Bathroom design ... separate toilet or no?

[alwayswrighty]

We've got a 70s house. No toilet downstairs. Bathroom and toilet upstairs separated by a stud wall. I'm considering knocking them together and having one big bathroom but then my husband said what if we have guests. We rarely do, so not something I'd considered.

Also the pipework where the toilet is takes up about a foot from the wall so we'd have to consider what we're doing with that.

Would you knock through or not bother?

@wizbit93 that might be viable.

Any scope for the door to open outwards or be a sliding pocket door or similar? Then you could get a little sink.

I wonder about putting half height tongue and groove paneling the whole way round. That can look lovely and would help the boxing blend in. If you're feeling brave put a bold wallpaper above.

Tbf the inclusion of a sink doesn't mean people actually use it!

Can you have the door open outwards & fit a sink that way?

[quote alwayswrighty]@wizbit93 that might be viable.[/quote]
@alwayswrighty It's been great- we had to use the bathroom to wash our hands before and it just made me feel 'yucky' having to touch door handles without having washed our hands. The only thing was that we had a radiator there before, but a cold bum is a small price to pay!

I would absolutely knock the dividing wall down but if finances and space allow, I'd put in a cloakroom downstairs (like Wizbit93's lovely example).

I had one in previous house under the stairs, had an extractor fan that came on with the light (because of no window) and a macerator, so no need for huge soil pipe. We're planning to put a loo and utility room in current house as downstairs loo is outside (and has no sink!)

Having two toilets, one on each floor, is invaluable imo.

I wonder about putting half height tongue and groove paneling the whole way round. That can look lovely and would help the boxing blend in. If you're feeling brave put a bold wallpaper above.

Yes we have tiles & bold wallpaper

I 'd leave it separate but I grew up in a country where toilets are separate and find it odd or even gross to have a toilet in the actuall bath-room.

@katepilar ha, I grew up here but immigrant parents. I also find the toilet in the bathroom thing really strange & growing up we always had them separate.

We have no option for a downstairs toilet sadly, so this is the only one. 99.9% of the time only 2 adults in the house though so not a big deal when ones not at work

I'm erring on the side of keeping it separate but replace the toilet with one that has a sink on the cistern or getting the door rehung so it opens outwards and putting in a sink on the left as you look in (radiator on otherwise of wall so shouldn't be difficult).

Definitely be completely redecorating, although I prefer pain to wall paper so we'll probably go bold on the paint colour.

Your house sounds exactly the same size/age as ours and we did exactly this last year as both bathroom and toilet were quite small and like you only have one toilet in the house . Had a structural engineer check it out first . Believe me when I say its the best decision we've ever made , it's really lovely to have a decent sized bathroom . We have teens so the only rule is to check with anyone else in the house if they need the loo before they take up residence in the bathroom , no idea what takes them so long in there .

I had only one bathroom with toilet included. It caused me no end of trouble when I desperately needed the loo and one of my teens was in the bath. Or they were doing a long number 2s session and I was desperate for a wee. If you can't have a downstairs loo I'd definitely go for it separately. As you get older your ability to 'hold on' gets a lot tougher.

www.barbicanbasin.com/
Look at a Barbican sink, slightly recessed into wall, but amazing for a small space.

@Bouledeneige

I had only one bathroom with toilet included. It caused me no end of trouble when I desperately needed the loo and one of my teens was in the bath. Or they were doing a long number 2s session and I was desperate for a wee. If you can't have a downstairs loo I'd definitely go for it separately. As you get older your ability to 'hold on' gets a lot tougher.

Yes, and this coincides with teens starting to take a ridiculously long time in the bathroom!

I recently stayed at an Airbnb with a similar WC layout to yours OP. There was a a sink on top of the cistern and the spout and taps were fitted onto the shelf above so there was plenty of room to fit hands under.