When looking at house designs, the bedroom should be a pleasant place in which to sleep. If you live on a busy street, put the bedroom at the back. Put it as far away from distracting noises as you can. Insulation in the walls and draperies at the windows will help to shut out part of the noise.
A bedroom should be well ventilated, with windows on two sides of the room if possible, to insure a good circulation of air on hot sultry nights. Windows in bedrooms should be given careful study. If they are carelessly placed, they interfere too much with placement of the furniture. Many people have found that high windows, 4' or 41/2' from the. floor, but extending over a wider area horizontally, give a better distribution of the fresh air with less draftiness, and make it a lot easier to place the furniture where you want it without interference from the windows.
The bedroom should be painted in soft colors, which are soothing to frayed nerves. Strong, vibrant colors may be all right in the family room or in the bathroom, but the bedroom should be a place of rest, with subdued tones.
If a bedroom is merely a place in which to sleep, it can be rather small and still be quite satisfactory. After all, in the last sleep, all they allow a person is a space about 3' x 6'. If you want a bedroom with a fireplace in it, two or three easy chairs, a desk, and an extensive bookcase, you will need a considerable amount of space. If you also want to do your sewing and ironing in the bedroom, you will have to allow room enough for that, too.
How large should a bedroom be? At least large enough so that the bed can be moved around or turned around in it. Large enough for a full-sized bed and a chest of drawers, a night stand, a chair, and perhaps a dressing table. Perhaps 8' x 10' inside measurement might be considered as the absolute minimum.
Most building codes do not permit house designs with rooms smaller than 80 square feet in area, and this would just meet that requirement. Certainly a room 9' x 12' would be much better, while 11' x 14' or 12' x 14' would seem rather spacious. In an ordinary house a room 12' x 16' would be adequate for almost any master bedroom.
A bedroom isn't greatly in need of a view as a person usually isn't often in a bedroom during the daylight hours and then he usually isn't looking out the window.
There should be at least half as many bedrooms as there are people in the family, and a guest room is an important adjunct, if it can be managed. Two boys can occupy the same room when they are small, but, of course, the ideal is for each child to have his own room when he gets older, if at all possible.
Perhaps the master bedroom should be large enough so that two beds can be put in it in hot weather. When it is cold, probably only one of them will be used.
Where there are small children, the mother will probably want their room to be near hers, but for adults, if bedrooms can be separated from each other, one noisy or restless person will not bother the others quite so much.
A private bath for the master bedroom is a good idea, but not an absolute necessity. A good rule to follow is to have at least one bath for each two bedrooms. A three-bedroom house should have two baths. In the morning rush hour, when the children are hurrying to get ready for school, and Dad has to shave, and mother has to do her hair, enough bathrooms will save a lot of frayed nerves. Better economize somewhere else and have enough bathrooms.
Plan your bedrooms well, when dealing with house designs and you will have a much more comfortable house.
