleeping area.

 

[kdonnel]

Looking at new homes used to be me and my wife's favorite hobby.

Then the 2009 housing crisis hit and there were so few new neighborhoods being built it was not fun anymore. Years later when construction started booming again we just never started back visiting all the new neighborhoods.

In any event loft style space has been popular since at least the early 2000s.

When we were looking at homes it was common to have one loft or three sided room on the second floor that was decorated as a kids playroom, office, or media room.

When we built our two story home floor plan in 2005 we paid to have the foyer and family room floored over rather than waste the space.

What would have been a grand two story foyer became another bathroom for an upstairs bedroom and an upstairs laundry room.

What would have been a grand two story family room became a large open loft space we called and used as a playroom. We never put any furniture in the room other than a tv and entertainment center. Our kids and the neighbors kids made great use of the large open space letting their imaginations run wild.

 

[tvguy]

6 of the 36 houses in my subdivision were built as 2 story homes with lofts opening over the living room. Same floor plan. They were built by the same builder 1976 to 1979. None of them has a loft anymore, owners have remodeled the loft out of the floor plan. Some just put a wall up, one put in an 8 foot ceiling in the living and put an office and a game room in what had been dead air space.

 

[barkley]

Looking at new homes used to be me and my wife's favorite hobby.

Then the 2009 housing crisis hit and there were so few new neighborhoods being built it was not fun anymore. Years later when construction started booming again we just never started back visiting all the new neighborhoods.

In any event loft style space has been popular since at least the early 2000s.

When we were looking at homes it was common to have one loft or three sided room on the second floor that was decorated as a kids playroom, office, or media room.

When we built our two story home floor plan in 2005 we paid to have the foyer and family room floored over rather than waste the space.

What would have been a grand two story foyer became another bathroom for an upstairs bedroom and an upstairs laundry room.

What would have been a grand two story family room became a large open loft space we called and used as a playroom. We never put any furniture in the room other than a tv and entertainment center. Our kids and the neighbors kids made great use of the large open space letting their imaginations run wild.

the last time we rented (in between selling and locating one to buy) it was one of those homes built in the very late 90's/early 2000's with the massive high ceilings in the entry and living room. looked impressive but the lost space it could have afforded the second story was criminal. if that space had been floored in as you did it would have permitted much better bedroom size (thankfully our kids were small at the time-i can't imagine fitting an average sized teen in unless they had a loft style bunkbed with a desk built underneath) and something more than the crazy small 'hall cabinets' (just deep enough for a full size towel to fit ).
it would not have felt claustrophibic in the entry or living room at all (the dining, kitchen and familyroom had lower cielings and they felt fine).

it was the style back in those days though, along with the plant shelves and other inset nooks and crannies where my kid's helium balloons drifted off to die

 

[Imzadi]

Lofts were becoming a trend here in NYC in the mid-80s to 90s as vacant industrial buildings in Manhattan were being gutted and re-zoned for residential living. Living in a Soho loft was the "in" thing, especially for artists who painted large canvases. They could live and work in the same place. And I suppose, they could move some of the walls as necessary, over ones that were attached to the ceiling and other walls. It was so artsy or bohemian chic.

I remember looking at a couple lofts. But the lack of full walls, privacy and the containment of noises, especially as I'd have roommates at that time, were what turned me off of loft stye living.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Lofts were becoming a trend here in NYC in the mid-80s to 90s as vacant industrial buildings in Manhattan were being gutted and re-zoned for residential living. Living in a Soho loft was the "in" thing, especially for artists who painted large canvases. They could live and work in the same place. And I suppose, they could move some of the walls as necessary, over ones that were attached to the ceiling and other walls. It was so artsy or bohemian chic.

I remember looking at a couple lofts. But the lack of full walls, privacy and the containment of noises, especially as I'd have roommates at that time, were what turned me off of loft stye living.

City Lofts were super cool, still are I'm sure.

These suburban lofts are very different, I'm seeing stuff like this instead of extra bedrooms

 

[Imzadi]

Lofts were becoming a trend here in NYC in the mid-80s to 90s as vacant industrial buildings in Manhattan were being gutted and re-zoned for residential living. Living in a Soho loft was the "in" thing, especially for artists who painted large canvases. They could live and work in the same place. And I suppose, they could move some of the walls as necessary, over ones that were attached to the ceiling and other walls. It was so artsy or bohemian chic.

City Lofts were super cool, still are I'm sure.

These suburban lofts are very different, I'm seeing stuff like this instead of extra bedrooms

View attachment 876902View attachment 876903View attachment 876904

Oh wow, I didn't know that is the new layout. Thanks for taking time to post pics.

It seems like something more towards communal living. Where residents on each floor get a communal space, where an extra bedroom or study would usually be. Maybe that would work if a parent or grandparent moved in, instead of having the MIL house in the back. They get some privacy, yet you get to keep an eye on them too. Yet, I wouldn't want people talking right outside my bedroom as I'm working or watching TV, even if they are family members.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Oh wow, I didn't know that is the new layout. Thanks for taking time to post pics.

It seems like something more towards communal living. Where residents on each floor get a communal space, where an extra bedroom or study would usually be. Maybe that would work if a parent or grandparent moved in, instead of having the MIL house in the back. They get some privacy, yet you get to keep an eye on them too. Yet, I wouldn't want people talking right outside my bedroom as I'm working or watching TV, even if they are family members.

The communal living is a vibe I got too, that is a good observation. Some of the homes felt like they were being built to adapt to moving several families under one roof where each floor had at least one bedroom space for it's own living room and all with a full bathroom and closets. I suspect this became a thing during quarantine but it seems super clunky and tough to pivot outside of that specific situation. Like I walk through and it feels odd to have so many sitting room spaces all over the place. To be honest though, even to have a bunch of families in one place it seems like it would cause conflict to have no sound barriers and no doors to close never-mind wanting private space to wall off from germs.

More I think on it I do wonder if having fewer bedrooms offsets the surges in insurance premiums the past few years and builders are just doing this to make the square footage more affordable?

 

[Imzadi]

More I think on it I do wonder if having fewer bedrooms offsets the surges in insurance premiums the past few years and builders are just doing this to make the square footage more affordable?

Could be. I heard that a home with more bedrooms costs more than one the same size with one less bedroom. Maybe, due to the interest rate not going down the past few years, builders found a way to make buying a home more affordable. One can always get rid of that extra livingroom and put up a couple sheetrock walls & a door and turn it into a bedroom later.

 

[kdonnel]

Maybe, due to the interest rate not going down the past few years, builders found a way to make buying a home more affordable.

While it might be a new concept in your area, new construction has been building homes like pictured for 25 or so years in the Metro Atlanta area.

 

[morgan98]

I too live in Metro Atlanta and these upstairs lofts/bonus areas have been common for a very long time.

I have read nothing into it, except that it could be used as a playroom or a secondary sitting area/common area/study. I have been in plenty of homes that have these common areas that still have five bedrooms, so I really do not feel like they are replacing bedrooms with these areas.

I have walked through new construction, as recently as this weekend, where the homes have these rooms upstairs. However, some are more inclosed than others. I do not mean with a door, but more tucked away upstairs as opposed to at the very top of the stairs. I agree that the rooms at the top of the stairs may have limited use in that if someone had a TV on it would probably disrupt whatever is going on on the main floor.

 

[shh]

While it might be a new concept in your area, new construction has been building homes like pictured for 25 or so years in the Metro Atlanta area.

We had a house like this in the early '70s. Definitely NOT a new concept

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I have only seen pics of this, never in real life. For DH & I, we'd love it. No kids. We don't have people spend the night (we don't even have a guest bed for people to stay at). So I could see it as a great concept with 2 "normal" bedrooms on the first floor. We'd use those like we do now. One is almost like a craft room, or it was back in the day when I scrapbooked now I do puzzles in it, wrap presents, build lego, etc. The other bedroom is an office. Then we'd have a big bedroom in the loft and it'd seem so much more open. We don't watch separate TV shows and we don't get up or go to bed at different times. So for us, I think it'd be perfect.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Was seriously looking at houses a few weeks ago (not anymore, THAT's a whole different set of drama). 3300 sq. ft. and all had the 'bonus room". it was modeled as a game room. Like I would whip my guests up the stairs (hello, umbrella policy) and then have them use the upstairs bathrooms...(I don't have littles but if I did...). Stupid waste of space - especially the ones that were ringed by stairs with open railings - I can only see it as a giant playroom IF solid walls or railings were netted.