We are getting ready to do some remodel work in our bathroom. (Its a TINY bathroom) I would like to take some space from the room bordering it.
I know some people would rather have a big bathroom and less rooms but then for resale purposes are we better off having 2 decent size rooms and a tiny bathroom, or 1 decent size bedroom and 1 small bedroom but a larger bathroom??? Personally, I'm all for having a bigger bathroom but this is a 2 bedroom house and I wonder how it will effect trying to sell later on down the line.
I know you ALL have opinions, so lets hear them!!!

 

Our house has the same problem. 2 bedrooms, 1 small bathroom.
I guess a bigger bathroom would be better, but what are the dims of the bedrooms and the bathroom? How much space do you want to change from bedroom to bathroom?

 

I would think that a small bathroom is more of a turn off for a buyer than one smaller bedroom. It is usual for 2 bedroomed houses to be a first buyer thing, or a retired couple, both have no need for a large second bedroom.

That is how I would see it, but maybe I am way off.

Theo

 

The standard size bathroom is only 5'x8'. How big is yours. From your best guess what is the quality of the construction. Are there a lot of squeaks in the floors.

When you start moving stuff around, you start finding stuff that needs to be brought up to code, and stuff the just needs to be repaired, the one thing I really hate seeing is people that run out of time or money to finish a job and then leave big holes in the wall.

 

If making the bathroom larger means moving walls with plumbing in them on a second floor of a house I'd opt for keeping the bathroom original size. If its a single story and you have crawl/basement access to move the plumbing around - make the bathroom bigger - don't know if it'll increase the homes value or not.

A cure for the "I need more room" in a house is to go live in a tent for a week or two. Makes your house feel huge when you get home - at least it has that effect on my family.

 

traditionally in real estate you get your money back out of improvements to bathrooms and kitchens the most. Like theo said, most 2 bedroom houses are not in high demand for family units. If somebody were to buy it, I think they would be more impressed with a larger bathroom then 2 bigger bedrooms --- mainly because it would probably be a young couple, retired couple, single person, or a person without a large family. I would love to have more room in our bathroom...(i want a big corner whirlpool tub), just don't have the time right now!

I say go for the bigger bathroom!!

 

THe bedroom we'd be robbing space from is 10' x 9'6" with a two foot deep closet that runs right along the bathroom. THe bathroom is probably standard then (the 5' x 8'). The plumbing all runs on the opposite side (along our closet). Our bedroom is a little bigger than the spare but not much. WE have a queen bed, our nightstands, 1 dresser, and a hamper and have enough room to walk around it all. I can only really see us having maybe 1 kid in this house anyway and even taking over some of the other bedroom would leave enough for a crib or a twin bed. (Probably even for the full thats in there now.) THe biggest problem is that there is not a hall closet or anything for the bathroom. We have one closet in the house (thats not in a bedroom) and its being used for overflow pantry type stuff. We do have towels and some bathstuff in there too, but I'd like somewhere else to put that stuff. I guess we could just take part of the closet to make a hall closet. It is a single story house without a crawl space entrance (thinking they tiled over it ?????) and this would provide an opportunity to open that back up too. I know the floor in the bathroom is rotting around the toilet so we'll need to tear that up anyway and would allow us to get to the neccessary plumbing at that time. I also agree this house is pretty much a first time buyers (thats us!!!) or a retired couple house, and the second bedroom is nice but not neccessary. I just worry that making the room smaller (we would take the 2 foot deep closet and add that to the bathroom, then we'd have to add a closet to the room again) or leaving a room without a closet (is that still considered a bedroom? I thought I saw somewhere for it to be considered a bedroom it has to have egress windows and a closet. ) will make it harder to sell when we're ready to move on.

 

fisher of man:
My idea is to, if the dimensions will work, add a corner tub unit(probably not a whirlpool) and then add a closet in the bathroom or in the hall next to the bathroom. I am going to try to borrow a architecture program to see if the dimen. will even work. I'm crossing my fingers though. Then we still have to decide if its worth it. I would definetly LOVE more room in the bathroom though. Well, I guess we'll have to keep weighing the pro's and con's until one wins.

 

Two of our 3 bedrooms have closets.. My bedroom, on the first floor, has a massive bathroom attached, and is huge, about 15ft by 14ft, but has no closet. It is obviously a bedroom, so in TN at least, no closet does not preclude it from the term bedroom.

Walmart sell large closets that you can put anywhere....

Theo

 

Hey, I was living in a construction zone basement with my parents and bought one of those armoires. I guess I could take that and we'd have a closet!!! Good idea, Theo. I think we can make this work.

 

i agree with theo, do you really need two large bedrooms? probably not, and theres probably nothing worse in a house than a cramped kitchen or bathroom...my 2 bits

 

There's a difference between remodelling and reconstruction. If remodelling is done tastefully, I think it's always rewarded at resale, especially kitchens and bathrooms. Reconstruction, ie, changing the floorplan has to be considered very carefully. You don't want to "personallize" the house to the point that it will only appeal to a small audience of buyers. These days, I think you always have to keep one eye on resale.

Consider how long you think you'll be in the house. If you will be moving in a couple of years think about what other people would want in a home of that size. If you plan on living there forever, the skies the limit!!

I've been in my home for 17 years and have remodelled all bathrooms and the kitchen. It's a 1600 sq/ft ranch so I'm always looking for ways to increase space!!!

 

I think a nice little home might be a One bedroom, one bathroom, white picket fence type place, with an attached nine car garage, fully equipped with pits, air, heat, & lifts.

 

if wishes were horses then beggars would ride...