As much we want them not to, children hold very unique views of how they need their bedrooms decorated. Their ideas could be inspired by many things including epic movie sets, their friends’ bedrooms, and even fairy tales. However, to decorate according to their wishes, you need the right size bedroom. Up to that point, what is the recommended standard bedroom size for a child?
In this article, you will learn about the following:
- Average child bedroom size
- Pros and cons of small bedrooms for kids
- How to make a child’s bedroom larger
- The cost of an ideal child’s bedroom
Average Child Bedroom Size
The average size of a child’s bedroom is 11 feet by 12 feet. A 132-square foot bedroom space is enough for kids between the age of 5 and 16 years. Some children’s bedrooms can be as small as 100 square feet as long as it is not cluttered with too many items.
Maximum utilization of space is important for these small bedrooms. For instance, parents can decide to give loft beds to their kids.
Kids sharing a bedroom do not need larger bedrooms as well. Using a bunk bed and proper room organization will always do the job.
Bedroom Size for Slightly Older Kids
If your children are slightly grown, a 10 by 10 feet size bedroom may not be enough for them. Grown kids will need larger beds but these may not work well in small spaces.
Even placing reasonable bunk beds in these tiny rooms will not make sense.
For grown children, you will need a traditionally-sized bedroom area greater than 100 square feet.
The other thing to be mindful of is the playful nature of kids. Children move around a lot. Therefore, they will benefit so much if their bedrooms are larger than average. For children who are going to spend a lot of time playing in the bedroom, then you want to ensure they move around as they wish. A 10 X 10 feet room may prove to be less ideal for them.
Fortunately, many homes have spare playing rooms that children can spend time in. However, if you’re designing your own home bedroom for the kids, you need to be wary of the playing spaces.
A tiny room where kids can’t play means that they will move their toys to the living area or take over your master bedroom. Nobody wants that to happen.
Disadvantages of Small Bedrooms for Children
When discussing different types of bedrooms, we must consider that the one critical element that cuts across everything is the layout. Space determines whether a bedroom will be more or less inhabitable for your kids.
Your child’s bedroom should not have too much furniture.
The bedroom door needs to open and close fully and freely without having to drag the pieces of furniture every moment you want to do something in the room.
Additionally, the child’s bedroom should be spacious enough to allow movement without someone bumping into things.
How to Make a Child’s Bedroom Larger
The vertical space in the child’s bedroom should be good for their height. Tall kids will often find low ceilings uncomfortable.
You can manage vertical space in many ways. We will look at two of our favorites.
If the child’s bedroom has limited space, and some of your children share that bedroom, consider using a bunk bed. Do not go for extremely tall bunk beds because it will make the bedroom look small. Bunks beds allow us to put two beds within the same limited floor space that a single twin bed would occupy.
Besides, kids love bunk beds and it would be a great choice of furniture to have in their bedroom.
The second step you can take is to add shelves (wall-mounted or bookcase). This will allow you more space to store items rather than only using horizontal space. That way, you can leave more room on the bedroom floor for kids to enjoy their playtime.
All these efforts will come at a certain cost. So, what does it cost to build a suitable bedroom size for kids?
Cost of an Average Child Bedroom
The average cost of a child’s bedroom ranges from $40 to $180 per square foot. This means that adding a new 11 by 12 feet child’s bedroom to your house could force you to pay between $5,280 and $19,800.
The price could be higher depending on the pieces of furniture you buy for the room.
You may also realize that the materials used for building the room and its finishes could increase the cost drastically.
Hiring a good architect to design your child’s bedroom for that matter will also attract an additional charge of $875-$2,500. However, this is usually the way to go because simply adding a new room to your house without considering the original design could pose dangers related to the integrity of the building.
Different states may also have regulations that guide the number of bedrooms a house can have. For instance, an additional bedroom in the UK will mean a different bedroom tax.
Smallest Size that a Child’s Bedroom Can Be
The smallest size that a kid’s bedroom can be is 7 x 10 feet. Although a 70-square-foot room is quite small, it will still be large enough for one child going by legal standards.
We have reports of many real estate agents marketing rooms this small as bedrooms.
If the room size is less than 70 square feet, then they have to market it as something else. It will not be an ideal bedroom size for any child. Only a one-time guest can sleep in such tiny rooms because it will only be for a single night.
A visiting child in a sleepover can still use smaller rooms as bedrooms if there are no options.
Not everyone would like to be restricted in such smaller spaces because the comfort of sleep will be taken away. Luckily, most architects do not designate such rooms as bedrooms and your new house may not have them. They are often treated as walk-in closets or put to other uses.
Overall, your child’s bedroom should have two ways that he/she can enter and exit to be considered an ideal size.