Splitting One Bedroom Into Two
I’d love some advice about splitting one bedroom into two. I’m considering apartments (like the one pictured) with one bedroom that could potentially become two if necessary. In the bedroom on the right, I could put a wall up in the middle to create two small bedrooms, and create a doorway to the second bedroom…
I’d love some advice about splitting one bedroom into two. I’m considering apartments (like the one pictured) with one bedroom that could potentially become two if necessary. In the bedroom on the right, I could put a wall up in the middle to create two small bedrooms, and create a doorway to the second bedroom from the living room. Two major concerns:
– It’s in a pre-war building, and walls are plaster. How difficult / costly would it be to cut out some of the wall to create the second bedroom door?
– Radiators are both near the window in the bedroom. So if I put a wall up across the room, it would cut off heat to the other room. I imagine this would affect how the room is categorized (can’t be considered a legal bedroom without direct heat source?). But I guess it would be ok with me as long as the room were warm enough. Seems like these pre-war buildings are always too hot even. But if it’s not warm enough, I’d imagine creating another heat source inside the room would be very difficult and/or costly. Maybe impossible. Thoughts? It’s a co-op, so it’s not like it would be my whole property to rip apart and install new heating elements.
You can live with a child in a one bedroom. We put the baby to sleep in the bedroom and then moved him into the living room when we went to bed. It worked fine for 3 years. Once we moved to a larger place, though, we couldn’t believe we actually lived like that.
Lapinagile, that sounds very smart.
Thanks everyone for your comments. The child in the scenario is just a hypothetical one for now, but I like the idea that if I don’t want to move in 5 years for whatever reason, I could make the apt. work. I looked at a lot of two bedrooms, but a one bedroom is way more affordable, and I’m philosophically committed to living well below my means. I used to live in Europe and a lot of people I knew made these kinds of situations work. Lots of great ideas here – I’m more inclined now to make up a temporary creative solution. For example – a bed in the living room (that you can cover up when guests are there) for the parents — like this one: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/small-cool-2010/small-cool-2010-maria-s-pockets-international-division-20-114561.
And if I really wanted to create more living spaces, maybe put a temporary wall in the bedroom with french doors, the back part with the windows and radiator is the child’s room, the front part is a home office/guest room, so doesn’t matter if someone has to walk through it to get to the bedroom.
I don’t know what y’all are talking about.
It would make a fine 2-bedroom and the reason to do it is because it will be worth a lot more than a one bedroom. The plaster wall is not a big deal (you will have to mend the floor too). I’d make the bedroom with 2 windows larger, like 12×10 and the back one (with the side window that I guess people are having a hard time seeing?) smaller like 12×8. Subtract a foot from each room with you’re doing side to side closets between.
People here get hung up on what’s legal. Pft. Buyers will want to see if they can fit a kid in there. Buyer will probably be pre-baby and so sure, little room will be great for an office, then a nursery and then a twin bed. And when they’re pregnant with a second, they’ll move. That’s how people think. I don’t know who thinks about if there is room for a queen bed in every room .. people living with their adult kids or their mom?
Go for it.
wtbound…you’re right, you couldn’t do what many brownstones do under current code (or even under older codes going pretty far back).
If it’s a pre-existing condition, it’s grandfathered in.
Finding a real 2 bedroom you can afford is good advice, but I disagree that you wouldn’t find buyers down the road if you do the split. There are plenty of families who have a small child, and want to be in a particular area. My wife and I did the same thing back in the day, and looked at a number of “2” bedrooms that were really 1 bedrooms that had been split up. Also, lots of new buildings have very small bedrooms, often 8×10, with no closets…and that’s not a great commentary on what people expect as buyers, but it means you wouldn’t be a solitary outlier in the market.
ok….I can make the magic happen.
1. living room = bedroom
2. foyer = living room
It’s not ideal, but its easy. and it doesnt require anything major. Just put a nonstructural door where the entry into the current living room is.
If you really need more space, then get a bigger apt.
light and air: basically the area of a window has to be at least 10% of the floor area of the room. 1/2 of that needs to be operable.
rooms must be a minimum of 80 Sf and no one wall dimension (width or depth) shall be less than 8′. Technically a closet needs to be included in that room too.
PS is a different story because those existing brownstones tend to have very narrow rooms off a wider room. they exist and DOB can’t make you not sleep there, but if you were going to create a new room- either by building a new building or doing a configuration change- you need to comply with the 80sf. Even in the 1938 code you still need light and air. Generally lot line (side of the house) windows are not an allowable way to meet these requirements- but a case could be made for an old building with a shaft put in place specifically for light and air…
Dividing one room into two rooms each measuring 6 feet wide or less is not really a realistic option. Period.
I’m still hung up on jcharch’s comments about light/air…does that mean the brownstone apartments can only have 1 legal BR at the back? I’ve lived in and sen many floor-thrus with bedrooms along the side usually with air-shaft type windows…is this not legal? It seems to be the most common 2+ BR layout in PS, so I’m surprised to hear. Or did I misunderstand?