Loft Master Bedroom: Before and After

“Well, it’s big.”  That’s about all David could say about the master bedroom when we first toured our new loft in Chelsea.  In truth, it had other virtues as well:  nice brick walls, large windows that let in lots of light and, if not a true view (a sliver of river to the left and the top third of the Empire State Building to the right), a nice outlook including old warehouse buildings of West Chelsea and lots of sky.

Before

But mostly it was just big.  Too big, in fact, to comfortably furnish as a cozy bedroom, even with a king bed and generous seating area.

And with all that room, it was still short of closet space.  There was one walk-in, but it was smaller than it looked at first, and inefficient.

The room also had the same awkward soffits around the ceiling and Hobbity door heights that afflicted the whole apartment.

The first step was to correct the flaws in the architecture.

The room got the same dark floors as the rest of the apartment.

Then we removed the soffits and rationalized the ductwork and plumbing that they concealed.  After that, we raised the door heights, narrowed the closet opening and moved the opening to the master bathroom from smack in the middle of the room to inside the walk-in closet.

Probably the most dramatic change we made was adding a partition about two-thirds of the way into the room. In front of it we would put the bed, and behind, closets space.  This gave us much needed storage and made the proportions of the sleeping area much more comfortable.

Still, the room was large, and needed a strong focal point.  I worked with the talented and helpful (and patient) folks at Flavor Paper in Brooklyn to create a custom colored version of this bold wallpaper to wrap around the new wall behind the bed.

After

Behind the new wall, we finally have truly enough space to hang our clothes and store our shoes.

The small walk-in closet became a dressing room with plenty of storage for folded clothes, accessories, and a discreet entrance to the master bath on the left.

The sleeping area is smaller than before, but it still feels bright and roomy, even with the king-sized walnut bed we moved from Southampton.

And there’s room for a sitting area to relax with a good book.

I always struggle to choose bed clothes.  So far we’re keeping them clean and simple.

Because most of the time they end up like this.