Question About Master Bedrooms

I do not understand the need for a giant bedroom either, although I could use some more closet space. Jo W., it is not "on suite" it is "ensuite". It is from the French "en suite" meaning part of a set or forming a unit. The British and Canadians have been using ensuite since there has been indoor plumbing.

I've never understood giant master bedrooms. I can't even imagine wanting to read in one. I like cozy and warm for bedrooms, not open and large.

I like more space in the common area's, as for bedroom it just needs to be big enough to hold what we have.

What? You don't throw tea parties in your bedroom? Well, that's the problem right there! LOL
I don't know either.
In my master bedroom I want enough room to fit my king size bed, two dressers, and a nightstand. Those people that have bohemoth bedrooms crack me up. I mean, what ARE they doing in there?!
To me it just looks like more space for my husband to throw his dirty clothes, more room for my kids to leave their toys and shoes, and more vacuuming.
L.

Some people see their master bedroom/bath as a retreat, and for us that is true. We spend at least an hour a night in there alone, without the kids watching "adult" TV, talking, having a glass of wine, reading, basically unwinding away from the chaos and noise of the rest of the house. Ours is not huge but it is big. My husband likes his big leather chair with an ottoman, and I like having room for my massive amount of laundry (LOL!) plus we have the dog bed in there too, and two nice cabinets. Having a spacious bath is actually MORE important for us than the bedroom space though. We have enough room that our messes are completely separate from each other and we never trip over each other in the bathroom which is really nice.
So yes, I think if you use the space it's worth it, but you're right, if you DON"T use the space it would be a waste.

We had our attic redone a few years ago (taken down to the studs, reinsulated, raised the ceiling by a few inches so my 6' husband could walk in part of the room without bumping his head). It is cozy and spacious, but still not enormous. No bathroom or closets, either.

I'm not sure you are missing out on anything much. Our previous master bedroom had been in both of the downstairs rooms, one at at time. For us, the reason we moved up was that we had about 2' clearance around a full-sized bed. Now that we are upstairs, it seems like a ridiculous amount of space unless we use that room for more than sleep. I've since moved my sewing machine and some bookshelves up, and I do have room for the ironing board, etc. If we have contractors working on the house (as we do this year), I can take Kiddo upstairs to do homework at a small table. That's a nice perk, but if we'd had a smaller room, we would make do just fine.

Running track and hosting tea parties? Hi-larious!

I'm only in my bedroom for sex and sleep. As long as there's room for my bed and dresser, I'm good.

At least for me I love big spaces, open floor plans. Ours is big but really when I built the house that was the norm. It isn't like the rest of the rooms are small because of it.

I would love to know when it stopped being called a master bath and became on suite. I keep wanting to throw things at my TV when they say, oh look! and it has this lovely on suite!! Barf!
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Sheri good to know but it is still pretentious! It is a master bath or master suite, I am not French!

Me and my daughter watch house finders sometimes.
Yep, even she asks that same thing!

I have an anthropology background... and we even had a class on architecture, because, it does reflect the cultural ethos of a region/culture/people. My Husband, being from Europe, he finds our open space planning, a bit irritating at times. Because where he is from, it is not so open nor intermingling between the rooms. Each room, having a specific, purpose, and walls and a door. But here, spaces are open and thus, the people's activities in it, can intermingle all at the same time. And the kids too. He's not so used to that. But has had to adapt, to that.
Big "master" bedrooms, is typical in the U.S. It is a bit of a "show off" symbolic thing. Status. Comfort. Lushness. Being the king of your own castle type thing.
But sure, no one spends their entire day in their bedroom. And for some places, a bed"room" is not even a room. It is a multipurpose "family" room, in which they do things in it AND sleep in that same room. At night. The entire family.
But here, bedrooms can become a bedroom/tv/spa place.
But historically as well, the bedroom of the "Master"... was very palatial. Due to their being a "King" or royalty.
It denotes... a person and their status. And they did sleep in it and do their daily reigning of their country in it.

It is the bedroom of the "Master."
ie: Master Bedroom.

Then, couples want a big room and BIG bedroom closets.
Big closets too... are very integral, right?
ie: in those reality shows, the entire show can be IN their closet.
No doubt, people also want bedrooms/closets the way they see it in those over the top reality shows.
Media, influence.

Ours is not huge. I would like a bigger closet for space and sometimes DH and I are tripping on each other, but I like that we have a shower and bathroom connected to our room. That matters more to me than being able to fit a king sized bed. Our house overall is not "huge" but it's plenty. I don't spend a lot of time doing work or other things in my room. I spend a lot more time in the main part of the house, with my family.

I think people want a big master to hold the big furniture they have. King/queen bed, headboard/footboard, 2 nightstands, dresser, chest...
That is 'our' reasoning :)

I'm in total agreement, it's a room used for sleeping and possibly getting dressed the next day.
I like it to be spacious enough to hold good sized dressers and end tables on each side of the bed and enough closet space for our "stuff". After that it doesnt really matter, it is not a room for entertaining or showing off to others, it is "your" resting space. Maybe some people sleep better in a LARGE space... for me, that's called going camping :)

Actually I wish I had a larger Master Bedroom. I would love to have room for an easy chair or love seat. Sometimes I want to go into my room and read but am not ready to get into bed. I totally get wanting a larger bedroom. Besides it feels good when things are spacious.

LOVE a big master bedroom, I admit...

I kind of agree with you. I don't need a huge bedroom, I hardly spend time in there other than to sleep. The only thing that does bother me is that we have no closet space. Our bedroom is very small. We barely fit out queen bed, 2 nightstands, and 2 dressers. That's it. Barely room to walk. We do have 2 closets, but mine is smaller than my sons closet! My husband closet is more like a coat closet in the hallway, but even smaller than that. Our bathroom is also out in the hallway. We have the entire 4th floor (kids rooms are on the 3rd floor right below us), so our room is so small that our bathroom is in the hallway, lol!
I would like a slightly bigger room, at least enough to walk around in with out bumping into my bed, and a much bigger closet. But I don't need a HUGE bedroom that I could throw a party in either.
I would rather have a large kitchen with a nice walk in pantry :)

i am so with you.
i mean, it has to be big enough for our stuff, and i'd really love a big ol' en suite bathroom.
but i want the big open space for my living and kitchen areas!
i told my husband the other day as we were watching one of these (we love 'em too), 'EVERYBODY wants an open floor plan! what will it sound like when the pendulum swings back again?'
can you imagine?
omg! this family room is way too big! let's put a wall up and get some privacy! when i'm cooking i don't want to hear the tv or the kids playing!
:D
khairete
S.

I love watching the Property Brothers and other home shows like that...

A huge master bedroom doesn't have to be "huge". Our master bedroom is roughly 20 x 15.

I would like a walk-in closet, but I'm not stressing over the one I have. The important room for me is the kitchen, bathroom and living space.

I AGREE w/ you 100 percent !

I do not go in my room except to sleep and clean it !

A big master bedroom is good for resale. I would rather see a big kitchen area.

I grew up in a house w/ FOUR 9 x 9 bedrooms and we were ALL fine !
Things were much more simple and less showy then !

Lol!
I love that many young people (without kids or nannies) really might think they'll be lounging in their MB sitting area all day, or perusing the Sunday paper on the chaise for hours....riiiiight!
I'm with you. Sleep, change, etc. doesn't really matter what is the size if the room. I'd rather be in the heart of my home!
I like the MB to be clean, organized and relaxing. The sq ft doesn't matter.

Such a good question. I could use about 3 ft less space in ours. It is a nice spot for the kids to show me their gymnastics moves, but I wish they had used that space to make the kids' rooms bigger. I love the look of our room and the windows on one whole wall, but it doesn't need to be so big. They also could have used some of that space for the bathroom and made the master closet bigger. I'm a functional gal.

We moved in the last year. We went from a pretty small master bedroom to one that is pretty spacious. I read and watch TV in our bedroom but I think the room is too big. I miss the coziness of the smaller room.

I DO like the bigger bathroom and bigger closets that came along with the big bedroom. The best part is that our sinks are across the bathroom from each other .. I don't deal with his sink :).

I like small, cozy spaces. My daughter and I live in a small one-bedroom and sleep in bunk beds (the kind with the double on the bottom). None of our three rooms are bigger than they need to be and I like it that way. If we ever get a house, I'd like one more small bedroom, and a small yard, that's all.

I'm fascinated by the "tiny house" craze. http://tinytexashouses.com/
I'm not sure I'm disciplined enough to live in one quite that small, but close. I've thought for years that the large houses we've been building are wasteful and extravagant. I've known people to covet a huge house and then hate them for their coldness and emptiness once they are moved in.

We love our extra large master bedroom and attached bath with large walk in closets. It is spacious enough to hold all of our furniture without being crowded. We can retreat to read, watch tv or just have down time alone.

I love the bath area because the sinks are across the room for each other. He has his side with closet and I have mine.

We just like larger bedrooms. Our daughter's room is upstairs and the size of many master bedrooms with a large walk in closet and private bath. The other 3 bedrooms are pretty basic, not small but not overly large.

We like the huge open living/kitchen area which is great for entertaining and just hanging out as a family.

The last home we built had 4 bedrooms upstairs, master included. We prefer the privacy of the master bedroom downstairs. Our daughter loves having the entire 2nd floor to herself.

The other bedroom that is downstairs now is in a completely separate area which I currently use as my office but it will eventually be a guest suite area.

ALL THAT SAID.... I also LOVE the quaint houses which are much smaller and have so much character like some in the University Park area of Dallas. Unfortunately, those homes are quickly purchased when they hit the market only to be torn down and a McMansion replace it.

I know that Austin has some very unique places like this as well.

Well, we have exercise equipment in our bedroom. That takes space. I wish it were even bigger so I could fit a treadmill as well as the TotalGym, the dumbbells, the 2 exercise balls and my sewing machine. We don't have an empty room that we can stick all those other things in. And I like to sew when husband is watching TV (which he does in our bedroom--- on a 42 inch TV, sprawled on the bed or in the recliner). It feels cozier when it is just us family. In fact, we tend to watch movies as a family in our room. It is cozier. The "family" room is where we hang when we have guests or extended family staying with us.

We also have a dog bed for our GSD (so not a tiny lap dog). And dual nightstands as we are both big time readers... and husband's stays cluttered with stacks of books. Mine is a bit tidier. Husband also keeps two 700 CD racks in there... I am not sure the exact dimensions of our bedroom... But we also have a door out to the patio...

Our bathroom is huge, though. And I love that... I never have to step on husband's wet sweaty gym clothes in the floor. And he never has to step on mine. :P (and I keep the ironing board set up all the time... I never have to take it down).

Walk in closet, too.... divided with an interior divider wall, so husband's stuff is separate from mine. It makes hiding Christmas, birthday and anniversary gifts for each other a snap!

As I type this, my husband and kids are all piled up in our room (on the bed and in the recliner) watching DVDs of KungFu. I would join them, but they are mid-episode, since I took the dog for a long walk earlier.

A lot of people think of their bedrooms as their sanctuaries. Besides the obvious, like sleeping, changing and - ahem - couple time, people want space to put a big chair or two for curling up, or a shelving unit that can hold books and TVs. I've also seen people put a desk in their bedroom to make a mini office area (which would keep me wide awake at night worrying about work, but that's me).

I honestly don't know either. We have a "huge" master bedroom and it really is a large waste of space. So what happens is, it accumulates lots of junk because there is pleanty of room in there for it. There is also lots of room for lots of clothing, which means I never have to clean out the closet and don't use more then half of the clothing I have.

Often my SO and I discuss taking the guest room and putting our two girls into our bedroom, and giving them the master bath, when they get older cause they would probably make better use of the space then we do.

All that to say, I would not not buy a house if the master was on the smaller side. So far we've only found homes that have large masters though.

I also scratch my head at that. I grew up in a 9x9 bedroom that I shared with my sister, and 1 bathroom that all 7 in my family shared. I think I spent more time in my bedroom as a teenager than I do now.

We've been looking at houses in our area, and floorplans for new construction. At first I was pretty baffled why people needed 400 sf bedrooms plus sitting areas, but now that we're anticipating having my in-laws move in with us when we finally do move, I WILL be using my master bedroom as a retreat to get some privacy.

But, if it was just going to be my husband and my kids living there with me, I'd be in my bedroom about as often as I am now--from about midnight to 6 am ;-)

It's all relative. What I would consider "huge" might be what someone else considers "decent sized". Our bedroom is about 13 x 18. It's "decent sized" to me and perfect for how we live our lives. Our last bedroom was more like 23 x 25, "huge" by my current standards. But at the time, it seemed "decent sized" and perfect for how we lived then.

I guess as long as the occupier of the room is comfortable, whether it's huge or tiny is irrelevant. What IS important to me is whether the bathroom is modern, functional, and clean and whether there's ample storage in the closet. A large closet and master bath are the deal-breaker for me - the bigger the better!

And Jo, they started calling it "ensuite" when HGTV started broadcasting all those shows that are filmed in Canada. I find myself saying "ensuite" sometimes, too, then I have to just laugh at myself!

Mine has to be big enough for our furniture PLUS two extra-large dog kennels :)

idk its lost on me but everywhere i have lived the master bedroom was biggest. i feel like it brings us back to kids age when your room was biggest and it brought on bragging rights. our neighbors (house same size as ours) were jelly over our room and closet....it was so BIG compaired. it only means more mess.

my aunt and uncle planned out there "dream" home for several years. taking what they liked from others homes and adding it to the list. there house is impressive. they have a nice bedroom with a office nook and a fire place. well after a few years living there they chaned there room around to there bed in the office nook ( nice curtians covering the opening) and the bedroom portion is like a second casual living space/office. they said they were cramped in there and it did not make any since to continue to have a huge space for a bed to sleep why not a cozy space?

I do like space in my bedroom for seating. I do like to talk on the phone in there (quieter) and I like to read there (also quieter).

The one thing that always gets me are the huge master baths! They look nice, but really who wants to clean a humongous (sp?) bathroom? I'm only in there to do my business and don't need extra square footage!

I don't get it, either. Larger spaces always seem so cold, empty, and ininviting to me. Maybe it's because I grew up in an apartment and am used to small spaces. Maybe it's because I don't want to spend all my free time cleaning. Maybe it's because I don't want to spend tons of money of decor.

In any event, I am good with a bedroom that fits my furniture and belongings with a little extra room to spare, and same for the bathroom. The main areas we use are our living room and kitchen. Who knows, maybe if my bedroom were more inviting, I'd spend more time in there, but I highly doubt it.