8 x 10 is plenty of room for a tub/shower,my previous home had a master bathroom(shower/sink/toilet) in a 4 x6 room...I'd do the bathroom..Can you knock thru the wall to get to the office? and perhaps utilize the closet space there and integrate it into Master bedroom?

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Joann if the house is "old" (pre 1950) and the original charm has been left intact; then go with the closet as a masterbath isnt expected in a home like this. If that charm has been changed and taken away over the years, then go with the bath without the tub and a closet. I think any closet that doesnt sufficiently fit a standard hanger is useless.

If I had to choose one or the other, I would say a bigger closet. You already have a bathroom, but not a big closet. I would only do a bathroom if it will be better than the one you already have. It sounds that you do need more closet space, so that's what I would do. Maybe put lots of nice shelving in there. Good luck!

Can you do a master bath (with just shower, no tub) and a small closet? Then leave the other closet as is, and you will have a master bedroom with his and her closets.

How many bedrooms are served by that one upstairs bathroom?

8 x 10 is big enough for both a small master bath and some extra closet space, and a good contractor can figure out a way to do it without putting the closet within the bath itself.

How big is the master bedroom? Can some creative borrowing of space make the new closet/bathroom space larger?

Sometimes it takes someone with an eye for planning to get the most out of a particular space. It's probably worth exploring with a professional.

My unprofessional opinion says a bath is always better to have. Maybe that's just a preference of mine.

You need to know how your house compares to others in your neighborhood. If it's at the top of the price range, then a bath may not work for you. If it's very low, then an added feature may bring it up. I know this because my house has "too much" features and would be too high of a price for my neighborhood. At some point you can over do it, which I did, and not get your money back. Just something to look for. Good luck

FWIW, we are putting our old house on the market. All five realtors interviewed said it was out of date because one bathroom serves all three bedrooms upstairs. "Everyone" is looking for a master bath. But we did get kudos because our closets are large for the age of the home. If you already have a tub upstairs, a shower should be sufficient for the master bathroom, and then you can add a closet, too.

Yes, how many BRs are served by that one upstairs bathroom? (My guess is "too many" since there is an inconveniently-located downstairs bath.)

It sounds to me as though you can use the 8 X 10 space for a nice en suite bathroom and break through into the office closet to expand the existing master closet -- right? Will that leave you "short on BRs"? You might be able to free up enough new closet space with the combined areas, then add some inches of build-out into the room to make it all deeper.

I'd add another bathroom. Then you're in a whole new ball game comparing against homes with the same number of bathrooms. The for sale signs never mention anything about the number of closets!

Bathroom. I am not a picky buyer, but I wouldn't consider a house that didn't have a master bath.

Just thought of another thing: an extra bath will add to the appraised value of the house when your buyers are looking for their mortgage...the closet won't.

Definitely go for the extra bath. Depending on the number of bedrooms you have, someone might turn one of them into a walk-in closet, and solve the problem right there.

joann,
I live in a 1920's small home with tiny closets that originally had one bathroom. The owners prior to us did something pretty innovative to add what is now our master bath. They were renovating the one hall bath anyway, so they essentially chopped the hall bath more or less in half, added a little bump out to the master bedroom wall on the other side, and made two bathrooms. I'm probably not describing this well, but picture being in a hallway and the hall bath is on your left. Straight ahead is the master bedroom. You walk in the master bedroom and immediately to the left is the door to the new master bath. The sinks are on opposite sides of the same wall so all the pipes are in the same spot. Each of our bathrooms is no bigger than 8 x 10, and we have a sink, toilet, and bathtub in each.

Thanks for all the opinions - sounds like the bath has it. It will be a few years before we can do it, I'm just thinking ahead.

It's a hard decision. It would be tough to borrow space from the office for a closet, as it would really throw off the proportions of the office (especially the bank of three tall windows) if we moved the wall to accommodate a closet. I have thought about joining the master bedroom and the office to make a big master suite with a walk-in closet, but then we'll have only two bedrooms on the second floor, though there are two more on the third.

Linda, you called it. Our home is more than 100 years old, and the age has not been updated out of it. It still has the original moldings, plaster, and hardwood floors, and I'd hate to interrupt the graceful proportions with a bump-out for a closet.

Also, I live north of Boston, in an area of old houses. Although the home values in my neighborhood range from about $500,000-$800,000, not one of my friends or neighbors in the area has a master suite. It's definitely not expected, though I would love to have it.

As others said I would prefer having a separate master bath too. 8x10 is actually fairly large. As far as closet space, could you add some freestanding closets such as PAX wardrobes from IKEA. They have some really nice ways to customize the storage space too and don't take up too much space.

I would expect a master bath in a 100 year old house, there are plenty in my area (although only above a certain price point) and it is one of the criteria that set a house into the next category (a main floor family room plus a formal living room being the other). My house which was built in the 30s and is mostly orignal has a master bath with a shower. To be honest with children in the house I could not imagine not having a private bath. As for the closet, I find with kids I barely use their closets so if you broke through the back of the small bedrooms closet and took more for yourself it would be fine as long as there was a tiny closet still left. I have seen much older houses with master baths as well. It is expected and in areas where houses are selling above 500k people will gradually renovate to put them in so you may find them common in a few years

I vote for the bathroom.

If you are "looking ahead", here's our story. In 1989 we bought a 2bd 1ba cottage with an illegal 2-room apartment on the ground floor/garage level. After taking a hideous 18 months to remodel it in fits and starts, in 1991 it became a 2bd 2ba with a master suite downstairs to replace the apartment.

When the RE appraiser came to look at it, he criticised us for putting in such a "disproportionate" and "huge" bedroom suite. Remember this is 1991 - very few people had ever seen big remodeled kitchens and master bedroom suites in our (older housing) city, let alone HAD them.

We didn't get the appraisal amt we hoped for and couldn't refinance.

Fast-forward to 2003. Neighborhood is gentrifying fast, old people moving out and young couples moving in. We decide to take out some equity and try the refinance again. Appraiser comes out, walks in the door, and says, "Wow, great job!" (tall cathedral ceilings, big picture windows looking out towards the hills). He goes downstairs and says, "And you even have a master bedroom suite! Gee, lots of people want these nowadays and so few of the houses around here have them!"

We got an incredible appraisal, in fact he pulled comps on 3bd homes because he said so few 2bd homes in our area had the features we did.

My niece and nephew, both of whom own homes and are getting married this year, would kill to have a master bathroom ensuite. Go for it!