[jillylicious]

We are looking at new houses and I'm having a tough time deciding which would be better used.

One has 4 bedrooms and no bonus room.

The other has 3 bedrooms and a bonus room.

Both have unfinished basements. Eventually we will finish the basement on the new house, but I'm not sure when yet. I like the idea of having a guest room for grandparents, etc., but I would also like to avoid having a bunch of toys & kid gear hanging out in my living room.

Which would you go for, given the choice? A guest room where you could put an extra bed for company and live with kid gear in the main living area, or a bonus room with space for a TV and some kid gear?

Or, third option - would you use a bedroom as a playroom until the basement was finished, then have a rec room downstairs later on?

[clouise]

I'd rather have the bonus room I think. You could put a pull-out coach in there for company or just buy a nice air mattress. Either way I would love to finish the basement...that would be awesome!

[Admin-Twinkle]

I think it depends on how many children you plan on having, how often a guest room would be used by guests, what sort of time line you have for finishing the basement. I know for us, having 3, almost 4 kids, we need that bonus area as a playroom/family room. When we were looking at houses it was necessity. I wouldn't look at houses that didn't have a bonus area. But thats just what was important to me at this stage in our family. When we just had Lily and were thinking of TTC Julia, we didn't need that bonus area at that point, so we didn't really have it. My parents do live out of town, so having a guest room has always been important to us as well.

I think it comes down to how often you plan on having guests, how large of a family you want, and how long it will take you to finish the basement.

[youngwoman]

I agree with Christine, it does depend on various factors and how much each option would be utilized at this point in your lives.

For us, family lives out of state so having space for a guest room is important, but if you guys don't foresee having guests too often, the bonus room might be a better fit for you.

[GymChick]

I choose all of the above bc I would be in heaven with all that room!! LOL OKay, honestly, I'd probably go with the 4 bedrooms, but that's just bc I need an extra room for an office. Unless you could put my office in the Bonus room. LOL

[jillylicious]

Mmmm.... thanks guys. I think we're going to place an offer on the 4 beds. We will have the bsmt finished in about 18 months, so if we could convert the 4th bedroom and tough it out for a couple years I could have quite a bit of space for them by the time the little one is about 3.

Dave's fam are all close by so will not spend the night, and neither will my family except for here and there. However outside of the bedroom thing, we adore the rest of this house - brand new, hardwood, granite countertops thruout, soaker tub in both bathrooms, and a formal dining room.

More updates as I get 'em. Thanks for your input!!

[mayandsofiasmommy]

Well, I think it would depend. We have 4 bedrooms (small bedrooms) and a bonus area that is the girls play room. I love that area!!

[Mommy2Hunter]

For us the 4th bedroom would be a much better choice. I would rather have that and use it like a den while the basement is finished. Then when it was done you could turn it into an office or a real done up guest room. Also, is the bonus room located above a garage or anything? You have to take into consideration the extra cost of heat/cooling when its there. We have 4 bedrooms since we remodeled. The boys have their own rooms (for now) and we used the 4th for a extra room. My sewing machine is in there along with a tv for the boys and our bookshelves and piano. When guests come to stay we have a raised air mattress that we put in there. Also, we don't believe in playrooms..lol. All toys (except for a small basket of Elijah's toys) belong in bedrooms. If there is a toy they have to share then they get to play with it in one or the other's room.

[Mod-quietsong]

I think the 4 beds is a good choice... You can always use a bedroom as a playroom or whatnot until you NEED it as a guest room.

[KellersMom517]

I think you could use either the extra bedroom or a bonus room as a playroom since you don't have overnight guests too often...so I would choose the house that I liked better

Having said that, we have 3 bedrooms and it is not going to be enough once we have another baby cause we often have my mom here visiting from Maine and I hate to have her sleeping in the LR where she gets woken up early by Keller! We're going to have to finish the basement too...

[bessie17]

I would go with the 4 bedrooms. You could always put a guest room in the basement if you decide as well.

[madismom]

I think i'd pick the house I liked better, too. I think you'll be happy either way. . .

[ethansmom0408]

We have 4 bedrooms and a bonus room. One of the bedrooms is used as a guest room and the bonus room is used as our office. Ethan's toys are mostly in our basement (it is finished) and we have some of his favorite toys in our family room. In the future I will put toys in our bonus room so he can play up there. There is plenty of room for our desk and some toys.