Rightly so, the aesthetics and functionality of the more communal living areas of our homes get a considerable amount of importance placed on them. But when you consider the hours spent daily in our more private spaces, shouldn’t we be trying to make our “suite dreams” come true as well?
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody’s looking for something
~ Eurythmics ~
I apologize for the earworm and play on words (sorry, not sorry). To better where I’m going with this topic, indulge me as I share a bit of background information first. Back in the late Fall of 2018, The Husband and I bought the place where we currently live. While in a livable condition at that time, the interior finishes had been essentially unchanged since the place was built in the early 90s. There were pinkish-beige walls and pale green carpeting (likely over a decade old) throughout, white tile and wallpaper in the bathrooms, and golden oak cabinets with dark green countertops in the kitchen.
With our previous home not yet sold at that time, we took advantage of the ownership overlap to put into action a plan for remodeling our new place before moving in. Except for the primary bedroom and bathroom, every room was repainted and re-floored in addition to redoing the baseboards and trim around the doors plus the cabinetry and countertops in the kitchen were replaced.
Since this new place was about an hour’s drive from our old one, it seemed likely that we’d be splitting our time between the two places. In anticipation of this, we decided to put off doing any work on our bedroom and bathroom so that we would have a comfortable place to stay during the few months that work on the rest of the place was going on.
We had anticipated getting to the remodel of our main suite once I’d retired in April 2020 which would be about a year after we had fully moved in. There should be no need to remind you of the worldwide upheaval that occurred a month before my retirement date. Business shutdowns, social distancing, supply chain disruptions, and all threw a bit of a wrench into that original remodeling timeline so we lived with the funky layout and tired decor. Each time we would talk about getting back to doing this remodel, it just seemed to get pushed off again and again.
In the interim, there have been countless discussions (and opposing opinions) about what our “suite dreams” should include. Beyond updating the tired aesthetics, changes could be made to the space layouts and storage options that would improve both the function of the spaces as well as the resale value of our home. While the overall total square footage in our suite is decent (roughly 375 sqft), the current layout and size cannot accommodate everything that would be on my restraint-free wish list.
We live in a townhouse so building an addition is not an option nor is there an adjacent space within our unit from which we could grab space to enlarge our suite. Since we must live within our means so to speak, I’ve come to accept that I will not be able to get the suite of my wildest dreams. Then, of course, there is also the constraint of cost.
Even without building an addition, moving walls and plumbing fixtures can get quite hefty. Beyond the desired aesthetics or design trends we would like to see in our suite, structural/mechanical changes need to be considered only if they help in achieving our goals of improving function and storage.
Getting to that “sweet/suite spot” between updating and replacing the spaces as they are currently laid out and incurring added costs for improving function/ storage is proving to be a challenge. I’ll admit that avoidance of conflict has been a key reason that we’ve lived with the suite as it has been for so long.
We both want to get this project done and I’m confident that we’ll get to an agreement on a plan that will make us both happy. And if things go as anticipated, I’ll be publishing a mini-series of blog posts on the progress and final results. To add some interest to the next post that will go into more detail about my wish list, I’ve included a short survey on what yours might be that I hope you’ll take a few minutes to fill out.
The sole purpose of this and any other survey on my blog is to satisfy my personal curiosity (and perhaps yours). Responses are provided anonymously and I won’t be sharing/selling the answers to anyone else. They will only be used as summary data in a follow-up post. I have no intentions of developing any type of marketing tool or online course or selling you anything based on your answers. As a mostly left-brained stats-nerd kind of person, I think that it’s cool to be able to include my own researched information (limited as it may be) in some of the blog posts that I write. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
Easy, peasy. This survey will run for about 4 weeks.
As for my ensemble, this is a look I put together for a post that I’d intended to publish last November but never did. It’s something of a go-to look for me for Fall/Winter; topper, skirt, boots. In this case, the topper is a jacket (a thrift store find) with a camo-like print which of course means that it must be paired with a floral patterned tiered skirt (retail purchase). My trademark cross-body style purse (Poshmark) rounds out the blue tones and tan suede boots with fringe (retail) lend a nod to the cooler temps of the season.
Let’s Wrap This Up
Now, onto the Fine-Whatever link-up. The featured post from the last link-up, MINI SKIRT, AT 57; WHAT HAS AGE GOT TO DO WITH IT!, was contributed by Nancy over at Nancy’s Fashion Style. “Life is too short to dress in a way that doesn’t make you feel fantastic!” is what Nancy believes when it comes to style.
Achieving our “suite dreams” will be no small undertaking but I think that we’re up for the challenge. The next installment of this series will come out in a month or so. In it, I’ll share more on the specifics of our current space layout and the limitations we must deal with as we develop our plan. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing your responses to the survey.
Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: This is an unsponsored post; however, some or all of the links to clothing items are associated with an affiliate program where I earned a few cents for each click.
Photo credit: MMPerez
19 Comments
Both questions 2 & 3 will only allow me to fill in one answer… so I didn’t bother answering in that format but we were lucky enough to build our dream suite when we were newly married and built our first home. I didn’t care about 2 sinks; we have sink and a slightly lower vanity extension that was my make up table complete with chair (that I never ever use!). We do have a separate toilet room, a large walk in closet, and dual shower heads with a deep whirlpool tub. I used that tub a lot when my kids were little (both for myself and the kids really loved it too) but haven’t used it at all in probably a good 3-5 years.
Oh gosh, my bad. Thanks for bringing this problem to my attention. It’s been a while since I put together a survey and I didn’t pick the right setting to allow for multiple responses. I’ve fixed it so now you really can select more than one of the choices.
I love your skirt!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
Thank you, Jennifer
Can’t wait to see the results of this survey and hear about your updates! Love the mix of patterns with this chic look.
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
I’m so glad that you like this pattern mix combo, Kathrine. Also, the setting to allow for multiple responses has been turned on so please come back and update your choices.
Same as Joanne, I tried but it would only accept one answer. Thanks for the link up.
The settings to allow for multiple responses have been turned on so please come back and update your choices.
Good luck with the project and look forward to seeing progress! We both have our own rooms, which at least means I have a separate closet (wardrobe) but as houses are generally smaller in the UK than in the US, there’s no room for some of the accouterments you mention. If only! We tend to avoid doing home improvements for one of the reasons you cite: conflict of opinion!
Depending on one’s circumstances, the whole dwelling could/should be viewed as a grand primary suite, don’t you think? If its just you and your SO (or just you alone), there’s really no need for that extra layer of privacy most of the time. Anyway, the setting to allow for multiple responses for the second and third question has been turned on so please come back and update your choices.
Looking very nice and I hope that things go well. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
My perfect kind of outfit: love this especially for fall and spring.
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Hi Rena, we moved from an apartment to a townhouse about 18 months ago. Last year we laid new flooring downstairs and new kitchen benchtops and splashbacks. We are currently renovating our main bathroom and then will move on to the ensuite. We are enjoying the project and I was surprised that my husband (75) and I were able to do most of the demolition work ourselves. I look forward to reading about your renovations. Thanks for the link up and have a great week. x
Filled in the survey! And thank you so much for the feature, what a lovely surprise.
Fun idea for a survey! We have a walk-in closet but I’d still love to expand it even more. I don’t plan on moving from this home so this one architectural change will eventually be worth it!
I had the dream suite at our last house. Our bedroom was extremely large, and there were two walk-in closets. While there was a soaking tub, I can’t remember the last time I took a bath. When we built the home we’re in now, I should have insisted on a tiled walk in shower. I didn’t and really wish we’d done it then because it would have been much less. I can’t wait to see your plans as well as the results from the survey!
Thanks for the link up, too!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
As we are building our ‘dream home’ at the moment, we are incorporating all the things we’ve always wanted like a large walk-in closet and as big a bathroom as we can fit lol. It’s slowly coming along and is super exciting as we are currently choosing floor tiles and plumbing fixtures.
I’m looking forward to seeing yours suite come together!
Hugs
Suzy xx
Our main bathroom is next on our renovation list. Can’t wait to see your survey results!
Jill – Doused in Pink
I love Nancy’s quote – I agree! And I’m astounded people want a coffee bar and fridge in their bedroom?!?!?!