This blog will cover interior design much more extensively, including design ideas, current interior trends and design news. Think of it as a huge addition to this web site, which will still be updated regularly with information on current trends.
When a new product is offered designer's minds immediately start turning over imagining how the material might be used, and what effect it will have on the feel of the home. Where do our design team draw their inspiration from?
Posted: 29 July 2009 by Metricon Homes
Of all the rooms in a home, more work goes into designing bedrooms, especially Master Suites, than anywhere else. Research shows that as they have grown in size, so they also become private spaces where we choose to spend more and more of our time. Huge thought goes into them.
When is a wardrobe not a wardrobe? Well, when it’s a “walk-in robe”, we suppose. But when is a “walk-in robe” not a walk-in robe? Answer: when it’s a “Clothing Corridor”, of course! So yes, believe it or not, there is even a science of designing wardrobes.
Anyone whose clothes are currently hanging in a rocky, wobbly old cupboard inherited from granny that regularly threatens to tip over and brain the unwary will appreciate the joy of built in wardrobes. And in today’s modern homes, they’re pretty much a minimum requirement.
But nowadays many bedrooms also come configured with “walk-in-robes” to keep the rest of the home tidier, and make choosing the right outfit or finding a clean shirt easier than ever. If you’ve never experienced them, they turn getting dressed into an experience!
And increasingly, one will find walk-in robes added to more bedrooms than just the master suite - indeed, great new homes like the Metricon Nolan 50 at Alamanda Estate in Point Cook have them installed in all bedrooms. So even the most wayward teenage daughter will have no excuse to use her floor to hang up all her latest pairs of jeans.
But in some Metricon homes you will find an even newer configuration - a walk-through “clothing corridor”: much like a walk-in robe, except it is open at both ends. It’s often positioned handily behind the head of the bed, out of the way, and combining a large open space for dressing or trying on different outfits with sizeable built-in wardrobes. These are either faced in wood - for warmth and comfort - or in mirrored glass, to contribute to a feeling of spaciousness in the room. A really great example can be seen at the Metricon Whittaker on display at Epping in Victoria.
Bedroom design is in a constant state of flux. Balconies that lead off the Master suite (usually built over a portico entrance) are back in vogue; they are the perfect spot for a quiet Sunday morning cup of coffee while perusing the newspaper. And lots of bedrooms now have room for a seat or even a pair of them and a small table, giving people somewhere to retreat to when living areas in the home are noisy.
And the nexus between the bedroom and its ensuite is always being defined and redefined.
Recently, most ensuite bathrooms have been opened right up to become an extension of the bedroom, and to provide a great view “out” of the sleep zone. Toilets now tend to be tucked away out of view, or behind frosted glass doors. Some people, though, still prefer the opportunity to close off the ensuite bathroom with doors or louvres for privacy, and good home designs will often offer this as an option.
A recent trend gathering pace is to add an ensuite shower and vanity to every bedroom in the home – no more arguments about whose turn it is in the bathroom – and this can be seen to great effect in the Metricon Promenade 40 on display at Keysborough and Mernda in Victoria.
Perhaps the most unusual new trend in bedroom design is the optional addition of an enclosed, private second storey outdoor room to create a true living zone for the bedroom’s owner – in the case of the Lindrum at Keysborough one can experience a “spare” bedroom configured with ensuite, outdoor room, and its own leisure area. In effect, it becomes a completely discrete “home within a home”, perfect for a relative staying permanently, or an older or adult child.
The bedroom. So much more, now, than just somewhere to sleep.
Master suites, children’s bedroom and guest rooms – they are all right here.
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