Bedroom opening into kitchen? (furniture, install, dining room, resale value)

[JohnHenrySDM]

My current 3/1 small house has one of the bedrooms accessible only via walking through another bedroom. This is less than ideal. By opening up a new doorway and closing an existing doorway I could fix this problem; however, it would result in one of the bedrooms opening directly into the kitchen.

So given that neither layout is perfect, but one must be chosen, which do you think is preferable? I'm more concerned with the affect on resale value than my own functionality, as I could be content with it either way.

Thanks!

[KonaKat]

Have you considered making the 3/1 a 2/2 instead? would that be feasible? Making the 2 adjoining bedrooms, 1 larger bedroom with a 2nd bath - plumbing in kitchen not far away past that connecting wall?

I'd take a 2/2 over a 3/1 anyday, and in a house where 1 bedroom is only accessible thru another bedroom to me, is a definite negative.

If you open up the doorway between kitchen and bedroom, that would be my 2nd choice.

[JohnHenrySDM]

Thanks for the input.

I'm afraid the house is just too small (1,000 sqft.) to justify having 2 bathrooms. If it did, then they'd need to be right next to each other... which I think would be stranger than the other two choices.

[fallingwater]

Well food for thought, in my home state it was against code (fire entrapment or something) to have a bedroom only accessible through another bedroom unless there is was door leading outside. A friend of mine had a house set up this way and for her to sell the place she had to put an outside door in that one awkward bedroom.

Is this bedroom part of an addition? Why is it only accessible via going through another bedroom? My friend's house was an addition which made it awkward.

I like the idea of the 2 bed/2 bath idea but see where it might not work if they are side by side. Here are some thoughts off the top of my head. Of course with not seeing the place my thoughts might be useless but I will list them anyway...


-open the bedroom up to the kitchen and stage it as an office when selling.

-if possible off set the door into the bedroom by providing a small hallway so it doesnt appear the door opens right into the kitchen

-add french doors and make that room a dining room (although this would probably drop the value of the home)

-or leave it as it is and stage it as a master suite with a sitting room.

[busibee23]

I have never owned a home, so resale value is not something I know a lot about. I had an apartment one time that had a "bedroom" only accessible through another bedroom BUT if the house was ever to resell, I do not believe the 2nd bedroom could be construed as a bedroom because it did not have a closet. We used it as a nursery though, and that was actually something that made us want the apartment. Does the awkward bedroom have a closet? If not, you could make those 2 bedrooms into a bedroom with a walk in closet (or something similar). As for square footage being an issue when figuring out remodels...I have seen houses and condos with smaller footage and it being with 2 bathrooms. Some buyers could care less if the bathrooms are next to each other as long as there are 2 bathrooms! JMO and thoughts

[mmyk72]

I've been househunting for a long while, so just want to chime in with a perspective from the buyer's side. I wouldn't consider the 2 connected bedroom separate bedsrooms.

Being single, I'd LOVE a 2 bed house with large bedrooms, big closet, and a half bath. I'll take that over a 3 bedroom house with all the bedrooms on the small side and lacks good closet.

The caveat is that if someone has kids, they may need 3 bedrooms more than closet space. Also, adding a bath will be expense that you may not recoup when selling.

[JohnHenrySDM]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

Originally Posted by fallingwater

Well food for thought, in my home state it was against code (fire entrapment or something) to have a bedroom only accessible through another bedroom unless there is was door leading outside.

This is something that confuses me as it seems the definition of "bedroom" is somewhat arbitrary. The house I bought was sold as a 3/1... but it seemed to me that one of the bedrooms would be more suited to an office, a foyer or a sitting room. When you buy a house that has no furniture, couldn't any room be made into a bedroom? It seems odd to me that state codes could regulate in which rooms of a house one is allowed to sleep.

Originally Posted by fallingwater

Is this bedroom part of an addition? Why is it only accessible via going through another bedroom? My friend's house was an addition which made it awkward.

Yes, good guess! It's part of an addition and that's what makes the layout slightly unnatural.

Originally Posted by fallingwater

I like the idea of the 2 bed/2 bath idea but see where it might not work if they are side by side. Here are some thoughts off the top of my head. Of course with not seeing the place my thoughts might be useless but I will list them anyway...


-open the bedroom up to the kitchen and stage it as an office when selling.

-if possible off set the door into the bedroom by providing a small hallway so it doesnt appear the door opens right into the kitchen

-add french doors and make that room a dining room (although this would probably drop the value of the home)

-or leave it as it is and stage it as a master suite with a sitting room.

Thanks! I'm leaning towards option 2.

[JohnHenrySDM]

Originally Posted by busibee23

I have never owned a home, so resale value is not something I know a lot about. I had an apartment one time that had a "bedroom" only accessible through another bedroom BUT if the house was ever to resell, I do not believe the 2nd bedroom could be construed as a bedroom because it did not have a closet. We used it as a nursery though, and that was actually something that made us want the apartment. Does the awkward bedroom have a closet? If not, you could make those 2 bedrooms into a bedroom with a walk in closet (or something similar). As for square footage being an issue when figuring out remodels...I have seen houses and condos with smaller footage and it being with 2 bathrooms. Some buyers could care less if the bathrooms are next to each other as long as there are 2 bathrooms! JMO and thoughts

Thanks BB. The walk-through bedroom does have a closet. Maybe that's why it's called a bedroom?

[JohnHenrySDM]

Originally Posted by mmyk72

I've been househunting for a long while, so just want to chime in with a perspective from the buyer's side. I wouldn't consider the 2 connected bedroom separate bedsrooms.

Being single, I'd LOVE a 2 bed house with large bedrooms, big closet, and a half bath. I'll take that over a 3 bedroom house with all the bedrooms on the small side and lacks good closet.

The caveat is that if someone has kids, they may need 3 bedrooms more than closet space. Also, adding a bath will be expense that you may not recoup when selling.

Thanks. Being single myself, it is a little tricky to design the house exactly as I want it for myself while at the same time considering future buyers who may have kids.

This brings to mind a somewhat off-topic point. When house-hunting, it seemed all the advice I got from people older than me (I'm mid-30s) put an extremely heavy emphasis on valuing those things which families with children will value. In other words, the local schools are extremely important and so is the number of bedrooms. This thinking presumes that all future buyers will be traditional families. This to me seems to be a perspective that the Baby Boomers were wise to hold, but it seems far less applicable today, especially in an urban setting.

[Momma_bear]

I think for resale I would add the bedroom door that opens to the kitchen. I would reconsider taking out the door that connects the two bedrooms though. If you want to make the house attractive to future parents they may consider it a plus to be able to access a baby/child's room without having to leave their own bedroom. They could always install a lock on their side for privacy.

In most areas a 3BR house will be more desirable than a 2BR house. If the bedroom in question is to be used by a child (not a master bedroom) I think it would be fine to add a door that opens to the kitchen.