More living space or more bedrooms?

Tof Umachol

Sun, May 29 2022, 11:27 am

It sounds like you want to one with more bedrooms, and want people here to validate your choice.
Only you know what works best for your family!

That said, since you did ask, if it were me, I'd go with the larger kitchen and living area and more bathrooms. In the long run, I think more living space is much more important than another kids' bedroom. I also feel it is good for kids to share rooms. (And every time we made a move that added a bathroom, that was a huge upgrade in our quality of life!)
Could the private outdoor space be closed somehow to create another small room?

agreer

Sun, May 29 2022, 11:38 am

Even if you choose the 4-bedroom one, you can still make the little kids share and use one bedroom as a playroom/family room.

Then, later, you can move the younger girl in with the older girl.

I would probably do that myself.

dankbar

Sun, May 29 2022, 11:53 am

You mentioned the second apt has a much larger dining room/living room, how about you portion off a section of it & create a bedroom out of it. This way you have more bedrooms now, plus a big kitchen & extra bathrooms & extra outdoor space. ( you can even do with french door or sliding door, so you can open the space when you need more space in the dining room, or use as living room, during day or shabbos but buy a sleeper couch so can use as sleeping space at night.

Will your boy eventually go to dorm to yeshiva in a few years? Then the girls can still have own bedrooms if they decide not to share & you can use the the other space solely for living room then.

This way you are getting the larger living spaces plus the extra sleeping spaces you want.

With a tiny kitchen with no eating space, your kids will always need yo eat & hang out in the dining room, is this how you prefer or would you rather keep the dining room clean all week & just use for shabbos?

In my home I have french doors between dining room & next room. It was originally closed with a wall. I love it. During week it is the playroom with closed doors so keep the dining room separate and shabbos we open up so to make dining room larger & kids can play close by when eating seuda, or when we have guest or for ss with guests, adults sit at table & kids play nearby.

imaima

Sun, May 29 2022, 12:14 pm

Op, are you going to have more kids?

amother

Sun, May 29 2022, 12:36 pm

Tof Umachol wrote:

It sounds like you want to one with more bedrooms, and want people here to validate your choice.
Only you know what works best for your family!

No, not at all. I want to hear different people's perspectives because at the moment my mind is a jumble of pros and cons for each one with no clear winner. Reading different opinions helps me gain clarity.

I hear you on the extra bathroom but we currently only have one so two will be a big improvement and I think sufficient for our family size.

Tof Umachol wrote:

Could the private outdoor space be closed somehow to create another small room?

No, it's an apartment. We're not allowed to make alterations like that. Also, it's on a steep incline so not suitable anyway.

dankbar wrote:

The living/ dining room isn't suitable for sectioning off because of the placement of the windows and the square shape of the room.

dankbar wrote:

Will your boy eventually go to dorm to yeshiva in a few years?

No, he won't go to yeshiva.

dankbar wrote:

With a tiny kitchen with no eating space, your kids will always need yo eat & hang out in the dining room, is this how you prefer or would you rather keep the dining room clean all week & just use for shabbos?

Both houses have a lounge/ diner so neither will be kept clean all week for shabbat! We'd eat family meals at the main table in either house. With the large kitchen, it would be convenient to have the kids eat breakfast/ snacks at the kitchen table and it's also useful for them to be doing crafts there while I'm cooking and it's obviously just useful to have another table in general.

Because of the property prices here, we didn't think we'd be able to get a 4 bed apt at this point so we've always assumed the 2 girls would be sharing, but almost every apt we've seen had one small and one large bedroom in addition to the master so at least the 2 sharing would be getting a larger room, somewhat compensating for the lack of privacy. In both of these apartments, the bedrooms are similar sized so the one with a room to themselves gets a much better deal!

amother

Sun, May 29 2022, 12:38 pm

imaima wrote:

Op, are you going to have more kids?

It's unlikely due to my age unfortunately. We were originally hoping to have one more, in which case we would have had 2 kids to a room.

amother

Sun, May 29 2022, 12:43 pm

agreer wrote:

Even if you choose the 4-bedroom one, you can still make the little kids share and use one bedroom as a playroom/family room.

Someone else mentioned that upthread. It's a possibility I hadn't considered.

The room that would be the most suitable for the playroom is also the smallest. The size is OK as single bedroom but I think it would be too small as a room for everyone to hang out in but I'll look into it again.

mommyhood

Sun, May 29 2022, 12:44 pm

Is this a long term investment or you’re moving in a few years. I know people are saying in the long run you want living space but I think long term if you want your married children or any guests at all, parents, grandparents, to come visit you need bedrooms. You can’t put a couple to sleep in the extra living space.

amother

Sun, May 29 2022, 1:42 pm

mommyhood wrote:

You can’t put a couple to sleep in the extra living space.

I can't put a couple to sleep in any but the master bedroom of either house! LOL

I'm not looking that far into the future though.

dankbar

Sun, May 29 2022, 2:07 pm

If you have a table in the kitchen why can't you eat dinner there? Why would you need to eat in the dining room then during the week?

amother

Khaki

Sun, May 29 2022, 2:58 pm

When we moved house, we now have a much larger kitchen than our previous place. It has space for a 4 seater table and it has changed my life. Instead of my dining room being used during the week for meals, it stays clean from shabbos with minimal mess. I love my kids being able to sit at the table whilst I'm busy in the kitchen.
Our new place also has a separate room which is now the kids playroom which keeps all the mess contained to one room.
I don't know what to say about the bedrooms, I just know I love having more living space.

etky

Sun, May 29 2022, 4:21 pm

Thinking about the family dynamics - the apartment with the larger living space will encourage the kids to hang out in that common space rather than in their separate bedrooms as in the first apartment.
I see that as a very healthy thing.
And there's nothing like an eat in kitchen with a comfortable table where kids can also do their homework, to create opportunities for conversation, especially between mother and child. That is so important.
I agree that the lack of natural light is a drawback - to my mind more significant than the one less bedroom.
Can you bring in a decorator to give you ideas for how to maximize or create more light in the apartment?

saboni

Sun, May 29 2022, 7:35 pm

More living space, more bathrooms, and bigger kitchen are amazing advantages.
On the other hand, natural light is so lovely.
That’s what it would come down to in my mind.