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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To dislike ensuite bathrooms?

281 replies

UnnecessaryFennel · 01/09/2018 22:35

Currently house-hunting and getting fed up with en-suite bathrooms being carved out of bedroom space and then being sold as some sort of plus point.

Plus, there is nothing cools my ardour like the sound of dp doing his ablutions first thing (and I'm sure he feels the same about me).

Am I alone in preferring my bedroom to be entirely separate from my bathroom? Why have they become such A Thing?

OP posts:
habibihabibi · 02/09/2018 04:48

I can see the OP point when ensuite's are pokey and weird in converted houses that didn't even have bathrooms when originally constructed.
My pet hates in British houses are loos in tiny cells under the stairs and having the only bathroom downstairs off the kitchen.
I live in the ME and loos bathrooms and ensuites often outnumber bedrooms. I have quite often seen the master suite with a pair of ensuites .

BarbarianMum · 02/09/2018 04:52

I have crohns and wouldn't be without one. If I need to I can banish dh, shut the bedroom door and be ill in private. Like tonight in fact.

Torple · 02/09/2018 05:14

We live in a (small) 3-bed terrace. Considering selling, recently had a couple of estate agents round.
Both commented that the fact we “only” have one bathroom was a massive downside.
I said that there’s no room for a second bathroom, without, realistically losing the box room/my son’s bedroom.
I don’t even have a proper, wardrobe in my room, it’s so small, bloody sure I can fit a loo in.
So we would have two bedrooms and two bathrooms (which would be within 10ft of each other).
Both agents said it was worth considering because that’s what buyers want.
I called BS. Estate agents talk such crap.

CommanderDaisy · 02/09/2018 05:19

Yurk. I hate them.
Nothing worse than listening to your partner pissing away in the night right next to your bed, and as for poops in the morning.....
I have turned down perfect houses when we were looking to buy that had ensuites.

HoppingPavlova · 02/09/2018 05:20

I love having a toilet close to the bed but we don’t use the shower. Even with extraction fans etc I find the bedroom gets steamy when we use the shower and this has been the case in every house where we have had an ensuite (even those with a window we opened in addition to an extraction fan). We like our showers HOT, maybe that’s the problem? So this means we use the shower in the main bathroom and do the nudy walk back to bedroom to get dressed as we don’t want to make yet another trip taking a wet towel back to the bathroom.

dudsville · 02/09/2018 05:28

I loathe them. Ours is an addition built over the garage, but even though this means there's a good solid wall between bedroom and bathroom I still woke up each time my OH got up, a man in his 60s wees frequently. I think they are best if you're sharing a home but single.

Nakedavenger74 · 02/09/2018 05:38

I love ours but it's purpose built (ie not a carve out), as big as the bedroom and has another wardrobe and a walk in shower. It has loads of windows and has the best view in the house.

I love it as it's literally taken 15 minutes off my getting ready time in the morning.

No poo rule though.

actualpuffins · 02/09/2018 05:57

We have an ensuite which used to be the original bathroom, a family bathroom, and a toilet downstairs. There are four adults, one teenager, one pre-teen in our house and you would have to prise the ensuite from my cold, dead hands.

BarbaraofSevillle · 02/09/2018 06:05

All the posters saying they'd prefer a walk in wardrobe, why does it have to be either/or? Surely you'd just have both

Only on Mumsnet. Of course everyone lives in houses with loads of extra rooms or space to 'just have' ensuites and walk in wardrobes?

Meanwhile, back in the real world, it sounds like the OP is looking at the type of modern houses where you struggle to get a double bed and a wardrobe in the master bedroom due to cramped dimensions and awkward shape caused by the unnecessary ensuite.

I can see the attraction of an extra toilet, especially with a family, but modern houses have those too, downstairs, so there's a proliferation of houses with more toilets than bedrooms Confused.

SerenDippitty · 02/09/2018 06:08

We live in a traditional semi. No room for ensuites. One bathroom and two loos. We are thinking of having a downstairs shower room put in as we feel embarrassed about having people to stay when we can’t give them exclusive use of a bathroom.

SnuggyBuggy · 02/09/2018 06:50

I'm actually thinking of moving a door and thus converting the ensuite bathroom into an additional one off the upstairs landing.

shrunkenhead · 02/09/2018 06:54

Much as I love having a spare bathroom, I'd love a downstairs loo! Just to stop shoe-clad visitors traipsing up my carpeted stairs.
But I do think ensuites are a bit outdated now, v nineties. Obviously necessary in hotels but personally I wouldn't want to be listening to bathroom "noises" while lying in bed!!

LongSummerDays · 02/09/2018 07:06

Love my en-suite bathroom! Wouldn't be without it.

ToffeePennie · 02/09/2018 07:06

We have a 3 storey new build. Our bedroom on the top floor is ensuite and then our two little boys have the middle floor. I like being able to get a shower and get dressed before coming down the stairs in the morning and I also like that we have 3 loos! Makes mornings easier (all I want is a wee, both hubby and mr 4 want poos!)
It also means I won’t have to share a bathroom with two hulking, sweaty teenage boys. I grew up with one bathroom and my brother who used to spend all day in the bathroom just to walk round to the shops, whereas I had a date and couldn’t get in there so I had to make do with the kitchen sink.
It’s nicer for me and my family to have one.
However I am in agreement about the lack of bedroom space for one (though that’s not an issue for us - kingsize bed, double fitted wardrobe, bookshelf and desk plus bedside cabinets fit just fine) and I don’t think they should be sold as an “extra” or a selling point as so many houses have them now anyways.

LongSummerDays · 02/09/2018 07:07

We do have a downstairs loo plus the guest room has an en-suite and we have a family bathroom too.

LoniceraJaponica · 02/09/2018 07:10

I find this thread rather puzzling. The design of our house means that the ensuite bathroom off our bedroom is very much a separate room, and doesn't encroach into the bedroom space.

OH is the only one who gets up at night, and he only has a wee. He very rarely wakes me up. The bathroom has an extractor fan and a window, and when it is used for its intended purpose we don't get damp or smells in the bedroom because after it has been used the window is opened and the door to the bedroom is closed. I don't understand why people don't do this.

If I need the loo in the morning when OH is still in bed I use the downstairs loo. It's a no brainer really.

thegreylady · 02/09/2018 07:19

We live in a small bungalow with only one bathroom. When we moved in we had an en suite loo and basin put in the biggestbspare room (not our room). I think it’s so convenient for guests to have their own toilet. With two pensioners (dh and me) a second loo is often vital too.

EdisonLightBulb · 02/09/2018 07:25

YANBU I hate them too. DH leaves for work frequently as early as 5, who wants to be worked up to the sound of the shower and all the noise associated with morning routine. I think they are hideous things.

TBF the ones I have been in, in the US and Australia are not as bad as generally they are much bigger. However their minus is that their en suites are higher than the family bathroom. Why?

speakout · 02/09/2018 07:26

I don't like them either.

One of our bedrooms has an en suite but we have given that to our teenage daughter, I really don't want the noise of piddling in the middle of the night in the bedroom, or steam from the shower/jobbie smells etc.
We have a proper family bathroom with a shower and a bath and an extra toilet downstairs in a room off the hallway.
Plenty of options to pee.

EdisonLightBulb · 02/09/2018 07:27

I don't think anyone is disputing the benefits of two loos or even two bathrooms, just a bathroom connected directly to the bedroom. We have two bathrooms, one up stairs and a shower room downstairs. I just wouldn't have one in my bedroom.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 02/09/2018 07:30

I’m with you, OP. Our bathroom is just across the hall from our bedroom, it’s not exactly a long walk. Admittedly our DC occupied the floor above us so we were unlikely to meet unexpectedly heading for the bathroom. I think if I was an overnight guest at someone’s house I’d appreciate one. But not fussed in my own home.

I’d feel differently in a public place like a hotel.

Not wishing to derail but any thoughts on bidets?

lborgia · 02/09/2018 07:34

We have one, and it makes me feel a bit weird sometimes, but generally it’s great. Mostly because it’s mine. DH uses the family one, originally because he got up so early he didn’t want to wake me up.

What DOES freak me out though is a new fad I keep seeing in new builds, which is completely bonkers.

The en-suite is divided from the bedroom by a large picture window to waist height - presumably so both rooms get maximum light / share hte tv?! Can’t imagine who gets them. I also had friends who moved into a house where the huge bathroom was essentially part of hte bathroom, just defined by having floor tiles not carpet. Awful.

To dislike ensuite bathrooms?
GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 02/09/2018 07:35

Oh, dear, 😂 - only on MN would you ever you find someone saying it's 'unhygienic' to pooh in an ensuite loo.

Best laugh I've had since this time yesterday.

speakout · 02/09/2018 07:37

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

Who said that?

Emilizz34 · 02/09/2018 07:38

Depends on the size of them. We have 5 en suites. 4 are very large and have windows . The master one has double shower & double sinks and is situated on the other side of a walk in wardrobe so you can’t see or hear anything!! The 5th one is very compact but still fits a small shower, sink and toilet.