Master in the Basement?

Does anyone have their master bedroom in the basement? DH and I are outgrowing our home but don't think we can afford to move or dormer. We have lots of unfinished space in the basement that can be converted but I'm not sure of the pros / cons. Any advice or ideas are welcomed!

Re: Master in the Basement?

What kind of house do you live in?
If I had kids that would be one or even 2 floors above I wouldn't do it.

If it was just me and DH then I don't see why not.

Personally I would rather have the basement done as extra living space. We don't spend much time in our bedroom and when we are we are usually in bed.

Re: Master in the Basement?

Do you have fire egress windows down there? If not, you'll have to open a hole in the basement wall, put a large window in, then have steps to get out of the window and into the yard.

I'm not a fan of bedrooms in the basement, but they do stay cooler in the summer.

Re: Master in the Basement?

As someone who lives in a basement now (rents), PLEASE do yourselves a favor and make sure you have PLENTY of windows down there. I seriously feel like I wake up in a cave sometimes and while its great for sleeping, its terrible for waking up. Plus there's the whole safety issue of not being able to get out.

As long as you take care of that, I don't see why not.

Re: Master in the Basement?

We are buying a small ranch, and plan to make the finished basement our living room, and make the small living space on the main floor our dining room.

We live in a basement apt now, and as the pp said, the bedroom is great for sleeping, but not for waking up. We have a small window in the bedroom, but it doesnt let in much light. Also, every spring we do battle against these ugly black spiders (I've killed 4 so far this week), and it REALLY freaks me out when I see them in the bedroom...

IMO a basement bedroom is not ideal, but if you can make it work for you than go for it!

Re: Master in the Basement?

Just wanted to point out that for resale value, you couldn't call the basement space the master bedroom (or any bedroom). Bedrooms need to be above grade. So if you have a 3 bedroom house right now, and you make a master in the basement, you still have a 3 bedroom house.

Personally, I think you are better off using basement space as an open family room/rec room type of space and using the above grade living space for bedrooms. Again, from a resale perspective, a finished tv area/game room type of room in the basement always adds a lot of value. If you segment off your basement space into a closed off bedroom, it might not be as appealing to the majority of buyers.

That being said, you may not care at all about resale and have plans to stay long term, so then it doesn't really matter.

Re: Master in the Basement?

My aunt and uncle have a split ranch with their master suite as one of the lower levels (ie the main floor is the kitchen/LR/ DR/garage, upper floor is 3 bedrooms and a bath, lower floor is the master with private bath, then the lowest floor is a rec/family room).

When you first see it, definitely looks strange but it works for them. They've already stated if they sell, they'll convert the master into another family room....because technically (like a PP said), they still only have three bedrooms.