Forum
« stones below the surface in backyard Fire Doors in Landmark Brownstones »
May 5, 2008
Size matters... how small is too small
I live in the Clinton Hill co-ops. I love my 1bd rm apartment and view. However, we're thinking of having kids. Anyone have advice on how small is too small for a bedroom? I am thinking of trying to subdivide my large bedroom to create two small rooms. they'd be approx 10x7 (for the larger room me an my partner would have) and 7.5x6 (for the kid's room). In this plan we'd have separate doors for each room and each has a window so I think it's legal... are these rooms too small to work? I've tried to find websites w/pictures of spaces as small as the kid room... but couldn't. My quick search suggests that a twin bed or even bunkbed could fit in there and I grew up in NYC w/friends who lived in tiny subdivided spaces. If I don't want to lose a lovely apt and can't afford a much larger place. Does this seem workable? Anyone live in CHACO that has subdivided a bedroom? I would very much appreciate your thoughts.
Comments
The apartment therapy blog has a terrific kids site which has hosted a small nursery contest for readers to submit photos of their tiny kid's rooms. With a little creativity, it can be done.
But why wouldn't you make the dining room into the nursery? That would give you 2 large bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bath. A very workable layout.
Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 10:07 AM
Who said OP had a dining room? If not, the bedroom divide plan seems a temporary solution at best. You will still have to move later.
Destroying a decent sized -- but not huge -- master bedroom and converting as you describe will result in two too-small spaces. They will get even smaller once closet space (or the lack thereof) is factored in, and become completely unworkable once the kid is no longer an infant.
Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 10:43 AM
God, kids today are so spoiled. Your kid will be fine in a small bedroom. It may surprise you people to learn that many people grow up without a room of their very own and they turn out fine. Think about how small most dorm rooms are that the kid will head off to once they're 18. If you can fit a bed and maybe a desk in the room, it's big enough. There are also bed/desk combos if the room is really small.
Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 11:03 AM
OP here... thank you for initial feed back... a bit more of the rationale: we do have a dining room area (I think all CHAOC units do). We use this space all the time and without it we'd have no where logical to put a table. It seems much more livable for the long-term to create two rooms from the bedroom - a room we basically only sleep/dress in rather than to give up a space we live in a lot of the time.
If we can make the two bedrooms work (if the kids room isn't too small to function) I think we can stay here semi-permanently. I've looked at the apt therapy contest but those rooms looked huge in comparison to what I'm working with and, there are no layouts/measurements of size.
Anyone seen layouts/pictures w/measurements of small spaces? I don't think I'll be in a position to buy a neighboring apartment for years (either practically - no one is selling - or financially - I can't afford it anyway).
Thanks
Posted by: CH_not rich at May 5, 2008 11:26 AM
I live in the Co-Ops, and the woman I bought from raised her 2 kids in my 1 bedroom apartment. She, however, had converted the dining room area into a very liveable 8x10 bedroom. I know many other people in the Co-Ops who have done this.
I'm not sure I can conceive how you can split the bedroom into 2 -- would you do it so you have to walk through one room to get to the other? It is a large bedroom on its own, but I'm having a hard time picturing it split into 2.
Posted by: ch_nyc at May 5, 2008 11:40 AM
11:03: You won't find find a dorm room on any campus in the country that's 7.5" x 6" (and 10" x 7" might be a rare find too).
OP: The reason you can't find layouts/pictures is because no one considers 7.5" x 6" to be sufficient for a bedroom. Is your apartment so spectacular that its worth raising your kid like a veal?
Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 11:42 AM
Probably couldn't do it "legally" btw, as wouldn't this change the c/o for the whole building? Seems to me, however, that there is a whole industry in Manhattan which is set up to build very sturdy "temporary" walls. Why not try it (or even test it with hanging sheets) and see how it feels? And 11.42, where's the love?
Posted by: Putnamdenizen at May 5, 2008 12:20 PM
yes you can do it, at least for a few years. you may even have the kid in your own room for at least a year, so you can wait out your decision for a while without doing anything drastic
Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 1:45 PM
The legal size limit for a room is really, really small - we learned the hard way when one of our real estate agents told us that we would have to rent our floor through 600 square foot apartment (no separate rooms, mind you) to a family of 6 if they wanted to rent our apartment, because that was way below the NYC legal size limit for 6 people. IN fact, such a family did look at our apartment and actually considered it - plus a baby grand piano the mom wanted her children to learn how to play. Thank goodness she came to her senses and rented a 750 square foot apartment in the next block. So the fact that your child will have any size room at all is fantastic, no matter what the size.
Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 2:40 PM
I was also going to suggest the temporary wall division thing. Easier to do - don't have to get it past a coop board for approval, I don't think. I woudln't bother doing it permanently yet, even if you think you want to stay there forever. 1) you may later decide to move to more space as your kids grow, and 2) if you do this, it will lower the value of the apartment when you want to sell. Take it slower - have the kid, think about temporary walls later...and then see.
Posted by: guest at May 5, 2008 4:28 PM
A legal bedroom has to be 8'x10' minimum.
Posted by: guest at May 6, 2008 11:40 PM
Maybe a bedroom ha to be 8 X 10 - but the number of people you can legally put in it is large. Maybe 8...or 10!
Posted by: guest at May 7, 2008 12:11 AM
Maybe a bedroom has to be 8 X 10 - but the number of people you can legally put in it is large. Maybe 8...or 10!
Posted by: guest at May 7, 2008 12:12 AM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.