When we bought the house, the huge family room addition and terrific property outweighed the small bedrooms--we figured that the very large public space was more important than having spacious bedrooms. So, buyers are now saying "We like the family room and the lot, but the bedrooms are too small." Our new house also has a smaller MBR, but it has two closets, so I consider it a bit of an upgrade. I did the measuring and, if I go with a standard, 24" depth closet, it can be 48" wide and still have good access to the room. The realtor was right on with a house we sold last year--we got close to asking price, even though I was concerned it was overpriced. We have dropped the price of this house $25,000 from the (same) realtor's recommended price and, judging from comps, this is a realistic price. Then again, I'm a believer that if it is the "right" price, it should sell.

When I had the master suite created in my DH's home up north, it was crowded for bedside tables too. So I got two wooden tall plant stands, with 12x12" tops. They fit perfectly fine. Then swing arm wall mounted lamps for each side of the bed. Enough room for a book on the shelf below and a glass of water or whatever. I never just use an end table when there is an option to have a small chest beside the table. That works even in a small room with limited storage space. Every item has to WORK to make the cut when space is scarce. And, in the bedroom in Alabama, I am going to be sorry to leave it for the BACK bedroom, which will become an ensuite master, because it is beginning to look SO comfortable. It is a west-facing bedroom, on the street. It has two PAIRS of windows, and the closet and entry to the bedroom are on a third wall. That leaves one wall which has no windows and no doors or other obstructions. However, I did not want the bed to be sideways in front of the entry door, so had to put the bed first diagonally in the corner between the two pairs of windows. This worked fine for a while, with the wicker chests I use for bedside tables centered between the windows. However, it was hard to make up the bed. So I decided to center the bed in front of the windows on the street wall. I closed the blinds to block the high heat coming through those windows anyway. And then I found some floor/ceiling grommet drapes at Tuesday Mornings! That is when I got DH to install crown molding wide enough to mount the double drapery rods, and I started planning 3 layers of curtains...grommet drapes wall to wall on both window walls, sheers on the second drapery rod, and finally the top-down roman shades using 90% shade cloth and Thermasuede fabric as a liner. I am almost done with the curtain project, but even with the shade cloth pinned in place on the west wall, the difference in heat gain is significant. This room is 12 x 12 give or take an inch. We changed out sliding closet doors for 2 pair of Jeldwen bifold shutter doors which I painted to match the crown molding and base boards and other wood work. The wicker chests are on either side of a full sized bed, with lots of breathing room. There is a rocking chair near the closet. There is a third chest between the closet and the door to the hall, and a wall mount TV is above the chest. So now I've ordered the Hudson queen size storage bed from Room and Board in cherry. It should arrive this month. I can hardly wait. It is a platform bed with no footboard, and no box springs, and it measures 60 x 80. A full bed is 54 x 75, so only a few significant inches of comfort which I look forward to having. But when the contractor finally comes, and bumps out the master bath for a tub and a long walk in closet, we'll be moving this new jewel to the back bedroom. This current bedroom will convert to a nice study/guest room. Only we seldom have over night guests, and may just put desks and bookcases in there until we move the contents of the up-north house. It seems to me that we have plenty of space in the 12 x 12 bedroom. Since we've repainted and made the room so peaceful, I will now take a horizontal break to meditate or read or chat on the phone. It looks good in natural or ambient light all times of day since northern exposures give true light, and the shade cloth gives a sense of separation from the street. Keeping active pursuits out of the bedroom is conducive to rest and separation from the cares of life.

Here is an updated layout with the front and middle closets expanded to 6'-4" x 2'-6". The width would allow three 24" sections of Elfa shelving with a drawer section centered in the doorway. The 2'-6" (30") depth would allow for better access to the top shelf and better use the 9' ceiling height. After many years of living with the previous "closets", I figure it would be better to size the closets to actually be useful, rather than under-sizing them and making them somewhat useless. I'm tempted to squeeze the front bathroom down and put the bathtub in there and then just make a bigger shower in the back bathroom. But I need some talking points to convince my wife since she is the one that uses the bathtub.

What works for you functionally? For years I had a Stairmaster in my bedroom because it was the most functional place to have my Stairmaster. I don't currently have the Stairmaster in my bedroom but I still have a few items that might not rate a spread in Architectural Digest but give me pleasure to look at like the Tree of Life embroidery my mother did years ago - a faux Meissen like statue of a dancing lady and gentlemen which belonged to my grandmother which is totally not my style - and a water color of a poodle that looks like my first beloved dog. I face all of these when I lie in bed - if you look at my bedroom from the door it looks very classicly decorated 😂