Need Some Advice from You All!

I know several couples that have sold homes for this reason. It is just too hard while they are little. Good luck!

Hi P.
I've done the 2 story thing with kids and am now in a one story and i will never live in a 2 story again (not anytime soon anyway).
i love having one floor ranch style. Smart of you to already be considering this!
J.

if you are building a house you want to be in for a long time, you dont want to have any regrets. It sounds like you are already concerned about being downstairs. You can talk to the builders and they can alter the floorplan to put the master upstairs also. I personally would not be downstairs with my kids up...to many things can happen...BUT, I know tons of people that do it and say it is fine. I also have a friend that did not want to do it and talked to the builder...they ended up with a very nice house with all bedrooms up, that was 7 years ago and they are still glad they did it. good Luck!

Hi P.,
we have to move every 2 years, also to different country's. We moved here 5 mnth ago, and were very very surprised about the (to our opinion) strange floorplans. We have visited about 40 houses, only 3 of them had the mbr upstairs. So we choose between that 3. Sure, you can use a monitor if the mbr is downstairs, that's not the problem. But we have 3 small kids, every night I have to go 2 -4 times to one of them (they are not allowed to sleep in our bed). And it is so much easier with your sleepdrunk head, only one eye half open, to walk to the next door in stead of going up the stairs. I would (with children under 8 years) definitely go for the mbr on the same floor as the other bedrooms.

But, like someone wrote before, I think it makes your house harder to sell later, because people overhere are used to the mbr downstairs.

Good luck with the decision, and good luck with the move while 9 months pregnant. I did the same when I was pregnant with my second one. I kept praying: "please stay in there for the full 40 weeks, don't come early, you wouln't have a bed to sleep in"

I don't know about the traffic, but I think traffic here in Texas is soooooo relaxed comparing to many many places in the world.

Take care!

I.

First of all...congrats on your little bun. :) I live in Keller, used to work in Dallas so I took the 114/121 mess every day. It is typical rush hour. If you can avoid it w/backroads, by all means, do it. But this is a growing popular area and that's just a price you pay for living here. I'm a SAHM too (for now) and it's just something you grow accustommed to. LOL... I'd give my left ARM to just have to drive to Grapevine rather than to Dallas though. :) LOL

I, too, have two little ones... and kinda was a little freaked at first about having my son upstairs and me downstairs b/c what if somethign happened, etc. I put up two gates... have a monitor with a walkie talkie feature on it so taht if he needs me, he can talk to me and he knows I'm coming. I kept my baby in my room until he was 7 months old... then I put him upstairs... was still getting up to nurse but I got used to it and it's good exercise! LOL..

Houses with master bedrooms upstairs, TYPICALLY do not have as high demand as those with the master suite downstairs... so I doubt you'll find too many places where (if you're building) a home, I doubt too many builders will have that room upstairs... I know they traditionally don't do that for a multitude of reasons... but unless you're going to think in terms of long term.... consider having to resell a home that's not "like" the other homes (if yo uwere considering building w/master upstairs)..

P.,

Our house has all three of the kids bedrooms and the game room upstairs and our bedroom is downstairs. Its not that bad, and very manageable. When we moved in here, I was 7 months pregnant and my other two were only 3 and 2. Plus, I get a great workout without even trying!
As far as the traffic I have no clue, sorry. I hope this helps!

A.

It looks like you've got some pretty varied opinions on the upstairs/downstairs thing. It's really just personal preference, if you are already feeling you won't like that arrangement then don't go with it. You will find though that most new houses are going to be built like that. My brother in law has his house for sale in Bedford and his master is up, if anyone is interested!!
As for traffic, it shouldn't be too bad along 1709 or 114 depending on where your husbands office is in Grapevine. There will be some but it probably wouldn't be more than 30 minutes because the areas really aren't that far from each other. There are also lots of back roads that can be found to help him out.

P.,

I have a son that is 8 months old. All of our bedrooms are upstairs, including the Master and I wish we had gotten a home with the Master bedroom downstairs. No matter where the bedrooms are, at least with my family, we are up and down the stairs ALL day.

Also, I used to travel from Saginaw to Grapevine... the traffic isn't nearly as bad as the traffic for Dallas, but there are back roads that aren't so bad.

I have a bedroom downstairs and it has worked at great. I use a monitor for my son, who is now 21 months and I can be there in a heartbeat if needed. Good luck, I am sure you will make the right decision for your family..A.

Ok, I didn't read all of the responses so forgive any repitition...

The traffic all over the Metroplex is horrible, so just be thankful the drive from Keller to Colleyville is not that far. My husband drives from Keller to Dallas every day--now that is not pleasant. :(

Anyway, as a former Realtor, (now a SAHM) I can tell you that the best floor plan will have at least 2 bedrooms downstairs now--preferably ALL bedrooms on the lower floor with only game/media rooms upstairs.

As for the babies, the only thing that truly worries me is when they are too small to escape from a burning house, it would be nice to have them on the same level as the parents. I know--what a horrible thought! Anyway, when kids are old enough to throw an escape ladder out of the window, that is when I would feel comfortable having them sleep on the upper level without me there. So, I would recommend you look at a few more floor plans if possible.

Also, all you other moms reading this, PLEASE buy an escape ladder that you store under EACH upstairs bed, and show your kids how to use them. And for those parents of infants with MBR down, be sure to have a plan for getting your kids out in an emergency. Have a ladder that you can reach them with from outside the house, but it must be stored out of site from would-be intruders. OK, sorry for rambling!

I hope my two cents helps. :)

Good luck!

I just moved from a 3000 sq ft two story with all 4 bedrooms and gameroom up with 2 living and 2 dining down. I was still going up and down stairs a couple times a night with my little one from the day he was born till we moved 2 months ago. I hated it! It was nice to have all that room and I loved my house, but at the end of the day you still have to clean it. Dont forget about halling your laundry up and down, up and down, up and down. Also, stairs get so dirty and are so hard to clean (especially if you have pets).

We just moved to a 2500 sq ft 1 and a half story. 3 bedrooms down, one living, and one study and a gameroom/bath/bedroom up. I love it. It takes no time (about an hour) to vacuum, mop, and clean the bathrooms. Before it took 2 days. I dont worry about up stairs needing to be cleaned at all. In the future my now 2 1/2 yr old son go move up stairs and have his own pad. But for now its so nice to have it all in one big circle. Makes for a closer family. My son is taking his nap now and its so nice not to worry that I wont here him.

So, I would say don't get that plan. I'm sure it's great and you love it. It would be great if your kids were 5ish. But it's not that practical if your still in the growing stage of the family. I wish someone would have told us not to do it. (We live in a Highland Home).

Also, my neighbor has a plan like that. She has a 2 yr old boy and a new born and they all sleep in the bed with her. His bed has never been slept in.

Good luck building. Its so much fun.
32 yr old SAHM of 2 1/2 yr old boy and wife of great husband,
T. Lee

Dear P.,everyone will have a diffirent opinion on this one...you have actually almost answered your own question.You well remember the 8-9 mos stage of being pregnant and TIRED.Add a lot of ups and downs to the childrens rooms,do you have laundry faciities upstairs also? Add several more trips in yur day.Teaching and gating the stairs from the children to learn their way to and from their rooms.If they are sick,chances are you will want to be close,so you can HEAR and WATCH them as all moms do.Sleepy time nightmares one more trip upstairs,then back down.When they are OLDER like teens,it is a GREAT idea!!! I have lived thru all of this and then addes bad knee sto it in my later years.....stairs had to go.HAve lived in 1,2and 3 floors.Definitely love the 1 level sprawling ranch the best.JUst re-do floor plan so children on on opposite wing of house,yet all one level. Even our kids say they like the ranch the best .After awhile the steps just get tiring....even to kids and teens.My parents were elderly so they hardly ever made the trip upstairs after we built.In the long run,you will choose whats best for you.Enjoy the new baby and new house. God Bless,K. Hurt

I can't respond to Traffic; however, we just built a house with Mansfield. We have a 9 month old Daughter and she is upstairs and the Master is down. I have no problems with it. Baby Monitors are a wonderful thing :) Stairs don't bother me though they never have. I can see if you are someone who hates going up and down stairs that might be an issue.

I look at it this way they are little for a short time and older for much longer and still living with you. I like the fact that kids rooms are upstairs and also our play room is up there also so we can just shut the door on it. When they get older they can play up there by themselves.

So for short term yea you might think its a pain but my 9 month old sleeps through the night and even before she did that it wasn't a pain for me to go up there.

Hi P.,

I too can't answer about the traffic but can on the upstairs/downstairs thing. We moved into our home a year ago when my children were 1 and 2 and I was really concerned about it. We have had no problems at all with it. We did think about getting a baby monitor but decided to see how things were first and had no need, maybe my daughter just has a great set of lungs though! Definately a great thing to get though if it will put your mind at rest.

We moved here from a different country so have had lots of illnesses while the kids adjusted to the different bugs here and when I was really worried about them I would make up a bed on the floor of our bedroom so that I felt better about having them closer and they thought it was great fun so forgot about being so sick.

Hope everything goes well.

Hey, P.! We struggled with the same thing when we moved to Keller! I couldn't believe the amount of houses here with the master down and the rest of the rooms up. At the time we had a 14 month old little girl, but knew we wanted another and I thought there was no way I could handle it with a baby so far away. I ended up getting preggo right after we moved in! I was fine with my 14 mos old upstairs...she had been sleeping through the night for quite some time and we had a baby monitor so it wasn't such a big deal. In our master, we have a little sitting area which became the baby area. We bought a bassinet and kept the baby in that and moved the rocking chair in there as well for midnight feedings. The new baby was not a very good sleeper and she woke up like every hour or two, so there was no way I was putting her upstairs and having to stumble up there every hour...though I did think about putting her up in her room and sleeping in the guest room for a few nights! Once she started sleeping for 3 or 4 hours at a time, we moved her up to her room, and to our surprise she started sleeping 6 hours at a time, then 8 soon after that! Guess she needed her own space, too! We have never had a problem with the girls being up and us being down...we have monitors in both rooms and with them both sleeping through the night, its no big deal. I am a little slower out of bed knowing I have to trek upstairs if one of them wakes during the night, though! I give them a few minutes to go back to sleep on their own before I head up! It will be great when they are teenagers!! As far as the traffic...I'm no expert being a SAHM, but my husband works in Southlake and its not too terrible. He does try to avoid 1709 during rush hour, though and usually goes up 377 to 170/114 and it doesn't take him too long!

Good luck with everything!

Hi P.,

We have that floor plan. Going up and down the stairs at night didn't bother me, but my boys are both pretty good sleepers so I didn't do it more than 2x a night if that-most of the time. What I don't like is the fact that all their toys have taken over the downstairs, because I don't want them upstairs playing alone while I am cooking, doing laundry etc. Also, one of the upstairs bedrooms is horribly hot in the summer. I'm sure it must be atleast 90 in there by bedtime and we have solar panels and a black out blind that I never open in the summer months, a ceiling fan and a box fan. We are moving because I cannot subject my son to this for another summer. We do only have one A/C unit for the whole house, but I have heard that when it hits 100 it doesn't matter how many units you have in a 2 story.
Good Luck

P.:

I would honestly recommend going with a 1-story house (unless you grew up in a 2-story house). A friend of mine has always had 2-story homes so she does not mind it. But I grew up in a 1-story and now we bought a 2-story with master bedroom down and other bedrooms up. When we fostered two babies, we ended up moving them into our living room because we could not go up & down the stairs that often. If your children were older, I would say two stories are great. But with babies it is hard. I won't buy another two story home but some folks don't mind at all. And even if the master was upstairs, teh kitchen and laundry is not. Up and down to heat bottles, etc.. was not fun for me. Maybe it is personal preference. Good luck on your decision.

L.

Our house has 3 bedrooms upstairs and the master is downstairs. We have a 19 month old son and it has not been bad. The only thing I can tell you is that you will have to have a changing area downstairs somewhere. We made a changing area in our master bedroom and it saves us from going up and down stairs all day long. And if your husband works in Grapevine, I don't think the commute will be bad at all.

Good luck!!

We've been in our house 16 years with the master downstairs and the rest of the rooms upstairs - my sons are now almost 11 and 13 1/2. When they were babies, we used the downstairs study as the baby's room, but in the end, the older one spent more time in our room, so with the second, we just kept the crib in our room.

Personally, I hate the split and would never, ever do it again. My boys still want tucked at nite and I hate going up and down the stairs. And, I have to do it as well, when they start fighting (the energy in a house with 2 boys is boundless). AND, you know they're fighting and when they're jumping off the bunkbed because you can hear it down below in the kitchen. Yes, it's exercise, BUT I just find if very inconvenient having to haul myself and things up and down the stairs. As well, vacuuming isn't fun either. But, if you don't have carpet (which we don't on the last step), then slipping on the stairs is also an ongoing problem. And, my younger son still loves to climb up and down the stairs outside the banister. We've been extremely lucky not to have made any trips to the emergency room for that activity.

An option, if you have no choice, would be to actually use one of the upstairs bedrooms as the master bedroom while the kids are small and keep the master as a quiet retreat. That's what I would do if I had to live with that separation again with young kids. You'll still need to use baby gates which were also another royal pain. Although, again I did get in some good stretching stepping over the silly thing as it was such a pain to move. It also depends upon how the stairs are designed as to how easy it is to mount the gate.

Hello I am pregnant and due in Febuary and I have a 19 month old son and we live in keller (vista meadows north) and we live in that floor plan that you are probably looking at. And I love it and I like Keller but I already want to move because I HATE haveing my son and the thought of my soon to be born baby up stairs and then the thought of all those nightly climbs up stairs. My Finace works at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine and he said yes the traffic sucks but I am not trying to discourage you from moving here I am telling you how I feel. I just wished we would have found or bought a different floor plan to be all on the same level. And we just moved in a few months ago so I am stuck here at least until April. But again I like Keller there is everything a house mom needs close by without hitting traffic but your husband would have to leave about an hour early to work. I do like the house but for convience and practicallity I would change. Hope I helped. Good luck

What part of Keller are you planning to build in? I live in Hidden Lakes. I work in downtown FW and sometimes Arlington and my commute down Davis Blvd to 121 or Loop 820 is not bad. My husband is a pilot and so he drives to airport via Southlake Blvd and 114. That also is not too bad. The traffic and lights down 1709/Southlake Blvd are probably the biggest hassel...just depends on what time of day you are going down it. Question for you - if your husband works in Grapevine and you plan to send your child to a Montesori in Colleyville - why build in Keller? Have you considered looking into Montesouri in Keller or Southlake instead of Colleyville? We personally love living in Keller. My suggestion to you is to make the drive someday during what would be your commute time from where you plan to build in Keller and either work or school and then let that guide your decision. Everyone has a different tolerance for commute/driving.

In regards to your house layout. Ours is the exact same. Mastser bedroom down and kids room upstairs. My twins are now 22 months and it has worked fine for us. When the babies first came home, we slept them in a pack and play in our bedroom for the first few weeks, but then moved them upstairs. We have a baby monitor and that works fine for us in terms of listening for them to see if we need to make a trip upstairs or not if they awake in the middle of the night or during a nap etc.

Hope this was helpful. :-) Good luck!

G.

Not sure about the upstairs/downstairs issue (sounds like it would be good exersize though, just get safety gates for the kidos & a monitor for the baby, should be ok, I think).

Now, the traffic can be a pain in the bootie, but I use the side roads and get through quickly [even just using the service road helps], it's not that bad and there are also side roads to use by the airport, keeps you out of the main mess in the afternoons. I can get from Central 75/Dallas - home in 45 minutes using the side roads, would be more than 1.5 hours w/o side roads.

Good luck...ALS

PS; Grapevine / Colleyville / Southlake / Keller..bla..bla..bla..ROCK! I LOVE the Southlake Town Center, you will too once you go there, no need to go into Dallas to shop, we have tons by us! I just wish I could find a job near my house, working in Dallas wears on ya!!!!

~ Oh one can dream....

Dear P.,

My husband and I moved into our two story house when I was pregnant with our first child. Everyone told us how hard it was going to be with a new baby and the stairs - they were right. We ended up moving our son's crib into our bedroom so that we didn't have to go up and down the stairs every night. Now our son is 4 and we also have a 2 yr old daughter and it is still a hassle having to go up and down the stairs if one of them wakes up in the middle of the night. We've been looking at building a new house and every time I see a floor plan with two stories and the master bedroom downstairs I don't look any further I just go straight to the next one.

Hope this helped,
S.

We have lived in a two-story house for 5 years with the master downstairs. Our kids were almost 6 and newborn when we moved in, and I didn't feel comfortable being downstairs at night. So, we took one of the upstairs bedrooms for ours, and made the master the office. I can honestly say stairs make cleaning for me a real hassel. I have to remember to bring the dirty clothes downstairs every morning, and cart them back up at the end of the day. If your laundry room is upstairs, or if that is an option of your floor-plan, that would make that a lot easier. We have a safety gate at the bottom of the stairs so that my 23 month-old can't get on the stairs, and everytime my now 5 yr-old needs to go up, I have to open the gate for him. We have a heavy Kirby vaccuum that has to be hauled up the stairs everytime I need to vaccuum up there. I think it weighs at least 30 lbs.

In short, even if it means having a larger house, I will never voluntarily choose to live in a two-story house again. I think a well thought-out floor plan in a smaller house would make me happier, and be easier to clean. Hope this helps! :0)

Hi P.,
We had the same issue and were able to find a house that is all on one floor with just a gameroom upstairs. I think it is a lifesaver that first year, but then anytime we want to have company we have to be a little quieter because the kids rooms are right there. It may be tough the first year, but if you stick it out it will probably pay off as they get older. As far as commuting from Keller to Grapevine - yes it is trafficky, but at least he isn't commuting all the way to Dallas. You may want to look in Grapevine instead though - then you would be closer to school and work. Or maybe even look in Euless? You may get more bang for your buck in a house there...

We live on the ft. worth/keller line in the 76248 zip code and really like the area. It is going to get alot busier depending on where you live because there is alot going up soon, Alliance Town centre will open this fall with a few stores and more next year and i know there are alot more things going up. Traffic all depends on the time of day, my husband works in Grapevine as well and he is fine with the drive, I work in Dallas and take the train. Personally, I would not put my kids upstairs. we have a single level with 4 bedrooms and it would have put us in the front and the kids in the back and we would have had to go all around to get to them if something happened so we put french doors in the adjoining room to ours and made it into an office to we can get to them quickly if we need to and the kids love it because now you can make a complete circle around the house:-)

good luck. P.S. Should you not want to drive to Collyville, my children go to Childrens Courtyard and my oldest has been there 4 years. They have a great system and they learn so much. she tested way above the others in the kindergarten class last year and they have cameras so you can always watch him in school while you are at home, Just an idea.