In the two places I've lived with such an arrangement, some investigation into the original floorplan has revealed that there's been either an addition or some remodeling going on. And people just took the easy way out and slapped a new room on right next to an existing room, without bothering to add a hallway or the like. In my grandparents' house, you had to go through their bedroom to get to the upstairs bathroom, which was, for a time, the only bathroom in the house, other than a toilet in the basement. The house was built in 1865 and the bathroom was originally a closet. It was the only space for a bathroom. That is, until my grandparents had 7 kids and took the smallest bedroom and made it into a bathroom. They also made a pantry off the kitchen into a powder room, to get a downstairs bathroom. My brother and SIL have a child with disabilities. They needed to either buy a wheelchair accessible house or modify the one they owned. They looked at many houses that had been remodeled for handicap access--SIL was appalled, really, at some of the remodeling. She said it was clear they just added a ramp where it was easiest and threw on extra rooms where it was easiest to expand the house, without any consideration of the flow of traffic through the house or how the rooms would open up to each other, or even trying to match the style/ finishes of the original home with what was going on in the addition. She mentioned bedrooms opening directly off the kitchen, or off the master bedroom, or just a section of the family room walled off to create a room. In one house, they punched through the dining room wall and added a bedroom/bath right off the dining room. And another where they enclosed a porch off the kitchen to make the accessible bedroom, so everyone entering the house walked through the accessible room into the kitchen, unless they used the front door. Which no one does in farm country. They ended up hiring an architect to add on a wing to their house--you can't tell where the old house ends and the new wing begins. They did end up with a dining room with no windows, but it has two sets of french doors opening into rooms with tons of windows and sunlight and you really don't notice. They paid extra to get the addition done right, but I think in the long run they have a house that doesn't *look* handicapped accessible and hasn't lost any resale value.

What Kitycat says is true, leave the configuration of 3 bedrooms so that future owners can have the option since most families will need that with children around. It would affect the sale of your home. I say that because 2 bedroom homes are not that sought after. Our little cottage is 2 bedroom and it suits us. I figure the way we have it (planned) setup, it will be possible for this house to become a rental for two single individuals who want separate baths, closets, and some privacy. So each bedroom has its own bath, with the master having a walkin closet. And they do not share the hallway. The front bedroom (we now use it as a study) can be closed off making the hallway part of its suite and only using the bath if there are guests and the door to the hallway is not locked from the bedroom side. Part of my remodel to the kitchen will include closing off the master entry door from the (now shared) hallway, and relocating it to near the back door, as I also add a sitting area to the master. The sitting area COULD be left open to the kitchen area, but I have a nice old cypress door which will be mounted with barndoor hardware to close off the sitting area from the kitchen.....although I doubt we do that often, since we two old folks seldom have overnight guests. But, it is something I feel important for the sake of privacy. Anyway, you will sure get a lot more use from the space being set up to serve as a huge closet, more so than being under-utilized as a spare bedroom. Spare bedrooms or "guest" rooms, are probably the least used space in a home, followed by a formal dining room. In our house, the third least used space was the living room. We use the 2nd bedroom as our study and TV room. I now have my big parrot cages in the living room. We go through the LR to go sit in the sun porch, always a pleasant experience. I have ideas how to make the LR work harder and fit in with our lifestyle. With the return of french doors to the doorway, I now see the LR as our potential guest room. That way, our study stays intact and undisturbed because we use it more hours in the day/night than even the kitchen or the bedroom...or the bath, for that matter.

Thank you Marilyn, This is a cut and paste from the "It's September..." thread on the "Building a Home" forum. (link below) There are two sets of photos in that thread, each with a link to my website of photos of the project. Paint colors are as follows: Exterior: SW Moderne White / Roof is Metal Sales Ash Gray Interior trim: SW Snowbound semi-gloss Ceilings, closets & workroom downstairs: SW Snowbound Link, laundry room & hallway to laundry room: SW Humble Gold Bathrooms: SW Grassland All other rooms: SW Ancient Marble Jay Here is a link that might be useful: It's September- How is your build progressing? thread

Also...now that each bedroom has a bathroom...are you putting son in front bedroom? Just thought it might give younger girls more privacy and they could each have window seats, if they like. And it makes their rooms almost identical, except for bathroom window :) I'm guessing older son might want a desk or chair, but that's based on my nephew at that age...or maybe drums. LOL