Dream Home Owner’s Wing First Look

Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 floorplan 012122

Hello – I hope you’re having a great weekend. It’s been a while, but I have some updates to share on the Dream Home 2021 (now dubbed 2021 2022 because, 2022). I have been working on the Owner’s Wing which you see highlighted in yellow above. The owner’s wing consists of the primary bedroom (aka main bedroom, principal bedroom – and formerly known as master bedroom), bathroom, laundry closet, home office and a private patio with hot tub and outdoor shower.

As an aside – the interior design, architectural and real estate industries are in the process of transitioning away from referring to the owner’s bedroom/bathroom as “Master” primarily because this historically male skewing term is outdated since homeownership is no longer a male dominated thing (and really hasn’t been for decades). I haven’t comfortably landed on an alternative term. I do refer to this as the Owner’s Wing and therefor bathroom and bedroom. For clients, I’m using “principal” more often than other terms. Change can be hard, but part of the job of a designer is to create a space that reflects the client and leaving 50% out of the equation doesn’t seem right.

Here’s a closeup of the owner’s wing. My early plan was to have a laundry close to my bedroom/bathroom but I dropped it at some point. When I was designing the big mudroom/laundry room I figured it was sufficient for the main house. But the more I considered it, it didn’t make sense to schlepp laundry across the whole of the house. So a small laundry with stackable machines made it back into the plan. The office could work as a craft/sewing room as well.

As you’ll see, the bedroom really isn’t that big. I don’t find it necessary to devote a huge amount of space to a bedroom. It’s has a lot of windows and sliders out to the private patio. I would have liked a fireplace but there’s not a lot of room for one. As I’m writing this, I decided to add one to the patio area.

The closets (not marked as such for some reason) are a walk-thru from the bedroom to the bathroom. Looking at the plan below, the space on the right would be for pull out shoe, flat clothes and accessories drawers. The space on the left would have hanging clothes.

The bathroom has a double sink with storage, vanity table and chair, steam shower and water closet. There is a door leading out to the private patio as well. There is also a door from the hall. Adding the laundry closet also meant that I could have a steam shower since the steam unit could be placed next to the washer/dryer with access via a cabinet door.

Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 Owner's Wing bedroom bathroom laundry room office private patio floorplan

 

Decorative choices are still a work in progress but I wanted to share where I am. I wrote a sponsored post for Ever Wallpaper and fell in love with their aptly named Big Flowers paper. I am an unapologetic pink floral girl!

012122 Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 Primary Main Master Bedroom 1

10141 flower-wall-wallpaper Ever wallpaper

I am toying with this Scalamandre Surat Sisal wallpaper for the rest of the walls. Too much? I may consider a paler rose color as well, but I do love a black wall and think this textural wallpaper would be really fabulous.   SCALAMANDRE SURAT SISAL JET WALLPAPER

I’ve made no other real decisions other than lots of sheer drapery. The windows would all need blackout shades as well. The ceiling is vaulted with old beams. I currently have the ceiling paint white, but think it’s too stark and contrasty with all the black. I might keep the black but do a pale pink ceiling. All other decisions to be made.

012122 Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 Primary Main Master Bedroom 2

On to the bathroom – see, I told you I am a pink girl! I fell in love with this Agate Art in Himalaya ceramic tile from Tilebar. It comes in 24×48.

Tilebar agate

012122 Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 Primary Principal Main Master Bath 1

I know all white cabinets are a little boring and “done”, but I do like them in a bathroom and I think the shower tile is really the star that everything else just has to service and stay out of the way visually. In this view above we’re looking out towards the patio with hot tub and outdoor shower. The door on the immediate right is the pocket door to the closets and bedroom.

The plan would be that for winter use, the brick patio would be heated to keep ice and snow at bay and there would be a retractable awning overtop. There’s nothing like sitting in a hit bubbly tub outdoors on a cold night!

 012122 Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 Primary Principal Main Master Bath 2 owner's wing

And above we see the door to the hall and vanity/makeup area.

012122 Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 Primary Principal Main Master Bath Shower owner's wing

Above and below are inside the shower. Some details are still missing, I haven’t selected the faucets and other fixtures yet. The white picket tiles in the niches and floor as also place holders – though I do like their simplicity.

012122 Linda Merrill Dream Home 2021 2022 Primary Principal Main Master Shower seat 2 owner's wing

So, that’s where I am so far on the Dream Home owner’s wing. What do you think? Too much pink?

 

xoxo Linda

6 thoughts on “Dream Home Owner’s Wing First Look”

  1. Hello Linda,

    I see your problem with the “master” terminology, but as you say, there seem to be no perfect alternatives. “Owner’s” suite would not make sense if the property is rented, as so many places are these days–also it sounds kind of selfish!
    I think the pink agate shower tiles are very dramatic, but the deeper pink walls make them pale out by comparison. I would make those tiles the star of the show, and pick a different color for the walls.
    One thing I realized about this plan is how you automatically specified double sinks, which I have always hated. This seems a sham kind of luxury–why not just have two bathrooms connected to the bedroom if needed. I don’t see any appeal in letting two people brush their teeth side by side or comb their hair, and other simultaneous uses are unmentionable.
    My solution would be to bring back an old-fashioned luxury. Before bathrooms became so numerous, and as an update to the old ewer-and-basin, many bedrooms in large houses had sinks installed somewhere. If you had a dressing/make-up area, a sink there would be useful, as well as available if two people absolutely had to get dressed or brush their teeth at the same time.
    –Jim

    Reply
    • Hi Jim – I don’t agree that two sinks are a sham kind of luxury – they are a practicality and I’m a practical person. I am designing this (virtual) house for myself as a currently single person who would want to entertain (hence all the other spaces). So I get to indulge in my love of pink and florals- for instance – in my own private space. If a man should come into my life, he gets his own sink so I don’t have to share mine. For resale purposes- two sinks are commonly used and expected. In every day use, people leave personal products out by their sinks so if one is sharing with another – and has the space to do so – I’d rather leave my own stuff where it’s handy and let my partner do the same. It’s not necessarily about two people there at the same time, but to have personal space within a shared space- which is a luxury. This is why there’s a wc versus an open toilet. Now, all that said, if I had a partner and were doing this exercise in design, I would absolutely be considering two bathrooms so each could get exactly what they want. But in the space with the needs I want to accommodate, there’s not a lot of room for two bathrooms and would be a bit of a waste, tbh. I haven’t looked at actual pink colors for the wall, but I have a wall in my home that is roughly the color in my rendering and it looks great with the pink agate tile. But then, I personally consider pink to be a neutral color in many cases which I know others don’t! Thanks for always challenging my thinking, I appreciate it!

      Reply
  2. I love your visuals in this post, it certainly makes me want to speed up the renovation of my own bathroom! Even though you have a lot of colors in the pink/burgundy family (you asked if there is too much pink and the answer is NO!) it looks like a stunning space full of exciting surfaces everywhere you look! Well done Linda!

    Reply
  3. Beautiful, Linda!! I love the notion of the dramatic wallpaper with a pink for the bedroom ceiling – maybe even lit with some indirect lights on the top of those beams…it would give everything such a pretty glow!

    Reply

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