Would this bother you? (bathroom door)

[CaptainCallisto]

Our house has a slightly odd layout upstairs, with a tiny bathroom and a separate toilet directly opposite. Because both rooms are so small both doors open outward and they are close enough together that they bang into and obstruct each other. That means that if someone is in the toilet/bathroom and the other door is left open while you're in there you're stuck.

I have just been stuck in the loo (DS2 (6) left the bathroom door open again) for the third time this week and I've had enough. I want to take the bathroom door off. We don't often have people to stay (maybe one or two nights a year) but I don't want to make anybody uncomfortable. Would you be comfortable showering/dressing in a bathroom that had a heavy curtain instead of a door?

How about a folding door?

Try a bifold door instead. A curtain will get manky from the steam, and you will never have any privacy from your kids!

Yes it would. How about automatic door closers (the cheap spring type) so the doors stay shut by default?

Sounds a very reasonable suggestion to me. A heavy curtain will give privacy and stop draughts.
There are folding doors, but not cheap and difficult to fit properly.

Can you change a door around so it opens into the room instead of the hallway?

We looked at folding doors but the blasted door frames are wonky and really low (it's an old house!) so we can't find anything to fit.

I hadn't considered that the curtains would get manky from the moisture. That's a very good point!

I'm a bit wary of the weighted door closer things, but the kids are getting old enough to (hopefully) not trap fingers, so it looks like that might be the way to go.

Thanks everyone!

There's no space in either room for the door to open inwards - they're tiny!

Try a folding door , you can get them from b&q for a good price . We had one when we moved into this house , it was great but we’ve taken it off as it was for the office so we’ve made it open plan but our upstairs hallway is small so our doors open outwards too.

Sorry cross posted with you! X

Honestly the curtain sounds like a terrible idea. If you haven’t succeeded in getting everyone disciplined into closing the doors at all times, I don’t think the curtain would be any way reliable. Also it would be awfully liable to grow mould and damp, as well as letting damp from the shower all round the house. And as a guest I would be massively uncomfortable with the arrangement. There has to be an alternative! Can you switch one door to hinges on the opposite side, does that solve anything? Can you put some restrictive so each door can only open 45degrre max? Or the obvious spring closure on one of them at least (the shower room, as presumably small children wouldn’t be in there unsupervised as much)? Folding or sliding doors?

But not the curtain. Please no!

You could even try a concertina door tho you might run into the same skewiff issue.

I'd be saving up to get that whole set up revamped into a single room as it sounds very awkward.

As a guest I'd find showering with just a curtain a bit grim

Man, that sounds well annoying.

Get a carpenter to come and have a look and see if they have any suggestions for you.

do you have the clearance to fit a barn door style door?

like these

How about saloon doors for the bathroom? Sufficient privacy and can't get stuck open or closed?

I really like the sliding barn style. If space is awkward or tight then maybe a carpenter could fit two narrow ones to go in opposite directions, or fit on the inside of the room.

I wouldn't stay if there was just a curtain, I wouldn't be comfortable at all. Weighted closure may be best solution here

Have you enough wall room for a sliding door in the hallway/landing?

Oops cross post with Gatekeeper and Enrique

My sister has a similar set up. Her bathroom door is split down the middle so it opens like a wardrobe if that makes any sense? She actually calls her bathroom Narnia. Could something like that work?

The plan is eventually to get it Madi into one room Snuggy, but we don't have the funds at the moment.

I've just had a look at sliding barn doors and they look perfect! We've got sufficient clearance to put one on the bathroom, and that would solve the problem! Thank you to everyone who suggested them - I'd not even thought of anything like that!

Curtain is a definite no!

This is occupying my mind way more than it should! Can you put a diagram of the floor plan?

Cross post! Glad you have a solution.

A relative of mine has saloon type doors in their bathroom for the same reason, but they are obviously full length and are not swing doors but hinged normally either side. It works well enough.

I'd be ok with it in my own house but I wouldn't want to stay with someone with no door on the bathroom. I'd be marginally more comfortable with that the taking the toilet door off.

A curtain would surely be fine if you get a waterproof one? One you can line with shower curtain or something?

I used to live in a tiny terrace that had a bathroom tacked on the back on the ground floor. We had a door like this one it had a lock and everything so was fine. That website actually has some quite fancy ones on there.