So I'm about to close on a house that is currently a 3/1.5. I'm expanding that .5 on the ground floor into a full bath, but I don't know if I should turn the room that the entrance is in into a small master bedroom (with small master bath) or leave it as a formal dining room or den (both of which seem a strange place to find a full bath).
FWIW, this is a long-term flip property for me: I'm going to be living in it for about two years while fixing it up as a means to save money by not paying rent, make money with any extra money from sale, and learn a lot of the ropes of house-flipping/hacking, which is something I'm interested in doing over the next decade or so. I've worked out two design ideas, that we'll simply call Option 1 and Option 2. In Option 1, you see a small galley kitchen that opens up to some informal eating situation (the "furniture" in the plans is just to get an idea of the room, by no means what it will necessarily look like), and then that room opens out into the living room area. Beyond that, on the street-facing wall, there is a flex room that I would use as a den/office space, but could also be used as a formal dining room. On the other side of the living area would be the other flex room that I would use as a dining room, but again, could also be used as a den/office area. That is the room that leads to the bathroom. There are currently three openings into that room: from the front entry straight ahead, from the living room, and from the kitchen. OPTION 1:
In option 2, I'm closing off two of those walls and extending the galley kitchen several more feet (which is a big pro for me). This means that the kitchen opens out to what should be the functional dining area, and on the other side of that goes the living room still. At that front-facing room, I will set it up as an office/den (though again, when I sell it, there's no reason this couldn't really be a formal dining room if that's what the new owners would rather). This leaves us with one entrance to that bathroom-adjacent room (and I would probably put the entrance door on the main entry wall, not in the living room, but am open to suggestions there), and I can close off the former kitchen hallway and turn it into a decent sized closet. OPTION 2:
In the scenario, It's a 12x12 room, which is small for a master, but from what I understand, first floor masters are desirable, and it leaves the upstairs area kids-only with a shared bathroom among two 12x12 bedrooms and one 10x12 bedroom that has an opening into another 10x12 room (headache). HOWEVER, this loses first floor bathroom access, so guests would either need to go through 1st floor bedroom, OR go upstairs to use the one connected to a hallway. FOR REFERENCE, THIS IS WHAT UPSTAIRS LOOKS LIKE:
My gut wants to go with Option 2 because this means it's a full-fledged 4/2 with a master bathroom PLUS that bonus 10x12 room upstairs (half of which would probably be converted into closet/storage space). I would like to ideally change those two 10x12 bedrooms upstairs into one big master bedroom with ensuite, but the renovation costs are prohibitive for resale. What do you guys think? While a "YES, GO FOR OPTION (whichever)" is great, I'd also love to hear feedback/thoughts on really anything I've stated above - if I'm not thinking of something, I'd love to hear about that, too. Not sure if the small 1st floor master is worth it or not, not sure if it's weird to have a bathroom open up to a dining room, there's just a lot I'm not sure of!!
