Will I regret getting rid of downstairs loo?

[MyDaisyField]

I live in a Victorian house that has a 1950’s loo by the backdoor. It’s in a sort of porch area between backdoor and door to the hallway. It’s pretty ugly and even though we’ve never actually used it (it’s freezing) it smells like a public toilet and if you don’t shut the hallway door it makes the whole of downstairs a bit stinky.

I think we should gut it and turn it into a cloakroom area. At the moment we use the space between the backdoor and hallway door as a dumping ground for coats and shoes but it’s tiny, even with just one coat and one pair of shoes there each it looks a tip.

Dh thinks we should get it redone and made nice and modern. We do have another downstairs bathroom but the plan is to use that and the rooms next to it as a granny flat for my dm within the next couple of years. Our main family bathroom is randomly halfway up the stairs so not too much of a slog and it means guests don’t have to go all the way upstairs to the loo.

Wwyd?

In which case I would definitely just do what works for you, you've got lots of toilets by the sounds of it so may as well do something more useful with the space. I'm not precious as to where toilets are so long as there as multiple!

Do what works for you, a guest bathroom half way upstairs doesn't sound terrible (I once lived in a flat with only ensuites, so guests always had to go through someone's bedroom - that wasn't great)

If you wanted to keep your options open, you could always do a fake job, so fix the plumbing and the toilet, but cover it up somehow and just use that as a storage cupboard anyhow - I had a friend with a slightly large downstairs toilet, and they basically did that. You could just about use the toilet, but you were surrounded by coats and wellies to do so!

Make it lovely, add a rad, change the seat. Keep it. I couldn’t cope without the downstairs loo. It was invaluable when I could barely walk.

I'd convert Death Toilet and Shoes & Crap into a Boot Room/Utility combined if there's enough space.

Seen that you have numerous other toilets, I would just turn it into a cloakroom to be honest. If you just had this one and the upstairs that would be different, but seems like a waste!

redo it as a toilet and put heating in there.
many people would not buy a house without downstairs toilet, and frankly, I think it should be mandatory to have an accessible, step free toilet in each house.

I'd get rid of it as you have more than one other loo. We are about to start an extension with a downstairs loo added but that is because we live on a farm, and are outside a lot. I can't be doing with cleaning mud/grain/general crap between back door and upstairs bathroom any time someone runs in to use the loo, and we are soon to have two children potty training in the next few years who will no doubt be running in filthy to use the loo. You also have to walk past our bedroom at the moment to get to upstairs loo, and I don't want guests traipsing through the whole house if they need the loo because then I have to keep the whole house clean at the same time
As I suspect none of this applies to you, turn it into a boot cupboard!

I’d turn that whole back door area into a boot/utility room.

No ones expecting a Victorian house to have a loo downstairs loo.

Could you put a doorway into the corridor to the downstairs bathroom so that you can access that without walking through your dm’s bedroom or living room? Just for family, with your guests using the one halfway up your stairs. You might not use it on a daily basis but as others have said there might be times when it is needed due to illness or injury.

If you are going to have a granny flat there in the next couple of years - leave the toilet and get it modernised. Elderly people can have real problems climbing stairs, so your DM will thank you for retaining a loo on her level.

Don't get rid. Fix it. Most house buyers would like/want a downstairs toilet. By getting rid you'd devalue your house by a lot.

The thing is from a buyers point of view there is a downstairs bathroom. It’s just that once my dm moves in I’d rather we didn’t use it as it will be her space. If/ when we move we wouldn’t be leaving dm there (tempting as it is) so there would be a downstairs bathroom.

Would guests be put off by using a family bathroom? Kids aren’t tiny so there’s not too much toys and junk lying around in there, it’s just toothbrushes/ razors etc that guests would have to tolerate.

I feel your pain with the cleaning of toilets! You have a downstairs loo, your other upstairs loo is easily accessible to guests. I would totally change it to storage.

The value is a red herring as there is a downstairs loo. If you never use it why would you miss it? Get rid and have a lovely boot room

Sounds like you have several toilets and wouldn't miss the downstairs one, but my only thought in favour of keeping it is accessibility. This year I went within a very short time frame from being some was pretty fit and active, to someone who took 20 minutes to get up or down a flight of stairs. If I hadn't had a downstairs toilet for those months, life would have been a lot more difficult. Obviously it may never happen in your family, but in the event that someone did have an illness or accident that restricted their mobility you may miss the downstairs loo.