Would this bother you in a 'guest' toilet?

[Hidingtonothing]

Small downstairs loo, door opens into the hall. Hall is very dark (no natural light) so I'm considering changing the toilet door for one with privacy glass to let some light into the hall. Would put a light-coloured blind on inside of door to maximise privacy but would that still feel too 'exposed' for guests using the toilet?

No. No,no, no. I once had to use a guest toilet in someone’s house with a frosted glass window. I had to crouch down over the toilet so I couldn’t be seen from the outside. I ended up misjudging where I was aiming and got wee all over my pants. I had to sneak them into my handbag and go commando. If you need light, use a lamp on a small table or on a shallow wall shelf.

@Hidingtonothing. Depends. How often do you entertain guests? I'm fecking anti-social and wouldn't be factoring the wants of any infrequent guests into my decision making but if you're more of a social butterfly, then I wouldn't have see through glass.

We have a large sliding frosted glass door to our en-suite. You cannot see anything through it, but it does let some light through. We're not particularly bothered about the other seeing us in the bath or on the toilet anyway, but if it's a guest toilet for people who don't know they house they may take some convincing.

Both my parents and ILs have this with their main bathrooms upstairs (frosted glass plus voile) - it lets a lot of extra light into their bathrooms and no privacy issues at all, but because of the layouts no one could see you on the loo anyway unless they came right up to the door and peered in at an angle, also fewer people around upstairs.

I'd feel a bit more exposed downstairs in a hall and presumably the loo is closer to the door than in a full bathroom. I wouldn't do it.

Ha ha, Mysocksarefallingoff

May I recommend The Toilet Book by Bill Oddie (out of print I expect now) which is a favourite in our house. Makes me cry with laughter every time I read it as it covers the perils of other people's toilets with accompanying diagrams.

In Europe the "frosted" glass door appears to be ubiquitous. The frosting is often minimal and there is a clear outline of the person in residence and every action they are performing...

Light into their landings I meant.

I am the furthest thing from a social butterfly it's possible to be Butchy It would just be family and one or two close friends likely to use it, might canvas opinion from them to add to the opinions here before I decide. Thanks for all replies

Friend has a similar set up. Honestly it's never even entered my mind that the privacy glass / blind is less private.
Actually worked out well one time when another mutual friend went to the toilet, and the handle fell off and she was trapped. The only way we noticed was when the dog started barking because trapped friend was banging on the glass looking at the dog saying 'go get help' haha.

@Mysocksarefallingoff you sound batshit! The whole point of frosted glass is that you can’t see anything through it, not even outlines because the knobbly frosting distorts them! Are you also one of those people who runs the tap in case anyone hears them peeing?

It was only on reading this that i realised our main shower room/toilet has a frosted glass door on to the hall. No downstairs loo for us so guests use that one. Never occurred to me it might be an issue.

Though OP you comment that you get lots more light in when you leave the toilet door open...why not just leave it open as a matter of course then? Do you really want to spend money replacing a door just so you can avoid looking at the inside of your own loo when you walk down the hall?

It would also be less noise insulating than a solid door, so you’d be more likely to hear/be heard whilst going about your business. I’d avoid a glazed door unless it was an absolute last resort, tbh.

Would it not be cheaper and a lot less hassle to just stick one of these stick-on light bulbs in the toilet instead?
www.amazon.co.uk/BRAND-WHITE-STICK-LIGHT-BULB/dp/B0092P8BFU?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We have glass doors throughout our house, including the downstairs loo. You need a full length blackout blind - anything else will be completely transparent as soon as they put the light on.

savingspaces, the loo isn’t dark. The glazing is to steal light from the loo to illuminate the dark hallway, not the other way around.

You need a full length blackout blind - anything else will be completely transparent as soon as they put the light on.

Nonsense.

I’ve been to many peoples houses who have obscure glazing on their wc or bathroom doors. I never thought much about it and it certainly didn’t bother me when using them

Can you not just leave the toilet door open when not in use?

The door gets in the way when you're trying to get to the front door Argumentative, a minor irritation but still. All the internal doors need replacing anyway so this has only come up as I'm trying to choose new ones. Think I'm going for half glass on living and dining rooms so was just seeing if I can get away with them all matching and solve the light issue at the same time.

No!! That's an awful idea. Put more lights in the dark hall way instead surely???

That makes sense! I’d say do it. I know for a fact I can see nothing through ours because I have often tried the door and realised it was locked because someone was in there.

I could Otra, I'm just not keen on artificial light during the day so looking what my other options are. Can I ask why it would bother you so much if you couldn't be seen through the blind? Have checked the actual window from outside when light is on and you can't see even shapes/shadows through the frosted glass and blind.

you comment that you get lots more light in when you leave the toilet door open...why not just leave it open as a matter of course then?

I wouldn't fancy looking at a bog every time I came through my front door, I'll be honest. Also if the door opens outwards into the hall it's going to be in the way all the time, surely? Unless the OP lives in a mansion with a vast stately entrance hall.

I can't actually see how a privacy glass panel is going to let much more light in, but if you put in a little blind then I'm sure it would be fine. I wouldn't fancy it much without the blind, I must admit. OK for an en suite but not off a hallway.

What's the point of putting glass whe you have to cover it with blinds later? It's like wardrobes with glass doors and ..curtains behind the doors

@chocorabbit isn’t the point of those curtains behind the door so you can introduce pattern and colour to your room? We have one in the bathroom inherited from our vendors with a lovely bee pattern on it. It brightens up the room no end.