Home Plan Ideas? Suggestions on Which Is Best for Kids, Two-story or Ranch?

You could always put a gate at the top of the stairs that the toddler can't get through and fall. I hate ranches for a few reasons, but with kids, it scares me to be on ground level where someone could just climb right through the window. For my own sanity, I'd rather be on the same floor as my kids so if I have to get up to get them (wake up crying, bad dreams, sick, etc...) I don't have to go all the way up stairs to get to them. I like being right next to my kids, it's easier!

Hi JK,
We're planning our home plans as well and this is my opinion...Our friends have a downstairs master bedroom and hate it. You will be running up to your kids room in the middle of the night for various reasons. Also, if you plan on having #2, once you put your baby in the nursery and night feedings continue, you again will be running up and down to feed the baby. I personally think its better to have all the bedrooms on the same floor. YOu won't be running around in your sleep. Plus, I think it's safer to be on the same level and close to their rooms. I think is ranch is great if you plan on staying in the house for a very long time and/or plan on having your parents live with you when they're older. Good luck!

You've gotten a lot of responses, but I just had to weigh in. I love houses!!!! I really think that putting all the bedrooms on the second floor is a great idea. Then your downstairs is your living space. When people come, you don't have to worry about them poking their head into your bedroom. I can understand wanting to have some privacy away from your kids, but I really never understood the master on the first floor. I would consider moving your master to second floor so that you're on the same level as your kids. Then your living space and your sleeping space are separated. Just my thoughts!

I think everyone is different, but I could never sleep on a different level than my kids. I would be too scared about fire or something. We lived in a ranch for awhile and I was too scared to have my daughter's bedroom window open because it was too easily accesible. I am not really as neurotic as my words would suggest, a fire in the house and burglars are just two things that I really worry about.

Currently we have 4 bedrooms upstairs with ours on the other side of the hallway from the other three. It works well for us.

We moved into a 3 story home 2 weeks before my second child was born. Our bedroom is on the third floor and the kids is on the second. At first I was very nervous about this, but it has turned out perfectly fine. My kids are now 2 2/1 and 4.

Yes I often go up and down the stairs in the middle of the night. But we have our own space, but the kids feel comfortable and we turned one bedroom on their floor into a play room - so they have a kids floor.

You can work with anything, and nothing is perfect.

We live in a ranch, and I highly recomend it! Especially with kids. Our mud/laundry room is off the kitchen, its so nice to cook and throw a load of laundry in. I never have to go up and down stairs with laundry, ever! Plus, I never have to worry about the kids going up and down or fallign down the stairs. We do have a basment, and switched the locks so its loked at all times. they are now 3 and 4, but when they were little it was crucial.

I love my ranch, and never want to move into a 2 story again, we had one before kids.

good luck to you!

My husband and I had this same dilemma. We thought we would have to put ourselves and my children on different floors. My 2 year old still wakes up in the middle of the night for us to take him potty so we didn't like the idea. I worry a lot about things anyways and another worry was what would happen if there were a fire. We are moving before I have baby #3 so we can avoid seperate floors. You could still have a 2 story, I know lots of people with bedrooms only upstairs. Good luck!

We used to live in a two story townhome that had the basement finished so it was really three stories. Now we live in a ranch and I'll NEVER go back to a two story home. Our bedroom is on the other side of the house from the kids which is nice but still on one floor so they can easily come to us or I can go to them. No up and down with laundry or to the kids rooms. I just love it. I thought when we first moved here that I wouldn't like it so much because there doesn't seem to be anywhere to go to get your own space but not the case at all. The home is well laid out and we have 2600 square feet so there is plenty of room to roam plus we have half of the basement turned into a playroom so it's wonderful. I say find a ranch plan you love and do it. I don't miss those stairs AT ALL.

I love houses. I look at them for fun. I spend a part of every day looking at what has come on the market what has a contract, etc. I have a slight obsession, maybe. Lol.

Anyway, we have a ranch. It's a good sized ranch with a full basement and there are a lot of pluses to it. HOWEVER, our next home will be a 2 story.

Pro's to a ranch:
*Easier to keep clean - one level
*Easier & cheaper to heat/cool
*Easier to clean windows, gutters, etc.
*Easier to manage as you don't have to go upstairs to do laundry or put something away.
*Easier to have your kids on the same level when you are making dinner, etc.

Con's to a ranch:
*The kids bedroom(s) are easily accessible on the 1st floor from the outside. Good in a fire, but scary at the same time. I am paranoid about having their windows open at night in the summer. And we have 2 German Shepherds.
*When we put the kids to bed, their rooms are right there. So we are cautious about noise and such when we have company.
*Unless there is a powder room for guests (we don't have that) they use your main bathroom. Which is fine, but with bath toys, training pottys, step stools it would be nice to offer our guests a guest bathroom.
*Our son didn't learn to walk downstairs and still has trouble as he didn't have any need to learn. Our dogs had the same issue.

It's a matter of opinion, though. My DH loves a ranch but I prefer a 2 story. The one thing that I would absolutely suggest when building/buying a home with kids is some sort of playroom. That's the one thing we didn't think about when we bought this house. Our dining room is a play room. I long for a room where the kids can play while I make dinner, etc and that's out of sight. When you walk in our home, the play area is right there.

Also, get a basement. At least a partial. For storage alone. Without the basement, our home has very little storage space.

If you get to build a house, have FUN. I did it once and I loved it.

Good luck.

T.

Not sure this helps, but I've been advised that all bedrooms on the same level has better resale value. And based on the responses below, it looks true! Good luck! How exciting to have your very own home built from the ground up!

My husband and I designed our own house 12 years ago and love it (except we made the rooms a little smaller than we like now). We built it the year after we were married and had no kids yet.

We have a Cape Cod, with the master bedroom on the main level and a smaller (9x10) 4th bedroom (baby room) right next to it. There is 1 very large bedroom upstairs (at least 20x20) and a medium size one (about 15x10) on the other end with a smaller sized bathroom (but still a shower and tub) on that floor also.

Before we had kids it was great because we never had to go upstairs for anything. When we had our first child, the baby room was right next door. Now that we have 3 kids it still works well, the 2 girls (8yo and 4yo) are upstairs in the large room and our 3yo boy is still in the baby room. We are planning on changing that as soon as he is potty trained. Right now the other bedroom upstairs is my office, which will be my son's room ultimately. Then all the kids are upstairs.

There was a point when our oldest was upstairs by herself when the 4yo was a baby, but she was great about it and fortunately always has been a very good sleeper (no getting up at night). My middle child does get up frequently, but usually only from the time between her bedtime and mine. After the whole house is in bed she stays in bed, it's getting to sleep that is hard for her.

Our only concern is when the 2 girls become teenagers and want their own room. I am hoping by then we can add on in the back a full 2 stories with a bigger kitchen and mudroom on the main level and a bedroom above it.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I know this is probably going to sound silly but, I don't like the children's rooms on the second story and the parents down stairs. I would be afraid if there was a fire I couldn't get to them. I grew up in a two story house. Parent's bedroom and brother's upstairs my sister and I downstairs. I now live in a ranch house. If there was a fire I could get to my children from inside or outside. I'm sure I am just paranoid. I do like the ranch with a master suite on one side and the children's rooms on the other side. You still have some privacy if that is what you were looking for.
My other reason for liking a ranch is age. My parents had to move to a home with one level because health made two stories difficult. If we can ever afford to build, it will be the last house we move into so I will grow old there. Enjoy building the perfect house that makes you happy.

I prefer bedrooms on the same floor. However, our house right now is a one-story bungalow (with finished basement with family/play room, office, and second bath in the basement). It's perfect for now, but even though the square footage is adequate I think when the kids are older we will want our bedroom farther from theirs (adding a story would be perfect for that, if we can ever afford/deal with such a big renovation.)

I think if I was designing it and had the space/money, I might put enough bedrooms for the family on the 2nd floor, and a second "master" on the first floor. You could use this first-floor master as a guest room and/or office for now. And flip it in the teen years to give yourselves more privacy.

Hi JK, here are some helpful tips for you. I have built two homes, both ranch (1-story) homes. I would much rather have a 2-story, but my husband is disabled and uses a wheelchair, so we need to live on one-level for his comfort and mobility.

The reasons I would prefer a 2-story:

#1 - 2-story homes have a lot more square footage, more rooms, and more closet space.
#2 - my bedroom and my daughter's bedroom are at ground level, which causes me to worry about burglars and predators.
#3 - when my daughter is 16 years old, she is more likely to sneak out of her bedroom window in my ranch home than she would a 2-story bedroom window!
#4 - there is more privacy in a 2-story. You can go upstairs or go downstairs to get away from it all. In a ranch, everything is all RIGHT THERE!

The plus side to a ranch:
#1 - laundry is all on the same floor, no climbing stairs with laundry baskets.
#2 - I have a HUGE basement, 3x bigger than all of my 2-story neighbors (my basement is 1,900 square feet!)
#3 - In case of a fire, I have ground level access at all times

So, there are pros and cons, but you have to weigh out the options that are best for your comfort level and feeling of security. Like I said, if I had a choice, we'd definitely have a 2-story home.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

HUH? kids are supposed to fall and tumble and learn to be safe.
Why are you so stressed over this? Put a few night lights in and ease up on being over protective. (Your kids will end up never leaving home if you protect them from everything)

It is not the pros and cons of 2-story vs. ranch.
Of course your bedroom should be on the same level as your 19 month old.
If he were 9 or 10 it would be different.