jerseygirl: I will take a peek at her designs; thanks for the suggestion newdawn: We have an iron bed and nothing else. We are open to new or used furniture, whichever will help give us the feeling we are after. I really like the chair and ottoman idea and we will have space for one. We went with a rather large closet(large for us!) so that we can keep bedroom furniture and clutter to a minimum. We would rather have our closet in a chaotic state than our bedroom....LOL!

Ah, but you only *think* this will be less expensive. These projects not only always cost more than you estimate, you have to live in dirt for what seems forever -- costly in terms of peace and sanity. I was somewhat OK with your plans for the second story. When you got into completely rearranging the first floor rooms, you lost my support. (Like you care! LOL) DH and I lived for 30 years in a house about the size of yours (only one child though). After DS moved out we combined two BRs to have a larger master BR. Didn't hurt our sales prospects; still had a total of three BRs, three baths. The new house we live in now was bought to be a "remodel". I am so grateful we did a teardown instead! All New is always better than Partly New unless you have a historic home. My advice would be to spare yourselves a lot of money that you will NOT recoup and months/years of living in a construction site.

Yes, I think pink is a beautiful color for a master bedroom! The trick is picking the right pink and then balancing it with other elements that are not overly feminine. I love pink and brown together, or black. When choosing a grownup ink go to the brown section in your color deck. As you move up to the lighter colors you will see what I refer to as dirty pinks. These are softer, more pleasing pinks that men can love.

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.