Can you sketch that numbers? If there is any reason either of you would be up behind the bed while the other is sleeping I'd think that would disturb the sleeper. It would be like someone walking up next to you while you are asleep and you can 'feel' them even if they don't say anything. I'd not like the feeling of someone behind me at all. I might be weird though because I wouldn't want the entrance at the head of the bed.

So you are asleep facing the wall/doorway and open your eyes and can see

My 'dream configuration (no pun intended)' would be the entrance doors (from the hall, to the closet, bath whatever) all be at the foot or near the foot and nothing but a nice cozy wall by the head. Even if that wall was large enough for a lamp and chair fine but no through traffic while you are asleep.

Many people say the bed should be the focal point. Ours is not...the windows are the focal point. And since I did not want the bed against the windows (cold winters!) the head of the bed is on the same wall as the door.

I guess this is also 'bad' feng shui, but it works really well for us! If my husband goes to bed early, the light from the other room is not shining in his eyes, when I open the door. And we have a beautiful view of the gardens. So, win/win :)

The half wall in your picture....I've seen something that before in a magazine. It gives you a dressing area by the closets but I think that one had posts on either side of the half wall and a little more definition. This one seems too low, but the idea is worth exploring.

We don't watch TV in our MBR. Maybe you could have a TV that raises/lowers into a piece of furniture? (You don't usually need a 'dresser' in a newer home that has a walk-in closet where you 'dress'.)

People generally feel more secure when there is a solid wall behind the headboard. (Primal brain rules.)

Across from our MBR entry is a bay window with chaise; the bed is to the left (on the entry door wall) with another large window beyond it. In the middle of the wall to the right is a short hallway to our MBA, with our closets flanking the hall.

LL you can have your bed opposite the door and the windows on the other wall so when you walk through the door your windows are on the far wall and your bed perpendicular to it. That is what I am picturing (and what I have) but then it's tough to not have someone always having to walk around the bed to get to the bathroom.

When my daughter was living alone in the DC area, she always wanted the bed facing the door, in case of intruders. I have always liked it that way myself. I guess it makes me feel more secure to see that no one is coming through that shouldn't. The half wall would drive me bonkers! But you are right to take the room layout into consideration while there is still time to change it.

Thank you all for your comments! I really had not thought about the issue of noise behind your headboard, but that would be an issue since DH is retired and I am not (yet). And I also had not thought about how one might feel "insecure" about not being able to see the door or whats behind their head. Good points, and maybe enough for me to nix this idea. And then there's the Feng Shui consideration - also interesting.

Another concern I did have was the cost of the "custom" headboard/wall. And I would not want to give up our current dresser (danish rosewood - now a protected species) for a unit with a built in TV that raises/lowers.

The layout I had originally proposed had the bed on the wall across from the bed, so the bed was the focal point and the TV was not the first thing you saw when you entered. There would be windows on either side of the bed. The other option, which was proposed by someone on a previous design thread I posted, was to put the bed on wall to the left as you entered the bedroom - in my case the door is next to the wall on the right, so this would be ideal Feng Shui! But I was concerned because that is the shorter wall and the room seem unbalanced with the bed on the left side of the room and and the right side of the room seemed empty. I did not really want/need a sitting area, and also didn't want to have to buy more furniture to "fill it up".

Here is a link to that prior thread, showing my proposed layout. Please Help! The designer's main concern seemed to be that the angles were usually "wasted space", but to be honest, we have more than enough space. Also, there is an angled wall at the other end of the hall already, so adding one by our bedroom door would not look strange IMO.

Personally, I think the half-wall idea is nuts. It would drive me crazy. I'd always be certain there would be someone hiding behind it, ready to jump out at me when I was sleeping. I don't think I could sleep with a half-wall behind my head.

I'm a light sleeper, so I prefer NO windows in bedrooms, but code requires it....so we put the window behind the bed and are going to have multiple layers of light-blocking curtains.

(My current apartment has the bed under a window, but it doesn't bother me, again because of many curtains)

Our bedroom does have enough space to move the bed to the opposite wall if we wanted to look out the window at some point in the future though.

Bedrooms do not come with a "focal point", I'm afraid. The scheme you and your architect are considering is just as good an approach as any, albeit a bit larger area is required than some other schemes. At the end of the day, what really matters is how you and your husband feel about the design and the appeal/comfort it offers. Good luck with your project!

I agree with your original thought: In general, bedrooms look best if you walk in and see the foot of the bed straight ahead of you. This gives you a nice view of the headboard and pillows. The worst option is to see the side of the bed, which isn't as attractive.

Still speaking in generalities, this tends to make the bedroom function well too. It means that neither spouse is required to walk around the bed to reach his or her side.

Having said that, I don't really like or dislike the plan your architect/designer is proposing. It would work well if your bedroom door lacks privacy, and it gives you a little dressing room behind the head of the bed. Since you still need "walking space" at the foot of the bed, this arrangement is a space hog.

I'm with Virgil. It never occurred to me that a bedroom would have a focal point.

someone always having to walk around the bed to get to the bathroom.

Autumn- That would be me (LOL) but it worked out very well, when my husband first got back from the hospital. Easy access for him and less walking to get to the bed. Now, it's nice for him to come in and be right next to the bed to sit and change shirt, shoes, etc.

The closet is on the entire wall to the left and door to bathroom is in the middle of the wall, on the right. Three floor length windows across from door with about 4' of wall space to the left....so the bed ends up on the same side of the room as the door. Only wall space that has enough room :)

I think the focus should be on the massive stone fireplace to the left and ahead the city light view. The bed is on the right and occupants can roll over and see the door. The city light view or the daylight view is important. The bed is just a place to sleep. Good night.

LL-that would be my dh over here but if he uses the bathroom door he walks right by me and it drives me bonkers as it wakes me up!

My post regarding walls and doors and the foot of the bed were purely for sleeping purposes not so much focal points. That said we don't have a tv or anything in our room. I do sometimes read in bed but not for very long before going to sleep. I think the headboard being across the room looks good I guess but I am always thinking about how the door/traffic would affect sleep - MY sleep. Dh works shift work so that also makes a difference since we do not have the same bed or waking times nearly ever.

Numbers-do you spend a lot of waking time in your room? You have a very spacious room, do you read in there or use it as your 'away' space, have seating? I ask because you comment that you didn't want to look at a bunch of doorways so I thought maybe you hang out in there for more than sleep or....extracurricular activities. ;) I am never in my room in the daylight, hardly ever. That said, if the windows were on the side wall vs. opposite wall you could still see out them plenty fine so you don't lose the view and still have room for a TV.

Maybe you'll get more feedback if you put your pics in this post:

Are you wanting to/able to move or have new windows placed in the bedroom?

Your first option:

Your 2nd option:

Both look like great sleeping options to me.

1 - The head of the bed has no traffic pattern around it.

2- Lights turned on from the bathroom or closet do not shine directly on the head of the bed.

3 - Bathroom plumbing is not on the shared bedroom wall.

Do you use your balcony? That looks like a pretty view - lots of light.

Do you have neighbors close where you have a wall you wouldn't prefer windows or would want high windows? The wall our bed is against has those high square windows which are great for privacy but still let in light. The wall to the left faces the rear of the house and has regular 'view' windows in it. Which wall in your drawing do you prefer to view out of?

I think it is nice to see something from the hallway outside the room that's not necessarily the bed or the side of a dresser, but other than that I don't know if it's more important than overall function.

I don't like seeing the side of the bed from outside the room, especially if the people aren't very tidy and the coverings are all askew and you can see stuff under the bed. Other than that, not too important.

I think your problem is the layout dictated by not moving any bathroom fixtures and by maintaining the balcony. This gives you a too-long bedroom -- and leaves a tiny one next door. I can't really fix this any better than your Plan #1.

Are the blue lines 'fixed', but not the brown ones? Is the entry door fixed?

Could you create a small study/library separate from the bedroom where the balcony exists, lopping off that end of the space? It could have glass doors to let light into the bedroom from windows in this space. (Plan #2 is similar to this, but with a closet in an awkward location.) Then I'd see an entry door that bisects a rectangle laid out left-right -- letting you go right to the BR or ahead and left to closets/bath. I'd put the bed on the far wall.

I walk to our closets and our bathroom several times a day, but only go to the bed mornings and evenings.

I want bathroom and closets together. I don't want to have to go through either of these to get to the other. A man may be OK with a closet away from his shower or sink, but I'm back and forth between closet and bathroom. I don't mind a shared closet either.

I don't want windows behind, above or very close to the sides of my bed. (More primal brain stuff.)

We are the third owner of our home. The first/builder-owner went into foreclosure due to excessive drug use. The second lost it to excessive gambling. I can't show you a floor plan. there isn't one. Two story. The master is amazing! We do have city light views, and if I were you, I wouldn't put in too many windows. You have no view, but I would put in a fireplace!

The massive stone fireplace is killer as is the deck off the master with the jacuzzi and a door into the bathroom.

Our bathroom is next to the master closet, which you pass on the way to the bed, late at night. I wake easily (due to years of babies and kids), but he sleeps through it all. I have the long walk to the bathroom. No lights except for this little night light in there. It guides you.

Huge fan of night lights.

Good luck with your build!

I'm sure I read that you should try to avoid a layout where you look at the side of the bed when entering the room.

Why would this layout be bad ... except that it forces one of a couple to ewalk all the way around the bed at times.

Our layout for the dream house MBR will have an entrance to the bedroom with no bed visible

It is such a spacious room - I think that is making it harder. Do you always watch TV in bed or would you like a seating area since you definitely have room.

What if you moved the entrance to the bathroom giving you a wall niche where you could display artwork? I am not sure where you'd put the TV here. Also your closet is such a nice size, do you need a dresser in your room yet or will you have drawers installed in the closet so you don't need it anymore?

Same with the bed moved the opposite wall. 4 window side are high windows - other side are regular sized.

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So if you framed that wall in a little you would still have 2 options for your bed if you felt like re-arranging it ever (I left both bed orientations for a visual). It just dawned on me it's an exterior wall so that would be problematic (duh - sorry). I wonder if there are any options though with trying to shorten the look of that wall for bed placement so I'll leave my oops in here:

Autumn, the size of the room does make it more difficult! It seems like that end of the room near the bottom is excess space which I keep trying to put to good use. I really don't want a sitting area because it just means I need to buy more furniture and I don't think it will ever get used. Thats why i added the closets there, and left the other for storage which we do really need. I was using the balcony for storage.

I do like to watch tv in bed, so putting the bed on the top wall leaves a lot of disrance. And the dressers will stay, they are danish rosewood and we love them! This is so depressing...,.we had an A/C leak in the bathroom and closet so the room is a wreck ad I really want to get this remodel moving but hate to spend all the money until we have a layout that really works.

I hear you loud and clear on the project creep. Our new master is 14x15'6" and we have a king sized bed and 2 nightstands on the 14' wall and oh there is plenty of room for a chair and a lamp at the foot with all that empty space but would I use it? I don't know. I do read but normally IN bed where its cozy. I have realized that I like cozier spaces. I don't want to be in a cave or a straight jacket but I don't like feeling like I am floating on an island either.

So if you need storage more than a 4th bedroom and your room is large. 18' with a queen is ginormous. I'd say go with your #2 with a shared closet but beef it up by moving that wall into the room more which will push your bed further over on that wall centering you a bit more for the TV and give you more space in your shared closet. It's to have extra space in the middle and use it as a dressing room - especially if DH is still asleep.

I too the angle out of your storage room as they can make it awkward in use. I can't tell what size the windows are, I didn't change them but they look very large and if you wanted to scootch your bed over even more you would make them a bit smaller. If you like to look at tree tops (I do too) - put high windows on that wall that has the window in the corner. That allows complete freedom for furniture placement. Otherwise as the window is in the corner it's not obtrusive either and if it's private it's all good and if it's existing $ saved.

What is the dimension of that wall between the master and the bathroom? That would be a good number to know to gauge space with what you have in there.

Hopefully this will bump it up and someone with more talent will chime in!

OK, I'm good with Plan #1. I'd prefer a shared closet and making something like a pocket library out of the bottom half, but the plan is less expensive as drawn. And...you can get started! You can see if you need to buy a chair or chaise, and a table w/lamp -- much less expensive than reconfiguring the balcony (which is probably a pretty exterior feature). Surprisingly, my husband does use the chaise in our bedroom some afternoons -- listens to a ballgame, 'rests his eyes' LOL.

Autumn, I like the change you made to the bathroom wall. Not sure how long exactly it would be, but I'm guessing 10 ft as you have it drawn?

Chisue, not really sure what you refer to as plan 1? Btw, closing in the balcony will not be expensive as it is an interior balcony and not exterior. And not really a "pretty feature" either!

Curious what you think of the bathroom layout. Main concern the architect seemed to have was whether the shower door opening would be a problem if someone was coming out of the toilet alcove. Talked to DH about it and he wasn't concerned, but I wish there was an easy fix. Pushing the door more to the center might help, but I really don't like that look. Plan was to have a half wall by the vanity and the showerhead on the vanity wall, controls on the half wall within reach of the door.

I didn't change the bathroom wall - I changed the shared closet wall to make it deeper and moved the bed and windows further down that wall.

In regards to the bathroom - I wouldn't think that would happen all that often and you'd likely know the other person was in there while you were showering so you'd keep an eye out. Do you use the tub? Wondering if you'd want it more private and not opposite the door which is near your entry.

Maybe you should start a new thread here with a different subject to get more comments.

Flipped the toilet and tub and maybe the shower would be glass half wall and the tub wouldn't feel closed in. This gives the bathtub more privacy and removes the door competing door issue.

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Entry door flip? It doesn't help the toilet/shower door situation but it does give privacy to the tub.

Autumn, thank you so much for all your comments and suggestions! I do like the toilet backed up to the outside wall as in your last drawing. It would work very well with what I want to do - hoping for a ledge behind the toilet and high windows. But your first drawing with the toilet over towards the bedroom on the outside wall blocks to much of the window area, as does the vanity in your last plan. Maybe I could just swsp the tub snd vanity back? Major goal is to have a bright space. And yes I do use the tub a lot and would like it to be a focal point and not tucked away.

Sorry I didn't see a window. Where is the window at in the bathroom? Over the tub?

Hey, if you do flip it you actually have space for a longer vanity - OR a linen closet in the bathroom. I like the bathroom entry door moved so it's off the bedroom vs. the bedroom entry - especially with the tub right there.

My error, I thought the 'balcony' in the lower right corner was *exterior*. Changes everything.

You've said there is isn't enough room here for another bedroom, but I don't know what *else* is on this floor. (At some point I saw a teeny room with two twin beds in it, left of the bathroom.) So...this 'balcony' made the original space sort of a 'loft'? I might revisit making a separate 'pocket library' out of the lower part of the bedroom and keeping the balcony effect.

I don't want my closet so far from the bathroom.

Moving windows isn't cheap.

Sorry about the missing windows in my plans - we left them off because we are undecided about placement. There is one now above the tub that needs to be replaced, and we also want to add one in the toilet area.

Chisue, we know moving windows isn't cheap. But given what we expect to spend on this we want to make the space work right. The exterior is siding which is also badly in need of replacement. Everything is 30 years old. Right now the balcony is a wasted space. We need storage not a sitting area, or office/library space.

There are 2 other bedrooms - one is on the other side of the master bath - 10 x 12 or so. The other is on the front side of the house and is much larger.

On my proposed plan with the angles that everyone seems to hate, the bathroom door,entry door and closet doors were all in the same corner. I thought that was good to allow someone to get ready for work without disturbing the other sleeper.

Funny thing is that I keep hearing/reading that angled walls create wasted space, but in this case they seem to work pretty well - a lot better IMO than the floating bed idea with the "hallway" between the bed and closets (which were both drawn on the balcony wall with separate entrances. There may be some wasted space, but it sure seems to make the remaining space more functional.

Duh, light bulb moment. Now I get the purpose for the angle. I don't mind angles - the reason I didn't like this one was what it did to the storage area in use (making it tough for shelving, etc) and with all doors closed it was just kind of pointy hanging out there. BUT I see now exactly why you did it and that is the only reason I moved the door was for privacy to the bath which the angle had provided.

The odds of you bathing when you have company are likely slim - as slim as the interference you may have with the toilet alcove and shower doors so that is probably mute. And, like chisue I do like the closet by the bathroom. So basically I think you are back to your original options and whether or not you want to re-purpose the balcony or not. You could re-purpose it and have that all be dh's closet and you'd both have a nice large separate space.

Sorry for muddying things up. I don't think I really helped at all. :( I will leave you be now. You have a nice large space to work with and it will turn out great.

autumn, you definitely were very helpful. All of the comments I got here have been helpful, if only to force me to re-think my priorities and get fresh eyes. I still need time to try out the new toilet/shower configuration you proposed, but this is going to be a crazy busy week at work and otherwise so it will have to wait.

Very true on fresh eyes and scrutinizing priorities. :D I love looking at plans (they are like gigantic puzzles to me) but I am not the best creative person around. I do hope you find something that works that you love. I so enjoy looking out at the treetops in our bathroom and in our bedroom. It's so peaceful.