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Property/DIY

Loft Conversion - Ensuite or stand alone bathroom?

26 replies

Irritatedmama · 23/01/2017 16:53

We are starting to plan for converting our loft later this year.
We have quite a big space and want to maximise it.

I would like to create a bathroom that can be accessed independently from the bedroom. DH would prefer an en-suite. I think a stand alone bathroom would be more useful and add more value should we ever come to sell. Plus it can be used by our children or guests etc without them needing to come into our room.

Any thoughts?

Also, I want to create a walk in wardrobe along the eves. I think this would be great and will provide storage plus hide lots of clutter. DH thinks a bigger bedroom is better. But we don't need room for anything except a bed surely if we go for a walk in wardrobe?

OP posts:
Boulshired · 23/01/2017 17:30

not sure why family members would climb another set of stairs past an existing bathroom to go to another bathroom. A walk in wardrobe will need a lot of floor space if along the eaves for height reason. It depend on just how big a size? I do like lofts that seem bright and airy so I am probably more with your DH.

Twooter · 23/01/2017 17:31

I would go for Ensuite and built in wardrobes personally

tessiebear4 · 23/01/2017 17:33

Separate bathroom way nicer in my opinion

RandomMess · 23/01/2017 17:36

A bathroom located so it could easily be either!

I would prefer adjacent as I don't want to hear/see my DH use the loo!!!

Well designed walk in wardrobe can make great use of the eaves and leave the bedroom more spacious than free standing wardrobes.

Herschellmum · 23/01/2017 17:39

We are buying a bungalow that we need to do the loft ASAP ideally, not really sure on what the plan will be, playing with lots of idea, but hoping it will be 3 bedrooms in loft (it's a decent sized bungalow) and an ensuite, if I can squeeze another bathroom in I may just do a cloak room type thing.

But for me my twins will be upstairs with us and they are know for being little git for messing around in the bathroom, I figure I can lock my bedroom so if they need to use bathroom during the day they have to come downstairs and use one of the two down stairs bathrooms. A but cruel, but one set of stairs never hurt anyone. 😂 but then I'm planning it for us and possibly our forever home, at least if we never achieve a dream of a small holding, so it doesn't matter for resale purposes.

If that's a masisve factor for you, as am estate agent. Get it valued by one on one of the zoopla estimates where they come out, and then ask what would be better. That what I did when selling and renovating my current home.

Boulshired · 23/01/2017 17:42

It does not matter if it is called an ensuite or bathroom it does not alter the position of bed to toilet. It is whether you want a inner hallway of some sorts and how much space this takes away.

teacher54321 · 23/01/2017 17:48

Depends on whether other bedrooms will be on that floor without access to a bathroom. I wouldn't want to have any bedrooms on a floor without access to a loo on that level if that makes sense...

ladypie21 · 23/01/2017 18:00

Our loft has a bedroom with walk in wardrobe and a separate bathroom. I wouldn't change it for an ensuite as it's has a lovely big walk in shower and the kids sometimes prefer to use it as do some guests. The walkin wardrobe makes the bedroom feel luxuriously uncluttered and it definitely saves on space.

heateallthebuns · 23/01/2017 18:10

Bathrooms are usually used by people on the same floor, can't see people going upstairs to use the bathroom when there's one on their floor. We've an en suite bathroom in our loft conversion which is our bedroom, I love it!!!!

I think you need to consider the exact layout of wardrobes whether built in or not. Our bed is against party wall, but I wish we'd put it under eaves with wardrobes along party wall - would've fitted more in.

Irritatedmama · 23/01/2017 19:42

Thanks for the opinions!

We are an end terrace so the stairs and bathroom will be on the party wall side. The walk in wardrobe will run the width of the house along where the eves will be. The hanging space will be on the wall facing the eves - so the internal stud wall. The bedroom will be at the back of the house and will be a good size at least 12 x 14. The idea would be to put everything in the walk in cupboard and keep the bedroom clear.

Reasons for wanting a stand alone bathroom is that I don't fancy DH on the loo that close to me. Plus it will have a big walk in shower which our kids might want to use. MIL may find it easier to use too than the shower over bath.

OP posts:
PlumsGalore · 23/01/2017 19:45

I hate en-suites for this exact reason. Who on earth wants to be laid in bed whilst someone else Could be having a poo a few feet away. Ugggh.

Stilitzvert · 23/01/2017 19:47

Definitely an en-suite. I'd be put off if a loft conversion had a separate bathroom

oleoleoleole · 23/01/2017 19:51

Can you make it a separate bathroom but with a door from bedroom and a door from landing?

heateallthebuns · 23/01/2017 20:22

'Jack n jill' bathroom?

Irritatedmama · 23/01/2017 20:54

Im not sure what the benefit of that would be?

OP posts:
houseofpain · 23/01/2017 20:58

We have a stand alone bathroom in our loft and it's great. With kids our loos regularly get occupied for some time and it's used by everyone.

HiDBandSIL · 24/01/2017 12:30

How many bedrooms are you adding? Do any of your existing bedrooms have en suite? Which one will be the "master" bedroom? Do you have a downstairs loo?

I think a lot of people like an en suite for the master bedroom and it would be odd not to have one if you have other smaller bedrooms with en suite.

If you're only adding a single bedroom in the loft I'd go for an en suite because there's no one else on that floor to use it. Although I might change my mind if you don't have a downstairs loo...

If you're adding two bedrooms and neither will be the "master" bedroom then definitely separate bathroom if you have the space to lose the hallway access from the bedrooms.

We're just about to start a loft conversion so I've thought about this a lot! FWIW we're adding two bedrooms and as one will be the master bedroom and we could do without losing the space we'd need for a hallway we've gone for an en suite layout. It's tucked around the corner.

Irritatedmama · 24/01/2017 20:35

We are just adding one bedroom.

No en suites in the other 3 bedrooms just a family bathroom with shower over bath. We do have a downstairs loo.

Reason for thinking of making a separate bathroom is so that kids can use the walk in shower without coming through our room.

OP posts:
Sometimespostingalwayslurking · 24/01/2017 23:10

We have a separate bathroom accessed from a small landing in our loft. We are in a terraced house in London and we only have two loos so I want the one in the loft to be easily accessible. Also, we now have a 3.5m long wall in the bedroom giving space for a large wardrobe and we would not have had the space with an ensuite as that's where the door would have had to be. Very happy with our decision and most people i know in our area who have just had their loft converted went for a separate bathroom.

PigletJohn · 25/01/2017 01:33

a wardrobe in eaves will not really be walk-in, unless you are very small. The slope will prevent it. Unless you step in out into the room, and lose floorspace.

More likely you can have narrow shelves for shoes or books at the top, then shirts and jumpers, then maybe enough room for a hanging rail for jackets but not coats.

More often people have small cupboards behind the knee wall, to maximise floorspace in the room. Be sure to have the cupboard properly insulated from the roof, or it will be cold and liable to damp.

Manumission · 25/01/2017 01:40

I would like to create a bathroom that can be accessed independently from the bedroom. DH would prefer an en-suite. I think a stand alone bathroom would be more useful and add more value should we ever come to sell. Plus it can be used by our children or guests etc without them needing to come into our room.

You see, he's thinking about sex, nudity, shared showers and a return to life pre-children for the odd half hour.

Which is quite different from your practical approach Smile

The advantage of a Jack n Jill would be you could use it either way with a couple of lock clicks. The disadvantage is you lose wall space to two doors.

notangelinajolie · 25/01/2017 01:59

I also don't like the thought of someone in earshot if I'm on the loo.

If you are only having one bedroom then I would have a separate bathroom if there is room. Strictly speaking you could call it a master bedroom suite with walk in wardrobe and bathroom. That sounds much grander than en suite. No not jealous at all.

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Bubbinsmakesthree · 25/01/2017 02:09

Sounds like the loft conversion we are planning (in the loft of a 3 bed terrace) and the exact same things we are considering. Bedroom will be our master, with family bathroom on floor below. Bathroom will be in corner and door will either open onto small landing or into bedroom, doesn't fundamentally change layout. As long as we end up with a downstairs loo (we're extending rear as well) I am planning to keep the bathroom ensuite - but I don't really have hang-ups about "poo proximity" and also think when the kids are old enough to start hogging the bathroom I'd rather let them fight it out for the family bathroom and keep the ensuite for me and DH rather than risk getting up and find a teenager hogging my shower!

The bedroom will end up as a rectangle with full height at the rear in space created by dormer and reduced height at front. We're planning to put a partition stud wall in across the room so that the rear has the bed in a smallish space (just room for bed really) against the partition wall with the foot of the bed facing the dormer. Then wardrobes with sliding doors up against the other side of the stud wall and drawers along the most reduced height part of the eaves. I've seen pictures of similar and we're just planning it out now to check we have sufficient space with this layout to keep the walk-in usable (don't want it to end up so narrow DH and I can't move past each other) and that the bedroom isn't overly cramped.

My thinking is that we'll have French doors/Juliet balcony in the dormer which look out over the gardens and will have lots of light so I like the idea of lying in bed looking out over the view, and keeping this space very uncluttered.

PigletJohn · 25/01/2017 02:15

A little lobby or landing will keep the bedroom fresher and quieter. Incidentally, the fire-resisting doors you will probably require for habitable rooms are very substantial, and good for muffling noise. Worth adding to a bathroom, I think.

Bubbinsmakesthree · 25/01/2017 02:26

Here's a picture of a conversion that does what I want with the walk-in wardrobe (you can just see the foot of the bed on the other side of the partition) but I think we have slightly less space than this so we need to test the design carefully:

www.econoloft.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dressing-room.jpg

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