Saving Sarah And Her Man – Part Deux
9March 5, 2013 by Decorum DIYer
Yesterday, I showed you Sarah’s master bedroom in her new home. I also showed you (and Sarah) the moodboard for the space.
Today, I am sharing with you a second moodboard for the space. As with the first moodboard, everything in the room hinges upon the furniture arrangement – particularly the massive, California king-sized bed. As a reminder, here is the room’s current layout (with a few tweaks, as added by the first moodboard):
Given that it is not ideal to sleep with one’s head next to a door, nor have one’s bed abutted to the entrance wall, I thought I would give Sarah a moodboard to show her (and you) how her large bed could actually be placed on the wall opposite to the entrance. I do not follow the rules of feng shui strictly, but there are some guidelines that I do follow, as most seem to be common sense when arranging furniture. You can check out HGTV’s bedroom feng shui rules here.
Due to the room’s odd nook and narrow layout, a little trick involving drapery needs to be employed to help Sarah’s and Matt’s master bedroom have a good flow; loosely following the guidelines of feng shui.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sarah’s and Matt’s alternative master bedroom:
The key to making Sarah’s California King bed fit against the exterior wall, despite the nook and window, is to create an almost wall to wall bank of draperies. Something like this:
Except in Sarah’s and Matt’s bedroom, we would leave the center portion behind the bed open. We accomplish this by banking the drapery wall to wall (pole spans entire wall along the ceiling) and leaving the center portion open, or only mounting drapery to either side of the bed and placing the drapery edges as close to the sides of the bed as possible, but spanning to each corner of the wall. This leaves space above the bed for decor and lighting, but also gives us those precious few inches to push the bed as tightly against the wall as possible.
![(via)[Pssst, click the link to the related blog post, but take the 'feng shui no-no's' with a grain of salt. Not all 'no-no's' can be avoided.]](https://decorumdiyer.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/change-color-house-by-john-willey3.jpg?w=590&h=391)
(via)
[Pssst, click the link to the related blog post, but take the ‘feng shui no-no’s’ with a grain of salt. Not all ‘no-no’s’ can be avoided, only mitigated with feng shui fixes.]
- allow the nook to be covered (as to not create a confusing layout), but still allow one to access the dresser (or whatever else) in the nook
- provide needed drapery to the window to the right
- create a focal point above the bed for the art work inspiration piece and wall-mounted, swing-arm, sconces
- add a sense of drama to the room.
Most importantly, the bed would be placed in the command position, opposite the entry. Here is a modified floor plan to illustrate how the room’s furniture would be arranged:
And another two moodboard ‘views’, so to speak:

Note that the pattern and style of the window shades have changed.
[Oh, and feel free to note the couple in the center. Great sculpture piece for a master bedroom, but also echos the couple’s future together.]
Arranging the room in this way does prevent Sarah’s side of the bed from having a proper night stand, or at least one of the exact size and scale as her beau’s. To correct this, a small, garden stool in the coral orange accent color would be placed next to Sarah’s side of the bed. Alternatively, because we moved the wide dresser into the nook and the tall dresser into the closet, there is space under the exterior window for a seating/reading area. Sarah could perhaps take to drinking her coffee in the lounge chair, instead of bed.
Matt, Sarah’s beau, could also use a change in the night stand situation. Instead of using the night stand that was apart of the bedroom set (that could be used with the reading/lounging area), a coordinating piece of furniture, such as a bombay chest, demi lune console table, or some other sort of wide, but rounded/curvy table.
Whichever is chosen, it would double as a night stand of sorts for Matt, but also be centered under the window adjacent to the master bathroom. It is the first glimpse of the room that one sees as one enters the room. It is important that this table is attractive, and well-staged (a nice lamp, an orchid, a small bronze statue, etc…).
Moving the bed to the opposite wall from the entrance means that the television would need to be mounted to the entrance wall. The room’s cable box is located in the nook, so a little rewiring through the attic above would need to occur to create a cable box on the entrance wall. As with the previous moodboard/floor plan, the television should be mounted and framed. Also, a substantial shelf should be placed above the television to house the television components. Sarah and Matt could further expand the wall with a gallery of images and photos. The photos should be of Matt and Sarah as a couple and any images/art work should be of things in pairs, or single images framed separately in pairs to further emphasize the ‘couple’ within the master bedroom.
Something like this:
I hope you have enjoyed this little virtual moodboard tour of Sarah’s and Matt’s bedroom. As you can see, the room is well-appointed, but the narrowness and odd nook present some furniture arranging problems. I created two moodboards to show both you and homeowners that it is possible to have more than one arrangement in an odd-shaped room, no matter the size of your bed.
I can’t wait to see Sarah’s and Matt’s master bedroom come to life!
[…] tomorrow that features placing the bed on the opposite wall. (Want to see it? Please click here to view the second […]
I think I like this option better. With the bed moved, the room will feel more open as you walk into it. Great job again.
Yes, Christa, I agree. I think the bed is best suited along the opposite wall of the entry, but it is tricky.
You clearly have put so much thought, care, and love into this planning…and I’ve put a finger on what fascinates me so much about the way you think: you’re spatially intelligent…and I am not. So, I’m always amazed at the creative ideas you have for arranging a space. You think outside the box when it comes to furniture and spatial arrangement, when I’m a bit more “stuck in the box” in that regard. That’s why I leave the furniture arranging to Mark, and I take on the decorating. You, my dear, have both of those skills. And I think that’s fabulous!
Thank you so much, Lauren, for taking time to comment and to leave such lovely comments. Yes, I like to think I have ‘spatial intelligence’, given that my chosen major in college was Geography – think nature, land formations, astronomy, and most importantly maps (of all sorts). Also, being a dancer/choreographer, I need to ‘fill-up’ all three dimensions with forms and movement, not to mention filling a stage to entertain the masses. Others may not see the connections, but I do. I thank you for noticing.
I love your mood boards! They are my new favorite thing to make now and so much better than Oli-board. How do you make your Christie?
Thank you, Donna! Actually, I create my moodboards (and yes, I have adopted the compound word, moardboard) via Olioboard. I need to take time and study some tutorials to better my skilis via Oliboard, but that is how I do it.
love the mood board and the infusions of purple and orange. I am currently putting orange accents in my dining room!
Lovely, I can’t wait to see your dining room! I’ll admit purple and coral sound funny, but to see them together, it all makes sense. A dark purple is one of the few colors that can be both masculine and feminine.