Master Suite

Our master suite has an unusual design. You enter into a dressing room that combines clothes storage with sitting space and space for getting dressed. The bathroom is on one side of the dressing room. The bedroom is on the opposite side and is sized just right to fit a bed. There is no walk-in closet or access directly to the bed or sitting and writing space next to the bed. Nor is the bathroom directly connected to the bedroom. Deliberate considerations informed these choices, as explained by these three patterns.

A Room of One's Own (141)

• Problem: No one can be close to others, without also having frequent opportunities to be alone.
• Therefore: Give each member of the family a room of his own, especially adults. A minimum room of one's own is an alcove with desk, shelves, and curtain. The maximum is a cottage. In all cases, especially the adult ones, place these rooms at the far ends of the intimacy gradient, far from the common rooms.
• In our home: The master suite is the private place for us. It is distinctly separate from the kids' bedrooms. It is also at the far end of the intimacy gradient, well away from the common areas. An important part of this is that the master suite is more than just bed, bath, and closet. The dressing room is also a sitting room. We will have a couple of comfortable chairs and a small table. It will be a cozy space we can retire to individually or together.

Bed Alcove (188)

• Problem: Bedrooms make no sense.
• Therefore: Don't put single beds in empty rooms called bedrooms, but instead but individual bed alcoves off rooms with other non-sleeping functions, so the bed itself becomes a tiny private haven.
• In our home: While not strictly an alcove, our bedroom was inspired by this pattern. The bedroom portion of the master suite is just a bed with a pair of nightstands. It has no closets, chairs, or desks. There are two reasons it is a room instead of merely an alcove. The first is for privacy and isolation. A full room allows the bed to be separated from the dressing room, so mismatched patterns of sleeping and getting ready won't disturb the person sleeping. Secondly, a larger bed meant for two is awkward to access from only one side. A room allows a pathway and nightstand on both sides of the bed for convenience.

Dressing Rooms (189)

• Problem: Dressing and undressing, storing clothes, having clothes lying around, have no reason to be part of any larger complex of activities. Indeed they disturb other activities: they are so self-contained that they themselves need concentrated space which has no other functions.
• Therefore: Give everyone a dressing room — either private or shared — between their bed and the bathing room. Make this dressing room big enough so there is an open area in it at least six feet in diameter; about six linear feet of clothes hanging space; and another six feet of open shelves; two or three drawers; and a mirror.
• In our home: The solution to this pattern is the most prescriptive of the three. It is also the one that we followed most closely. Our dressing room has a comfortably-sized open area in the center that allows easy movement. The southeast corner has two walls full of clothes storage: hanging space, shelves, and drawers. Under the windows, we have a dresser to provide more drawers. On the west wall, we will have a full-length mirror.

These patterns describe the major points of philosophy behind our master suite design. They guided us to a layout that is uncommon but surprisingly natural at the same time. We have already received many comments along the lines of “Oh! That is a good idea.” when showing off the master suite. We hope it will prove to be as convenient as the design suggests.

Interior Color

Modern architectural style allows for two colors: black and white. That, at least, is the stereotype. But color is an important element in setting the mood of an interior, and paint is one of the cheapest ways to make a dramatic statement. We wanted to use color as a decorative element in our home.

Choosing the colors
The first step was choosing a color palette. We started with some options that our color designer put together for us. We chose a fairly complex palette: 5 colors, including Martha Stewart's Terra Rosa.

We experimented with many different combinations of colors from the choices Anne had put together for us. While there were some combinations that didn't work together, overall, we would have had a difficult time choosing a palette we disliked from the choices we had.

Eventually, we decided that bordeaux and slate teal (the main middle and right colors above), were our two must have colors. The lighter purple (dreamy) and lighter blue (saratoga springs) each on their own left the palette feeling a little unbalanced, so we decided to use both as approximately harmonious lighter shades of the purplish bordeaux and blueish slate teal. When we were onsite deciding where to use the colors, we decided to throw in terra rosa. We wanted something a little brighter and more energetic for the laundry room.

Using the colors
Once we chose a color palette, we got to decide where to use it.

Window frames
We chose to go with dark window frames on the interior. The dark trim, which matches the frame color on the exterior, both accents and minimizes the window frames. The dark trim really pops against the white walls, but it is actually less noticeable than white trim when looking through the windows at the view.

Dining room accent wall

We wanted the dining room wall to be a splash of rich color to help define the dining room as a separate region within our open space and to act as a frame for a couple pieces of frameless art that we plan to put on that wall. Our color designer, Anne, likes to always end color on an inside corner so that it doesn't feel like it suddenly died. From that, we got the idea of treating that wall as if it were a teal block penetrating the room. We even continued the color inside the entry closet to really emphasize that effect.

Powder room

We had conceived of the powder room as having a dark grey accent wall to contrast with the slightly golden tan tiles, but when it came down to choosing the wall, we couldn't decide which one to paint. Instead, we decided to take a risk and paint the whole powder room dark, ceilings and all. The effect is dramatic, but we think it works.

Bedrooms

We chose not to use any paint in our bedroom, but we wanted to have a little fun in the secondary bedrooms. These two bedrooms are are nearly identical, so we wanted to use color to differentiate them. From Eve Ashcraft's The Right Color we got the idea of painting the ceiling and closet interior as a way to add color without making the color as overwhelming as it would be if all the walls were painted. We made the east facing bedroom the morning room and accented it in blues. The evening room is accented in purples.



Laundry room
Laundry rooms can be boring, so we wanted to use color to give the room some energy. We decided to do this using two accent walls in a bright coral color. Because colors tend to look brighter and lighter when painted on a wall, we went with terra rosa, which appears a bit subdued in small quantities. As the picture below shows, it's anything but subdued when you paint two walls with it.

Media room
We wanted the media room to be fairly dark so as to minimize reflection from stray light when we are watching movies. Given our palette and tradition, the obvious choice would have been bordeaux. Dark rich reds go with theaters like bright reds go with sports cars. However, one of our inspiration photos had been a dark blue room, so we decided to use the slate teal for the walls and ceiling of the media room. We paired this with dark trim to create a room that will enclose and embrace its occupants.

By using color selectively, we've been able to add some interest without taking away from the clean, refined look we are trying to achieve for the house.

Doors and Trim

Doors and trim may not be the sexiest part of a house, but without them a house won't look finished.

Tall trim is popular now, but we didn't feel it was the right look for our house. We wanted something minimal. Our trim is about one inch tall and not quite as deep. We debated between a wood finish to match the floor or white painted trim to match the walls. We chose the painted version, partly because it was a bit cheaper.

The electric outlets on the main floor are low and oriented horizontally to continue the clean look. With white paint on all of the doors, trim, and windowsills, the trim pieces almost disappear. The door handles are simple but elegant in a silver metal.

There were some exceptions, of course. Our dramatically dark media and powder rooms called for dark trim and doors. The trim in rooms with tiled floor is also tile. The exterior doors have dark bronzed hardware instead of the silver used inside.



Most of the doors are normal hinged doors, but there are some exceptions. The media room door has weatherstripping to help isolate sound. The toilet closet in the master bath has a pocket door (sliding door in the wall) to keep it compact. We eliminated the pantry door completely to make access easier.

Other than the entry door, which got a post of its own, we had three doors that we wanted to make more interesting. We wanted to add interest to the main floor and upstairs landing, and we wanted doors that would stay out of the way when they are open (which we expect them to be most of the time). For these locations we chose barn doors — sliding doors mounted on the wall so that they slide in front of it.

Translucent doors allow light through and complement a modern aesthetic. One appealing option was 3form, their Varia Ecoresin comes in a variety of colors, textures, and patterns from inserted materials. We also considered doors from The Sliding Door Co., which has a variety of simpler designs.

Ultimately our favorite option was frameless frosted glass doors with prominent hardware from the Sliding Door Co. The hardware is a bit industrial-looking but also sleek and modern. Upstairs, we matched the doors to the kids suite and the master suite even though the openings are different widths. The identical doors in different positions (one nearer the stairs and one farther) provide a nice balance.

The sliding doors provide impact in a few key places, while the rest of the doors and trim serve to finish the edges in the house without drawing too much attention. Perhaps more exciting, once you get to trim and doors, you know you're approaching the finish line!

Shaping rooms

Before we dive into the design of specific rooms, we have one last post on the general layout of the house.

The Shape of Indoor Space (191)

• Problem: The perfectly crystalline squares and rectangles of ultramodern architecture make no special sense in human or in structural terms. They only express the rigid desires and fantasies which people have when they get too preoccupied with systems and the means of their production.
• Therefore: With occasional exceptions, make each indoor space or each position of a space, a rough rectangle, with roughly straight walls, near right angles in the corners, and a roughly symmetrical vault over each room.

• 

  Room shapes on the main floor

  In our home: This pattern took us awhile to understand. The authors start by implying rectangles are bad and end by saying rooms should be roughly rectangular! The key to understanding this pattern lies in the discussion between the Problem and the Therefore.
  
  This pattern is all about making rooms feel comfortable. What shape should a room have? The room should be convex. Concave corners feel awkward unless they define a separate space such as an alcove. The room should pack well with other rooms. Unless it's an exterior room, this almost always means that the corners will be roughly 90 degrees. These two constraints lead to roughly rectangular rooms.
  
  

  

  Room shapes upstairs

  But why the hate for crystalline squares and rectangles? Rooms should be rough rectangles, but they don't have to be exact. They don't have to follow strict proportions (e.g., square, golden ratio) or relate in such a way that a perfect grid could be laid over the floor plan. The rooms should dictate their shapes, not some imposed ideal.
  
  Our home is made up of rough rectangles, freely arranged and mostly free from non-alcove-defining concave borders. Rooms were sized and placed based on their functionality, not according to any system.

Corner Doors (196)

• Problem: The success of a room depends to a great extent on the position of the doors. If the doors create a pattern of movement which destroys the places in the room, the room will never allow people to be comfortable.
• Therefore: Except in very large rooms, a door only rarely makes sense in the middle of a wall. It does in an entrance room, for instance, because this room gets its character essentially from the door, but in most rooms, especially small ones, put the doors as near the corners of the room as possible. If the room has two doors, and people move through it, keep both doors at one end of the room.
• In our home: We don't have a lot of doors in our home, but their placement in the room generally makes sense functionally — mostly in corners and, when not, placed in a way that makes sense for the individual rooms. Instead of highlighting all of our doors — you should be able to find them yourself from the floor plan (main, upper) — we want to focus on a particular room where, guided by this pattern, we moved a door to make the room much more effective.
  
  Our dressing room is fairly small space (roughly 10' x 12') that has three doors. Placing the doors without creating dead, unusable spaces proved to be something of a challenge. The architect had originally placed the doors as pictured below on the left. This turned most of the south wall (the lower wall, in this image) into a pathway and made the south east corner difficult to use. We ended up losing about half the room to pathways.
  
  After framing (but, thankfully, before much else was in), we realized how awkward this would be. We modeled the room in Sketchup and tried different door placements. It quickly became clear that the placement in the image on the right is much more usable. The path still divides the room — this is inescapable given the placement of the rooms, but it divides the room into two areas large enough to be useful. The area in the lower right, which is along interior walls, will be our dressing corner (the large brown boxes are shelving). The area in the upper left, which is near the windows, will be a sitting area. There is a bit of an awkward corner in the upper right, but it fits my dresser perfectly.
  
  As this example illustrates, the door placement can make a huge difference in the usability of a room.
  

Dressing room doors, before

Dressing room doors, after