In designing your new home, a lot of experts will tell you to spend most of your time on the communal areas. These are the shared areas of your home that get the most traffic and the most use. Areas like your living room, dining room, lounge, kitchen, and bathrooms. The bedrooms often end up as little more than boxes on your floorplan with closets and doors.

There’s a lot more that can be done in designing bedrooms, particularly the master bedroom. After all of the hard work and saving needed to get to build your dream home, isn’t it worth it to spend a little extra time to spoil yourself?

Here are five tips to help you design your master bedroom.

#1 – Focus on View Lines

A big consideration in designing your master bedroom is framing the view from the windows. Keep in mind your local surroundings as well as your final plan for your landscaping. If you have a stunning view from your property, try to save some space for your bedroom to capture some of that view from your windows or outdoor access. Otherwise, make sure to plan a scenic vista outside of your master bedroom windows with your landscaping.

#2 – Privacy

The master bedroom should be your sanctuary away from the world and the rest of the household. Make sure that if your master bedroom door is left open that you are still afforded some privacy from the communal areas of your home. This can be accomplished by putting the bedrooms off a side corridor, adding a small foyer, or designing the layout the room so that an open door does not open toward the heart of the room.

Also, when designing the layout of your room, try to keep your master bedroom from opening to the street view. Big windows and exterior doors are great (see #4 below), but have them open into the privacy of your enclosed property.

#3 – Peace

Your master bedroom should be a sanctuary where you can find peace and relaxation during your off hours. Examine your home and its surrounding environment. Do you have a lot of road noise? If so, then you’ll probably appreciate putting your master bedroom at the back of your home. Do you have a lot of children? In that case, you might want to keep your master bedroom further way from communal areas where children might be the most active and loudest.

Remember, plan your home around the circumstances of your life for best effect.

#4 – Outdoor Connection

Bringing the outdoors into your home accomplishes two important things. First, it helps dissolve stress. Most human beings find a lot of peace in quiet, tranquil settings particularly after a lot of hustle and bustle during the day. Giving your master bedroom a connection to the outdoors can do a lot to help remove that daily stress.

Secondly, connecting to the outdoors makes your space seem larger. Even if you don’t have a lot of space for your master bedroom, adding a couple of glass doors that lead to a deck or patio will increase the size of your room by letting in that natural light and, during the warmer months, leaving those doors open during the day.

#5 – Furniture Layout

The way the master bedroom is designed will imply a furniture layout. You’ll need to consider this as you’re making plans. Where does the bed go? Are there power sources on either side for each respective bedside table? Also, be sure to plan for the other furniture that you intend to have in the room, such as a wardrobe, television, mirror, and the like.