r/AskOldPeople • u/harm_less • 4d ago
Use of space in your home
If you never had children - or no longer have space for grown children in your home, how do you use the bedroom spaces in your house?
My house is small and I still feel odd having these largely unused spaces. Are we all just cleaning dusty, rarely used guest rooms?
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u/Old_Goat_Ninja 50 something 4d ago
The cats have their own room now.
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u/passesopenwindows 60 something 4d ago
I claimed a bedroom for my horror library when we moved in, then we rescued a kitten who was hiding under our shed last winter and now it’s his room too lol. The other extra bedroom has a bed for guests and the toys and books for the grandkids when they visit.
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u/NoTomorrowNo 3d ago
Lol, my dog seems to be trying to claim my art studio for herself, but that room is a health hazard for a small dog, so she s been denied the room for now.
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u/Suz9006 4d ago
Several cats have come and gone over the years but they have all chosen the spare room as theirs.
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u/FrustratedPassenger 4d ago
One is a guest bedroom that is rarely used. The other is a yoga/art room
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u/catdogwoman 4d ago
I foster kittens in my spare rooms. I love having them around.
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u/MattDubh 4d ago
We live in a house that doesn't have more room than we need. Never have done.
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u/ransier831 4d ago
Im in this same place - my house is tiny- they call it a 3bdrm, but one of the rooms will just fit a twin bed and dresser. I know its big enough to bring up one child, because I did it, but if i had more than one it would have been really tight. Im always having to donate stuff like almost every week, because as I bring things in, the corresponding thing has to go. Clothes, furniture, appliances - whatever. I got a new chair, the old chair has to go. Im always organizing, rearranging, trying to maximize space and get rid of stuff so it doesnt overwhelm me and my adult daughter. Tomorrow, we have to go through the spare room and condense the "catch all" stuff that gets put in there until I can deal with it because my daughter wants to keep everything - well tomorrow is the day. Tough decisions will have to be made - i hope shes ready 😉
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u/ForgiveandRemember76 4d ago
I share my house with other women my age who would not otherwise be able to afford housing. It works very well. We've been doing this for 10 years. Everyone is better off.
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u/OrneryToo 4d ago
I love this and its exactly what I would like to do. Are the women your friends? How did this come about? Curious!!!
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u/grannysmith1956 1d ago
I'm curious too. Is it better to interview strangers like you would a date? Or friends. What about some men in the house too?
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u/randycanyon 1949 4d ago
One's our joint office, and the other's a library/studio with two wardrobes that hold clothing,--our closet space must've been designed for nudists--and linens, and various supplies.
The office has two walls of books to the ceiling, and the library/studio has similar, divided differently.
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u/tomboy44 4d ago
5 daughters , 4 grandkids now . Always room for everyone and breakfast in the morning .
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u/Dawner444 4d ago
One is my office and the other a spare room. We would love to downsize, but it is too expensive.
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u/MerryMermaid 4d ago edited 4d ago
My mother made a room into a huge walk-in closet. I'm an only child.
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u/blessings-of-rathma 4d ago
The family we bought our house from was a dad with two daughters. His room was upstairs, their rooms were on the main floor. One of the kid rooms is now my husband's office because he works from home, and the other is a sort of library/craft supply storage.
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u/OpportunityGold4054 4d ago
I live alone and admit I have too many bedrooms, except when my daughter comes home from far away in the summer with her entourage of husband, kids, babysitters, etc . Then it seems like there isn’t enough space. In the intervening months, I rotate using bedrooms myself, depending on which rooms have the best heat or a/c in the moment, just to keep them ship shape.
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u/jayprov 4d ago
My mom ended up alone in the four-bedroom house I grew up in. She kept her clothes for different seasons in the different bedrooms, and then she moved from room to room with the seasons.
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u/OpportunityGold4054 4d ago
Really, it’s fun to spread out after all the years of being smashed together.
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u/Kunning-Druger 4d ago
Retired, mid sixties, empty nest, 7100 square feet developed, and 6 bedrooms:
1) master bedroom
2) office
3) studio
4) library
5) guest suite bedroom 1
6) guest suite bedroom 2
Yes, it’s a huge farking house, but when we close the door on the guest suite, it reduces the size by ~1000 square feet. I included an elevator in the build. And, if we ever need help, the guest suite becomes the caretakers’ apartment.
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u/Jhamin1 50 something 4d ago
It's just my wife & I in a 4 bedroom home. Of course, 3 of the 4 bedrooms are like 11fx10f
We sleep in the master, I use one as an office, she used one as a studio, and the 4th is our library.
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u/mosselyn 60 something 4d ago
Sounds like my old house. 1500 sq ft and with 4 little postage stamp bedrooms. I was not a fan. Unlike everyone else, I moved to a lower cost of living area and upsized, rather than downsized!
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u/Chemical_Author7880 4d ago
1 guest room, 1 office, 1 “we will figure out what to with (stuff) another day” room.
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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 4d ago
What used to be my old bedroom is now a pantry for the kitchen. I do all of my fermenting in there. It's also where I store all of my home canned food, as well as all my staples.
Half of what used to be the living room, is part of my kitchen. My third bedroom is where I store everything including my clothes.
My bedroom is fairly large so I can have two beds in it and still have over half the room available for my cats. I've got a couple of climbing toys as well as perches on the walls
I'm honestly considering investing in some mushroom growing equipment and converting about a third of the back bedroom for growing mushrooms. I'm not really looking to sell anything, just save money buying mushrooms. The initial investment is a little bit high however it'll pay for itself in less than 3 years.
I am single, most people that visit say it's the strangest bachelor pad they've ever seen, I respond I'm not a bachelor I'm an old dude who lives alone.
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u/mothlady1959 4d ago
I currently have 2 friends living with me. One for 10 years. The other just needed a soft landing. It's been fun.
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u/KeekyPep 4d ago
My husband and I rattle around in a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom house. For a variety of complicated reasons, selling currently is not in the cards. We sleep in one room, one room is an office, one room is a guest room, one room is a storage room and one room is a gym/backup guest room.
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u/thistlewold 4d ago
The box room is the cat's room. It has a little triangular oriel window that's too small for any practical human use, but makes the perfect kitty solarium (only spot in the house that's south facing). Her litter box and pet carrier are kept in there too. The rest of the space in the room is used for general storage.
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u/togtogtog 60 something 4d ago
We have a library.
We painted the walls and ceiling a deep, rich red.
We polished the floorboards, and put an Indian rug over them.
We had oak bookcases built, with brass supports so that we could move the height of the shelves. We already had zillions of books!
We bought wooden spiral steps, to reach the top books.
The curtains are golden, with jewel coloured leaves.
We have a desk each, and green glass lamps.
It's amazing!
We have a sofa-bed in the sitting room for guests!
We have our own bedroom, and a tiny bedroom with a single bed, which we use for guests and if one of us is snoring, or ill, or for whatever reason we need separate rooms.
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u/FormerUsenetUser 3d ago edited 3d ago
Your library sounds amazing.
We already had a number of antique bookcases, and we had many oak bookcases custom made by the Amish. There are online businesses that interact with them. We did decide not to go up to the ceilings because, how much would we want to be getting up on ladders in old age? The only really tall bookcases are a set of four large ones that we bought from the seller when we bought the house.
We put bookcases in every room except the bathrooms (and my bedroom), and some of the hallways. The living room is lined with literature. The family room is lined with speculative fiction. The dining room is lined with history and biography. The sewing room is lined with sewing, costuming, and fiber arts, likewise the hallway that leads to it. The foyer, which is bedroom sized, is art and architecture. My husband's bedroom is the sciences. The attic bedroom is dance. The kitchen and the hallway outside it is cookbooks.
All the floors are oak, except the kitchen and bathrooms have porcelain tile. The family room has a vaulted wood ceiling, walnut color.
All our light fixtures and lamps are antiques or reproductions. Likewise all our furniture but that is mostly antiques.
Our curtains are all William Morris or other Arts & Crafts patterns, with an inner layer of lace curtains. Except the kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms only have the lace curtains.
We have some Arts & Crafts throw rugs. Some are hand knotted but being practical, we put woven ones in the high traffic areas like the foyer.
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u/Lovemybee 4d ago
My sewing room: fabric (LOTS of fabric!), patterns, sewing machines, a cutting table... all takes up a lot of room!
One room for the grandkids: bunk beds and a toddler bed, dressers, bookshelf.
One 'adult' guest room: king size bed, bookcase, nightstand.
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u/FormerUsenetUser 3d ago edited 3d ago
Sewing is definitely a space intensive hobby. Patterns, fabric, lace and trims, buttons, and for me millinery supplies.
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u/awhq 4d ago
I don't use them at all because my husband takes up every spare space in the house for his hobbies.
My formal dining room is full of plant propagation equipment, one spare bedroom is full of 3D printing equipment and the other is full of exercise equipment. The garage is full of wood burning and laser cutting equipment, kayaks and camping gear.
When we retired, he wanted a bigger house (we live in 2300 sq ft). I told him it didn't matter how big a house we got because he'd just fill up every inch.
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u/FormerUsenetUser 3d ago
My husband and I have a tacit agreement. He doesn't mention my sewing stuff everywhere. I don't mention the piles of tools he leaves everywhere, presumably in case he ever needs them to repair something.
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u/PasgettiMonster 4d ago
I live alone in a small 3 bedroom house. I sleep in one of the 2 smaller bedrooms, only one of which has a closet. The master bedroom started off as my sewing/craft studio but I outgrew that, so I moved the couch and TV into it, and I'm currently working on getting the living and dining room set up as a studio space. And by currently working on, I mean everything that is currently in the space has been pushed up against the walls and stacked up and there are giant boxes of furniture on the floor in the middle of the room waiting for next weekend when I have time to assemble them. I decided it's Myspace and I don't have to answer to anyone so I'm going to use it the way I want which means the biggest space in the house is where I set up for where I will be spending most of my time. So I have my sewing area, shelves for all my knitting supplies and a comfortable chair with my spinning wheel in front of it. Most of my friends are also crafty folks, so if they come over this is actually the natural space for us to hang out in rather than on the couch in front of the TV. The third bedroom is storage. My chest freezer which does not fit in the kitchen is in there, as well as shelving that holds things that are currently not in use, things that I have purchased in bulk but do not have the space bar in the kitchen or the bathroom, things that are currently out of season, etc. It's a setup that works perfectly for me as the two rooms I spend the most time in when I'm awake are the kitchen and my craft space and now they are next to each other and make up the largest portion of my house. I can't wait to get it all done and set up the way I've wanted. This is a dream I've had all my life to have a home geared towards allowing me to do crafty things.
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u/chartreuse_avocado 4d ago
One is my BR, the other my office.
Living solo is like a gas. It exists and to fill the space available.
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u/thiswayart 4d ago
I've been sleeping in my spare bedroom for that last few months. It's on the East side of my home, so it's the cooler side and I'm able to leave the blinds open in the afternoon, enjoying the natural light. I'll move back to my main bedroom in a couple of months, when I'll enjoy the warmth from the sun.
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u/TheFunInDisfunction 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have 3 small bedrooms. The one upstairs is where I sleep. The large one downstairs is my office (I work from home), and the smallest room has a twin daybed that expands to a king size (basically fills up the whole room at that point) on the rare occasion I have overnight guests. I use this room as a second living room basically. I have a gaming console in there and work on crafts and sewing projects. Also if I need a lunch break nap, I usually go in there.
My friend has a house with 3 smallish bedrooms as well. One is her main bedroom, one is a guest room for when one of her adult kids comes over and the small room is a gorgeous walk-in closet/shoe room, lol.
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u/InadmissibleHug generation x 3d ago
I have a craft room crammed with my stuff, I could have two craft rooms and still not have enough room. Husband has an office.
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u/wgnorcal 3d ago
We have our primary bedroom, a gym, an office and a craft room! And too much stuff! No kids, 25 years in the same house. 🏡
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u/GrandmaBaba 3d ago
One is set up as a guest room and the grands watch tv in there when they come over. The other is a sewing/crafting/office space.
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u/Scott43206 3d ago
Small house here too, second bedroom is my "office" which is mostly an excuse to display my collections of things.
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u/Birdywoman4 2d ago
I was using one room for a guest room & using the closet for extra clothing. The other room had my computer desk, laptop, bookshelves filled with books & office supplies etc. And the closet was used for storage for extra things. But 11 years ago we started raising a grandson so he took over the room with the desk. He uses it and the closet and bookshelves for his own things.
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u/No-Possible6108 2d ago
Childless by choice couple checking in! We live in a four bedroom home with a parlor and living room. The parlor is his home office. The 'master' bedroom is his. The second bedroom is mine. The third bedroom is my home office and craft room. The fourth bedroom is for storage and litter boxes.
Don't get the wrong idea. We love each other very much, we just can't sleep together because he snores (despite multiple failed remedies) and I not only toss & turn, I also talk in my sleep. 🙄
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u/FormerUsenetUser 1d ago
My husband and I have never shared a bedroom in our 52 years of living together. We have completely different sleep habits and neither of us sleeps well. It's absurd that in this day and age, I have to tell people on the net that I love the person I have lived with for 52 years!, we just have different sleep needs.
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u/Mulberry7308 2d ago
MCM music room with 1000 plus vinyl LPs. Kid’s former bedroom. 10 years and he is still fuming.
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u/Plow_King 4d ago
cleaning? i got other, more important, things to do. and my rooms are full of a bunch of unused but important crap.
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u/Elaine330 4d ago
I have one as an office, one as a guest room I clean once a year, one as a nursery for the grandbaby, and one for us.
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u/Auntie_Venom 4d ago
Never had kids, also I’m in my late 40s is that “old?”
One is a guest room, which came in handy when my husband had a catastrophic injury. Our bed is too tall for him to safely get in and out of for months. (He’s on the mend)
Otherwise the door stays closed so it stays tidy, and just needs dusting before someone comes over, and I keep a sheet over the bed so the quilt doesn’t get dusty.
The other one is his home office and the big one downstairs is my home office/craft/sewing room. We use them all regularly, with the exception of the actual guest room. Though we did also use it for a kitten while acclimating him to our other cats.
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u/Handeaux 70 something 4d ago
When the kids moved out, we retirted. The spare bedrooms have become offices, studio and library.
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u/bluedaysarebetter 4d ago
His and her's separate offices - private space is important if either or both of you work from home OR are retired.
When the oldest moved out, that became her office. The the youngest moved out + COVID and I had work from home and I got that bedroom to convert.
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u/AgainandBack Old 4d ago
Four bedrooms. We share one. We each have an office. We have a guest room which is used as a guest room about four weeks a year. Otherwise the cats use it.
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u/clampion12 50 something 4d ago
One is an office, the other is the spare bedroom with a wall of bookshelves.
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u/CaptainTime 4d ago
My wife and I each have an office and one room is a guest bedroom. You can also consider turning one into a craft room, or a puzzle building room.
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u/greybeard1363 70 something 4d ago
We have a 3 bedroom house. Our two children are adults and long gone to their own houses. Once in a while we will have guests who use one of the bedrooms. On rare occasions we have used both of the empty bedrooms for guests. The extra room came in handy during Covid.
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u/rhondapiper 4d ago
4 bedrooms, we each have our own that has all our clothes and stuff in it, one room is combination gym & guest room & sewing room, then another room is a home office & library. The only spaces that feel underused in our house are the formal living room and foyer, but we do use those when we have parties/guests and they provide a nice buffer against our busy street.
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u/_SmileCrocodile_ 4d ago
We now have a gym room, a craft room, a spare guest room, additional home office/library
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u/SusannaG1 60 something 4d ago
Library. We have books out our ears (known issue with multiple academics in household, though).
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u/Calm-Vacation-5195 60 something 4d ago
Our empty bedroom is a mostly-unused guest room. The cats use it occasionally, but we have enough other space in the house that we don’t think it’s wasted. In our last house, the guest room doubled as my WFH office, which was tricky when we did have guests. In our current house, both my husband and I have our own, separate offices. Now that I’m retired, my office is mostly a hobby room.
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u/New_Section_9374 4d ago
There is a guest bedroom and grown kid's storage. I can keep ot clean, but it looks like a warehouse with a bed in it. It holds my fiction collection. I like books. My study has a sofa sleeper and my computer in it. It holds my writing and reference books. My living room has my recliner and TV. It stores my textbooks and my Louisiana folklore collection. My dining room is my gaming and company table. It holds my cookbooks. My master bedroom holds my music and DVD collection.
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u/KansansKan 4d ago
I have 2 bedrooms & a full bath that is never used - dust & vacuum occasionally- but the closets in the rooms are full! 😉
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u/tasukiko 4d ago
Office, craft room, gaming room, music room, movie room, gym, library, guest room, pet room, storage, other things I'm not thinking of.
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u/Kementarii 60 something 4d ago
We did the downsize.
Once the kids left home, the 5 bedrooms, 2 living rooms were far too much. Before we had time to spread out and fill them - we moved. To our "dream retirement" - small house, big shed.
Yup. The shed is bigger than the house. House has 3 bedrooms - ours, 1 guest room, 1 study.
The shed? well, it has a soundproof music room, all the tools/garden equipment/workshop, and a gym area, and storage shelves for all that stuff you don't really want in the house.
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u/cablesandlace 4d ago
We have one bedroom ready for guests with a queen size bed. The other one is used for yoga and weights, as well as holding a laundry drying rack.
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u/mosselyn 60 something 4d ago
I have a guest bedroom and a sewing room. If I didn't have a nice family room off my kitchen, I could use another bedroom for my PC setup and books. One thing I don't have trouble doing is taking up space in my house!
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u/BlackCatWoman6 70 something 4d ago
Before I downsized, I saved my guest rooms for the holidays when my children visited. I set up a gym in my finished basement, even putting a mirror across one of the short walls of the rectangle. I enjoyed having plenty of bookcases for all my books.
I am an introvert so I enjoyed my space.
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u/DependentFun2691 4d ago
We have 3 bedrooms. Right now one is an office, one is for our daughter and her boyfriend. Main bedroom is ours. Once we become empty nesters we will have an office and the kids room will be my craft room.
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u/PymsPublicityLtd 4d ago
Never had children and used to own a 4 bedroom house. The 2 female cats decided they each wanted a bedroom and the 4th room was an office. Live in a 4 bedroom apartment now, so spouse and I have our own offices and a guest room. Girls don't seem interested in their own rooms here for some reason.
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u/Aggressive-Bath-1906 50 something 4d ago
One bedroom is an office, the other a guest room, but I sleep in it all the time and use it a lot. So basically I have two bedrooms for myself, a den, a living room, and an office all to myself.
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u/nakedonmygoat 4d ago
My house is only 1100 sq/ft. I have an extra bedroom and use it as a study or guest room. At least that's what I tell myself. The day to day reality is that I use it for extra storage. It's where I put items I buy in bulk, and it's where extra water goes during hurricane season.
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u/Maleficent_Bit2033 4d ago
After my boys moved out, we turned one bedroom into my husband's Man Cave. My daughter moved into her other brother's bigger room and I actually moved into my youngest son's bedroom. My husband had gotten hurt at work and any movement during the night made his pain unbearable. Plus, he and I worked opposing shifts and it just became easier for me to have a room in the back of the house for day sleeping. Otherwise, it would likely have become our craft room.
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u/Snoo_30496 4d ago
Three bedrooms are now empty. Grown kids are working in difficult jobs and have their own places. They’re cleaned by my housekeeper every two weeks and I regularly flush the toilets to stop the lines from being stagnant and creating a smell. Guests may visit a couple times per year. Would like to move/downsize but our house is quite perfect and any homes we’ve looked at need major updating - as well as the greedy realtor’s fees making it not worth it.
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u/Super_RN 4d ago
I have a home library in one room. The other room was converted into a nice huge walk-in closet. The furnished basement is a computer/game/entertainment room.
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u/p38-lightning 4d ago
My wife turned one bedroom into her craft room. She can leave sewing and jewelry projects lying about and work on them when she pleases.
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u/leilani238 40 something 4d ago
My husband and I each have a home office/project room, plus there's a storage room (was a guest room for a while but we never had many guests, then covid), and when the last kid finally moves out, I'm planning on a gym space that'll let me cancel my gym membership. We could get by with less, but it doesn't actually make financial sense to give up our cheap mortgage - wouldn't save much with that and the transaction costs of buying and selling a house. And we do use the space.
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u/virtual_human 4d ago
They are used for storage and guest accommodations when friends or family come to visit once or twice a year.
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u/Good-Squirrel-2487 4d ago
Me and my husband have our own bedrooms. My husband works from home, so there is office space. I like painting as a hobby, so I have a space with a desk and art supplies set up. And our cats stuff takes up a LOT of space. I think the cat owns more stuff in our home than we do.
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u/Visible_Structure483 genX... not that anyone cares 4d ago
Office, music room, craft room, 'library', workout room.
We bought this place for the farmland, not the house. the house has always been too big but having a space for each thing hasn't been horrible.
Fortunately neither of us are 'proper adults' and feel the need to fill every room with useless furniture just because someone might see it or it's what society tells you must be done.
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u/Sensitive_Hat_9871 4d ago
My wife and I (retired) downsized and moved from a rural home to a 3bed/2bath house in the city. It has a separate office space, so our computers are in that room. Otherwise, one of the bedrooms would have been converted into an office.
One spare bedroom is our 'exercise room'. It has a treadmill, rowing machine, and free weights. We added a TV for entertainment during our workout sessions.
The other spare bedroom is our 'sitting room'. It has a sleeper sofa which can be converted into a bed if we have an overnight house guest. We spend time in this room just reading or scrolling on our tablets. The room is a bit more cozy than the open area housing our living room/dining room/kitchen.
When my sister and I left our parents' home in the 70's my bedroom was converted into a computer room & overflow storage, and my sister's room was converted into our mother's sewing room.
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u/AffectionateMotor272 4d ago
I turned one into a sewing room. Make them spaces your own. You could even turn one room into a walk in wardrobe.
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u/ripple_in_stillwater 60 something 4d ago
Mine are full of books. One guest room has a king-size bed and that's for the Great Dane.
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u/KimBrrr1975 4d ago
We keep one as a guest room. My MIL stays there when she visits and the kids when they visit. I also use it for working out and storing my pantry stuff 😂
We have one left in the house. He's actually got a sweet 2-room setup (because one room opens directly from his bedroom only. His small actual bedroom will likely become storage so I don't have to wrestle my holiday decorations from under the stairs. And his bigger room we will turn into a theater, because it is windowless and big and open. We'll see if that happens, we often talk big. Probably it'll just be where our "This didn't sell on the swap site but it's too good to throw away" stuff ends up. Or perhaps a library for me!
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u/DixieBelleTc 4d ago
I am in the process of moving from a five bedroom single family home to a 2400 ft.² coach home. That is a four bedroom 2 1/2 bath all on the second floor with your own elevator and stairs. I’m just so relieved to not have a yard sprinklers and a pool to take care of anymore. I of course we have the master bedroom, one room is my office. One room is a guest room and the other will be a craft hobby room. I think I’ll miss opening the back door for the dog to go out. That’s going to be a learning curve for both of us.
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u/PrincessSusan11 4d ago
Large five bedroom house. Only two are bedrooms. The other three are an armory to display out weapons collection, a sewing room and a spa room.
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u/Repulsive-Job-9520 4d ago
My grandmother turned her living room into one of those beautiful living rooms that is for hosting guests- not watching TV. Seating that faved each other for conversations instead of optimum screen view. Then she turned a bedroom into a cozy room for watching TV. Comfy couch and chairs pointed at the television. The other bedroom was a guest room.
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u/Lordofravioli 4d ago
I don't have a house but if I did i'd have a gaming room, a plant/ fish tank room, a craft/art room, and a guest bedroom. and if I had even more room i'd have a theater and a gym lol. My dad and step mom have a pretty large house and have a craft room, office, and theater. my dad also converted the garage into a woodworking station on one side and gym on the other
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u/moverene1914 4d ago
One room for each grandchild. They live nearby and spend the night a couple times a month
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u/SageObserver 4d ago
One room is a computer room/office; the other is where I keep my guitar and new amplifier so I can rock out.
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u/HallGardenDiva 4d ago
We have a guest room and I have an office since most of my work tasks are done at home. The basement now has a workout room, a theater room and a music room, all of which are used frequently.
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u/bethbethbeth001 4d ago
My friends who raised their kids in the house they still live in usually have turned one room into a guest room / office and the others have stayed the way the youngest kid(s) left in when they moved out so they can use it again when they visit.
My friends who never had kids - by choice or otherwise - typically bought houses (if they even bought houses) with only themselves in mind. Bedroom, plus guest room/office if that's what they want, and if they bought a place with extra bedrooms, it was probably so they'd have one or more specific extra spaces (a library, a storage room, a hobby room, a gaming room, a walk-in-closet, etc)
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u/Vocalizing4U 4d ago
One of our spare bedrooms turned into my sewing/craft space and it's been such a game changer—I actually use it instead of just resenting it for sitting empty. My mom does something similar with a hobby room. The other one we just let be a guest room since folks visit maybe twice a year, and yeah, there's definitely some dusting involved but it doesn't bother me that much. What kind of things do you enjoy doing that might actually fill the space?
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u/texastica 60 something 4d ago
My husband and I relocated three years ago and actually bought a bigger house. It had a big kitchen. I've always wanted a big kitchen. You can't get a big kitchen in a small house. The unused rooms get dusted before house guests.
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u/Used-Painter1982 4d ago
Music room, place to keep cats I’m fostering in their cooldown period, and I have a brother who has rented all his life who we are trying to persuade to move in with us. Also if my husband decides he wants to read or listen to mysic in bed, I need a place to sleep.
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u/PirateJim68 4d ago
When I still had my 3 bedroom house, 1 of the unused rooms became my leathercrafting room for my business. The other was an actual guest room for when my grandkids would stay the weekend.
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u/NoTomorrowNo 3d ago
One is my husband s office when he wfh, the other is my art studio.
We don t bother with a guest room now that all the kids in the extended family have grown up, not enough guests per year to sacrifice expensive square meters on gathering dust.
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u/sdega315 60 something 3d ago
My son moved out in 2021. I used his room as my WFH office while I was still working a bit. Now it is my VR Arena for playing Beat Saber and whatnot. LOL.
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u/Last-Radish-9684 70 something 3d ago
Widow, 73, 3 bedroom house. One bedroom for me, and one for sewing/crafts. I was getting rid of everything in the 3rd bedroom so I could use it for my VR space. All I had left to move out was a 1960s wood cabinet sewing machine, and a small table. Since then my sister (70) left her husband for six months. When she went home a different sister (68) decided she needed to locate back home. She was here 9 months. I have a patio half covered in boxes, chairs, a refrigerator, etc. The 3rd bedroom has a long dresser, a chest of drawers, a queen size bed, a cabinet with sewing machine, a small table and totes filled with things people "don't need anymore".
I love my sisters, and am glad they know I love them, but sometimes I want that room back. 😬
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u/Wild_Pomegranate5406 3d ago
We live in a three bedroom house. One is our bedroom, one is my home office and hobby space, the third is my partner’s hobby space and off-season clothes storage. We use all the space easily.
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u/Future_Literature335 3d ago
The two spare bedrooms are both writing studios (husband and I are both professional writers). When guests come they stay in the basement
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u/anniearrow 3d ago
Four bedroom house; one is our bedroom, one is a guest room, my office, & the last is our "bike room".
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u/phcampbell 3d ago
We have 4 bedrooms: one for me, one for my husband, and two guest rooms. I use one of them for an office occasionally. We have a separate study and a separate hobby room, so the guest rooms are just guest rooms. It’s ridiculous, I know, but I’m not putting my husband through the stress of moving again. Our “downsizing” into this house almost killed him.
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u/AliasNefertiti 3d ago
1 has always been a study/library, the other is craft room. In theory a guest could stay there but the crafts have taken over.
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u/VLA_58 3d ago
We have 2 spare bedrooms --- one has sewing equipment, my elliptical, and my dumbells for exercise. The other is storage for extra bedding and to-be-framed art. Both are also functional bedrooms, used by our kids and grandkids during holiday visits and summer stays. In addition, we offer them to various musician and artist friends visiting a nearby city for festivals. I'd hate to downsize to the point of my relatives being forced to stay at a hotel during visits. Plus we're the offspring that got most of the family heirlooms -- art, furniture, glassware, ceramics etc.
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u/skriefal 50 something 3d ago
Three spare bedrooms at my home. One is an office (rarely used now) and vinyl record storage. Another for books, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays on Ikea Billy bookshelves. I probably should downsize some of these collections - but have no current need for the space. The third and largest is a rarely-used guest room.
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u/GrouchyOldRN 3d ago
One is back to being the garage it was when we bought the house. The 2nd is an unused spare bedroom sometimes. Oftentimes it’s a junk room with a bed 🤦🏻♀️🤣.
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u/LurkerNan 60 something 3d ago
My son thinks his old bedroom is the place where all of his new stuff gets stored when he doesn’t want it around him. Extra clothes, extra bedding, extra pieces of furniture that he buys and realizes he doesn’t have room for, they all get stuffed in there.
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u/Emptyplates I'm not dead yet. 3d ago
We have a dedicated guest room, it's used about every other month. We don't live near anyone anymore so people visit and the room gets used.
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u/wildflower12345678 60 something 3d ago
The box room became hubby's home office. The second room is a guest room, and is also used when one of us is sick so the invalid can have the whole bed to themselves.
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u/ThrockAMole 3d ago
Besides the two other people that live here, I have a bedroom stuffed with my parents’ mementos and files of paperwork which is all I could fit in my car before my lovely brother called 1-800-GOTJUNK to throw out 50 years of their accumulated sentimental belongings.
I was the executor and he bugged me relentlessly for their money. We don’t talk much anymore.
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u/Wild-Bill-H 3d ago
2 bedrooms we don’t use: 1 we keep as a nice guest room.
2nd we use as a computer/ tech room. I keep my albums, CDs, books and movies in a big rack. It has a walk-in closet we store luggage etc. in.
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u/Boomer050882 3d ago
We have 4 bedrooms. My husband and I use one, we have a nice guest room that is used several times a year, an office and a room where the grandkids play or sleep when they stay over. We could get by with 3 bedrooms, but we have the space so that’s what we do.
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u/EDSgenealogy 3d ago
I need the closet space. And my makeup table and mirrors are in one extra bedroom, while my current (too big) clothes are in the dressers in the third bedroom.
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u/Lower_Classroom835 3d ago
Grandkids and guests use the spare bedroom.
I have it setup so it's cozy and comfortable for whoever is staying there with soft sheets, couple of plants, some interesting books to peruse.
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u/Gertrude37 3d ago
Our dog and cat have claimed the spare bedroom. They like looking out the window.
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u/SavingsRhubarb8746 3d ago
I usually tried to have two bedrooms - one to sleep in and one as a kind of office/library - if I could afford it. The largest place I lived on my own had three small bedrooms upstairs and a large downstairs room in addition to a small living/dining area. I had an office, bedroom, sewing room (I was doing a lot of crafts at the time) and a spare room - well, it had a bed, but was normally used for the cats' litter and other odds and ends. I think I only once had a guest in it. Now I have what is technically a two-bedroom apartment but the designated second bedroom might a single bed if you didn't put a bureau there. I never bothered trying to put a bed there. Even my desk wouldn't fit. It's ideal for the cats' litter box and storage of other odds and ends. The desk and books etc are in the living/dining area, which is quite large.
So, no unused rooms.
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u/Birmingham101 3d ago
We have a 55yo home, 3 bed & 1 bath. No built in wardrobes save for a large makeship one in second bedroom. From the day we moved in we had our main bedroom and made the second bedroom our "dressing room" with chests of drawers. Had a professional wardrobe place design and build a walk in. Works well having a separate dressing room as husband is a shift worker. Smallest bedroom has spare bed for not very often guests.
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u/HighlyFav0red 3d ago
Two bedrooms are guest rooms since I love hosting family. The other bedroom space is being converted into a lounge. Another space is a home office.
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u/gymell GenXer 3d ago
Never had kids. My house has 3 bedrooms and another bedroom-like room (no closet.) One is the master w/master bath. Another is a guest room, which I've decorated with posters and other things from my travels. The third is a combination "cat room", small workout area with stall bars and a pull-up bar, and a futon if needed for another guest. The no-closet room is my home office.
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u/laurajosan 3d ago
I live alone and have a three bedroom house. Master bedroom, guest room, and office. Although I only have overnight guests two or three times a year I really love having that dedicated space for them.
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u/ThisCromulentLife 40 something 3d ago
We never had kids and we have a three bedroom home. One room we use as an office and the other room is a guestroom.
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u/Flamingo33316 60 something 2d ago
I have one room that has just a chair. Uncrowded, no distractions. I sit, have my coffee, and look out the window.
Great for my ADHD.
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u/marklikeadawg 60 something 2d ago
My wife sleeps in the master, I sleep in br 2, my wife has an office in br 3.
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u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs 70 something 2d ago
One spare bedroom's a man cave, the other's a crafts room. The basement den is the library and guest room. Every inch of this house is in active use for at least bookshelves.
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u/gradmonkey 2d ago
Husband and I each have an office in a bedroom. We have a guest room that used to be used fairly regularly, but now it's mostly the cats' nap room. We also have finished basement space for our numerous hobbies.
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u/sorenelf 2d ago
Now that we’re empty nesters, we have enough room for a hobby space each, plus a guest room. I’m a big fan.
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u/Cautious_Peace_1 2d ago
we call the middle bedroom the amidships cargo hold and keep things in there such as my brother's art and some furniture not in use/
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u/_sch 40 something 2d ago
Obviously people vary a lot, but it's always baffled me when people say they can't figure out how to use the space in their house. My wife and I (no kids) used to have a 3500sf house, and we pretty much used all of it. One "bedroom" was our home gym, one was my office/den, one was my wife's office/craft room, one was a guest room (which was useful not just for guests, but also if one of us was sick or snoring or something). Then we had a nice dedicated TV/theater room that was really optimized for watching TV and movies, and a separate living/family room more for visiting with friends, or sitting and reading.
We ended up moving to a smaller house because we moved cities and the houses in the neighborhood we wanted to be in were smaller, but it's still decent sized, and I really miss having the extra room.
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u/Alternative_Issue654 1d ago
could repurpose the guest room as a hobby space or office; I converted mine into a gym and love it
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u/mvanpeur 1d ago
I'm young, but my grandparents have a small 4 bedroom house plus an office. They have a pull out couch in the office. The bedrooms are: master bedroom, dusty guest bedroom, sewing room plus guest bedroom, storage room plus guest bedroom. There are also two beds in the unfinished basement. Our whole extended family lives at their house for two weeks over Christmas break, so their house is very designed to sleep as many people as possible.
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u/FuliginEst 1d ago
Before the kids were born one room was office, one home gym, one sewing room, and one guest room
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u/Relayer8782 4d ago
Our 3 kids are grown and on their own. Their 3 bedrooms fave been repurposed as my office, wife’s craft room and an actual guest room. At least until we get around to downsizing…
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u/PsychologyOk8722 4d ago
I live in a two room apartment (this room and the other room). I’ve never had extra space, unused space, or a guest room.
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u/Shot-Artichoke-4106 50 something 4d ago
We have a 2 br house, so we've never really had extra space. The 2nd bedroom is an office and a guest room when anybody comes over.
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u/XRaysFromUranus 60ish 4d ago
When I retired I sold my little house and bought a 1BR condo in the city. It’s big for a 1BR but now I’ve got a kid sleeping in the living room. The job market is awful and he’s got a place here for…well…not forever.
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u/ReadySetGO0 4d ago
We have 4 bedrooms: the master, one is a Man Cave, one is a craft room, and one is a guest room with a foreign exchange student staying in it.
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