The Master Bedroom; Stop Telling Me It Needs To Be On The First Floor!

People often suggest the need to design a house with the master bedroom on the first floor. You hear things like “someday you may not want or be able to climb stairs”.  Possibly, but it may also be true that we could stay in better shape as we age if we are climbing stairs. My dad had serious heart disease. Three heart attacks and two by-pass surgeries later his bedroom remained on the 2^nd floor of his home and his cardiologist was adamant it stay that way!

Stairs are great exercise!

If someone can afford to build a master bedroom wing (meaning the bedroom occupies its own ell) with a great cathedral ceiling, blissful spa-like bath and an exercise suite, then by all means go for it. However, if I were to put my master bedroom on the first floor of our house I’d probably utilize all the space I could and put another room above it; most likely a bedroom.  This means that my bedroom would have a flat ceiling and every time the upstairs occupants got up or even turned over in the middle of the night, I’d hear them. Not a peaceful thought.

This second floor master bedroom has a private balcony and spectacular views of the coast!

On the other hand, should I put my guests in a first floor bedroom and place the master bedroom on the second floor, I’d have all the benefits of that wonderful privacy, the option of a cathedral ceiling, plenty of light, good exercise compliments of the stairs, and I’d have saved money in the process! But here’s the added bonus: I’d still have a first floor bedroom should I not want or be able to climb a set of stairs.

Hey, when it comes to money well spent, I’m always thinking!

This media room was specifically designed to become a first floor master bedroom should it ever become necessary.