What Would You Do? Bed & Window Placement in New Construction

2 years ago

We are having a house built and of all the available floor plans, we chose the best for us. Except the Owners Bedroom is a real dilemma!! We are building on 5 wooded acres and the view from the windows in our bedroom would be stunning - straight into the forest, lots of wildlife, no neighbors. But to take advantage of that view, our king bed would have to be on the wall that is directly in the pathway to the bathroom. So every time you walked into the room, you would have to walk around the bed. We could move it to the sides but then only a queen bed would fit. We could move the windows and put it on the exterior wall, which totally loses the view but is the best layout from a design perspective.

We can change anything in the floor plan at this point (moving windows, etc) but heavy costs are incurred if we move walls. We just can’t figure out what to do and only have a week to decide! The room has vaulted ceilings, the door to bathroom has been eliminated and the door into the bedroom is now a pocket door. Measurements are in floor plan. Our current setup measures 13’ across. Side walls (after taking into account door openings are only 11’8”). What would you do??

Lose the view - Put our current king bed on the EXTERIOR wall and have two windows flank the bed and put our nightstands in front of windows. (The nightstands are gorgeous and expensive Ethan Allen 3’ wide, mirrored front, solid wood).
Keep the view but create an awkward situation - Put the king bed on the wall that blocks the natural walkway to the bathroom. Get smaller nightstands.
Lose the king bed and nightstands but keep the view - Put the bed on the vaulted ceiling wall (the bathroom wall) so you see it as you come into the room.

(Teal wall picture is current bedroom furniture. Other pics are from other builds of this floor plan via Matterport, so there are wide angle lens distortions to factor in.)

Something I’m Not Considering?

Keep view, lose furniture, queen bed

Best view, awkward layout, Best if queen bed, new nightstands

Lose view, keep king bed, keep nightstands, visually appealing

Featured Answer

palimpsest

2 years ago

This makes the entry to the bedroom slightly less private because it is from the dining area.

But are you really going to use this bathroom directly from the rest of the house but only when you are in the bedroom? Is walking around the bed that big a deal?

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Comments (13)

T T
2 years ago
Is it too late to potentially swap the master bath location with the master bedroom?
Monica Harmon
Original Author
2 years ago
Nothing is too late, but you would see the bathroom from the dining room and half to walk through it to get to your bedroom. An interesting idea tho!
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chispa
2 years ago
I would not want a pocket door for a master bedroom and I would want a door for the bathroom .... unless you live alone and never have guests.
marilyncb
2 years ago
I would ask yourself, realistically, how much time you will spend admiring the view from your bedroom. Your lifestyle may be different from mine, but I spend very little time in my bedroom during daylight hours.
dan1888
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Put the bed on the dining room wall or the bath wall. Configure the outside bedroom wall to be all fixed no grill floor to ceiling windows or 8' door walls.. You'll have more view. If you want to use door walls, Fleetwood with the best level rollers is a good choice. Don't skimp on the rollers.
palimpsest
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I agree about the pocket door into the bedroom. But I would modify the windows a bit then so the door did Not swing in front of a window, but against a wall wide enough to "contain" the entire width of the door.

The pocket door into the primary bathroom could go either way. We have one because there was not enough room for a swinging door, but we rarely close it, we close the bedroom door instead.
just_janni
2 years ago
^^^ This also puts the toilet noise as far as possible from the ears of the inabitants, too.
Nicole Jackson
2 years ago
Can you float the bed with a 1/2 wall behind it? A friend of mine did this for her view of the ocean, and on the wall behind bed was a delightful coffee station.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
2 years ago
Why are you limited by "available floor plans"?

Why are you forced to choose the lesser of evils?
ptreckel
2 years ago
I would leave the door to the Master in the location as originally drawn. But a swing door! I would move the door to the bathroom so that it is on the window wall. On the diagonal from the entrance to the bedroom. Shift the vanity down towards the bottom of the master bathroom. Will the person sleeping on the left side of the bed (when located in your desired place) have to walk slightly around the bed? Yes. No matter where you place the bed, someone will have to do that, no? And if you home has a powder room or a guest bath elsewhere, no one but you and your partner should be using that bathroom, anyway.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
2 years ago
If you have to fix this design:
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
IMO the view from a bedroom is not a huge deal since I am usually only in there at night so not much view . As for walking past the bed to get to the bathroom why is tat a big desl it is just you in the bedroom lay iit out the best for you . For sure no access to a closet through a bathroom ever Mark has the right idea.