What Is A Bedroom Anyway?

If a bedroom doesn’t have a closet, is it still a bedroom?

In the state of Minnesota, the answer is yes.  Even though it contradicts what all of us think is required of a bedroom, there is nothing in the state building code that mandates it.

In other words, feel free to throw your clothes on the floor.

Unless, of course, someone you live with objects.

So what is required to call something a bedroom in Minneapolis?

The first requirement is size. And the minimum space is actually contingent upon the number of people sleeping in it.

If the room is being used by one person, it has to measure at least 70 square feet. If there are two people occupying it, it must be 90 square feet. For each additional person, the room must expand by another 50 square feet.  What’s more, no part of that room shall be less than 7 feet wide in any direction.

It must also have a minimum ceiling height of 7 feet. In the past, 70 percent of the room’s ceiling height had to measure at 7 feet, Minneapolis now simply asks that a 3 1/2 foot width have a ceiling that height.

Some would-be bedrooms have to be accessed by going through another. In these cases, the two are considered a single bedroom.

Of course, all habitable rooms, whether bedrooms or any other living space must also have a heat source, natural ventilation, and openings to outdoor air.