Number of rooms for family of 5

[Anonymous]

Kids can share a room as they may share a room later in life. Also, you can rotate the rooms. Every kid gets to have that one room for a year.
Kids should be out and about during the day. I remembered my own room only 8 pm when I finally made it home and had homework to do.
So, 4 is plenty unless 5-bedroom houses happen to be in your preferred neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many rooms should a house have for a family of 5 to live comfortably? 1 primary, 3 bedrooms for each kid, 1 office for working- thats’s 5 bedrooms already and it’s just the basics.

While I agree a 5 bedroom home is ideal with 3 children, it is hardly just "the basics" - what a ridiculous thing to say. That's the same as this generation saying that a luxury SUV and a very nice annual flying vacation are "middle class." I'm sure you expect the 5 bedroom home to be fully renovated also, I mean, its the bare minimum expectation. Absurd.

[Anonymous]

We have three teenagers and my husband and I both work from home in a 4 bedroom house.

I work from a desk in the master bedroom. My husband works from a section of the finished basement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many rooms should a house have for a family of 5 to live comfortably? 1 primary, 3 bedrooms for each kid, 1 office for working- thats’s 5 bedrooms already and it’s just the basics.

Pro-Tip: Add in a few bathrooms & a kitchen and you're almost there.

[Anonymous]

You also should have already thought this through before having a family of 5….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many rooms should a house have for a family of 5 to live comfortably? 1 primary, 3 bedrooms for each kid, 1 office for working- thats’s 5 bedrooms already and it’s just the basics.

While I agree a 5 bedroom home is ideal with 3 children, it is hardly just "the basics" - what a ridiculous thing to say. That's the same as this generation saying that a luxury SUV and a very nice annual flying vacation are "middle class." I'm sure you expect the 5 bedroom home to be fully renovated also, I mean, its the bare minimum expectation. Absurd.

100%

[Anonymous]

Ideally I'd want a bedroom for each kid, and office, and a guestroom, so 6.

Realistically, an office can be a guest room and/or kids can share rooms or an office could be in the primary bedroom.

[Anonymous]

My 3 brothers shared a room and had a blast! I wouldn't sacrifice any financial security, or financial comfort, in order to give each kid their own room. Certainly you realized there would be great sacrifices when you decided to have a family of 5 kids.

[Anonymous]

Kids can share a room. Eventually, as they move out, someone will get their own room. Set it up for however it works with your kid count.

Mt brother and I shared for a few years. Bunk beds made the most use of space.

I would want a dedicated office if anyone works from home. 2 1/2 baths, one in the primary bedroom. A laundry room.

A friend has 5 kids. 4 girls, one boy. The two oldest girls shared, so did the next 2. The boy has always had his own room. So 4 bedrooms. The office is a spot in the kitchen. The house is crowded but they are used to it.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 5 and we have a 3 BR house. Our oldest 2 (same gender) share a bedroom and so far (late elementary/early middle) it’s fine although we are cognizant of the need for privacy as they get older. We do have a space in our basement that is used as an office (for FT WAH parent) while kids are at school and can be converted into a guest space as needed. The kids also hang out down there, but I wouldn’t want them living down there full time.

Also, we intend to transform our basement space into more of a teen hang out area as they get older. And if needed we’ll give them “shifts” where they can hang out in their room to get privacy as needed.

I will add that this fits our lifestyle. We live in a walkable neighborhood. It’s not huge, but it’s a nicely updated home and my kids know we could afford a giant house farther out, but they have tons of friends here and love the neighborhood so they don’t want to leave. Also they are involved in competitive sports and we like to travel when there are breaks, so we’re a pretty on the go family. If we were homebodies living in the exurbs where all their friends had their own bedroom/bathroom setup then they may feel differently.

So the answer is dependent on family/location. There are wealthy families in luxury apartments with kids sharing rooms in NYC but the trade off is different compared to a kid sharing a room in a tiny house in a rural area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of 5 and we have a 3 BR house. Our oldest 2 (same gender) share a bedroom and so far (late elementary/early middle) it’s fine although we are cognizant of the need for privacy as they get older. We do have a space in our basement that is used as an office (for FT WAH parent) while kids are at school and can be converted into a guest space as needed. The kids also hang out down there, but I wouldn’t want them living down there full time.

Also, we intend to transform our basement space into more of a teen hang out area as they get older. And if needed we’ll give them “shifts” where they can hang out in their room to get privacy as needed.

I will add that this fits our lifestyle. We live in a walkable neighborhood. It’s not huge, but it’s a nicely updated home and [/b]my kids know we could afford a giant house farther out,[b] but they have tons of friends here and love the neighborhood so they don’t want to leave. Also they are involved in competitive sports and we like to travel when there are breaks, so we’re a pretty on the go family. If we were homebodies living in the exurbs where all their friends had their own bedroom/bathroom setup then they may feel differently.

So the answer is dependent on family/location. There are wealthy families in luxury apartments with kids sharing rooms in NYC but the trade off is different compared to a kid sharing a room in a tiny house in a rural area.

I find this comment very interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of 5 and we have a 3 BR house. Our oldest 2 (same gender) share a bedroom and so far (late elementary/early middle) it’s fine although we are cognizant of the need for privacy as they get older. We do have a space in our basement that is used as an office (for FT WAH parent) while kids are at school and can be converted into a guest space as needed. The kids also hang out down there, but I wouldn’t want them living down there full time.

Also, we intend to transform our basement space into more of a teen hang out area as they get older. And if needed we’ll give them “shifts” where they can hang out in their room to get privacy as needed.

I will add that this fits our lifestyle. We live in a walkable neighborhood. It’s not huge, but it’s a nicely updated home and my kids know we could afford a giant house farther out, but they have tons of friends here and love the neighborhood so they don’t want to leave. Also they are involved in competitive sports and we like to travel when there are breaks, so we’re a pretty on the go family. If we were homebodies living in the exurbs where all their friends had their own bedroom/bathroom setup then they may feel differently.

So the answer is dependent on family/location. There are wealthy families in luxury apartments with kids sharing rooms in NYC but the trade off is different compared to a kid sharing a room in a tiny house in a rural area.

Fixing the bold

[Anonymous]

We are an empty nester family of 5 with a 5BR house. Each DC has own room and we have an office taking up the 5th BR that we never use.

Absolutely would have been fine with a 4 BR house. I like to work at my kitchen table and DC always did homework there too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't any of the kids share a bedroom?

Is that fair to the kids as they get older? Not having any privacy?

Having your own bedroom is a privilege, not a necessity. I taught my kids to appreciate having a bedroom to themselves becuase not everyone does. I lived with my grandmother for a few years in my teens. My two Aunts and I shared one bedroom. There were 4 kids and 3 adults; house had 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. We made it work.

[Anonymous]

My preference would be ideally a master bedroom, 1 room for each of the kids, a guest room and a dedicated office. So 6 bedrooms or 5 and a den.