Family Home

[LondonMix]

For all of you mums and dads with older children (5+), I was wondering what you would priortise in a family home: a large garden vs. a garden only large enough for a small BBQ's and a small swing OR larger bedrooms / bigger bathrooms and more storage? Right now, outside space isn't so much of a concern but I wonder, in hindsight, what the forum thinks makes for more comfortable family life particularly as kids get older!

[Mrs TP]

A bedroom each and loads of storage over a garden but then we have girls - two share and moan continuously. We do have the extra room to give all a room each but it rammed with stuff that needs sorting and will happen one day! Minimal garden requirements - paddling pool & bbq on infrequent hot summer days and bit of snow for snowball fights in winter - parks at other times. Been in London 20+ yrs but even as a student I remember being shocked at how well used the parks are, because hardly anyone has a big garden and you don't have to go too far for some green space. Depends on your family though and their particular querks.

[EDmummy]

With 2 boys, it would be garden every time for me. Enough bedrooms but size not overly important as they mainly only sleep in them. We have the advantage of a lot of downstairs space, though.

[JDR]

I have three girls and would say medium sized garden and lots of storage space.... Though we have a house with good sized Arden, it's a dump and unusable so patio area currently used lots for swingball and trikes

[keane]

With 2 boys age 9 & 5 I would have to say garden too - we had tiny garden and were bit of a walk from park & after 7 years in old house have moved to a house with bigger garden - tho u don't get huge in east dul on our budget it's more long & narrow! But if anything we've got smaller bedrooms than before but a bigger kitchen space with room for a sofa where we end up spending most time. In an ideal world of course it would be lovely to have bigger bedrooms & garden but I realised with 2 football crazy boys that garden space would be really good & u couldn't swing proverbial cat in old garden let alone kick ball. We now have baby 3 so I am hoping for summer of not much time in small bedrooms and lots of time in garden which should by then have a hammock in for me, football goal for them & maybe trampoline etc.

[LondonMix]

Thanks, that's really helpful. It seems boys and girls tend to use outside space differently which explains why my husband and I disagree on this one! To throw another spanner in the works- if you have an ensuite, how much do you value it-- in addition better rooms upstairs, the house with a small garden has a great ensuite in addition to lots of storage. Given the weather we have, I wonder how much we'll use the garden but I supposed kids of a certain age need to run off excess energy...

[keane]

We don't have an en suite so not sure about that, but the boys did spend from 4.30-7 last night doing penalties in the garden as was it was the first warm light evening since we moved to this house last Autumn! Which gave me a chance to clear up tea, unpack from a week away & sort the baby out so last night it was worth it! But of course we've barely used the garden from

October til now.

[MGolden]

We've got two boys (11 and 14). Garden everytime although I accepted long ago that we can't have grass. We have two 7-a-side goals and in summer I have a hammock but that's rarely used. I have a fantasy that one day my garden will be beautifully landscaped but until my boys stop inviting the entire street in to play football that's what it will remain.

As far as en-suite is concerned - we have one of those with the loft room. Great to have our own bathroom but it's amazing how even that can cause rows - particularly the one about who is using which toilet to do a poo in!!

[LondonMix]

Haha! Sneaky poos in the ensuite eh? What everyone is saying who has boys is exactly my husband's argument-- we need a football net etc.

I don't remember playing in the back yard growing up (we had a pool which might be why as it took up most of the backyard). We tended to play out the front of the house (in America that was very normal) or in the cul-de-sac with the other neighborhood kids. Its funny, but I never see kids playing in the street like I did (here or back home).

We used to play kickball in the middle of the street.

[catgirl]

We've got 2 girls and a boy and really really value our big garden. We ended up moving here from a more expensive part of London in order to get a decent sized house with a big garden (this was before prices went silly here!)and have always been so glad that we did so. I love the fact that the children can just go out and play and be outside having fun while i'm cooking tea or whatever and watching them from the kitchen. However close you live to the park, you still need to pack up and go out but with a garden you can just run in and out as suits. We use it all year round as even in the winter they go out to play on the trampoline / slide.

It's also great when we have friends round as the children can all just race around outside having fun and burning off energy.

I've also noticed (and may just be my strange children) but my 3 seem to play together much better outside than in - far fewer arguments and strops!

For what it's worth, we also have a small ensuite and I'd give that up any day rather than chop a bit off my garden.

Personally my compromise would be size of bedrooms / other rooms to have a big kitchen (we live in ours) and garden.

[pebbles]

I'm another fan of a larger garden. I have a boy 5 and girl 3 and they spend time in the garden every day all year round. In the winter they just wrap up warm.

Our trampoline was our best buy as they spend HOURS on it and their friends love coming here and playing outside too.

I hope you are able to come to a mutual decision :)

[LondonMix]

That's really helpful. If you don't mind me asking, how big is big? The difference between the two gardens we are considering is 20ft vs 45ft. While 20ft is really just a city garden for BBQ's I wonder if 45ft is actually big enough to get some of the benefits you guys are mentioning.

[keane]

I think 45 ft big enough for trampoline & one football goal. Our garden is 90ft but it is so narrow it doesn't look big it's like a kind of long corridor but it does mean they can have a goal at the end & will eventually get trampoline tho the balls do keep getting kicked over the neighbours fences!

[catgirl]

yes our garden is about 80ft so is very big although have a large shed / garden room taking up quite a bit of space at the end.

A friend has a garden that is about 45 foot and she has a patio which is bigger on the rh side than the lh side.

then on the lh side of the garden she has a slide and then behind that a trampoline and the right hand side is just grass for running on after the patio. It works really well having it divided up like that.

[LondonMix]

Thanks, you guys have turned me! I know which one we want :)

[HannahSE23]

Agreed with all the points above. Our children are 7 and 4 and spend hours in the garden. Our old house had virtually no garden and we spent ages schlepping to the park every day for fresh air. Now they're often happy simply to hang out in the garden and they get exercise on the trampoline. A 45ft garden is plenty big enough for a trampoline and a game of football! Good luck with the move.

[ClareC]

Garden every time!

My two love playing in the garden, they play well together, spend hours out there and best of all the house stays tidy!

I second the trampoline tip - best buy ever! It's like a giant playpen with the springs outside the netting so safe too! I bought a large one on the basis I could use it too (really good exercise) - course hasn't quite worked out to plan as if I go on it they want to too which means I can't bounce properly for fear of catapulting them!!

Great for when their friends come round though, they all pile on and seem to love taking the space hoppers and old birthing ball on too!

Paddling pools, play houses and slides also seem to be excellent entertainment.

[rachel4]

Can I just ask what size trampoline and which make have you gone for, those that have them?

[ClareC]

We have a TP 14 ft Octagonal one - probably too big for most London gardens (we have moved out to Kent now), but they do do smaller versions and they are really good quality and safe.

[rachel4]

just revisiting this thread on trampolines. what size do you recommend to buy and which make? have a smallish ED garden but 3 children.

thanks.

[????]

Garden....so I can say, "I'm just going out to do some gardening darling" and escape

[EDmummy]

Our trampoline is 10-12ft (can't remember off top off head) and I think we're finally coming to end of use. Youngest is 8 but know from experience with older child that interest in it stops around 10. Ours has been truly wonderful and with highly recommend. Just remember, they only get to use them for 3-4 months of the year (certainly this last year) so buy a good cover.

[Grotty]

Interesting thread on what is important when buying a house. We (2 adults & 2 girls) are trying to buy round here at the moment. We love the area but for our budget we can't tick all the boxes so have to compromise on something. We have seen 2 houses we like but each has something lacking.

1) nice road, love love the house, its small but has the space we need inside for now and a loft that can be converted. However, there is literally no garden - a tiny yard at the back 10ft at its deepest.

2) big house with lots of space and still more room for growing in sideways and upwards, large garden, but very VERY busy road - traffic/buses etc.

Which would you choose?

[????]

2) you get used to traffic and can do 'things' about it...i suposse it depends on how big the VERY is

[Ann]

I totally understand the issues on this thread. For boys outside space is a premium compared to bedroom space, that said the stage in your life when children can't play unsupervised is relatively short; there are plenty of activities for active boys around here.

Don't live on a very busy road but very close to them and the only noise at night are our local fox population and overhead planes!

Really just want to say that the issues with young children passes very, very quickly!