When my (now) husband and I decided to move in together seven years ago, we had a lot of decisions to make.  As all three of our children were now off on their own, we needed to figure out how, or IF, we could live harmoniously together.

After A LOT of discussion (and house hunting), it was decided – we would live in his house and sell mine. (He had a four-bedroom 2 storey house in the park).  This led to more decisions, which of course led to renovations – which lasted a very LONG TIME.

Geoff was so sweet “I will be neater once you move in”.  HAHAHA  Who has ever known a 50-year-old man to change?  And WHY should he have to?!?!  He was a ‘Happy, Self Sufficient, Single Adult, who enjoyed living alone’.  As was I.

What we decided to do was convert the entire 2nd floor into a master suite. (But without loosing the ‘4-bedroom house’ resale value).  By relocating the Guest Room into the newly renovated basement, we were able to accommodate both of our needs.

We enlarged the footprint of the bathroom, by taking a bit of space from one of the bedrooms.  And we put in the biggest windows possible!

The smallest bedroom became Geoff’s office.

One bedroom became Geoff’s Personal Dressing Room, and the largest room on this 2nd floor, became my PDR.

The master remained as it was, (with the closet housing only out of season jackets), so basically just a king size bed, and a great view!

Other than the bathroom, (which had a pocket door) only Geoff’s dressing room had a door.  The theory was; I am neat as a pin, and Geoff is a bit of a ‘dropper’.

As for the common areas of our house (the main floor) we agreed “I would need to lighten up, and Geoff would need to pick up”.  As we each had our own personal zone upstairs, this was surprisingly easy to accomplish.

Since moving to Madrid, we have also maintained this sense of balance…..