The master bedroom was a fairly simple renovation, but ended up being one of the biggest transformations of the project. It was also one of my favorite rooms to work on. In this article I talk about tips for changing a floor plan, design choices, removing a popcorn ceiling, how to determine the right size lighting for a room, and adding value to your home.
The Floor Plan
The house we bought to flip was a 3 bedroom/2 bath with 2055 sf. The master bedroom was really big with an addition of 72 sf, a walk-in closet, and 2 sliding door closets making for a really great master. However, it didn't have its own dedicated bathroom, and that is something every home buyer is looking for these days. We knew this would have to be fixed somehow.
In the hallway next to the master was what we were calling the main bathroom. The door to this bathroom opened up into the hallway, so we initially thought we would try to close off that door and move it around so that it opened up into the bedroom instead. Presto, we would now have the master bath we needed.
This solution had a couple of problems though. First, the bathroom off of the kitchen would now have to become the main bathroom, and we would have to reconfigure it so that it would open up into the hallway. Nothing too difficult, but it was a little far away from Bedroom 1.
We also wanted to enlarge the “new” master bath. We felt it was a little too small to be the luxurious master bathroom we were going for. However, by doing that, the window in the bedroom wouldn't be centered anymore, neither would the window in the bathroom. We would also have a narrow entrance to the bedroom that included one of the closets. In the end, we just couldn’t seem to come up with a plan we liked that didn’t come off as awkward.
The good news though was that the house had a formal living room, formal dining room, and a den that had been part of an addition - probably in the 70’s. Also in that addition was a very large laundry room. We came to the conclusion that since formal living rooms really aren’t as popular as they used to be, we could turn the laundry into a bathroom/closet, and convert the den into a master bedroom. This added value to our home in 3 ways:
1) Besides solving our master bathroom problem, it turns our 3br/2ba into a 4br/3ba which is HUGE value.
2) Because the den was on the other side of the house from the three original bedrooms, this had the added bonus of giving us a split floor plan, which many buyers like.
3) We could leave the main hallway bathroom configuration exactly as it was which would save us money! Win win win!
We did have one new problem though. We didn’t have a laundry room anymore—and that was a really big problem. To see how we solved that problem and photos of the results, look for our next blog post.
When considering a change to your floor plan, think about these things first:
How will the existing windows, electrical sockets, lighting, etc. look in the new configuration? Will it still be balanced or will you have to make additional changes that can be costly?
Will you need to move or add any plumbing? Every change you make will cost money.
If you have a cement slab, will you need to jackhammer for new electrical or water lines?
Try and mentally walk through the space. You can even put tape down on the floor to help you visualize it. Does it feel comfortable or awkward?
Does the change look like it could be original to the house or does it feel like an obvious alteration?
Use a program like RoomSketcher.com to work out the plan and don't skip putting in the furniture. You can scale most furniture pieces in the program to the same size as your own to make sure everything fits where it needs to go. Even think about special artwork you may want or already have.
Of course, don't forget about structural integrity. Don't move or change any walls until you've determined they're not essential to holding up your roof!
Where We Started
Now that we had our floor plan settled on, it was time to do some designing. The ‘before pictures’ show a dark and very dated room that looked exactly like what it was: a den from the 70’s. We had to make this look like a bedroom and not just a den with a bed in it.
There were a few things that had to be done first and foremost though. Maroon carpet—gone! Popcorn ceiling—gone! Dated ceiling fan—gone! It felt so good to just be rid of those things and already the room looked better. Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.
How to remove a popcorn ceiling:
We had the house tested for asbestos and it came back negative. Nevertheless, I wore a mask, gloves, and goggles when taking down the popcorn ceiling and I highly recommend you do too.
I spread plastic on the ground for easy clean up. I also held a box up under my scraper to catch most of the plaster as it came down. You don't have to do this, I just like that it created less of a mess.
First, spray the ceiling with water from a spray bottle in about 3 foot square sections. Get the ceiling wet.
Let the water soak in for a couple of minutes, then take your flat scraper and at a 45 degree angle to the ceiling, run the scraper under the popcorn. If it's wet enough, it will come off like butter.
Be careful to not over-scrape and keep a nice even pressure across the blade. Any gouges that have to be repaired could cost extra from whomever is going to skim coat or texture your ceiling.
Many people’s first inclination when seeing this room would be to rip out all of the dark paneling. However, because we were going for a modern farmhouse design, we thought the paneling could actually work in our favor. By painting the paneling white—as well as the fireplace—the room REALLY brightened up and the whole look and feel of it changed. The white panel walls gave us the farmhouse look we were going for, but didn’t make the space look dated at all. We didn't think the shutters on the doors and windows were worth painting though, so we did take those out. This all resulted in the room looking more open and a whole lot brighter.
The fireplace was nice, but felt a little big and bulky for a bedroom. Painting it white to match the walls, gave it “smaller” look. However, the mantel was really too small and insignificant (and boring), even with the new paint. We took that out and replaced it with a custom size mantel from Rustica.com that we absolutely love. It has a bulky, natural look and is exactly the right size for this fireplace. FYI - Rustica also sells all kinds of cool doors including barn doors.
The den (now master) had double sliding glass doors leading to the patio that were not in good condition. Since we also wanted to add a door from the kitchen to the outside, we decided to go with two sets of French doors that we would paint black to match the black interior doors and black window frames. French doors were also more in line with the modern farmhouse design style we were going for.
To add just a touch of bling to our new bedroom, we selected a beautiful semi-flush chandelier that we got from Wayfair. The bobbles are a modern teardrop shape, and the dark brown iron frame was dark enough to not clash with the blacks. The chandelier added an elegance in a room that otherwise could have been too casual. We bought one that's a little smaller than we normally would get to keep the light from completely dominating the room. Here’s a link to the chandelier we used: Rosdorf Park Chandelier. We also put a small chandelier in the master closet to maintain consistency (and because everyone should have a chandelier in their walk-in closet!).
Tip: How to determine the right size lighting for a room:
There is actually a formula that designers use in determining what size light to put in a room. If you take the length of the room in feet and add that to the width of the room in feet then add those two numbers together, that will give you in INCHES, the width of the light fixture that would be proportionate to the space in the room. For example: If the room is 15’x15’, then you would want a light fixture that was 30” in width.
We also took out all of the baseboards and replaced them with taller, no-frills 4-1/2” trim to give it a more modern look. In addition to the baseboards, we replaced all the trim around the ceiling and the doors with a nice, simple squared-off edge.
Our interior paint colors:
For the floors, we continued the laminate flooring that we were putting in the rest of the house so it would all have a nice, cohesive look. We briefly considered putting in carpet, but after pricing it out, decided it wasn’t going to save us enough money to justify the trade-off. If a buyer really wanted carpet in the bedroom, it would be very easy for them to add it. On the other hand, adding wood flooring later would be much more difficult as they would have to match the color (batch colors can vary) and stitch it in with the existing floor. In the end, it was a pretty easy decision.
We did throw a nice fluffy rug down to soften the look of the room and to give it a cozier feel. We got this rug from BedBathandBeyond.com and will definitely use it again in future projects. Here are some of the other items we used in staging the room. Click on the photo for a direct link.
In the end, we really love how this room turned out. It no longer looks like the den from the 70's that it started out as. With the beautiful bathroom and walk-in closet, the large picture window looking out onto the pool, the double French doors to the back patio, and the cozy fireplace, it is now truly a master suite retreat.
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