New floor plan – Second floor

Time to talk about the second floor! Unsurprisingly, this is where a majority of the bedrooms will be.

Washer/Dryer Closet – Not the most exciting start, but once you come up the stairs, you will see doors to our enclosed washer/dryer as well as to the mechanical closet.

Master bedroom – The former living room and sitting room and bonus room will become the new master bedroom. We had a lot of debate about where to put the master. Most homes put the master in the back of the house for privacy, but with the train and the existing balcony/front porch, we could have gone either direction. Ultimately, I opted to be selfish and keep the bonus room/porch for ourselves. The key for me was trying to figure out how to make the most of a long, rectangular room. I can’t remember how exactly it happened, so let’s just say I woke up with a start one night with a brain wave. We could put a double-sided fireplace in the middle of the room, with openings/clearance on either side to split the “bedroom” area from the “sitting room” area. Luxurious and probably unnecessary but I could see it being a very special “moment” in the house. I got excited about it and there was no going back. There’s a part 2 about this fireplace, that I’ll let Brian talk about at another time.

[Brian: I’m excited that Kripa’s had this idea about the two-side fireplace, and I’m glad that we’re sticking with it even as we’ve questioned it over and over. For context: we’ve been trying to balance design decisions between 1. our own preferences, 2. trying out our home design muscles, and 3. thinking about resale. Based on our personalities, I fear that we’ll lean in the direction of prioritizing resale too frequently, and I like that the two-sided fireplace 1 and 2 more than resale.]

Sitting room – As mentioned, the sitting room will be on the other side of the fireplace. Depending on how big it will actually end up being, I can image two chairs and an ottoman for reading by the fire, and maybe a little writing desk for when I write the next great American novel. What? It could happen. You don’t know me.

Closet – This is an enormous closet, but one side is more enormous than the other. It’s a shame we so align with stereotypical gender norms, but my closet needs outweigh Brian’s, hence the “hers” and “his” sides. Ideally we trick this out so it’s like a little jewel box of a closet – think built-in drawers and wallpapered closet backs. (Is “closet backs” a thing? You know what I mean, right?) That may take some time but I can imagine it being really fun. Incidentally, in our last house we gutted and rebuilt our master closet ourselves so I feel like I have a decent idea of what I want and need. I’m ok with this not being “finished” right away but coming together over time.

[Brian: Wait, I thought the closet was going to be split lengthwise so we’d each have one side of equal size… (jk)]

Master bath – This is the point where you realize the master suite is taking up about half of this entire floor. Every time I realize this I look up inspirational quotes like, “I’M WORTH IT” and “I DESERVE THE BEST” and then I feel ok again. Anyway, there’s some standard master bath stuff here, like a double vanity and large walk-in shower. We plan to re-use the clawfoot tub in here *fingers crossed*. Key to this design is the designated toilet room which incidentally is also the key to a successful marriage. True story, every place we’ve lived that has more than one bathroom, Brian and I have used separate bathrooms. In case you didn’t know, boys are GROSS and every bathroom they use belongs in a dirty frat house. I’ve been on the struggle bus a bit on the design here, but I found a tile that I LOVE and it’s all coming together again, I think/hope.

[Brian: … … … … yeah, ok, fair point.]

Overlook – FRIENDS. We have not yet spoken about the skylights. We are excited about this, and all credit goes to our architect David who pushed us to incorporate this into the design. We both love natural light, but Brian needs it like a, I don’t know, reverse vampire? Anyway, We’re going to have skylights in the roof, which will shine light down this open area on the second floor down into the first floor in the dining room area. I’m sure Brian will want to talk about the skylights in another post, for which we will all await with breath that is bated.

[Brian: We also haven’t discussed how we’re going to have an opening from the second floor down to the first floor, which will be perfect for throwing things and various pranks.]

Hall bathroom – This bathroom will serve the other bedrooms on this floor. Standard fare – double sink, tub/shower combo, etc. Hoping to do something fun here with the tile/paint choices, but we’ll see.

Bedrooms – We’ll have two bedrooms on this floor, again, pretty standard here. The bedroom on the north side (left in the floor plan) will have some big windows because this will be where the addition was. The other bedroom makes up the last part of the floor. We ended up having to cut into the window here to make the floor plan work, so it’s going to be tall and skinny. I’m a little worried it will be a bit small and dark in there even though it will have another window. Maybe this can be the napping room? Why do I need a napping room you ask? Because I’M WORTH IT and DESERVE THE BEST. (Or so I’m told).

[Brian: +1 to napping room.]

Next, down to the basement!