Master Suite or Study? We need your advice!

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Hello hello, after a little break we are back. What can we say, summer arrived and Shaw is too much fun - who wants to be inside blogging when there are so many places where you can get a drink outside (shout out to our neighbors at Dacha)? The temptation has been too strong. Also, let's be real, not a ton has happened on the house front since we last checked in. 

Well, there have been some developments. For example - our contractor backed out of the project!! While it was disappointing, ultimately, we are in the early stages of the renovation process, so all is not lost. We are now going to work with our architects to bid the project out and see what happens. 

Speaking of architects, we are close to finalizing a concept design!! We will reveal all later on, but for now, we are soliciting opinions on what to do with the third floor. We have four bedrooms in the house, two on the second floor and two on the third floor and we're planning to have our master bedroom on the third floor. For the past month we have been convinced that we wanted to take a more conservative approach to the third floor by taking over only some of the second bedroom as a bathroom while maintaining a large-ish bedroom, but over the last week we've started to ask ourselves if we should make the third floor a full on master suite. 

For your consideration:

The Conservative Option

As you can see, this design leaves a fairly large second bedroom on the third floor (the "study"). It puts a closet where the bathroom is currently and moves the bathroom down to take up some of what is currently the second bedroom, while maintaining a good sized study (or, by some stroke of misfortune, nursery (jk jk)). 

Pros: 

  • Maintains a second bedroom, which means our house stays a 4 bedroom home.
  • Gives us a place to put a baby should one make it's way into our home.
  • Gives us a place to have a study if we end up with both bedrooms on the second floor occupied (either by children or due to future issues with hoarding).

Cons

  • The bathroom will be small and future buyers may expect more from a master bathroom (those jerks).
  • The toilet does not have it's own water closet, which is something a few friends, family, and other assorted germaphobes have mentioned is a must. 
  • The closet is small. 
  • There are a lot of doors.  Like, a lot. 

The Luxurious Options

These designs would mean that the entire third floor would be our little oasis.

Pros:

  • Master suites are pretty... sweet (get it?).
  • It would feel luxurious and give us lots of closet space.

Cons:

  • Having a master suite would mean that we would be making our 4 bedroom home into a 3 bedroom home, which could affect its resale value. (On the other hand, what buyer can resist a master suite?).
  • If a child made its way into our home, it might have to sleep below us on the second floor when it is very young.  It is our understanding that young children are fragile and need supervision. 
  • If the second floor bedrooms end up occupied by kids or mementos we cannot bear to let go (see above re: hoarding), we may be left without a place to put a desk or have an office.

    Simply put, the future is a big mysterious thing - it's hard to anticipate what it may hold.  Trying to finalize a design that captures the myriad of possibilities is difficult.

    We need a little bit more time to assess these designs and see what else we can come up with. In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Master suite or study? Can we live without a luxurious closet? Are we hurting resale value by getting rid of a bedroom? Is there some middle ground? 

    Check back next week and we'll let you know where we end up! - J&K