Ensuite help needed! Shod the window be central to the room?

[ringofroses]

We are in the process of extending & need to make a decision on the window in the en suite by tomorrow! The shape of the room means that the toilet & sink need to go next to each other on the only wall which has a window. Our architect drew the window central to the room but if we follow this design it means we can't have a mirror above the sink. The bathroom store we are using suggested moving the window to one side, so that it would be above the toilet (this would also mean reducing its size), allowing us to put a mirror above the sink. This option is more practical but I'm unsure if it will look odd. Does anyone have any advice/experience in planning bathrooms? TIA.

[Liara]

I would put it above the toilet, but make sure it will not look wrong from the outside (too close to the edge of the building?).

Have you asked the architect why he drew it this way? It's very odd to not have a mirror above the sink.

[ProudNeathGirl]

I don't personally think it would matter.
You could get a mirror the same size and shape as the window, to balance things out? That would look ok.

[ringofroses]

"Should" the window be central, not shod! Stressed & in a hurry!

We did speak to the architect but he offered no advice (think we may have picked a naff one, which wasn't apparent until the build began!).

[poocatcherchampion]

we'll be having a window above the basin. mirror on the wall to the right. it will be fine.

[Alfiecat]

We have a window above the sink and the last house we had this too. We just have a free standing large mirror sat on the windowsill.

[ILoveAFullFridge]

If the window is over the loo, surely it would have to be quite small not to extend over the basin?

All my bathrooms have had the window over the basin, so we have a large shaving mirror attached to the reveal for use at the basin. Advantage is plenty of natural light on your face. Have a large mirror and a wall cabinet elsewhere in the bathroom.

[ILoveAFullFridge]

Not that I have lots of bathroom! Meant in all the places I have lived.

[ringofroses]

The room is 1.7m wide and the window reduced in size would be 0.7m, whereas if it were central we could go up to approx 1m. Good point Iloveafullfridge, we are concerned about the light but DP is also concerned about no mirror!!

[QOD]

We have a window and no mirror in the en suite, we added it ourselves so it just had to fit in. I don't use that room for make up anyway and dh shaves in the main bath anyway

[ChunkyPickle]

We have two windows in our bathroom - one above the toilet, one above the sink (both little windows - 0.5m wide x0.7 high) - looks fine to me, bathroom is plenty bright during the day.

[sppp]

Does your DH wetshave?

If so you really want a mirror on the wall. If you have a freestanding one it will need to be at an angle and he will drip water and shaving foam all over it on a daily basis. If it is at the right height and flat on the wall then that will not happen.

[SanityClause]

Something to consider is how it will look from the outside. Windows all willy nilly can look a bit odd on some houses, but fine on others.

I don't think a window needs to be central on a bathroom, from the inside, at all.

[EeyoreIsh]

we have our bathroom window above the basin, and it's not central either. It works fine, we have the mirror on the adjacent wall to the basin.

[MummytoMog]

We have a shaving mirror over our basin - seems to work fine for DH, but I do miss having a big mirror... I would keep the window central though.

[theWookiesWife]

If you can get the balance right between looking fine from outside and looking fab inside - that's the key !!
It's a shame you can't post up a sketch on here ?! Practically, I agree that a mirror above the sink is important for wet shave men !
If its not too late - scan in your plan and email it to me - I will see if there's another option, not already mentioned !
[email protected]

[ringofroses]

Thank you all for your comments and for your offer to look at our plans thewookieswife. Unfortunately, we had to make a quick decision as the builders were at that point of building! We decided to go for a larger, central window over the sink & toilet as the blummin architect didn't take into account the fact that the bottom of the window had to be higher from the floor than all the other windows on the house, so that a toilet could fit underneath it. We were concerned about the natural light if the window were reduced in both width & height. The size of the wider window also looks ok from the outside if the house as its not too close to the external side wall. I'm not sure if this is the right decision - I guess we won't know until the bathroom is fitted & we use it.

DP does wet shave so I think we'll need to find a really fab shaving mirror to pull out over the sink. Can anyone recommend one?

A word of warning for any first time extenders...don't rush your plans through. We chose the first architect we met & assumed he knew best. Unfortunately, he didn't put any windows on the side of our house, which we thought was because we wouldn't get planning permission, but apparently that's not the case & it's too late to change now. We wouldn't have had this problem if he had of put side windows in or if we would have questioned his plans in the early stages!

[theWookiesWife]

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/38006200/
This is a good value one ! Glad it's sorted ! Just hope it turns out how you wanted !! :-)

[ILoveAFullFridge]

We got ours from Hib. Seem very sturdy, though we haven't had them for long enough to know how they will last. Definitely feel better than the B&Q or Ikea ones we've had before.