Need ideas for 5 dc in 3 bedroom home...

[Julpost]

We live in a 1700 sf raised ranch with 3 bedrooms and 2 tiny bathrooms. I have 5 dc ages: 12 ds, 9 dd, 7,dd 3dd, and 10 mo ds. The baby sleeps in our room for now, the 12 yo has his own room, and the 3 girls all share a room. My dh thinks we should make the basement family room into a master bedroom for us and let the 9 yo and 7 yo girls share what is currently our bedroom, and the 3 yo and baby will share a room.

What used to be a heated garage was enclosed into an additional room by the previous owner, right now it's just stuffed with storage things. Dh thinks we should clean that out and make it the playroom.

What do you think? A friend of mine thought it might look odd if we had to sell the house and we had our bedroom downstairs in what is obviously not a bedroom. I don't want to have to move all of our furniture again. We don't have immediate plans to move but you never know! We can't really afford to move right now into a larger house and it's going to be a year or two before we can even consider adding on. In the meantime, the bedroom is situation is getting cramped.
What would you do??

[Amy in Orlando]

I'd go with your dh's solution for now. If you have to move, you can always reconfigure the house if you have to. It sounds like dh's answer gives you all the space and prvacy you need.

[Karenciavo]

Are you able to crawl out of your basement windows in case of a fire? Why not make the garage a bedroom?

[battlemaiden]

We have six kids in three bedrooms with one bath currently. It has actually been much easier than we had anticipated.

We have one room with two double beds- the 11, 9, 7, and 5 yr olds share those beds.

The 3 yo has her own bed in the second room and she shares that room with her 1 yo sister who is in a porta crib.

My dh and I have our own room.

Last night when our 11yo had a tummy issue (thankfully a food issue, not a virus), we put the 5 yo in a porto crib for the night. He was ticked at the insinuation that he could sleep in a crib, but told me this morning that he wants to sleep that way every night.

This may not work for you, but we like room sharing.

If the 11yo and 9yo want to stay up and read they do it in the family room istead of bed now.

Jo

[KristineIN]

I would only sleep in the basement if you have deep well windows for fire escape, if not, I would not put a bedroom down there.

Kristine

[chickenpatty]

We have six kids in two bedrooms. Thankfully, we have an even split: three boys in one room, and three girls in the other.

I like the idea of using the garage as the playroom. That way, all the kids need in their rooms are beds and dresser(s).

[Julpost]

The downstairs family room isn't really a basement, per se, I have just always called it that. It has 4 windows and easy access to outside doors. It's the downstairs level of a raised ranch, so it's kinda below ground level but not totally.

[RoughCollie]

A raised ranch is a 2-story house, right? I'd have a major problem with sleeping in the basement while my kids slept upstairs. I would not buy a house that had a master bedroom downstairs with the kids rooms upstairs because of that.

I'd leave the family room in the basement and maybe add another small bathroom there and install some shelving or cubbies for the kids toys. In our garage-turned-playroom, the previous owners built-in cubbyholes and put formica counter on top of it and that has been a great place to store toys and games at the kids' level.

If he wouldn't mind, I'd put the 12 year old boy in the room made from the former garage. I would make extra sure all the doors and windows were locked and very secure first, since he would be sleeping on the first floor by himself.

Then I would have DD9 and DD7 share a room, and have the two youngest share a room, and keep the current master bedroom.

RC

[Cadam]

Make the house work for you. When we moved here a few months ago I decided I was living here, not the future owners and I was going to make the space work for me. It sounds like your dh has a great solution to give you more, and more productive, space. Give him a big 'ol kiss and go for it.

[Quiver0f10]

We had a raised ranch and put a few bedrooms downstairs so i say go for it. We have also lived in a 3 bedroom cape with 8 kids and put in triple bunk beds.

[strider]

Make the house work for you. When we moved here a few months ago I decided I was living here, not the future owners and I was going to make the space work for me. It sounds like your dh has a great solution to give you more, and more productive, space. Give him a big 'ol kiss and go for it.

I fully agree.

[~Tara~]

Oh yeah...raised ranch/split level..that means access. Windows and doors generally.

I agree with dh's solution and what the others have said in making the house work for YOU. You can't always be thinking about 'what if'. Make what you have work for YOU. Period. :)

[CalicoKat]

my only advice is to move. They're only going to get older and the space only gets tighter. If it's tight now . . . think about it.

This is us right now. 5 kid in an 1800 sq. ft. home, no basement. We've got kids sleeping on the floor right now because there is no room in their bedrooms for an extra bed. We pile matresses on top of the one bed there. We've also got dressers for 2 kids in the garage (cold clothing) because there's no room in the bedroom. Toys are on shelving in the garage in boxes because there's no room.

We're trying to sell. It's a huge challenge. It's also the reason for some of the above (trying to make it look bigger and like fewer than 7 people live here).

Well, our solution may not be yours. We need to move or do life differently.

[Just Me]

I second the triple bunk-bed idea. We just moved from a two bedroom, and all three kids had to share a room. The triple was a great space saver. We also gave the kids the master, since they had more toys and things to spread, and were more likely to be in their room during the day. (I hardly ever see my room again once I am up for the day!) :)

[Peek a Boo]

I wish my dh was as open to changing the "traditional" set up, lol!! i say go for it.

[BamaTanya]

My aunt/uncle/cousins did the same thing your dh is suggesting, and it was neat. They fixed up a neat parents' retreat.

We changed the use of our old home completely in the two months we had to sell it.

If you ever decide to sell, you can reconfigure then. And, by then, you may have dc who are big enough to be the muscle, lol. We rented a storage space and dumped about half of our furniture and misc stuff (including the bookshelves! and toys and clothes) while our house was on the market. Took down the baby's crib and let the little one sleep with us. We were trying to make our tiny space look bigger.

Good luck!

[Julpost]

Thanks! I would love to hear decorating ideas. I appreciate all of the thoughtful replies. We're gonna do it!!!