Growing up in a family of 19 children is something that honestly seems hard to actually fathom, and even though for years TLC gave viewers an inside view of what it's actually like on the Duggar family reality show, 19 Kids And Counting, there are still plenty of things that leave those of us who grew up in small families scratching our heads. I mean, do they ever get a moment of privacy? Are they not always fighting for the bathroom? How many bedrooms does the Duggar house have? With such a large family, you'd think the answer would, uh, a lot. But despite the family's extremely large home, they don't actually have a lot of bedroom space.
In 2006, the Duggar clan moved into a 7,000 square foot home in their Arkansas hometown‚ and, in true Duggar-style, they literally built it themselves using a steel house kit, according to The Arkansas Traveler. At that point, parents Jim Bob and Michelle had 16 kids between them, and were clearly ready for an upgrade from their original home, which, in its entirety, was only about the same size as their current kitchen and dining room. Likely out of sheer necessity, the Duggars' house has an industrial kitchen, a room that is used solely as a family clothes closet, and a large laundry room with multiple machines, according to the Duggar Family Blog. But despite their huge family, the Duggars only have three bedrooms: one for the girls, one for the boys, and one for the parents.
Presumably with such a large house, the Duggar kids could have at least requested one or two more extra bedrooms, but they've claimed that, actually, it was their decision to share rooms. Some of the elder Duggar kids have since been married and have moved into homes of their own, but at one point, that meant that nine girls shared one room — which, honestly, couldn't have been very easy, no matter how much you love your sisters.
As for the boys? In 2013, the boys' bedroom housed ten beds — though with Josh and Joseph now married, the remaining boys will at least have a little bit more sleeping space. According to The Daily Mail, the two large bedrooms are located at separate ends of the house's second floor, with Jim Bob and Michelle's master bedroom in between.
According to TLC, the rest of the house consists of a giant pantry — the Duggars understandably buy much of their food in bulk — a music room, an area where the children are homeschooled, a mail room, a studio, and a prayer closet.
In other words, the Duggar home sounds like an incredibly and well-oiled (and certainly well-organized) machine. Yet with a number of the Duggar kids moving out to start their own families, some fans have expressed concern over the fact that the eldest Duggar children — 27-year-old twins Jana and John-David — are still stuck bunking with their young siblings, with the youngest Duggar child being on 7 years old.
Since they are still at home, Jana and John-David would still be expected to follow all the usual Duggar family rules, and contribute to the daily routine — which, for Jana, means an awful lot of caretaking, cooking and cleaning. According to Entertainment Daily, fans have long been calling for Jana to finally have a room of her own, but she's said publicly that she doesn't mind being at home, and has no interest to jump into marriage or motherhood.
In a 2016 episode of Counting On, Jana said,
I don't really know what the next five years will look like ... Maybe I'll meet the one and get married and have kids and stuff. There have been different guys come along and ask, but they haven't been the right one. I'm not just out to get married to the first one that comes along.
It's definitely a really good thing that Jana's not rushing into a relationship just to get out of the house. But whenever she does decide to leave the Duggar home? It seems pretty fair to say that she'll have more than earned the right to a little peace and quiet (and a bedroom she doesn't have to share).
Check out Romper's new video series, Romper's Doula Diaries:
Watch full episodes of Romper's Doula Diaries on Facebook Watch.
