I would also focus on getting the window in before you do anything else.

No window? too DANGEROUS to make this a kids' room with bunk beds.

Fire burns are scars for life, Docs SCRUB & pick the blackened & white toasted layers of skin away- called "debridement"- aka. Torture that reoccurs every two weeks

IF you survive

Please put a proper sized window for exit purposes first. That room is a fire trap.

The space is cute and will be cuter and more valued with a window or door for egress. That should be the priority.

Did you have an inspector check out this cabin before you bought it? I'm not a pro but I would never make a room that doesn't have a window a bedroom. I would convert it back to a closet or storage space and put the beds elsewhere.

^^^^What everyone else said. PLEASE get a window asap and pray it never has to be used in a fire.

Did your realtor sell it to you like a bedroom or are you assuming it's a bedroom because that's how it was staged? Either way, the seller was wrong as was the realtor and as was you for purchasing it that way. Is it listed on your purchase documents as a bedroom?

For now you can make it into an office, but you can't use it as a bedroom until you've either put in a window (check with your local codes to make sure you have the right size window, height from the floor, in the appropriate place) or a second door that exits to the outdoors. You also should check with local/state codes to determine if space fits minimum square footage and ceiling height, has the appropriate HVAC exchange, and if it requires a smoke alarm and or suppression system.

Windows first please coming from er nurse and mother of 2 firefighters. Gosh can’t even tell u how many fire victims ive taken care of in 28 years. My sons talk about the corpse removal and rescue victims. Kids can sleep in living room till a window installed.

They didn't make a utility room into a bedroom, they put a bed in a closet. Is this a vacation rental? Has your insurance agent seen this?

It's a good thing that there's Houzz for stuff like this. Sometimes we are so caught up in things that we overlook the obvious.

I agree with everyone else. You need a properly sized window for egress! This room is a fire trap. Either find another use for this room (exercise, storage) or put in egress ASAP.

Before I take this post down, just wanted to say a few things -

*no one I love sleeps in here, but I still have to look at it.

*I put on there I was getting a window. Anyone with half a brain knows you need a window. I'm having difficulty getting a contractor out. If it was a simple window we'd do it, but the cabin is built into a slab of rock and there's cement block behind the wall.

*I pay extra insurance because the nearest fire dept is 12 miles away. Anyone gets a fire the house is done. That's the way it is. For what it's worth more homes are lost to trees falling down.

*Yes, it was sold as a bedroom. To me, to the person before me, etc. This is an area that until recently didn't have any home codes to follow. It's very rural.

I've been fixing up houses for decades. Would've been nice if one person said, I'm concerned about safety, pls get a window, but after that do "x".

After the window is installed, if the view isn’t spectacular, I would put a big beautiful mountain vista poster on one wall. Put in a soft rug and a couple of comfy chairs and a lamp. If there is still space, the kids may enjoy having a table for playing games.
If the available location for the window is high up, please include a sturdy ladder attached to the wall below the window so it can’t be moved without tools.

Kim, we are just trying to emphasize that the egress window should be your first priority. You asked how to make this small closet like room appear less like a closet, adding a window will most likely solve that problem.

Because a region does not enforce the building code it does not mean that the building code is not applicable, enforcement is an entirely separate issue.

The fact that the fire department is so far away makes it even more important as should a fire occur you are on your own.

*I pay extra insurance because the nearest fire dept is 12 miles away. Anyone gets a fire the house is done. That's the way it is. For what it's worth more homes are lost to trees falling down.

No offense but when people are stressing the importance of an egress window, it's because lives are prioritized over structures. Rightly so. The fact that the risk of a house fire is smaller than a tree falling down on it is neither here nor there.

I think if you don’t want answers don’t ask questions and a fake plant won’t make the space one bit better.Why do you show bunk beds in a space no one you care about is going to use. Make it an office and be done.

It seems you paid a premium for a room "sold as a bedroom" that was not a bedroom.

Something to consider; most codes require a window opening equal to 10% of floor area. In a tiny room with limited wall space, a tall skinny casement window (sill 12 inches off floor) is helpful. As always, local codes apply. Persons who have suffered both gunshot wounds and burns will tell you being burned is much worse.

From your posting - I think this is why folks were commenting so much on the importance of a window: Eventually we'll put a window in there I hope, but till then how on earth do I make this feel less like a closet?

"No one I love sleeps in here, but I still have to look at it".
If no one is using the room close the door and don't look at it until window is installed or take the beds out and use as something else....or does someone you DON'T love sleep in there?

You never know when a fire will strike. Yesterday, my DISHWASHER caught fire. Normally, I run the dishwasher at night. Thankfully, I decided to run it yesterday afternoon. Black smoke and sparks were coming from the control panel. Thankfully, we were aware of it and were able to stop it from spreading. Today, I discovered that the appliance was on a recall list. The recall was made in 2009. We bought this house in 2016- Fire in 2019.

If no one sleeps there, take out the beds and turn it into a pantry or a utility room. Give it a function to which it is actually suited. There is zero point to staging it as a fake bedroom.

Unfortunately stuff happens all the time, my husband was trapped in an attic that caught fire when he was a kid because a fan motor burnt out, I think it sucked in some drapes. There was a tragic story a while back about a kid who asphyxiated in a pop up tent or van due to I think, a malfunctioning cooler. I know I was careless as a kid and left some stuff to burn and melt on some baseboard heaters at my grandparents cottage. Cottages are places where this kind of stuff is most likely to happen, what with old appliances, shoddy or damaged wiring, open fires, candles and lamps you name it.

Until it has a window one could escape from or a fireman get into, it IS a closet. And there is no escape. Does it even have a smoke alarm?

We had a peculiar incident at my friends cottage, somehow the fire in the wood stove got dampened and all the exhaust, ie smoke got drawn into all the living areas, we were just about to go to bed, and then maybe never wake up again, or at the least feel pretty sick. Thankfully my hubby noticed and we opened up the windows and doors. C02detectors if you don’t have them could be life savers.

No one I love sleeps in there?!!!

Say what? So why is it a bedroom? Or do you reserve it for relatives you don't like?

Actually, you didn't say you were putting a window in. You said "eventually" you would "hopefully" put one in. Those of us with half a brain took the context you offered and tried to set your priorities straight. After all, we don't know if YOU have half a brain, do we?

With no windows, this is almost certainly an illegal room. Before you buy a window, go to your local building department and see how large the window must be, how high above the floor it must be, what type of opening mechanisms are required and any other requirements they have. If you're going to put in a window, do it to code so that you don't have problems later. For the moment, you can find some info by doing an internet search for "fire code bedroom windows".

You made it clear that it was NOT your top priority to put a window in. You were wanting to use it as a bedroom and make it more attractive.

Actually, it doesn't even look like it would qualify size-wise as a bedroom. I have the minimal allowable bedroom—10x7, a closet, and bathroom access from hallway (not another bedroom)—and it looks bigger than that. Both walls have to be at least 7 feet, so you can't do a 6x12 and qualify it as a bedroom.

The inspector, appraiser, insurance agent....no one said anything?

Are you still under homeowner's warranty?

An egress window must satisfy all four International Residential Code (IRC) criteria:

Minimum width of opening: 20 in.

Minimum height of opening: 24 in.

Minimum net clear opening: 5.7 sq. ft. (5.0 sq. ft. for ground floor).

Maximum sill height above floor: 44 in.

Do the math

At first glance, you might assume that a 20-in. by 24-in. window (A) would be acceptable for egress. Those dimensions would yield a net clear opening of only 3.3 sq. ft., which is TOO SMALL

To achieve the required net clear opening of 5.7 sq. ft., a 20-in. wide window (B) would have to be 42 in. high.

Likewise, a 24-in. high window (C) would have to be 35 in. wide.

https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2002/08/01/common-building-code-violations-emergency-egress-windows-too-small

Window Requirements · More Info

Good info from DK Haas. But do visit your local building department. Mine has requirements above and beyond the IRC, such as the specific kind of exit latch for at least one window in a bedroom that doesn't have a door to the outside. Following your code can make things much easier when you go to sell.

I took the message differently

" I was thinking a small console table/desk with a mirror above it, a nice fake plant? "

Based on the size I see in the picture, I assumed the beds were coming out and the intention was to do a desk, etc. And while I like that idea, I think, if you don't need the storage, I would remove the door to the room and turn it into a reading nook - nice overstuffed chair, chandelier, bookcase..

And of course, hopefully you can get your window. Is there a second story above it? You could put in a solar tube to get natural light.

It's tough sometimes posting on Houzz but most people do just want to help and of course there are those who are just insulting... sorry

Good luck

I am very far from sure that the OP intends to take the beds out. She comments that she has "already taken down the beach flip flop art" which suggests to me that she is looking to make only minor decorative changes to what we see in the photo, rather do what is obviously necessary and repurpose the room entirely until a window can be installed.

As others have pointed out, the room's purpose is far from clear: "no one I love sleeps in here, but I still have to look at it."

I'm sorry but how was anyone in this thread "insulting", Debbi Washburn? Everyone simply stressed the importance of safety.

I have no issue with the comments on safety. I agree with that. There is a comment that it think was insulting and a few that were easy to interpret as being rude. It's not my thread and it wasn't towards me so I will leave it up to the OP to comment back as she had done once already.

Since all we see are words on a page and can't hear the sincerity in someones voice , I just encourage people to reread what you type before you submit...

I think it was a good point the one who said that a ‘window’ will make it feel less like a closet. Nuff said. As for those other ‘many quirks’ hopefully no others address life safety.