My bedroom is pretty big - 16 X 17. But I pretty much live in it. In the summer, it’s the only room with A/C, and in the winter, the only room with heat. There’s a door to the kitchen which I keep open so the kitchen gets the warmth or A/C. I have a fireplace, a love seat, a rocker, bookshelves and my computer and TV. My room has no closets (that was apparently an unknown concept in 1849). Plus I need all that floor space for the dogs.
StG
Personally, I just like having open, uncluttered, empty space. It looks nice.
I can’t stand House Hunters, but I was Designed to Sell and you get the same thing. You’ve got parents and a kid in a 3br house and they need more room? Seriously? I can see having an extra room as an office or something, but not much beyond that.
On the other hand, I suppose I shouldn’t talk because my dream house would have 3br just for me (one to sleep in, one as a library / guest room - probably the master bedroom because that’s the biggest, and one as an office - but an actual business office, not just a ‘I’m going to goof off on the internet for 12 hours’ office)
So why do I want a huge master bedroom? So I can build bookshelves on two or three sides, with storage space hidden behind one ‘wall’ of them. A big tv, a futon, and a giant pile of pillows. Meanwhile, I’ll be sleeping in a 10x10 room.
A house I once owned in Florida has a 20’x20’ master bedroom. I didn’t have enough stuff to furnish it, so I used that room for storage. I slept in one of the other two bedrooms; it was probably 14’x20’. I used the remaining bedroom as a guest room.
No, I’m not going to say I prefer a tiny bedroom. I want space to move around, and it would be nice to get a desk and comfy chair in there along with the bed, bedside tables, and dressers.
Your confidence is admirable. We’ll be following your education with great interest.
I was really excited when I moved out of my parents’ house into my own 1000 sq. ft. house. My bedroom at my folks’ was probably 9x9 and since I got the MASTER bedroom at my OWN house I upgraded to 10x13!!
All of my stuff that had previously been crammed into my bedroom got to explode over three bedrooms. Desk went into the office, shelves with “stuff” went into the guest room. TV stand went into the basement.
Now my bedroom is really sparse and I love it. Bed, dresser, cabinet. I have all this FLOOR SPACE.
Although I desperately desperately want to add on to my bedroom. I neeeeed a master bathroom. I need more than one bathroom in my house (I’ve got a tenant in the basement, sharing my one bathroom) and I need a tub in which I can soak and not have to stare at the toilet.
It’s part of my 20-year plan 
I can totally see how wanting a nice roomy bedroom works. I’ve only got one other person living here and I rarely see him, but there are still times when I hole myself up in the bedroom. It might be nice to have furniture to lounge on that is behind closed doors and not my bed. It might be nice to have a makeup table, even if I just use it occasionally. It might be nice to have a big bedroom.
Ours is about 14x12 which is very big for the area we live in (the rest of the house isn’t). It is almost the same size as our living room. I would love to have walk in closets, and our own private bath, but the only way that would happen is to gut a bedroom and make our house a two bedroom.
I can see the attraction of a large house. Our home is fairly small and for the house to be comfortable for us, we have to be fairly ruthless about getting rid of stuff. We get rid of clothing we haven’t worn in two years, books that haven’t been read in two years, etc.
I find those shows interesting because what people consider to be a reasonable amount of space depends on where you are located. There probably aren’t very many places available in my neighborhood which have 2000 sq. feet. I’m not used to seeing new houses that are larger than 1700 sq ft. that don’t come with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and hardwood. Hell, even my friend’s 850 sq. ft condo came with granite.
I just knew you were one of those pervy hobbit fanciers!
Right now i have a medium sized room but i would like a bigger closet and just more space. I want to be able to not have the bed stuffed into a corner, i want to walk around the bed so i can just have the space, and it’s a shade easier to make the bed.
I’d like a king size bed. but mostly i’m about ditching the TV, and the bookshelf and just have my room be for sleeping and sex.
We once had a house with a huge master bedroom - something stupid like 15X26 plus the attached bathroom. The previous owners were also the builders, so they, for some reason, built this huge space for themselves. We had a king bed, a sofa, a coffee table, a recliner, a desk, a triple dresser, a chest, and two nightstands, and way too much space left over. We bought the house for the downstairs space, not the ridiculous master suite.
Our current master is about 12X14-ish and I would like it to be just a wee bit bigger, only because of the lack of wall space to put the chest and the night stands. I just don’t like the way we’re forced to place the furniture. But it’s fine for us - we live in the rest of the house and sleep in the bedroom. I might have a different opinion if more of us lived here, but what we’ve got suits us.
And as a fan of House Hunters, I don’t get the obsession with gigantic rooms. Especially guest rooms. If you can fit a queen bed, a couple of night stands, and something to hold a suitcase, it’s a great guest room. Sheesh! My inlaws just spent a week in the room that provided exactly that - all 11X12 of it!
The biggest bedroom I’ve ever lived in was about 12’x15’. I don’t think anyone would call that huge, but it was generous, and felt nice and open.
And my mom’s thing with the giant bathrooms seems to be triggered when there’s a lot of open floor space in them, rahter than 2 person soaking tubs and double sinks. She has said that if she had that much space to work with she’d rather have a laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms and keep a smaller bath.
Our house started out as a one bedroom mountain vacation home. Mountain contemporary design. Vaulted ceilings in much of it.
It has since had two additions. One by the previous owner, a bedroom. And I put on a two story addition. Laundry room and umm… a whatever room that is now the workout room (my Wife is a triathlete). Adding a second story to an addition does not increase the cost that much, so what the heck. The workout room is really an extension of the master bedroom. The wall between the bedroom and work out room used to be the exterior wall and as such is load bearing, It is open to the bedroom by three ‘windows’ (no glass) and a ‘door’ way (no door). If we ever sell, the workout room would make a dandy nursery for some couple.
There is also a small loft computer/office in the Master bedroom as well. The highest part of the ceiling in the bedroom is 18’. The house is a bit eclectic. Passive solar so lots of big windows.
As such, our Master bedroom itself is 13’ x 23’. The workout room is 10’ x 20’. The master bath and walk in closet adds another 6’ x 19’. The loft is cantilevered out over the bathroom with a triangular floor space - about 60 sq ft.
So, if you include the workout room, closet, bathroom and loft, it’s about 700 square feet. About a third of the entire house.
Works well for my Wife and I. It’s sorta strange, but that’s OK.
Well, I don’t. I want the bedroom I have, which is so small that there’s just barely room to walk around the two sides of the bed that are not up against the wall. I like to sleep in a cave-like space, and I’ve always dreamed of having a bed like the one Juliet had in Zefferelli’s movie, with long curtains around each side of the bed, completely enclosing the space.
Interesting. And understandable. My Wife is a bit claustrophobic (elevators are a little bit of a problem), and with our two dogs that sleep with us, it’s good to have the extra room.
After living in a house with vaulted ceilings for 18 years, I find I really like the ‘roominess’ that I feel. Though I understand that it is really just wasted space from a construction standpoint.
To each their own, and whatever floats your boat. The ‘cave’ actually makes sense.
Yeah, from an evolutionary, we’re all animals viewpoint, sleeping in open space seems less safe.
But the problem is that the closer the space, the higher the heat is likely to be and I sleep VERY hot to begin with. Which is why I like having a full king size bed all to myself: as the night goes on, I completely shift positions from crosswise at the foot to lengthwise on the left, then the right, then diagonal, then crosswise…all in search of cool spots.
I think its very odd the way I am always yearning for truly cool-to-the-touch mattress, pillow, and comforter, but I do want to be covered up. Strange dichotomy.
Same with my Wife and I. We are on a king. And the dogs like to share it with us. They have there own doggie beds and sort of trade off with sleeping with us. Living at elevation, we rarely have a heat problem. but it happens.
I must be covered up too. I used to sleep on water beds. God help you if you have the heat too high. But when you get the right temp, it’s perfect. IMHO.
I want a huge bedroom for the huge bathroom that will be adjoined, and mine…all mine!
And of course for the french doors leading out to the wraparound widow’s walk.
Hell, just put a bed in the middle of the field in the bathroom and I’ll be happy.
Use the bedroom as a kitchen and I’ll never need to go downstairs!
Straying off topic a bit, but sometimes it’s not floor area, it’s unobstructed wall that is important. I suspect modern trophy homes have huge clear lengths of wall, which makes decorating tons easier. In my bedroom aforesaid, for example,I’ve got four doorways (one being converted to a built-in), a mantel, two windows, and two closet doors. That’s the real constraint as regards placement of the furniture – not floor area.
I swear some of those cavernous bedrooms have an echo. I think it’s more a status symbol than a necessity.
I enjoy House Hunters International because I can see how people in other cultures/countries live. The domestic version of House Hunters, however, seems to be full of bitchy over-entitled 30-somethings looking for The Perfect House<sup>TM</sup>.
sigh my master bedroom is 9x12, the second bedroom is 9x9 … if I am stuck in my wheelchair, I sleep on the couch as I cant fit the chair into the bedroom with the queen sized bed in it thanks to how we have to set the bed up to actually fit into the room, and where the door is, and did i remember to mention there is no closet in the bedroom?
[we are planning on gutting the 2 rooms and making 1 bedroom out of them so I can fit my desk, the bed and the wheelchair in without crunching anything]