Master Bedroom with Perforated Brick Screen

The floor is a green polished stone laid in large pieces with tight joints. Stone like this stays cool through a hot summer, which is the main reason it was picked over wood or tile. It does show water marks and needs an occasional reseal to keep the shine. Underfoot it is smooth and easy to mop. The green tone also keeps the room from feeling stark against the beige walls.

Two amber glass pendant lights hang low over the rocking chair in the corner, giving a warm pool of light for reading. The main ceiling runs on recessed downlights that wash the room evenly without any fixture standing out. The mirror by the dresser is backlit, so it gives a soft glow that is enough for getting dressed without the overhead on. Between the three you can keep the room dim or bright.

That is a full-width dresser, a chest of drawers in a dark wood with grooved pulls cut into the fronts instead of handles that stick out. Recessed pulls like these keep the run looking clean and stop you catching a hip on a knob in a tight passage. The oval backlit mirror sits above it, which turns the dresser into a dressing station. Storage here is deep, so folded clothes and linen fit without a separate cupboard.

A dark wood rocking chair sits by the glass, with a woven throw over one arm and a couple of potted plants beside it. The two amber pendants drop right above it, which marks the corner as a spot to sit rather than pass through. The brick screen and the court are right there, so you look out at greenery and filtered light. It is a small nook carved from the bedroom, not a separate balcony room.

Most of the cost is in the labour, not the brick. The bricks themselves are ordinary, but each one is laid by hand at an angle with gaps left open, so a mason spends far longer on it than on a plain wall. The frame that holds a tall screen also adds to the figure. Wall size and how fine the pattern is decide the final number, so it is worth pricing a small panel before committing to a full height.

Yes, though you would shrink the court rather than drop it. The screen needs only a shallow gap behind the glass to work, so even half a metre of depth gives you the light and the privacy. In a tight room you might swap the full sliding wall for a fixed pane with one opening shutter to save on track cost. The dresser can go narrower too. The one thing to protect is the screen itself, since that is what makes the room.

The court behind the glass is open to the sky, so it collects dust and the odd leaf and needs a sweep every week or two. The plants are potted, which keeps watering simple and lets you swap them out by season. Because the floor there is stone, a quick wash is all it takes. The glass wall will show marks on the inside face, so a wipe now and then keeps the view clear.