I would do it for a school and location we loved. Get two of those short Ikea loft beds.

I'd let the two share.

If you want the neighborhood and you could expand the house later I would say yes.

Anonymous wrote:No way would I have a 2br with 2 kids. Yes, the kids can share if they're little, but where will Grandma and Grandpa sleep when they visit? Or other guests. Don't you want a proper space for them?

OP, we are going through the same thing and I posted a thread on this a few months ago. Have a toddler and hope to have another soon. We may end up in a 2 bedroom for a while with 2 little ones. I think it's doable and have been convinced by many others that it will work too.

I love this post - yes, I'd love to have the "proper" space for the guests that visit us a few times a year. But for the other 360 days in the year, it is more important to me to have as short a commute as possible and spend as much time with my family since both my husband and I work full time out of the home. Since we are not rich, that means living in a smaller space in the DC area. However, some really need the extra space, and that is fine too. Just don't be fooled by the American mentality that bigger is always better.

Anonymous wrote:How big are the public spaces? If there are enough places for people to be, it's doable. If there's just one small living room and no family room, den, or basement playroom, the I'd pass.

+1

Depends on how big the second bedroom is. I looked at one house with two large bedrooms on the second floor. It also had a first-floor family room/den in which we could have put a sleeper sofa for guests.

could you finish the basement and put a guest room and bath down there? You could probably make it work. So many of the colonials in Arlington have a 3rd bedroom so tiny that it's barely useable as a bedroom anyway.

We had a 2 bed 1350 sq foot house with two kids until a month or so ago. Kids are now nearly 2 and 4.5 and we just built an addition adding a bedroom and 450 sq feet. Kids still share a room but we now have three very large bedrooms. Love it! But we could have made do for longer. It depends on how big your bedrooms are and how much common space you have.

It really depends on you and your family, some people will say yes and some will say no.

In my case, I could do it. I was raised in a tiny house, so it was my norm growing up. I shared a room, and my parents didn't need an office or anything, and we lived a wonderful life. And my parents had enough money to pay for our college, since the house was paid off really early. In your case, especially since there is a basement and the possibility of an addition somewhere down the road, I would have no problem. My DH, however, grew up in a huge house, and would hate it. In fact, he hates our 4 bedroom, complaining constantly. So I wouldn't do it.

We currently have 2 (5 and 2) in a two bed condo. If we had access to outside space or a big basement for a playroom or guests it would be fine.

Anonymous wrote:We bought a 2 bedroom. One toddler and want a second. Same plan as yours. They share and later we can expand if we need to and can afford to. Two years in we are happy with our tiny home. The keys are minimalism, no clutter, storage and small furniture. I really like our location and how quick it is to clean the whole house.

+1

We have converted to minimalism and love it.

And location is huge - in the end we wanted a shorter commute more than a bigger house (that fills with more junk you don't really need).

How old are your kids? We live in a 2-bedroom with a 6 year old and a 2 year old and it's fine. We bought the house before kids but haven't wanted to move yet.

It depends on your kids too. I agree many cultures and eras have done it, but it didn't work for my 2. One never sleeps and the other needs his sleep...so the one that never sleeps now has a bed in mom and dad's room so his brother gets the sleep he needs not ideal

Anonymous wrote:Most European families do it. I am sure you'll be fine (and remind yourself that that was all you could afford).

People in NYC do it too. In Manhattan, it's pretty much impossible to find a three bdrm under 1 million below 96th St on the Eastside. Not a big deal.

Anonymous wrote:How big are the public spaces? If there are enough places for people to be, it's doable. If there's just one small living room and no family room, den, or basement playroom, the I'd pass.

Agree with this, plus 2nd bathroom (at least a toilet). We moved recently and spent a couple months in ~1000sqft with 2bed/1bath, living room, dining room, kitchen (open to DR). It was too small and we were glad to move, but it was really the 1 bath and no playroom that was killer. With a finished basement (or even not finished but could be playroom) it would have been fine.

Our house is now 3BR but we need a dedicated guest room, so kids still share and are happy with it - in fact they frequently sleep in the guest room so they can share a bed. If we stay through teen years we will try to add a bedroom, but for now sharing is great.

My husband grew up in a country where 2 kids 2 bedrooms was the norm and had to share a room with his sister and they grew up into relatively happy, well-adjusted people.