room sizes- new build design. Bedrooms too small?

MizMix

We are designing a new house. 185m2 at the moment and due to price hikes we were trying to stick to that to prevent cost to build going above what we can afford. Love the design our architect has done but I'm afraid we may be trying to squeeze too much in upstairs- we asked for 4 bedrooms - the upstairs is smaller than downstairs. 2 of the kids bedrooms are only 2.7 x 2.9metres. I think this is very small? Just thinking of when they are teenagers and need to study- I grew up with a large bedroom so I suppose I would like them to have their own adequate personal space. We are just about to have a 2nd child so the 3rd may never happen! And sure they can always room share when they are young. Starting to think we need to loose a room and make more room for other rooms upstairs. Master bed/ensuite/walk in wadrobe is a lovely size I think but the main bathroom is also v small at 2.7 x 1.8 m ? We also have a laundry upstairs which could probably do with another half metre at least.

No issues downstairs- lovely large open plan kitchen/dining/living area, office, w/c, storage for coats/shoes etc, TV room (timeshared as a playroom when kids are young- and could be turned into a bedroom for a 3rd child if this did happen and eventually a TV room when kids leave). Architect has done a great job by making the most of the 185m2 but just afraid a few of the rooms upstairs are going to end up a bit 'pokey'. I'm all for more streamlined living, timesharing rooms if possible etc. We're only going to do this once and the other side is perhaps we should add another 10 metre squared - although that's not going to make a massive difference either yet will push up prices a fair bit given recent price hikes.

Would love some input especially if the kids bedrooms seem very tight? Does anyone know of an online resource which gives recommended room size (i.e. ideal design wise, for comfort etc).

galwaytt

Fewer rooms and make them bigger, every time. The sizes you mention are too small. When you add in furniture, desks, wardrobes etc.

When you consider a 4 bed house 30 years ago was 120 sq m, 185 now is more than enough. I suspect you've a lot of open plan downstairs, so I think your expansion plan for GF is a good idea.

gooner99

Agree with the above.bedrooms are a bit on the small size,especially if most are that size.I think I would reduce it to 3 and give yourself better sizes bedrooms and bathroom.one thing I would note is that it is always a good future proofing idea to have the option of a bedroom on the ground floor for later years.You should bear this in mind and ensure the tv room is a decent size to use as a bedroom and that you have decent sized shower facilities on the ground floor also.I know its looking far ahead and you are still young,but I've seen so many new houses with the bedrooms and showers upstairs only which will likely result in the couple having to move in later years if one or both can't manage the stairs anymore. Best of luck, take your time over the design.

MizMix

Thanks both. Yes we're mid 30's but I'm very conscious of future planning (husbands dad for instance can't go upstairs anymore in his house). So we have the option of the living room or the office downstairs being converted to a bedroom. The downstairs WC is large enough for a shower. Our laundry is upstairs which isn't a popular choice here- I really like the idea as reality is we rarely hang clothes out in this climate (and I hate watching for rain!) but due to a larger ground floor we should be able to bring it downstairs later if needs be.

The architect met our brief and we simply requested too much for that- and yes including a very large open plan kitchen/dining/living) separate TV room (playroom when kids are young) and an office. Agree we def need to loose a room upstairs of expand a bit.

Galway TT a quick question if you don't mind as you seem to have a good knowledge of costings and work with Q surveyors. Obviously more m2 equals increase in cost. But surely not every metre squared is the same? So by expanding a few rooms in size (without needing bigger windows etc) surely the cost per square metre isn't increasing as much as say adding a new room or expanding a kitchen for instance? Or adding a new bathroom etc? So adding a extra 100m2 could be below the house average of say 1100/1200 per square metre? Sorry a bit long winded so hope you know what I mean!

gooner99

If you look online at Swedish house designs (there are quite a few that have plans) you will notice that instead of our usual utility room they have a luandry room which is most of the time beside the bedrooms.Makes perfect sense in your case if you are all going to sleep/shower/change upstairs and don't hang out your clothes. Not sure if you would have your washing machine and dryer up there. Something I'm wondering myself too is that if you have a condensing dryer then the MHRV in theory could extract the heat produced and distribute it around the house.

One thing I will stress is ensure you build as thermally efficient as possible, insulation and air tightness are money well spent as opposed to an expensive heating system.

MizMix

You can have a washer/dryer up there - most Irish people are put off by the risk of a bad leak. But it is such a small risk and from reading what they do in the states (drain and pan underneath) it helps avoid risk. Although noise is also a factor so we need to look into that too before making up our minds for sure. On nice days we'll carry the washed clothes down- with a typical utility downstairs you are carrying the dirty clothes downstairs to wash and back up again anyway so that doesn't put us off at all. I'll admit I did think 'no way' at first but the more I thought about it I like it- just need to read a bit more on mitigating the risk associated with leaks, noise issues etc. And also if it costs much more to do this!

Think the min BER for a house now will be B1 given current regulations and we're aiming for an A3 and as airtight as possible- our house shape probably isn't the most efficient. I've already spent all weekend researching and evaluating our plans!! But like you said it's worth spending that extra time at the design stage!

gooner99

MizMix wrote: »

You can have a washer/dryer up there - most Irish people are put off by the risk of a bad leak. But it is such a small risk and from reading what they do in the states (drain and pan underneath) it helps avoid risk. Although noise is also a factor so we need to look into that too before making up our minds for sure. On nice days we'll carry the washed clothes down- with a typical utility downstairs you are carrying the dirty clothes downstairs to wash and back up again anyway so that doesn't put us off at all. I'll admit I did think 'no way' at first but the more I thought about it I like it- just need to read a bit more on mitigating the risk associated with leaks, noise issues etc. And also if it costs much more to do this!

Think the min BER for a house now will be B1 given current regulations and we're aiming for an A3 and as airtight as possible- our house shape probably isn't the most efficient. I've already spent all weekend researching and evaluating our plans!! But like you said it's worth spending that extra time at the design stage!

Yes you could use the upstairs laundry room for airing,ironing etc even if you don't put the washer/dryer up there.

We got planning for a 240sqm house during to boom. Glad we held back by good luck. We've since thought more about what we wanted, but more importantly what we really needed and revised down to 140sqm and we still ended up with the same number of bedrooms, just one less living room. It took us 4 drafts second time around,where as first time it was pretty much from looking at other peoples plans and amending them a bit. But sounds like you've done your homework already.Lots of good advice on here, it's excellent to have a forum like this.

galwaytt

MizMix wrote: »

Thanks both. Yes we're mid 30's but I'm very conscious of future planning (husbands dad for instance can't go upstairs anymore in his house). So we have the option of the living room or the office downstairs being converted to a bedroom. The downstairs WC is large enough for a shower. Our laundry is upstairs which isn't a popular choice here- I really like the idea as reality is we rarely hang clothes out in this climate (and I hate watching for rain!) but due to a larger ground floor we should be able to bring it downstairs later if needs be.

The architect met our brief and we simply requested too much for that- and yes including a very large open plan kitchen/dining/living) separate TV room (playroom when kids are young) and an office. Agree we def need to loose a room upstairs of expand a bit.

Galway TT a quick question if you don't mind as you seem to have a good knowledge of costings and work with Q surveyors. Obviously more m2 equals increase in cost. But surely not every metre squared is the same? So by expanding a few rooms in size (without needing bigger windows etc) surely the cost per square metre isn't increasing as much as say adding a new room or expanding a kitchen for instance? Or adding a new bathroom etc? So adding a extra 100m2 could be below the house average of say 1100/1200 per square metre? Sorry a bit long winded so hope you know what I mean!

Oh that it was that easy ! - but no, for estimate purposes the cost per m2 is the same. Whether you call it a play room or kitchen the cost to build is the same. Same foundations, walls, roof etc. Same heating.
So no. Work off the same numbers, otherwise you're just trying to talk yourself into something in the hope of a positive result.

Curious Geroge

MizMix wrote: »

You can have a washer/dryer up there - most Irish people are put off by the risk of a bad leak. But it is such a small risk and from reading what they do in the states (drain and pan underneath) it helps avoid risk. !

we've done this in our own build. I don't expect noise to be an issue. .

MizMix

Curious George do you have concrete floors upstairs?