<p>We are putting an addition on our house any my design person thinks I should have a desk in our new bedroom. I’ve always heard not to mix work space with bedroom space. Any opinions?</p>
<p>Well, with my house we kinda did that:</p>
<p>Originally, my house had two rooms in the area I’m referring to. The people who lived here before us knocked out the wall and made that the master suite (where my parents sleep now). Recently (both my parents work from home), we put the wall back up and now part of it is my mom’s office. It works well for them if that helps. :)</p>
<p>Who wants to lying in bed thinking about those bills to pay or work that could be done? I think your designer is whacked. (Unless you are super tight on space of course.)</p>
<p>I think it depends. If it were me, I’d consider it if I could find a way to make it partially screened. That’s mostly because I’m so messy. My mother had her desk in the living room. She’s incredibly neat and she used an antique roll-down desk. When the roller comes down you wouldn’t know it’s there. When the lights are off you don’t see your desk. I think most master bedrooms are way, way bigger than they need to be and it makes a lot of sense to find some other ways to use the space. Kids generally have desks and do homework in their rooms and it doesn’t seem to hurt them. I don’t see this as any different. That said, as an architect, I’d probably find a way to put the office in another room, even if you had to walk through the master bedroom to get to it. It might be a room that a future owner would convert to a walk in closet, an exercise or meditation area.</p>
<p>Having just moved my office home after paying rent for 20 years in another city, I would say no and “office” and a bedroom are not a good use of space. It is good to have a home office where you can close the door and work, not worry about the rest of the house. I am just at one year working from a home office and it is good to finish a coffee at home, fill another cup up and then walk through the house and turn off everything on the way to my office. It allows me to separate the two (home&office) even though my commute is now about 20 feet.</p>
<p>So my vote would be no, keep living space and home office space separate. It also will matter for tax purposes.</p>
<p>^That’s kind of how my mom’s is set up. My dad’s is actually in the room right next to mine, but my mom’s is right next to the bedroom in that she has to walk through the bedroom to get in and out of it, but there are doors between the two and she has open door policy, so if she wants she can work undisturbed all day (except that she likes me and my sister to let us know when we get home).</p>
<p>Yeah this would be right in the bedroom and it’s not very big. I think this is a time to “just say no”.</p>
<p>There’s no law that says you have to use it.</p>
<p>But maybe there is a demand for desk space in bedrooms among home buyers right now.</p>
<p>If you tell your design person that you don’t want it, you might also want to ask whether the design person suggested it on the grounds that it appeals to others. In the latter case, you might want to consider getting it (even though you won’t use it) just to increase the appeal of your house when you eventually sell it.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what you would use the desk for. We have one in our bedroom, just for me, to write thank you notes, organize bills, etc. DH has an office in the house, which is just a converted bedroom with all the necessary office equuipment. He also has a seperate phone line. The desk we had in our old house was built into a recessed wall so it didn’t take up too much space. We never had a huge master bedroom.</p>
<p>I agree with you that I don’t think it’s great to mix the two. But if you can afford the added square footage, it might be nice to have it.</p>
<p>I’ve been in real estate for a bunch of years in two different areas. I don’t really see a demand for “office” in the bedroom. (I’ve seen offices in separate rooms adjoining the master; often they get cluttered and I don’t think have much appeal at resale for that reason). </p>
<p>I think there’s a demand for “sitting area” in the master. So, if I added it, I’d use it that way for myself/yourself; others could use it another way at resale. You could put some kind of non-utilitarian secretary/desk surface in there - which you might use for coffee on the weekends…</p>
<p>Hard to advise without seeing the floorplan overall.</p>
<p>I agree not to put office space in bedroom, but I think if you had room for a chat area, that would be nice.
My ex sister in law has the hugest house, with basically a suite including a bath, a " reception area" and her bedroom, all behind her bedroom doors. That would be yummy- of course she lives in the back of beyond and you have to drive everywhere.
Makes me quite envious as we only have one bath in the entire house and a bed and dresser barely fit in our room let alone a couch! 
However- as office space goes I agree not to work in your bedroom. KIds shouldn’t even study in their bedroom because the room needs to be a place a relaxation and refuge, not like the kitchen table.</p>
<p>Of course you can still work in your bedroom like I do, with a basket full of papers and your laptop spread out on your bed, but I wouldn’t put a desk in there- but what about a fireplace or a small sun porch?</p>
<p>EK, that’s exactly my thinking. Why put a work area in a relaxing area? We are going to have a fireplace–I’ve always wanted one–and a big roundtop window with a window seat under it. This leaves room for a bed, nightstands, a bookcase and either 2 dressers or one dresser and one desk. We currently use 4 dressers and they are full. We’re having some drawers built in in the closet, so that will help, but, even though I might accept that I don’t really use all those clothes and could get rid of half, I doubt I can convince my husband to get rid of half of his. The designer has shown me several pictures of window seat suggestions and they all have desks next to them–is this some decorating requirement I’ve never heard of? I’ve said several times that I’m not sure I want a desk in the room. Of course I can say no to it, I just wondered if I was missing something.</p>
<p>You’re not missing anything. I would advise you to keep work out of the bedroom. This is your retreat. Go with a re****l seating area - make it like spa waiting room or something.<br>
I have a home office - separate room with a door I can shut. That way, I can hide the mess too (unfortunately, I create lots of paper in my line of work).
If we were tight for space, I’d put a desk in the guest room and carve out a space. But never the bedroom.</p>
<p>I can’ say rest - ful?? Wow. How about relaxing seating area???</p>
<p>I’ll have a cozy window seat next to the fireplace and a little rocker in front of the fireplace. All I need a desk for is paying bills and I hate to pay bills so I don’t want to pollute my bedroom with those associations.</p>
<p>Besides, if you are adding on to the house, persumably there will be other space, somewhere else than the bedroom, for your desk/bill-paying activities (perhaps right where they are now). I agree with all those earlier posters who suggested that you say no to your design person in this regard. Sounds like a nice project overall though–good luck with it.</p>
<p>Thanks–we’ve felt guilty about it when people are starving all over, but I’m thinking about all the happy people we’re employing. I guess they could be building affordable housing instead if anyone would hire them.</p>
<p>sounds like you have a good plan, but just to be contrary, I’ll mention that I am working at my desk in my bedroom. H is downstairs at his desk in the dining room. Our house is really, really small. My desk is not for bill paying (I do most of that at the dining room table) but for writing and futtzing around on CC :). It’s the only place I could close the door (H absolutely respects writing time, and I don’t let it interfere with other times.)</p>
<p>I think that if it’s at all possible to put it somewhere else, you should. I work out of our home and I definately have a need to be able to “close the door” on my work. If it were in my bedroom, I’d be imagining dances, staging, costumes etc. in my sleep. It’s hard enough to turn off my thoughts and be fully present with my H sometimes if you know what I mean!</p>
<p>My friend who “freelances” as an interior designer says that an office desk or even TV in the bedroom is anti-Feng Shui. 
Do not know how true it is or if this Feng Sui stuff is even “hot” now. It used to be very popular; our fist house sold in 4 days during a slow real estate market because the buyer was so into Feng Sui. Too bad we did not know that our house was so perfect from that standpoint, we would have charged him a higher price!</p>
<p>Bethie, don’t feel guilty about your remodel. May be you’ll be able to use some “green” materials in it to make your happier. :)</p>