Anonymous wrote:You don't need anything. Plenty of families in this world live in a house smaller than that room. Even within the DCUM world, there are plenty of us (including my family) who have two children sharing bedrooms about that size. (Actually the shared bedroom is about 9 x 15.) My childhood room was smaller than that, and my college dorm room was even smaller.

Of course, you have to decide your priorities in terms of cost and location, but I personally would find that house mansion-like.

+1

I think 8 x 13 is fine, especially for a 4th bedroom. It's fine for a younger kids room, a guest room, or an office, and I think it adds more value to your home vs. a sitting room in your master.

Anonymous wrote:

Won't you lose room to the door swing and the closet? It's going to be very small, the issue is the width of 8 feet (even 9 x 12 would be better). Even in our 1 story rambler (which always has that annoying small bedroom) it was 9 x 10

'

Our little room is 9.5x12 and it's small. It's my office. The door and the closet are on one wall. The door swing is roughly 2 feet and the closet is 6'. In hindsight, we should have made the closet smaller but it really wouldn't have matter since it's on the same wall as the door. What can you do with 1-2' of open floor space?

In my office, is my desk on one wall and my credenza against the opposite wall. That's it. And there's not much space for anything else in here.

Visually, I can see how a twin bed and a small dresser would fit in here. But not a full bed. And there's would not be that much open floor space.

I like the idea of the 4th bedroom, but ours is really small once you put the furniture in it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine that you are building a small new home in a close in neighborhood where small homes and small bedrooms are common. Imagine that a potential plan calls for 3 good-sized bedrooms (and 2 bathrooms) upstairs, including a large master bedroom and a sitting room, but that you could make some minor changes and keep the 3 bd while adding a small 4th bedroom -- 8x13 -- while getting rid of the sitting room. Given that you already have 3 beds, would including such a small 4 bd be a plus? Neutral? Or a minus?

The basement would have an additional guest bedroom at some point in the future.

8 x 13 is fine. Cut square footage off an adjoining kids bedroom for generous closets. Use a dresser and a small desk as night tables just the small dresser. Since this room was the master sitting room there is no reason you couldn't also use it as a sitting room or office. We had such a room and preferred that to the master sitting room we have now. Close the door and shut off the office mess. I'd like to frame out a WIC for DH and put a window in his current WIC with a full door so all work and other docs are in a room with a door.

The master sitting room then will look great. In our smaller house with the small room we had a door to the hall and the master bedroom. If you have 5 people [2 adults and 3 kids] that can be very useful since they will traipse thru your room to use it anyway.

Won't you lose room to the door swing and the closet? It's going to be very small, the issue is the width of 8 feet (even 9 x 12 would be better). Even in our 1 story rambler (which always has that annoying small bedroom) it was 9 x 10

We have a 10x13 and it is fine. We have a full sized bed, a dresser, one night stand and enough room to play on the floor. It is not a palace but fine for our 6 yr old and I think it will suit him for a few years.

8x13 just means a twin bed instead of a full. Use an online room planner. It really helped b/c I could not envision how everything would fit.

I meant 2 doors to the master bath-also stay away from closets that are only accessible via the bathroom. Too many houses have that plan which is silly.

Anonymous wrote:Imagine that you are building a small new home in a close in neighborhood where small homes and small bedrooms are common. Imagine that a potential plan calls for 3 good-sized bedrooms (and 2 bathrooms) upstairs, including a large master bedroom and a sitting room, but that you could make some minor changes and keep the 3 bd while adding a small 4th bedroom -- 8x13 -- while getting rid of the sitting room. Given that you already have 3 beds, would including such a small 4 bd be a plus? Neutral? Or a minus?

The basement would have an additional guest bedroom at some point in the future.

8 x 13 is fine. Cut square footage off an adjoining kids bedroom for generous closets. Use a dresser and a small desk as night tables just the small dresser. Since this room was the master sitting room there is no reason you couldn't also use it as a sitting room or office. We had such a room and preferred that to the master sitting room we have now. Close the door and shut off the office mess. I'd like to frame out a WIC for DH and put a window in his current WIC with a full door so all work and other docs are in a room with a door.

The master sitting room then will look great. In our smaller house with the small room we had a door to the hall and the master bedroom. If you have 5 people [2 adults and 3 kids] that can be very useful since they will traipse thru your room to use it anyway.

"What is this? A bedroom for ants?"

I'd go with the fourth bedroom. It doubles as an office, play room, or can be added back to the master as a sitting room (though I've never used such a space, it tends to become the home of unused gym equipment which I really prefer not to have in my bedroom) should one desire.

Anonymous wrote:I don't see an issue with it. I actually have a sitting room off of my master bedroom and I hate it. Waste of space. I never want to sit by myself in my bedroom (and if I do, I normally just sit in bed and read, not on the sitting room couches).

So I vote wholeheartedly for the 4th bedroom!!! I would prefer anything over the sitting room.

I agree. Take the 4th bedroom..way better than sharing a room.

Anonymous wrote:I think sitting rooms are a waste of space. When would I use that?

I use the sitting room off our BR, and I like it, but I would go for the 4th bedroom in a heartbeat.

OP, how high would the 2nd floor ceilings be? The kid in our tiny bedroom has a loft bed and is the envy of his brothers.

Not to small to add value for resale. We just bought a small townhouse in DC with 2 beds and an upstairs "den" which if walled off, would be 8x10. We were happy to have the den because the house is really small and it gives us another space for kid stuff/tv. But we were talking to our realtor and all agree that open "den" spaces add zero value for resale. We discussed ideas we might do down the road when we ultimately sell, and debated converting it to a large walk in closet for the master, versus slap up a wall and call it a third bedroom without a closet. She highly highly recommended adding a wall (even if just with a sliding door) because in dense neighborhoods there is no problem calling this a third bedroom. And then you get people over to the house who might not have had a 2 bedroom hit on their search engine, and then they can ultimately decide what to do with the space - whether office, den, or small bedroom. This wouldn't work if you live, in say, Manassas where the houses are giant. But where space matters, third bedrooms are third bedrooms -and most of us just use them for sleeping.

Way too small especially for a new build. Our small room is 10.5 x 12 and is almost too small. A standard room should be st least 12 x 12. The ideal for non master I'd 14 x 12

My 3rd BR is 8'x8'4". So I think 8'x13x is awesome, especially since you've got a closet in there. Plenty of room for a twin, a dresser (which could also be tucked in the closet), and play stuff. Put the youngest in there, and when the oldest goes off to college, switch rooms.

8' is very narrow. Can you pop out the exterior wall with a 24" deep bay to get some extra space in the room.