What would you rather have?

Question

When buying a house? A bigger kitchen or more bedrooms. The reason I ask is this, We have four bedrooms, 2 on the main floor, 1 upstairs (its the whole upstairs) and 1 in the newly remodeled basement, but our kitchen is so tiny, we can only have a tiny little table with two chairs. The kitchen backs one of the bedrooms and I was thinking about knocking out a wall to make a bigger room for the kitchen. So what do you think would be better? Keep the tiny kitchen and 4 bedrooms, or knock down a wall to make the kitchen larger? Thanks for your input

PS, how would you know if it is a loadbearing wall?

Umm Jack, just so you know, my house is crap. Totally not trying to impress anyone, was just saying that the basement was remodeled so people knew that the bedroom downstairs was nice and not gross like basements usually are.

Answer 1

Now, That is a very interesting question. I hope you discover some added ideas from their answers...
Oh, and tell your poodle I said hi...

Answer 2

How many bedrooms do you need? Do you have people in all of those bedrooms? If not, make the kitchen bigger for sure! If you're only using some of these bedrooms as guest rooms, then making the kitchen bigger will make the house heaps better.

You spend a lot of your time in the kitchen or just hanging around the kitchen dining area. Whereas if the other bedrooms are guest rooms then the only time you'll be in there is to freshen up the place for when you have guests.

Answer 3

Why not knock down a wall eliminating one of the main floor bedrooms but then build a wall in the upstairs bedroom and turn the large upstairs bedroom into two rooms (or you could do the same to the basement bedroom, either way) Then you'd have the same amount of rooms and a bigger kitchen.

Answer 4

Well how big is your family? Are you really using all of the 4 rooms?

Personally, I would love to have a larger kitchen. It would be easier to entertain guests, or to have a nice place to spend family time! And with so many rooms, why not do some remodeling, that is if it isn't that important to have the extra room!

I would do it, but weigh the value of that room v.s. the value of a larger kitchen. But, based on what I can tell, it sounds like a good idea! Good luck!

Answer 5

Well, first you have to consider if you'll ever need that bedroom. Think about any future additions to your family to see if the room is needed. I'd prefer the larger kitchen, since it is a central gathering location for the family at supper time. It would be hard to tell you if it is a load-bearing wall without seeing the setup, but you can hire a contractor relatively cheap to provide you with that answer.

Answer 6

If there is a wall above that wall that carries through to upstairs it is load bearing, take some measurements in the kitchen and check them against the walls upstairs. If you are just wanting to add a dinning area then you could put in a cased opening and just put a header in to support the wall, or just throw in a beam either way your not gonna have a flat ceiling all the way through.

Answer 7

Hey,
I was watching a show called"sell this house" they tell you what to do to get the house to sell faster and get more $. Well anyways they was talking about, A bigger kitchen will benefit you if you ever want to sell it, cuz you will get more out of it.
So i would go with a bigger kitchen, i would worry about all of the bedrooms, unless you have a big family.

Answer 8

Knock down that wall !!!! Having a kitchen that small would drive me Bonkers! I would rather have 3 bedrooms and a good sized kitchen ne day!

Answer 9

bigger kitchen . you know it a load bearing wall when you find a big beam not just a 2 x 4. but a nicely finish beam at so bad in a nice big kitchen.

Answer 10

I would want a bigger kitchen.
My kitchen is small but it is enhanced by the L-shaped layout by being connected to the dining room.

Answer 11

You should knock down the wall. You could then have friends over and have parties. Or you could have a family party and actually eat dinner together.