Yep - you can cause HELL for the current home owner. Just like complaining about a car sitting on the street for over 24hours... Course - your actually trying to BUY the house.... "Tennessee Ground Water Protection Division" might be able to scream at them... Demand they upgrade the system - or remove the bedrooms. So they could remove the bedrooms. Undo the entire remod. Course the house will be off the market then, and you wouldn't want to buy it - since it would no longer be a 5 bedroom house... People remodel stuff all the time without permits. And I know of no house that is perfect. A manufactured house can have bedrooms added to it. Safely. Even without the county's blessings. Instead of trying to FORCE the current homeowner to do something - why don't you try communication and negotiating?? The current homeowner doesn't have to do anything. They can take the house off the market. Have you offered full price? They can refuse to sell to you - if you have not offered full price. You obviously have a counter-offer based on the septic - so they do as well. They might decide they don't wish to redo the septic. And say no go to your 'offer'. You have 5.5 acres of land. It is possible - but maybe unlikely - that in all of these 5.5 acres - no land would be suitable for a 5 bedroom septic. I mean - what if the septic can't be ugraded?? My brother lives on a lot of land, and the cost to upgrade his septic is quite high... It functions fine, but now the county demands that it meets code when the house is sold... and it does not currently meet code. It met code when built - but not now... It is not in the sellers best interest to have tests conducted to see if the current septic, or surounding land can be made to function for a 5 bedroom house. He has a 5 bedroom house. It functions for his family. If a septic eval states that his septic is not adequate for a 5 bedroom house, and cannot be upgraded - this makes his house virtually worthless. He must disclose this info on the disclosure form, etc. So - it is not in his best interests to allow a septic eval - when his septic functions fine. Course - an eval might state it is adequate for a 5 bedroom house... Then he's fine... Don't know what the septic rules are in Tenn. If you like the house, you might try teaching your children to be more careful about what they're doing, and still go ahead with the purchase. Only a septic eval can determine if this is sufficient. And ground conditions, etc. SUBSTANTIALLY come into play with the cost for a septic. NO WAY are you going to know the cost to 'upgrade' without a substantial eval. And if the county doesn't require it to be brought up to code during a sell - as here where I live - than no way are you going to FORCE this guy to do it... I can't believe how adversarial people are! If the septic is currently working fine for 6 people, and you like the house - buy it - and do yearly maintenance on the septic, don't have a garbage disposal, flush tampons, etc....

We also are space challenged in all of our three kid's bedrooms. One of the best investments I feel we made was to make the most of their closet space and install closet organization systems. In fact, we are presently redoing my 13-year-old DD's one now as the previous one is falling apart. For the girls we added mirrored closet doors which help make the rooms feel bigger and brighter and is also a space where they can check on their appearance--which becomes more important heading into the teenage years. Below are some pics of my 7-year-old DD's room. I would not say it would win any decor contest. In fact, being the youngest she has all mismatched furniture--but it works for now--esp. as I have a 15-year-old DS it does not make any sense to put in any expensive bedroom set she may outgrow in a few years. When DS goes off to college she will inherit his computer desk/hutch which coordinates with her bed. In terms of functionality, I hope this may give you some ideas, though, for a smaller space: Here is her closet organizers: Her bed with a trundle below for sleepovers: Her desk and dressor area. Mismatched, but plus is I absolutely do not care if she trashes this desk where she does lots of art stuff on it. In fact when taking this pic, I noticed some nail polish on the side. Real girls, real stuff. This is a bookcase she recently retired from the family room and houses all her assorted stuft animals, books, etc. I used to have a cube system similar to zipdee's, but in a small room, you get more storage space if you can go up: What we don't have and wish I had space for is a cozy chair or reading corner, though she does make the most of this little corner which is her play school area: Children will change a lot from age 8 to age 12 so keep in mind you want furniture that will either grow with her as she ages or is inexpensive enough to replace in another 4 years. Decor--paint, curtain, bedspreads, of course will change as well and her ideas of what looks good may be very different from yours--hence why I am not sharing pics of my 13-year-old DD's room.

Gardenwebber, that is SUCH a good point about "entertaining in their rooms". Here's a thought about your floorplan: have the kids take the back two bedrooms. Move your son to the smaller bedroom, the girls in the room with the closet. Take that wall that you guys put up and turn it into the bunk beds in separate rooms. This will give you a lot more useable floor space. Swing your youngest daughter's bed against the far wall and you will maximize the floor space there. Your son can have the lower bunk bed in his own room next door. That leaves the bedroom directly across from yours as a playroom. That also makes your own bedroom further away from the kids beds. The bunk beds are just drywalled with the mattress only on them. We have always had a rule that our kids cannot have a computer, video games or tv in their bedroom until they are 18. I do not want that stuff cluttering my downstairs living room. An upstairs space for this is the best solution. We built our current home knowing that we were going to have teens in them someday and to give them space separate from ours. Think about this solution. My husband would be happy to talk you and your husband thru the details if it is something you would be interested in. P.S. my 17y.o.'s boyfriend is coming for christmas for 17 days and there is no way in hell that she will be "entertaining" him in her bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!! Sherry

I am assuming that you are renting and work with what is there. Does the desk need to stay in this room? Do you need such a wide spread desk or could you use one that was only on one wall or maybe only under the window? Are you open to painting that one if you need to keep it for now or should it remain as it is? (black? Think my nephew has the same one.) What other furniture do you need or want in a BR? Looks like a bed, frame and box or platform so you can get the mattress off the floor is a starting point. Do you need or want a dresser? A chair or a bench you can sit on when dressing or putting on shoes? What kind of feeling and colors appeal to you for your room? A lot of young men seem to like greys, black, red or maybe navy and naturals. Do you want something clean and tailored? Relaxed and casual? Have you seen any rooms in magazine or online that you like the look of -- if not the exact furniture or layout, the kind of colors or general styles you would like to incorporate? Sorry, no answers here, but hope these questions will help lead to info that can bring answers.