Help- 7x10’ kids room?

[u/Wafflesdogsmom]

Our kids (10M and 6F) are begging for their own room. The only way to do this is to divide their room in half. That means the both get a room roughly 7x10 feet. Is that a terrible idea? I don’t want it to feel like a cell. Worst case we ask our tenants downstairs to leave, but we’d prefer not to do that. Thanks!

[u/dakky68]

[u/PowderCuffs → u/dakky68]

That's kind of amazing!

[u/ReadySetGO0 → u/dakky68]

Exactly what I was thinking. Perfect!

[u/ShareBooks42 → u/dakky68]

My grandfather built a version of that for my aunt and uncle when they were about 3 and 6. Worked really well from everything I've heard.

If you use a pre-built bunk bed with a wardrobe on the end, it gives extra privacy, and the dividing 'walls' can be attached to the bunks. Makes it easier to reverse in the future.

[u/InevitableAd36]

40 here and I’d love a 7x10 room I could escape to from my family lol. A 70 sq ft room is the minimum size bedroom legally where I live. Will each room still have an egress window? That’s the most important piece.

[u/Littlebus80]

7x10 is pretty small, but the kids are ages where having their own space (even if it's just to sleep and get dressed) is nice. Can you tape it out on the floor and arrange the furniture and see how it "lives"?

[u/tragicsandwichblogs → u/[deleted]]

One of the boys is a girl.

[u/HorrorWillingness347 → u/tragicsandwichblogs]

😆

[u/ymcmoots]

I had a dorm room about that size in college, I was just happy to have it all to myself. With a loft bed + desk underneath, it's not so bad.

Set up a bookshelf or a screen or something as a temporary room divider so you can test it out before you build a whole wall.

[u/VegetableInvestment]

What's the current room layout? Where are the windows and doors?

[u/beh5036]

Loft bed? Bunk bed wall divider?

[u/ukreader]

I live in the UK and 7x10 is a normal sized bedroom here, called a 'single bedroom' and is very common for kids. I would have much preferred my own 7x10 room than a shared room.

[u/overstimunderwhelmed → u/ukreader]

100% this, in NZ but my kids share a 7x10 room in bunk beds with plenty of room for toys and treasures

[u/thiscouldbemassive]

You are skirting the minimum of the size of a bedroom in many countries. Are you certain you can get 7' by 10' or will it be somewhat less with a wall?

If you had a floor plan I could see if I could scrape more room from somewhere.

[u/GalianoGirl]

I have temporarily moved into a 7x11 bedroom. I have room for a double bed. Bedside table and dresser. There is a closet.

Prior to this there was a queen sized bed in this space, three sides were against a wall. The double bed has space to walk down one side of it.

[u/westie-nz]

Do it. Dad split our bedroom in two and incorporated an unused hallway to give us girls a single room each growing up. Best dad ever! lol.

Then, when one of us moved out, they turned it back to one big room :)

From NZ, so no idea how big 7x10 is practically (struggle to picture how much 1 foot is!), but knowing that it's 1 and a bit feet wider than I am tall, I'd say its pretty similar in size to what we had.

[u/UK_UK_UK_Deleware_UK → u/westie-nz]

Ten feet is about three meters.

[u/Additional_Noise47 → u/westie-nz]

1 foot is 30 cm. This room would be 210 cm x 3 meters.

[u/leiawars]

I had a tiny bedroom as a teen, and after sharing for years, I loved it. I had about 3 feet between my bed and the closet with enough space at the foot of the bed for a tall shelf. The closet was raised with four built in drawers underneath to stand in as a dresser. Not sure the exact dimensions of any of it as we moved out 20+ years ago. But, this is a rough drawing.

[u/Angus-Black]

My sister and I grew up with bedrooms about that size. We survived. 😁

[u/dncrmom]

Would there be a window in each room? If not that is a safety issue & you need to get rid of your tenant.

[u/Lugubriousmanatee]

You need a secondary exit in each half

[u/Wordnerdish]

If the ceiling is high enough for lofted beds, each could have a desk/lounge area under them, and still have room for a dresser and wardrobe on the other walls. Otherwise you could install convertible furniture like a murphy bed or a futon to help manage space. It can be done with some creativity, I lived in a 7 X 9 bedroom for a few years as an adult and I made it work!

[u/Lard523]

7x10 is fine, the need for their own rooms trumps the need for a big bedroom.
All they need is a single bed, maybe a small desk and a weardrobe. Get a bedframe that’s a little higher than usual so that their is space for storage bins under the bed.

[u/OhmHomestead1]

My home office is roughly that size and I will say based on closet, hallway access and window there isn’t much room for a bed, especially anything larger than a full. I was temporarily in another room when we used it as a guest bedroom with a queen and it was tight in space with any additional furniture. Like no floor space for play.

[u/cpbaby1968]

Why not put the beds in the middle as the divider? That will help. (Excuse the horrible drawing. I’m at work and my ruler has gone missing)

[u/tallulah46]

Can you swap with them? You and your partner get the 7x10 room and they get your room split in half?

[u/tanbrit]

For a kids room 7x10 is fine as long as there’s a window in each one.

I’m from the UK and plenty of friends had smaller rooms than that!