Tiny bedrooms - need advice re: remodel

amother

Honeydew

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 4:00 pm

I am planning to convert a garage to livable space. Hoping enough room for 2 kid bedrooms, a full bath and a small lounge/ study area for the kids to hang out. If they will have the area just outside the bedrooms for desks/ bookcases/ seating area, I think that bedrooms can be very small - just a place to sleep: Bed (full would be nice but twin ok), nightstand and dresses in each room - done. So how small can I make the rooms? Cozy, good. Sardine can, not good. Also, if the rooms turn out to be long but narrow, will they feel claustrophobic even if they are technically same or more square footage than I could have given for a square shaped room?
I'm new at this. Never renovated anything so... HELP!

studying_torah

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 4:17 pm

Or bunkbeds. Or set up the beds L shaped , so there is some room in middle, and the room feels bigger. Also good lighting, a window, mirror and light paint can all make a room feel larger. Ceiling height matters too.

Rubber Ducky

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 5:24 pm

I do space planning professionally. I'm designing a basement conversion now about the size of a largish 2-car garage (very small footprint because it's a split-level house). 2 bedrooms, bath, and Pesach kitchen.

The international code minimum for a bedroom is 70 sq ft — that's 7' x 10'. That's small. Really small. And you will want closets. How big is your garage? And how many kids?

animeme

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 5:27 pm

MamaBear wrote:

I think you're hoping for too much, unless you have a 4 car garage (I.e. large space).

Agreed. Can you lose the bathroom? A full bathroom takes up a lot of space. You walk in, you have two doors to the bedrooms, a far door to the bathroom, and then room for two small desks, side by side? And I assume the bedrooms needs closets too.

Under your plan, I would definitely loft the beds. But I would check with your boys first about what would work for them. Also be aware that every room in the garage area will be able to hear everything from every other room.

amother

Honeydew

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 5:49 pm

I don't even have dimensions of garage yet; home is under contract and I am waiting to get blue prints but it's either 20x20 or 22x22 (or maybe 20x22). Not oversized. Typical 2 car garage space. Plan is to put one kid only in each bedroom, though a trundle or bunk bed would be nice to accommodate sleepovers.

So, about the loft everyone is mentioning. We don't have high ceilings. 8 ft. So how would that work?

naomi2

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 8:01 pm

Raisin wrote:

like this:

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/prod.....2086/

you can put dressers etc in the space underneath.

Or desk under it .
Look on pintrest or houzz.com tons of ideas

amother

Amethyst

Wed, Apr 06 2016, 11:43 pm

remember that framing uses up space. figure about 8 inches around.

Also remember that small spaces NEED good lighting to feel cozy

Hire a space planner, this is too tight for a mistake. THey only charge a few hundred dollars.

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 9:12 am

If the garage is already drywalled, you won't lose 4" on each of the 4 sides; you'll just lose some inches where the garage door is.

Note: Amethyst amother above is not me anonymously promoting my business Wink

— but I absolutely agree that you would do well to hire a space planner to get it right.

lfab

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 9:22 am

Just keep in mind the future while planning this space. For now you may not care about having really small rooms and just putting 1 child in each room. But if you would like the space to work for the future and would like to I"YH one day host your children when they are married you may want to make the rooms larger and forget about the communal seating/study area. This way you will at least be able to fit 2 beds in the room. Just something to think about (unless your kids are still really little or you have lots of other bedrooms that would be large enough to host couples).

greenfire

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 11:01 am

amother wrote:

typical is 18 x 18 ... no high ceilings no loft space - unless you just throw a bed up there like they do in mobile homes [with rolling step ladders]

you really could get as creative as you want ... but cutting the room in half will be quite small

what I would still do is have one on each side of the garage so they can have a separate place for sleeping & then the downstairs as a lounge/desk/dresser area - maybe even with some nice sitting chairs & a kool rug

you won't lose space with drywall because there are already 2x4 supports for the outside walls - so the inside walls would just share them

Faigy86

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 11:05 am

What about having a less permanent wall to divide the two rooms so that in the future, you can have just one room with a bathroom and sitting area? Won't be great for sound if they aren't close in age and one child wants to have friends over/play music after the bedtime of the other. But if it can work, they can have their space now, but you'll have options for the future.

kollel wife

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 11:58 am

I would suggest that you forgo the study/sitting area. Often homework is done at the kitchen or dining room table. Your space will be tight with two bedrooms and a bathroom.

Goldie613

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 12:36 pm

Maybe make the lounge smaller to allow for slightly bigger bedrooms? Also,you might want to think about sliding doors (not sure the real name, sorry) for any closets you have, so that at least you don't have to leave room for closet doors to open and close.

In terms of the bathroom - what if it was a three piece instead of a four? You could have the toilet and sink, but just a small shower instead of a tub to save a few inches.

If you feel the ceilings won't work well for a real loft bed, what about some of the shorter ones that have desks or dressers built in?

https://www.google.com/search?.....IM%3A