Would you rather have a downstairs toilet or laundry room?

[hereismydog]

As above, we have a downstairs toilet that nobody has used in well over a year because the seat is broken and has proved impossible to replace due to its awkward shape and internal fixings.

We haven’t really missed it, so have been toying with the idea of turning it into an all-in-one laundry cupboard, as our washing machine and tumble dryer are in separate areas of the house, but we are worried about resale value if we completely scrap the toilet. There are two other toilets in the house, so we feel three is probably a bit excessive (3-bed house).

So, which would you rather have?

Laundry room! I would try and leave the plumbing there for the toilet and sink though so it could be converted back in the future

I've never lived in a house with a downstairs toilet, I'd of loved one when potty training!

I'd go laundry room though.

I'd love this! Less practical though if you do have outside space for drying.

OP, would you be happy to share a floor plan with us? People might have some helpful ideas about how you keep a downstairs loo and make your washing machine more accessible.

I can try and draw one I’m no architect so it will be very rough!

There might be one on Zoopla from when you bought the house?!

Bingo!

The yellow square is where the stupid washing machine is currently; the cupboard it’s in is chest height on me (and I am 5ft!) and then it’s round to the right, but the right of the cupboard is recessed and actually extends further back under the stairs so the floorplan isn’t 100% accurate, and it’s harder to access it than it looks. The plumbing for it backs right onto the downstairs toilet we want to move it to, though.

The blue line is where the cupboard actually stops, and the machine is almost to the back of the cupboard.

Thanks! What about the first floor? Just wondering if the w/m could be squeezed in there?

I had this same issue but decided to keep my downstairs loo and made an upstairs cupboard into a mini laundry room with stacked machines.

Toilet. There's 6 of us with one toilet so I would love another one.

Downstairs toilet

We considered that but the first floor is the family bathroom and two bedrooms, with a long but narrow boiler/storage cupboard off one of the bedrooms that we originally considered putting the washing machine in but it wouldn’t have worked. Top floor is the master bedroom and en-suite, so nowhere for a washing machine to go there either!

There are only two of us (soon to be 3, but we’re stopping at one child!) and two toilets already.

We don’t entertain guests very often, and when we do it’s only close family and friends so never anyone we wouldn’t want to have upstairs anyway!

Downstairs loo is handy. Laundry rooms are better upstairs.

I'd do the laundry room, you'll soon be having a lot more laundry and it's easier if it's all in one place. I like having the wm and tumble dryer behind a door. Could you put a radiator and drying rack or ceiling rack in too?

Thanks for the floorplan. I can see an easy way for you to have both.

Having a loo under the stairs works fine (we have this) as you are sitting down so don't need head room. Those who stand to pee can stand in the adjacent full-headroom area. The square is a laundry stack of washer and drier and the triangle is a corner-fitted handwash sink.

You can have some wall hung clothes airer lines high up on the right hand wall too if you like.

Make sure you install a powerful extractor fan so it doesn't get damp in there.

What?! The entire cupboard is chest height from when you open the door; there is nowhere to stand up in there, much less use the toilet! DP and I are not tall people by any means, but we’re not Hobbits

SO looking forward to the photo 😀

Yes, planning to have a rack in there, or hang our coats as coats are currently on pegs in the hallway and I don’t like them there on show!

Our tumble dryer is in the garage, which is not connected to the house so we have to crawl inside the shitty little washing machine cupboard on our hands and knees, unload the machine, reverse out with a basket of washing and then carry it across the garden to the garage. The dryer is vented, but we would be getting a condenser if we move them to one room.

I might get DP to pretend to be sitting on a toilet in there just for lols

I finish work at 7pm so you’ve plenty of time to get excited

100% downstairs loo unless you’re a MNer who never has people visit her house.

The idea of guests wandering upstairs to use the loo make me shudder.

I'm not sure you can have a toilet opening into a kitchen so @LoftLaughLoads suggestion might not be allowed. Why is the current laundry cupboard not full height? Do the stairs turn and go over it? Might be worth investigating if the height can be increased. The other option is to put the washing machine into the garage with the tumble dryer and having a laundry space there. Then you could use the awkward cupboard under the stairs for storage.

Normally I'd say get rid of one of the bathrooms but since you currently have one per floor it's a reasonable layout.

Is it just me, or does that plan not seem to show a front door?

Can you get DH to wear some hobbit feet OP?

@JaninaDuszejko a few decades ago there was a regulation that said that, but it was based on Victorian levels of scientific understanding. Nowadays it's fine so long as you have a good extractor fan and handwash sink.

Apologies if I misunderstood your scale @hereismydog - our loo is under our stairs where there had previously been a cupboard under the stairs. You'd need to be a hobbit to stand exactly on the spot where the loo pan is but there's full height clearance next to it (sorry it's not easy to get a photo cos of the weird angles but the triangle in the top right of this picture is the underside of the stairs that you can clunk your head against when using the loo if you aren't careful but it's easy to dodge if you pay attention.

Haha, the back door is in the kitchen. The front door is opposite what is currently the downstairs toilet, but the whole setup is a bit backwards so general access to and from the house is via the back door. The ‘official’ front door is used only by the cats