Nice necro. Useful thread, so I'm glad it's back up.
Why do people bother with complex bedroom designs?
What, seriously? Okay, I take it back. Don't necro threads just to be incredulous about their subject matter. FFS.
Re: engravings, yes, there has been science done. it only adds value to the side that it has been engraved from. This science was done back when there was an economy, so you could actually check the exact value of a room. I'm not sure how you could replicate the experiment with any level of accuracy now, but I don't think this has been changed.
I seem to remember Toady saying that he intended to eventually fix this by making things MORE directional, so that you could eventually engrave multiple sides of a wall -- and that he did not plan on "fixing" it such that one engraving would cover all sides. To the best of my knowledge, nothing has been done in this regard.
Besides, doors do not add to the value of rooms unless they are set internal, at which point they don't block the room's expansion.
But would this not create the "has not slept in a proper room" thought, or whatever it is called? I thought rooms needed to be properly enclosed to prevent negative thoughts or to avoid value penalties.