We bought a wood bedroom set approx 9 years ago and a wrought iron bed at the same time(and an extra antique dresser I picked up along the way). We did not like the look of using the matching bed with the matching wood furniture. The wrought iron bed also felt more "airy" in our room, which at the time, was not esp big. When we ended up with a crib and toddler bed both in it for a while when our kids were small, we were glad we had not gotten the larger sleigh bed after all as it was hard to find space to walk around our less bulky bed, lol. We just extended the bedroom in our current house and gave ourselves a much bigger closet. We are unpacking into it some more tonight (am at work now) so will be seeing if we can ditch one of the dressers from the set and give it to one son who now wants his own room away from his brother. The extra dresser we have is too girly for him with a pretty inlaid pattern in the front, so we would give him one of the matching parts of our set instead. I like having non matching stuff if they flow well, so have no problem breaking up our set. I am hoping to find either a pretty low hope type chest or a bench for the foot of our bed because we have a decent open space for one. If you have classic pieces, they work well with others. In our living room we have 2 dressers, non-matching that work as chests as well as a china cab which matches neither. Most of our furniture was bought or passed down over the years. The only set we really have is our bedroom one and our dining room set. I like how most of our furniture is unique from the others and has character. If I had a larger house, I'd continue to pick up interesting strays forever. I am attached to the ones I have though and will happily keep them for my lifetime, so will have to curb my habit. The problem is I walk into houses that are selling every day and have opportunities to pick up more pieces than most people have. If I see something intriguing and find out they are planning to sell it.....

I like my first idea best as far as use of space. I know people say not to put toilets on an outside wall. We had one in our last house in Iowa, but we had 2X6 construction. I don't know how high your window is, but I'm guessing the toilet would fit under there. The shower would be 5 feet long or shorter if you want a wider space to get to the toilet. (kind of tight the way I have drawn). You could do a 5 and half foot long shower and do an angled door at the left end to allow room between the shower and toilet. The vanity would be about 7 feet long, unless you do a 60 inch vanity with a linen cabinet at the door. I would reverse entry door swing if you do that.. The second top right could work and you would still have a small closet. The bottom left plan would require waterproofing your front window. Hopefully someone will give you other ideas. The bottom right plan is bigger, but no closet. Each square equals 1 foot.

Multiple thoughts, not all in line with the majority: - Five bedrooms is a huge house. The potential field of buyers who want the space and upkeep of a house that large (and who can afford it) is relatively small. More plainly, You're looking to build a house that only a small percentage of buyers can afford to buy. Wanting a thing and being able to afford a thing aren't the same. Your pool of resale buyers will be small, so selling could take a long time, or you might be forced to take less than you want. - Yes, people will like the idea of a "master up and a master down": live-in space for mom, space for a live-in nanny or elder care-giver. Plenty of reasons people would like the space. But the real question is, Will your resale buyer be willing to pay what it will cost you to build it? Personally, I think you'll attract plenty of interest, but you may not attract the necessary dollars at resale to make this worthwhile. - How old are these small children? By the time you finish building this house, they'll probably be at least a year older -- how long will you want to have bedrooms close by? - I'm a highly practical person: you're talking about a short time when kids are small. To save money, could you sleep in a "non-master" upstairs for this short time, then move downstairs? - How "master" do you see your "masters"? That is, when you say "master bedroom", are you envisioning a slightly larger room with a modest walk-in closet and a private 3-piece bath ... or does "master" to you mean a spacious room with a seating area, a massive closet and a luxury bath? The question isn't just, "Should I have two masters?" It's, "Just how much will I put into a master?" Your own vision of "how much" can make a world of difference in this question. - Don't overbuild for your neighborhood. Remember that the biggest, most expensive house in the neighborhood is "drawn down" by the more modest houses that surround it. - Summary: Don't be caught up in just whether this is a desirable idea -- it is. Consider first and foremost whether it is an economically viable idea.

Ok, so you want an accent chair and side table. What is the view like out the window? Something you want to orient the chair towards so you can look out the window from where you are sitting? I like Bev’s pics of a large rug that goes under the bed and extends to this sitting area. Does that interest you? Seems like this space could hold a chaise, or wingback with ottoman. Do you want something like that? If would be cool to have another light suspended over this area to delineate the space and echo the other light. Still possible? What is the height of your bed? These may not be your style but here are some pics just to help you brainstorm configurations at the end of a bed. Seems stupid to me that this chair faces away from the view. Otherwise comfy wingback set up. I like how a large piece of artwork anchors this corner sitting area. You can make a set up like this to left of your doorway as you walk in the room. Seems like better balcony access than if you put a big ottoman on the pathway to the balcony door. If you did a full fledged sofa, I like a rug between the two and some kind of bench at the bottom of the bed.