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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not understand the current obsession with bathrooms?

138 replies

BadRuby · 04/02/2020 22:06

It seems like a lot of properties are shoehorning in an en suite or an extra toilet or shower room wherever they can.

I just saw a miniscule 2 bed flat with a family bathroom and a chunk taken out of the main bedroom for a shower en suite Confused surely the space could have been better used for storage, or literally anything else? What need is there for 2 bathrooms in a 2 bedroom flat?

I've seen this a lot in new builds as well, and it's just bizarre!

OP posts:
NeverForgetYourDreams · 04/02/2020 22:07

I love our two bathrooms. It means when DS is in the shower I can go to the loo.

Sonichu · 04/02/2020 22:10

If MN is anything to go by, one bathroom is the "family bathroom" and the other one is an outhouse if you have the audacity to need a shite.

Scarydinosaurs · 04/02/2020 22:11

Flat shares

WizzyBee · 04/02/2020 22:11

Can't stand the idea of en-suites in general. I really don't want smells from lavatories and steam from showers wafting into the bedroom.

A friend's (very rich) sister has moved into a house with 7, yes 7 lavatories. 6 bedrooms, each with an en-suite, plus one downstairs.

Grobagsforever · 04/02/2020 22:19

I agree OP. Boyfriend just bought a house with two bedrooms and THEE FULL BATHROOMS.

He lives alone and has a choice of three loos every time he wees ffs.

bridgetreilly · 04/02/2020 22:37

It is bonkers. The more bathrooms you have, the more bathrooms you have to clean. No house needs as many (or more!) loos as bedrooms.

chellochello · 04/02/2020 22:41

Totally agree my brother and sister in law have a minuscule new build 2 bed house with a family bathroom and downstairs loo and an en-suite - there is only the 2 of them live there so why they need 3 toilets is beyond me and they're always complaint about lack of space!!

NannaNoodleman · 04/02/2020 22:42

In a previous life, DH & I had 5 bathrooms... it was heaven! The cats had their own bathroom (litter tray room). I've been sharing a bathroom with my own husband for 3 years now and I must admit, I dislike it... the only thing keeping this marriage going is the thought of the renovation and extra bathroom (this is somewhat lighthearted)!

norealshepherds · 04/02/2020 22:42

I agree, we have one toilet and that does fine for us

PatellarTendonitis · 04/02/2020 22:43

Sounds great to me! One bathroom is like no mixer taps and no showers in places, backwards AF.

SerenDippitty · 04/02/2020 22:43

I agree OP - much better to have more living/storage space.

ThunderboltandLightning · 04/02/2020 22:44

We have 5 bedrooms, 3 with en suite and a family bathroom, plus separate downstairs loo. Sure there's more to clean, but two are spare rooms, don't get used most weeks and it means I don't have to share with stinky teen boys!

Two of the en suite were added in a reconfiguration, which created way more space than expected, so it made sense, considering the 'obsession' you note. But, equally, we were not that fussed, and would have been just as happy without the extras.

Likethebattle · 04/02/2020 22:47

I love having two bathrooms. Means neither of us have to wait as there is always a free loo! If one of us is ill we ‘shut down a bathroom’ and only the ill person uses it to stop the illness spreading.

Ginfordinner · 04/02/2020 22:48

You are lucky not to need more than one loo norealshepherds. I have IBS, and since his stomach surgery DH needs to dash to the loo more often. A one loo house is a deal breaker. We haven't lived in a one loo property since 1989.

Plus having 2 bathrooms is great when we have guests to stay, and when teenage DD likes to take a long bath.

YolandiFuckinVisser · 04/02/2020 22:49

We have 1 bathroom and it's downstairs between the living room & kitchen. Not ideal but the house was built when toilets were outside in the yard, the indoor bathroom is a luxury added in the 1980s. 2 adults, 2 teens, 3 bedrooms.

maddening · 04/02/2020 22:49

We have the same as thunderbolt but it is a new build, dh, me and ds each have our own and it is fantastic.

ActualHornist · 04/02/2020 22:51

YANBU. We have one bathroom. I'd like another separate WC, which is basically what we had when I was growing up, as did the majority of my friends.

But en suites are horrible. I don't get new builds - massive family bathroom at the expense of a smaller bedroom and an ensuite shoe-horned into the master bedroom.

UpsideRound · 04/02/2020 22:52

I live in an older terrace and have one toilet in the house. 5 kids. I almost feel embarrassed to say it in real life now! Like I’m bringing them up in a historical novel...
(Loads of houses in east London are this way, I’m not being odd on purpose)

IHaveBrilloHair · 04/02/2020 22:55

I loved it growing up, the main bathroom was mine, parents used their en suite and we had a a downstairs loo.
As an adult I think it's madness!

PlanDeRaccordement · 04/02/2020 22:56

I’m too lazy to clean lots of bathrooms. So a ratio of 1:4 humans is good for me. I agree too many new built homes waste space putting in extra bathrooms and shower rooms.

Pipandmum · 04/02/2020 22:57

When the three of stay in s two bedroom flat in can be chaos in the morning. Someone is always on there when you are busting for the loo. But I wouldn't make an change that would compromise proportions. But a three bed home needs two baths (and a downstairs loo).

Dividingthementalload · 04/02/2020 22:59

There is no greater luxury than a guaranteed private shite. We have 3 bathrooms and a loo, we can all poo in synchrony. It’s bloody blissful.

Notso · 04/02/2020 23:00

When we were house hunting we looked at a house with six bedrooms all with televisions in and seven bathrooms all with televisions in plus a downstairs loo Confused
It only had a small kitchen/diner/living room and a tiny garden.
I can only imagine it was designed for a family with loads of unsociable teenagers who never ventured out their bedrooms.

Dancingandthedreaming · 04/02/2020 23:02

Yup, we have a 5/6 bed house with the same number of toilets. Keeping them all timescale free is an nightmare and the kids all seem to want to use the one I'm in anyway. Plus weve realised after buying said house that most of them are broken or nearly, so now meets the budget for squillions of loos, showers, tiles, gah!

ILearnedItFromABook · 04/02/2020 23:05

A decent en suite is wonderful, if there's room for it. It's a totally different room and no "wafting" smells or steam. (And honestly, if there are going to be smells wafting around, I'd like the option of keeping them in the private part of the house rather than near areas where guests will gather.)

Unless I lived alone, I wouldn't want to live in a house with only one toilet. There are too many times when both of us need use of a bathroom, for one reason or another. On the other hand, I don't want too many bathrooms to keep clean, which is why we eliminated a small water closet from our house plans. Definitely wouldn't want seven, unless I also had a cleaner!