Floor plan enthusiasts!

[Woodchiponthewall]

We are planning on updating our bathrooms and I am wondering if anyone has any ideas about layout (floor plan hopefully attached). The house is a big but scruffy Victorian end terrace that we are slowly doing up. The middle floor has 2 large bedrooms, one with an ensuite, and another small shower room across the hall. Where the layout gets odd is the family bathroom which is in a two story extension. The space is large, but oddly has a room coming off it which has velux windows, and can only be accessed via the family bathroom which rules if out to be used as a bedroom really. I currently use it as a dressing room. When we update my original plan was to have a huge family bathroom, and the box room space to be a wet room. The shower room could then have doors shifted to become an ensuite for the second bedroom. This is by far the simplest plan as it only involves shifting partition walls. However, it means we have 3 bathrooms on one floor and none on the floor above which has 2 bedrooms which is a bit mad, and a ludicrously big bathroom (lovely, but is this the best use of the space?). We are limited in terms of shifting space around along the wall where the bathroom extension meets the house as that is the old external load bearing wall and it would be too complex and expensive to knock through. Any other ideas? Can the box room ever be considered a 5th bedroom if it only has velux windows? I thought no but a surveyor recently said differently. Would love some fresh thinking on this!

[LaurieFairyCake]

Even if you rename the bathroom/box room as a study/bedroom it's still fabulous extra space compared to massive bathroom

[wowfudge]

I would make the box room bigger and give it its own separate access - you might a lobby off the landing for that. Make what is now the smaller bathroom a study/office cum spare single bedroom. Then the large bathroom becomes a decent sized bathroom. Put a shower room in on the second floor - can you post a pic of the floor plan for the loft room?

That way the space becomes more usable and you don't have such an odd configuration of rooms. Was the house once bedsits or a guesthouse?

[Cressandra]

Is there any hope of moving the bathroom to the boxroom end of the extension? Then rejig so you have a bathroom where the boxroom is now (possibly enlarged) and a usable study in the current bathroom. You might lose a bit of space to extra landing to make the doors work, it's hard to tell from the floorplan if it's even possible, but it might be worth it.

Sorry if this is a really stupid suggestion - I know moving soil pipes is difficult.

[ChristineDePisan]

Make the box room into a laundry room, with washing machine, loads of storage etc etc? I would LOVE one of those, and coming off the bathroom wouldn't be too terrible for a family

[ftm123]

Do you have a downstairs toilet? If so I would consider making three ensuite bedrooms on the first floor, adding most of the big bathroom to the boxroom, so that the door opens in to it. The window goes to the ensuite. I am pretty sure bedrooms can have just veluxes they did when I was house hunting. Then add a family bathroom on the top floor. If you don't have a toilet downstairs, then you want one for guests on the first floor so don't make the second bedroom ensuite.

I think you should, if possible, add at least a shower room to the top floor. Unless all ensuites, three bathrooms on one floor seems overkill. Three ensuites may still be that, I know people who have, but it is a lot to clean. The big bathroom is the obvious one to remove (to me) make a big bedroom by combining with box room. But the remaining bathroom maybe too small to be the main family one (not an issue if you add one to the top floor)

[Liara]

I would make an L-shaped bathroom, much smaller than the current one, and enlarge the box room so that it comes up to where the door opens up currently. You would need to have an extra tiny bit of landing there to access both it and the bathroom, but I think it could work.

Large bathrooms are pretty overrated. I have one, and frankly it just gets cold. I would much rather have the bedroom/office space.

[Quodlibet]

Could you move the en suite door so that becomes a family bathroom

Current large bathroom becomes further bedroom, with velux box room as ensuite.

You could move the door on the current small bathroom so that becomes ensuite as suggested.

Or do the plan of laundry room/utility room/storage room - massive plus point in my opinion.

[Woodchiponthewall]

Thanks for your feedback everyone - some really useful ideas. The laundry room idea is something I had considered and would be really practical. Also tempted with the idea of making current bathroom a bedroom, and boxroom the bathroom. Need to chat with builder about moving soil pipes etc. the general consensus though is to not lose that extra space into a huge bedroom so really appreciate that insight.
There is a perfect space for a shower room upstairs so need to look into how far budget might go!
wowfudge - the house used to be two back to backs that were knocked through decades ago, hence two small original bathrooms. Ta everyone!

[Woodchiponthewall]

• a huge bathroom rather

[sophorifichobnob]

I'd make it into a dressing room.