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Sleeping Chamber Comforts

If there’s one space in the home that owners can call their own, it’s the appropriately dubbed owner’s suite, a place where after a grueling day of meetings, kids, and traffic, a person can retreat, relax, and rejuvenate. What makes this room so great is its simple yet comforting nature. It doesn’t require the vast number of design decisions that say a kitchen or home office might have.

“There are so many high-tech items in our life overall. We have a gadget for this and that,” says Mary Kohlhepp, sales representative for Andreen Construction, Minneapolis. “The owner’s suite bedroom is the place to get away from all of that.” Besides the actual sleeping area, she says, all you really need is music, mood lighting, and a place to read and meditate to help you unwind from your day.

Just because the room doesn’t require a lot of high tech gadgets, though, doesn’t mean that Minnesota homeowners aren’t being creative in the space. “It used to be just a sleeping area. There was not a lot of creativity that went into it, unless you were in the high-end homes,” says Jim Kuiken, marketing director for Accent Homes in Blaine.

“But creativity is now trickling down into average-priced homes. People love to go out and see the Parade of Homes. They go to the million dollar homes to get ideas. There they see lush and lavish products, tasteful colors of paint, and other features. They want to bring some that into the price range they can afford.”

In today’s buyer’s market, Kuiken notes that it is also becoming easier to negotiate with builders for a few of the little extras that can help turn a nice room into a spectacular space that makes its occupants feel great. “Everyone should be able to feel special,” he says.

Trading size for craftsmanship often allows homeowners to achieve a few of those extras that help them feel special. Al Mass, owner of A. Mass Construction, Burnsville, says that “the day of the large oversized owner’s suite is over. We aren’t doing that anymore.” Maas adds that owner’s suite bedroom areas peaked in size at about 18-feet by 20-feet, excluding the sitting area.

Today, he says, the typical size is closer to 14-feet by 16-feet, and sitting areas are no longer a given. Meg Dehn, owner of Mega Homes in Dayton, agrees: “Most people, regardless of the price of the home, do not want a humongous owner’s suite. People are more concerned about using the bedroom to meet their individual needs, creating a private space, but not making it so big that they feel lost in the space.”

Kuiken notes that while some owners are forgoing a distinct sitting area, these spaces are still popular, but they aren’t particularly large these days, just big enough to fit a loveseat and chair or two chairs and a table, plus a curio cabinet. A space that’s 10-feet by 10-feet is large enough in his estimation for most homes.

“The sitting area can be anything from a small alcove to a full room, depending on the price point of the home,” he adds. In lieu of an owner’s suite sitting area, Maas says that some homeowners “are looking for an extra room that they can use as a special space.” He recently put an office/library adjacent to an owner’s suite. “The rooms were separate but very accessible,” he says. The prevailing feeling among spouses today is: “The bedroom is for sleeping. If you want to be on the computer, get up and do it in the other room.”

Along with size and layout, color is one of the most critical elements in the bedroom. “Color is so important in getting that soothing, relaxing feel,” says Kohlhepp. “We try to do a soothing Earth tone, a soft mustard or beige, highlighted with a smoky brown or eggplant, something that adds drama. You want to add some drama—something that is nice to open your eyes to.” Soothing colors are definitely in, notes Kuiken, particularly “the fresher greens, blues, and yellows —almost like Florida colors. Some owners are putting in really deep rich colors, but more of our buyers are using the spa-freshness colors, clean but soothing.”

Natural light is another critical element of owner’s suite bedrooms and the going trend is for floor-to-ceiling windows, particularly in rooms facing a wooded lot or water feature. On walls facing neighbors, builders are having lots of fun putting transom windows up high and accordion windows down low that pop open for ventilation.

Dehn recently installed a porthole window flanked by two arched top windows in a New England coastal-style home. Not only did this configuration let in needed natural light, but it also complemented the style of architecture.

In another home, Dehn says that she “surrounded the owner’s suite sitting area with windows to give it a sunroom effect.” She set the windows high on two of the three walls to keep the space private while still allowing more sunlight into the room.

Of course natural light is not always available, making lighting an essential investment in any room, but particularly important in the owner’s suite where people want targeted light for reading, light bright enough to help them get going on gray winter days, and, of course, romantic lighting.

“Some builders will put very small halogen bulbs that look like stars sporadically through the ceiling,” says Kuiken, which makes for a great look. Other types of lighting commonly found in today’s owner’s suites include chandeliers on dimmer switches and decorative ceiling lighting, typically along the perimeter, to illuminates detail.

“People want a lot of detail in the owner’s suite to make it feel like they’ve gone on vacation. It’s a sanctuary. It’s an escape,” says Kuiken.

And the ceiling is one place owners are focusing on to achieve that detail. Whether it’s a vaulted ceiling, a tray ceiling, or floating soffits or beams, owners are having fun with the ceiling. Dehn says she’s putting in more step-vault ceilings in which the perimeter ceiling is a light color and the raised center is painted dark for contrast.

“Owners are being more practical,” says Mass. “They want their home to function the way they do.” That might mean putting a laundry room near the owner’s suite or in a large in-suite closet. It might also mean putting money into the owner’s suite bath or another part of the home and once again simplifying the sleeping chamber, while not sacrificing detail, comfort, or luxuries, such as sound systems, wall-mounted flat screen televisions, and the occasional wine or coffee bar.

“The owner’s suite is someplace a person can go to close the door and be quiet,” says Kuiken. “It is a private room in most families. There are boundaries. It is one room that is mom’s, mom and dad’s, or just dad’s. It is a room that is generally off limits, where you can go and relax.” And that is one trend that’s here to stay.

Baths Go High-Tech Eclectic

Accessible all day via e-mail, voice mail, and cell phones, homeowners are opting for a place to call their own and it’s not the study or home theater — it’s the owner’s suite bath. “People are now traveling all over the world,” and that’s giving them some fantastic ideas for the bath, says Pamela Enz, designer with Roth Distributing, Minnetonka. “It’s all about the water experience and the feeling they have when they are away. They want to bring that feeling home. It puts them in a different place in their mind.”

Luxury spas and hotels have suddenly made the bath a fun place to be. “I’ve even put massage centers into owner’s suite baths,” says Enz. While massage centers might be a luxury of the ultra wealthy, other just-as-luxurious features are becoming quite common. For instance, warming drawers that heat half a dozen towels at a time are beginning to replace heated towel racks, and small wine storage units are also making their way into the bath.

“But the latest and greatest is chromatherapy,” says Enz. This holistic healing concept that utilizes color can be installed in the tub, shower, or sink. Enz notes that KWC makes a faucet in which the water runs blue when cold, violet when warm, and red when hot.

Showers are also becoming more playful. “Two-person showers are very popular,” Enz says. And when space is a concern, homeowners are generally choosing a large, luxurious shower in lieu of a tub. When they do have room for both, more are choosing deep soaking tubs over the once-more-popular whirlpool and air-jet tubs.

“People want to sit in the tub and relax without the motion,” Enz says. Yet some tubs offer it all, chromatherapy, aromatherapy, and sound therapy. Julie Krahn, manufacturers representative for NCS Corporation, Bloomington, says her company sells “a combination whirlpool/air-jet/soaking tub, called the Home Spa by Jason International, that is big enough for three-plus people and it delivers all three therapies.”

Area homeowners are also experimenting with color, shape, and material. “The Midwest color palate is pretty neutral, but it is moving toward the richer tones of beige in the bath,” says Andrea Kottas, resident sales representative with Rubble Tile, Minnetonka. A relaxing palette of greens and blues is also gaining popularity and easily achieved with glass.

“Glass reflects light brilliantly,” Kottas notes, and glass tiles have a clean, sharp look. “For so long, people were using stone from top to bottom in owner’s suite baths. Now I’m seeing a mixture of materials,” she says. “It is so beautiful.” For instance, some people are using 12-inch by 12-inch tiles on the floor, with glass mosaics in the shower.

“People are playing with sizes more,” she adds. They are putting squares half way up, then inserting an inlaid strip, with rectangles above. Not only are people combining shapes and sizes, they are also mixing different materials. “They are enjoying the experience of customizing something for their home,” Kottas says. “They want to find a way to make their bathroom special.”

No Closet too Big

If people are going to scrimp on any part of the home, it is not going to be the owner’s suite closet. While the sleeping chamber may be getting cozier, closets are expanding faster than the metro area itself.

“We are doing closets that are 1,000-plus square feet,” says Warren Eck, co-owner of Harkraft, New Hope. Even though one might think that these mega closets would provide all the space a homeowner might need, some also have space-utilizing features, including what Eck refers to as “triple-hang.” This feature allows for clothes to be hung in three tiers, rather than the standard two. The top tier is accessed by using a hook to grab a custom, spring-loaded pull-down rod.

Closets like these, however, are certainly not being put into starter or mid-range homes, but they do create a buzz in the building community. “In the $1-million-plus homes we usually are able to do some really fun things,” says Eck.

“People generally have small washers and dryers inside their closets at this level, so we are building clothing management areas for sorting, folding, and drip-drying.” Large center islands or peninsulas with granite or other solid-surface tops are common as are custom color laminates with wood-grains or possibly even solid hardwood stained to match other cabinetry in the home.

Even door handles and drawer pulls in these luxury closets are coordinated to match or complement the hardware used elsewhere in the home. “For a very high-class look,” he says, people are using raised panel glass doors to cover the clothing areas. Other fun features for upscale closets include windows, skylights, heated floors, elegant sitting areas, and inset wall safes programmed to recognize fingerprints. The material for these closets alone can cost anywhere from about $10,000 to $50,000.

Owner’s suite closets in homes valued between $500,000 to about $1 million are usually still big enough to allow for divided “his” and “her” spaces and large enough to eliminate the need for dressers in the bedroom.

“Special attention is given to the incidentals, such as small ‘catch-all’ drawers, charging stations for cell phones, PDA’s and laptops, and hampers to sort wash and dry-cleaning,” Eck says. Many of these closets, which are also typically large enough to contain an island with storage drawers, have countertop heights appropriate for folding clothes and packing a small suitcase.

“There may also be a bench for sitting to put on socks and shoes,” he adds. The average cost of materials: $3,500 to $5,000.

Standard owner’s suite closets in homes ranging from about $300,000 to $500,000 are certainly not as elaborate as closets in more expensive homes, but they can still be fun and functional. To outfit a typical 10-foot-by 10-foot closet, Eck says, “you’d spend about $500 to $3,000” for a combination of wire shelving and shelf or drawer stacks, used to efficiently store folded clothes, socks, and undergarments.

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