Decreasing Bedroom Size To Add Closets vs Home Value
Hi everyone. I live in a 19th century Italinate Wood Frame home (think Brownstone style) with modest bedroom sizes. The third bedroom is a tiny 8'9x8'4 room without a closet which gets to "qualify" as a bedroom because of the time it was built. Attached is the current floor plan of the bedroom floor alongside a possible layout change.
In your opinion, would this change be worth it with respect to home value? A contractor that I am working with suggests turning the existing closets into one large master closet for the master bedroom, and then taking off close to two feet of space off of the second bedroom to make closets for the tiny room and second bedrooms. The current closets are currently only 15" deep! However, modifications could bring them out to at least 17 or 18 inches. I'd probably then add custom woodcrest systems to increase functionality and usability.
The tiny room, though it qualifies as a bedroom, would then be a true bedroom in the modern sense even thought it will still be tiny (still big enough to fit a full sized bed with walking space and space for a dresser and TV stand however).
What are your thought and thanks in advance for answering! Would making that second bedroom smaller be a major negative?
Comments (21)
Related Discussions
making two bedrooms into one w/o decreasing value?
Comments (16)I was confused at first like the other posters about why you cared about the appraisal if it was before you did the work, but then re-read your post and at the end you explained you want to finance the remodel. That said, if you're going to change the 3rd bedroom into a bathroom plus walk-in closet, I can't envision how in the world you could "pretend" that's a bedroom as well. There's not enough room, Presumably this is an older house, in which case it's probably got small bedrooms to start with. There will be added value from having a second bathroom. Perhaps that would offset the lost value from a bedroom. I'd call an appraiser or two and run your plan by them. But rarely do any improvements return (or appraise for) what they cost you to do. I seriously doubt that your changes would increase the value $80K unless this is a $2 million house or something. While you should certainly make the changes that will make the home more livable for you, you should probably save up some more cash and pay for the remodel that way. Or make a bigger down payment and/or pay down the principal faster and create equity that you can borrow down the road....See MoreFixed sqft: Which adds more value extra full bath or large bedrooms?
Comments (14)Personal opinion and nothing else: Typically I'd say "make the bedrooms smaller -- I don't spend much time in there anyway"; however, in either situation, you're talking about small bedrooms -- is the master one of these small bedrooms? My kids have 12x12 rooms, and over the years my girls've had 1 twin ... 2 twins ... and 1 double ... but never anything bigger, and you're talking about smaller rooms! Add-on question: What kind of closets do these bedrooms have? A bedroom with plenty of good storage can be smaller and still be comfortable, whereas if your closet is modest, you need space for larger dressers and other storage. Having said that, if you're a typical 4-person family, I don't really see the point in having more than two bathrooms. They're expensive, high-maintenance rooms -- I want enough bathrooms for comfort, but I don't care to over-bath myself; I just don't enjoy cleaning toilets that much. An outside-the-box thought: If you'd JUST build the third bathroom for resale, you might consider leaving that room "empty" /use it as storage ... and in the future you'd have the option of finishing it off yourself ... or it could be presented to future buyers as "a room that could be renovated into a bathroom". That would also allow the future buyers the option of using that small space as a pocket office, a craft room, or whatever ... if it suited their purposes better. In conclusion, I suspect the 4/3 layout would be better for you at resale time ... but you're talking about trying to guess the mind of some unknown person, which is impossible. Build the one that'll suit your family best now....See MoreLarge his/her master closet vs 5th bedroom
Comments (22)Eric, If you search Mudroom here on Houzz, you will see all sorts of pictures. The one that I dream about has cubbies with hooks and shelves for each member of the family. A lot of mudrooms incorporate the laundry in this area as well. This is great for when your child plays sports and comes home from a game in their uniform that is muddy. You can have him/her strip down in the mudroom and the uniform can go straight into the wash. With the cubbies, all of the regularly used items, jackets, backpacks, sport equipment can be stored there out of the way and out of view. I am not a pro, but I took the pic of your floor plan and played with it a little. I have no idea if all of this is possible, but hopefully it helps you look at it from a different perspective. I re-arranged the bedroom and laundry area to incorporate a large laundry and mud room and a wider hallway. By removing the laundry from its current location, it expanded that bedroom and makes better use of the space in my opinion. I also re-arranged your kitchen to give you a better casual dining area. With kids, you need a space where the family can sit and eat on weeknights. Sure you could use your formal dining, but the kids just get everything messy, so I think it is better to have an area where it is easy to clean and lessen the chance of them ruining good linens or area rugs. I also opened up that wall to allow quick access to the Master. It doesn't make sense to me to have such a long walk from the kitchen to the Master. I don't know how you feel about that hallway, but by adding that opening in the kitchen wall, you could eliminate it altogether and expand the kitchen and/or that bedroom even more. I also did a few other tweaks that I would want to see if it were my house. One being the powder room, there are several other bathrooms including one right next to it, so I would rather that be the coat closet serving the main entry. I did lose the walk in pantry, but am guessing that a talented kitchen designer could configure cabinets with pull out drawers that would serve that function for you. I also removed the door to the toilet room. If that wall is load bearing, just make it open. I think it is unsanitary to have to open a door before washing your hands. This is not perfect by any means, it is an awkward layout because so much needs to go on one side of the house. If it were possible to move plumbing, it would really expand your possibilities. Hope this was helpful to you!...See MoreAdding a bathroom to a bedroom/closet
Comments (41)All the plans have a trade-off in room shape, cost etc. I agree that putting the bathroom in bedroom #4, the room width is the trade off. The bedroom width is currently 10'10". If I look at the adjacent master bathroom toilet cubicle, it's not much wider than the closet in bedroom #4. So the closet is probably 24" and the master bathroom cubicle 30". If the OP is OK with a 30" width then the middle plan may be the best one, since it only takes 6" off the width of the bedroom making it 13'10" x 10'4", and eliminating any door swing into the room....See More
Everton Media
3 years ago
PROBeth Patrick @ Closet Factory (Cleveland)
3 years agoEverton Media thanked Beth Patrick @ Closet Factory (Cleveland)Everton Media
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoEverton Media
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agomarylut
3 years agoIf the 8’4” wall is the window wall, full bed could fit this way, with wall sconces.
Everton Media thanked marylutmarylut
3 years agoIf the 8’9” wall is the window wall, full bed and a night stand could fit this way, but the door has just enough room to swing open.
marylut
3 years agoEverton Media
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agomarylut
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoThis is 8’4” window wall with full bed 75” long. i guess you can still access part of the closet if you use bypass closet doors. Will the closet wall be wide enough for the dooroverhead track?
Everton Media
3 years agomarylut
3 years agoIt’s a free App called Interior Design for iPad. It also has a 3D view. The furniture design choices are limited, but you can easily change the dimensions.
marylut
3 years agomarylut
3 years agoI wonder if your contractor could move the door into the small BR like this to give the room a bigger feel?
marylut
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoAnd if the BR door can move, you could switch the closets, allowing more room to open the dresser drawers. It May have very little impact of switching closets on the bed arrangement in the other guest BR. And you could wall mount the TV across from the bed in the small BR so the dresser top can be clear. I probably have window placement wrong, but you can get the idea.
marylut
3 years agoEverton Media
3 years agomarylut
3 years ago
calidesign