Master bedroom- aesthetics over function?

[thenewaveragebear1983]

I'd love your opinions please!

Our master bedroom is yuck. Lime green walls, cherry red carpet (inherited!) and it also has two chimney breasts and a cut away for the door, so really alcove-y. We each have a pax wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and we have a super king bed (7' x 6'). I hate the layout as it currently is and I want to move it so it looks more attractive. Dh says no can't be arsed and insists that my new layout plan is not practical.

Please peruse my diagrams and tell me what you think! They aren't to scale! In drawing 2, the extra pax is a single door unit which is currently in ds's room and has baskets in instead of hanging, so will replace 1 of the chests of drawers.

As it is now, we might possibly have chosen ds's room. We ripped out a 1970's fitted wardrobe that dominated the whole side of the room before we decorated it for ds.
The other two doubles are noticeably smaller, plus have already been decorated for dd and other ds, so they are a no-no. With regards to the view, both ours and ds's are on the back of the house, so have the same view.
I'm going to take some pictures! Be right back!

Pictures and diagrams. You're spoiling us OP.

Option 3 is the best. I saw a bedroom on Houzz where they had filled in the alcove and then made niches in it -this might work with option 3? Might be quite expensive to effectively build a false wall though...

Oke doke so it really has to be this room then unless you redo baby DS room

What about having bed opposite to picture 2 which I think will mean you are next to window and radiator

And DH is next to door

Would he be ok with that? Cos he doesn't want to be next to them but you would be if you sleep same way round iyswim

Do you still need the 2 chimney breasts? If you don't then it might be worth biting the bullet and removing them/one of them in the long term.

I'd be swapping the rooms while dh was at work, but then I have form for him coming home to find everything has been rearranged

We built in behind the bed in our old house due to a chimney breast, but that was to bring the bed level with it so I could have a bedside table, it may look odd filling in but being across the chimney breast still iyswim.

Won't let me upload my pictures!

We can't remove the one chimney breast as we use it for fire downstairs. The other we possibly could, but again, it's an unnecessary expense really as far as dh sees it because the room is perfectly functional with it there.

I think option 3 is going to be the one, but I can't visualise the shelving/ blocking in structure. I suppose a sort of floating shelf, just below the headboard top so I could put lamps etc on it but not constantly catch my head on it, and then all sort of fixed together to hold it in place? I've scoured Pinterest but got nowhere, and never used houz so maybe that's my next place to look.

We built a false wall over the chimney breast which is larger than the bed and put some shelving in behind it. So the shelves are accessed from the side if you get me and you cant see the shelves from the front and they are great to hold all my toiletries (and crap) and keep it out of sight. I would definitely recommend that.

I like daro's idea. You could have a slidey shelf like you do for narrow kitchen cupboards or the attached pic?

Op I agree with whoever said don't downsize your sk bed! We finally had space for one two years ago after 28 years of marriage and I'm never going back!
There's a good design website called Opun planner which lets you make a 3d design of your room and add in furniture etc. It's easy to use and might be a good way to help you and your DH visualize different arrangements.

Here is a picture of ours it us just made of MDF si not expensive and it has been painted since 😁

Here's the offending alcove- please excuse the broken furniture!

And this is where the bed currently is, and where I want the wardrobes to go. We have an extra single door pax unit which I think will fit quite neatly alongside 2 double door units, which means we can get rid of the broken chest.

You could definitely box in half of that as a fake wall to make more room for the bed to go against and put a shelf in. Either like daro's or like this.

I have tried to find pictures on Pinterest but I just can't find any- everything seems to be these sort of 'reading nook' arrangements. I envisage the bed starting at maybe halfway across the chimney breast, a big headboard and then maybe some shelves higher up, or perhaps I could even just get away with some 'art'?
I still think it will look at bit odd- but surely cannot look any worse than it does now???

Or have you considered getting smaller side tables and just moving the bed to the middle where it is?

Sema there isn't enough room. There's only about 30cm between the chimney breast and the bed currently so to move it over would mean dh had no space to get out of bed.
This is why I can't understand his reluctance to move- he would have more space at the side than he has now!

I've been round the house with my tape measure today, looking for things that are exactly 30 cm deep that could go at the side of the bed in option 3 with a little overlap, to prevent the bed slipping back. I have found a white bookshelf that would do it perfectly, at least so we could have a trial run and see if it works. If it does, then perhaps we could get someone in to quote for doing it in a more permanent way.

Definitely worth trying, I think, while DH is out of the way.

Option three with, as you said, a shelf or console table just below headboard height so you can't see it, then you can use lovely tall lamps to make it look nice and you have somewhere for a glass of water. It's just enough to make the room more liveable and you more comfortable without having to expend lots of time and money. Then at a later point you might think about moving radiators/filling in alcoves etc. Or you might not feel the need (smile).

sort of thing, butbehind bed not sofa obv.

Sorry try again

Yes shotgun that's the sort of thing- a kind of hidden shelf. I will probably get a headboard for the bed and have the shelf slightly lower than the top of it.

I'm definitely convinced now, dh says I can do it and we will see how it works before we go ahead and decorate.

Whichever option you go for I would also reverse the way the door opens as at the moment it looks as if you open the door and look at the wall, if you open the door the other way I think it will create a nicer/more spacious feel in the room.

This Ikea headboard has hidden storage behind it
www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/beds/headboards/brimnes-headboard-with-storage-compartment-oak-effect-art-20312029/
Look at the assembly instructions, there are little cubby shelves on either side. You could do something similar but only the window side has the hidden shelving.
It's also about 28cm deep.

We rehung a couple of doors in a previous house.
I was amazed at the difference it made