Thanks bspofford, I have been decluttering with a vengence for the past five years. The reno has been good for that, cuz not only do I get a chance to go through everything with a fine tooth comb when I pack it up, I am even more ruthless before it gets back into the new and improved space! And, when I packed up the Master closet (tiny though it is), I found two new bathing suits, a nightie and a T-shirt still in the bag, that had fallen out of sight. Thought I had imagined buying them when I spent months fruitlessly looking for them! I am so looking forward to having the space that things won't have to be so crammed anymore!

oh that's gorgeous! mine is slightly different, as i will eliminate the center upper unit. i was going to place a skirted dressing table in the center, but realise i prefer to stand up while doing makeup and hair. so that center counter will be a slab of marble, and the back wall and two sides mirrored. plus i have a vaulted ceiling, so i could totally do the library ladder--and the salvage yard has one atm. thanks so much for the picture, it's exactly what was looking for to get clearer about the free standing part. i think i'll avoid the extra sheetrocking, yay for finding a less expensive option i actually prefer!

Yeah, in our old house we dressed in the bedroom, but when we designed this house we on purpose moved that activity from the part of the suite where the bed is. My DH travels a ton for work and often has late or early flights, so we designed our master to keep noise low in the bedroom section. When you open the door to the master suite, you are in a short hall. The dressing room/closet is on your left, then the bath. There is a cased opening directly in front of you that leads into the bed area. Basically, there are no doors in the bedroom part of the suite. People who want to be super close to their toilet or closet might not like it, and it wouldn't work at all if our closet were small, but it is so perfect for us! He can lug his suitcase in, brush his teeth, whatever...and I am not disturbed. Plus, I like not having dressers in the bedroom.

It's hard to tell, those could be moveable vanes inside the grill but the photo doesn't make it easy to see. It could also be a grill for a jump duct. Sometimes jump ducts are put into closets as a way to provide an air return path for a bedroom (the door of which can be expected to often be closed). If that's an interior wall and there's something similar looking on the ceiling on the other side, that's likely what it is. A peek into the attic would answer the question.