What is a Bedroom?

Every so often, a question comes up that makes you stop and go hmmm.  Well, at a recent meeting of the minds, the question was asked, what is a Bedroom?  I rattled off my definition.  A room that someone can comfortably enjoy that has a door, window(s), electricity, ventilation (AC in Arizona) and a closet. Boy, I didn’t realize how many exceptions people rattled off so quickly to my definition.

Continued research proved pretty pointless as well.  You see, a bedroom does not require a closet (just look at older homes).  A wide hallway could in some cases be considered a bedroom (not in my book).

One definition found from the Arizona Uniform Plumbing Code was:

A habitable room providing privacy and used for sleeping purposes.  For the purposes of this Code, a loft or a basement shall be considered a bedroom.

Yavapai County Building Safety:

A room with a door for privacy and a closet.

The best definition found my a member of this meeting was (as found from the Department of Environmental Quality (of all places)):

Any room that (a) has floor space of at least 70 square feet in area, exclusing closets, (b) a ceiling height of at least 7 feet, (c) Electrical service and ventilation, (d) a closet area or an area where one can be constructed, (e) at least one window that could be used as an emergency exit, and (f) a entry and exit to the room that allows the room to be considered distinct from other rooms.

Wow, it’s amazing how difficult it can be to define a bedroom, but it does make me wonder if some of the houses that I’ve seen that have dens should be considered to have one more bedroom.  What do you think makes a room a bedroom?

Related posts:

1. What are Considered Neutral Colors?
2. September ARMLS Committee Meeting