opinions where master BR should be on the main floor
Kimpee Kaimito
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chicagoans
last monthchispa
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What is right or wrong with Master Suite on main floor?
Comments (47)Our master bedroom was on the main floor in the last house, but upstairs in this one. We have three children ages 6 - 15, each of whom have a bedroom on the second floor. I much preferred the master on the main living level. In our next house, the master will definitely be back to the main floor. Chisue, Not to get off topic, but I hope you don't mind answering a question. I read your post above about building a 2 bedroom home with a large attic for future expansion, for resale. We are kind of planning that with our next house but for financial reasons. My DH's job requires relocation every few years. This is our 6th house in 16 years. Chances are good that he will get transferred in the next year. Now that the kids are older they do not want to move AGAIN. So our plan is to sell the current home (4500 sq ft) and build a smaller home in the same school district, with 2500 on main level with about 1300 unfinished on second floor. We would buy a townhouse for DH in the new location and he would only come home on weekends. The financial burden of operating two homes is the need to figure out how to cut costs. The kids and I would live on the main level and I would GC the finishing of the second level, while doing as much as possible of the work ourselves. So now that I have given you too much background, my question(s) is(are)... how much did you have to pay per sq ft for the unfinished attic space? It would be nice if I could just figure 2500 x $X sq ft, but I'm sure the extra framing and higher roof line will cost something, as well as materials to cover the extra exterior height. I'm sure it seems silly to ask questions when we don't know if/when a transfer will happen but once it does he is usually gone within the week and the company only covers his expenses for 90 days. I always have a file on hand with as much info as possible so I will be prepared when the time comes. Besides, I love the planning aspect of a new house!...See MoreExtra Bathroom Vanity in Master BR - Remove? PICS
Comments (9)Thanks for the input everyone. I'm trying to avoid having to put more money in to this than I really have to. I'd like to avoid changing the door to the closet if need be. JustJulie-The only problem with removing that wall would be it has electrical switches on it, possibly outlets too, can't remember. Wonder how easily that could be moved, but then again, where would you move it? Probably wouldn't do a pocket door to get in. Makes too much noise and I'm a light sleeper and would hear DH closing it to get ready for work at 3am. I'd probably do a door like we have now, glass panel, like a Frehch door, I guess it's called? We put a mini blind on the backside for privacy and so you can't see the vanity through the glass. I haven't worked on any type of configurations but I don't think there's a hell of a lot that can be done to change it around and I don't want to get too crazy as I'm trying to keep the costs down. LIVE WIRE-not sure we could remove other wall, that right side of the doorway is where the plumbing is, so when you look at the tub, the faucet is on the left side, not the right where I wish it would be. I can't remember if there is any wall space to the left of the tub, but I take it there has to be something there for the plumbing to be. And as I mentioned above, the right side of the wall has electrical inside. I'd definitely like to have the toilet area "privatized". I'd really like to keep it to one sink, we just don't need two and I'd much rather have a place where I can sit down and do my hair/make-up as I have now. Currently I have my vanity where the left side has a drawer and space for a chair underneath that I can sit at, a bank of drawers and then the sink with a cabinet underneath. I also think about one less sink to clean and one less pipe to unclog. Now, a linen cabinet, that would be a nice addition in there. When I saw the house last, I took some measurements. The outside vanity is 44" wide and the inside vanity is 29" wide. I think the length of the bathroom is 8'2" with the floor space between the vanity and the outside of the tub being 5'. I didn't take the measurement of the outside vanity area from where I'd put the door to the back of the wall where the vanity is. I can't believe I'm having such a hard time finding a floor plan/layout on the web that's similar. I'm going through magazines, books, websites and nothing yet. Pray that I get this house!!!...See MoreMain Floor Master Bedroom - Good Idea?
Comments (34)We own a 4 bedroom center hall colonial now that has all bedrooms upstairs (13 stairs). It is a very popular style in our area. We are retiring to another state. Our new home is currently in the design phase. We are planning a new 4 bedroom home with a master bedroom suite and another bedroom on the ground floor and two bedrooms upstairs. Our new home is being planned for wheelchair access (if it is ever needed) The remaining two bedrooms upstairs will serve as guest rooms with a jack and jill bath between them. The 2nd bedroom on the main floor will serve as an exercise room for now. (My husband uses all his equipment and wants to keep it even though we will have a full recreation center down the street from us). If we need to dismantle it someday for any reason (maybe even for resale if we want to go to a smaller place) the room will easily convert to a second bedroom on the first floor. In addition, the majority of our living space will be on the first floor. Because or our age, if I were to build a two story home with master suite upstairs I would definitely plan for an elevator or consider a space for adding one at a later date....See MorePlace Master BR on 1st or 2nd Floor? Pros/Cons?
Comments (18)We wanted first floor master as that is what we had in our last house but when it came time to build we went with 2nd floor master and here is why. We built on a 100 ft wide lot with a neighborhood that mandates side load garages (which we like anyway). If you are building a house with large common areas, it doesn't give you much width to do a nice size master suite on the first floor. Yes - you can always build back but on smaller lots, you resist side windows, and as you build back, you have less window space per floor space (think townhouse). So after looking at spec houses in the same neighborhood, we realized that we liked what we could get only in 2nd floor master plans. The footprint stayed smaller which kept our garage entry easy and kept us away from a river running through the back yard (more like a seasonal thing but either way something you don't want near the house). Our neighbor has a 1st floor master - he has a hard time getting in his driveway. And his closets are smaller than ours. So for a "city" lot with a bigger house, 2nd floor master allows a better suite. For privacy - two walls are exterior, one is against master bath and then laundry room and the fourth is a large master closet bumped up mostly to a closet in a guest bedroom. There is a small area that goes from master closet directly into guest bedroom but otherwise we are 3 walls away from anyone. We also have 2 doors - one to the suite and one to the bedroom. And for virtual separation our suite is a foot higher so you have to walk up 2 stairs to get to it....See MoreMark Bischak, Architect
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