MASTER BEDROOM MAKEOVER — Hello Robin Clark

BEFORE

Textured walls. Beige mix carpet. In-bedroom office space. I made the curtains with Marimekko fabric, but they didn’t really function.

Dresser/office/music equip/art supply hodgepodge.

Our master bedroom was odd. We think 2 small rooms were combined to form one grand u-shaped vaulted room that wrapped around some closets. Those closets housed decommissioned chimneys (a brick tower, and a wood stove pipe), leaving not much room for actual storage. The existing carpet was MEH, and we were over the carriage house red I’d used to paint over the monasterial hunter green that was on the doors, floorboards, and window sashes when we moved in. It was not the relaxing sanctuary a bedroom should be. And let’s not forget that our house was collapsing! So we had structural, functional, and surface problems to solve.

NEW LAYOUT

Increase the function, not the size!

BETTER CLOSET

Removing those chimneys meant reclaiming 30 sq ft on each floor! We opted for a tall, reconfigured walk-in closet with lots of shelving, an IKEA Elvarli system, and a metal beaded curtain instead of a door. Our clothes now live in one logical place rather than being spread throughout a hodgepodge of cubbies. This new closet extends further into the room, so the bed nook is more private.

BETTER SLEEP

Choosing function over symmetry, we removed the window directly across from our bed both to block the glare of an obnoxious outdoor streetlamp, and to make way for a massive flatscreen. We moved two existing skylights from above our bed (a romantic idea, but moonglow can really keep you up at night) to the opposite side of the house. We swapped our wood bed for an upholstered one: no more bruised shins! All this combined with upgraded insulation means less noise, controlled light, better sleep.

BETTER SNUG

Having my work desk in the bedroom seemed like an efficient way to use the space, but really it taunted me from it’s corner. Not productive. Now, that area is a posh chill zone: Mah Jong sofas, reading sconces, those skylights. We loll about over there, check out the neighborhood below, and gawk at the mad angles we created in here.