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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

En-suite or separate bathroom

66 replies

Leobynature · 22/02/2021 08:30

Posting here for traffic and to enable the voting (hopefully it works).

DISCLAIMER: These are rubbish first world problems but I have to get it right as I am spending a ridiculous amount of money. In the process of getting a loft conversion done, after researching tips on MN most people stated a separate bathroom was better than an en-suite as it frees up a wall (which will be used for wardrobes), you don’t get toilet smells in bedroom and other people can use bathroom without walking through your bedroom. However DH now wants a en-suite and feels this will add more value/luxury. Plans have been drawn up to include separate bathroom which will be accessed via a small hall way.

What are your thoughts? To en-suite or to not en-suite in the new loft conversion? That is the question

YABU: En-suite
YANBU: separate bathroom

OP posts:
Racoonworld · 22/02/2021 09:42

Separate if it’s in the loft with master bedroom. You’ll get the best of both worlds, a private bathroom but not in your bedroom.

mcclucky · 22/02/2021 09:50

Ensuites are nice if used by only one person. If used by a couple - less nice.

Dixiechickonhols · 22/02/2021 09:55

En-suite if it’s the only bedroom up there an extra corridor would be odd and a waste of space. The bedroom, dressing area then en-suite set up is popular if you have space. Love my en suite though.

MsMarch · 22/02/2021 09:55

Definitely separate. Then you shift your thinking so that the entire top floor is the "master suite".

The extra wall and the ability to use the bathroom without noise/smell necessarily impacting the bedroom is invaluable. But because it's at the top of it's own staircase, with its own hallway etc, it still feels like an ensuite. When we have guests, they do not come up the stairs to our loft. I'm still perfectly comfortable walking from bedroom to bathroom naked etc (and depending on space, if that was a huge issue for your DH, you might be able to put a door into the "suite" at the to top of the stairs. We wouldn't quite have enough room for this but my sister, if she'd wanted to, does.

SFHJ · 22/02/2021 09:57

Jack and Jill bathroom, that’s what we have in our master. We have access from our room but there is also access from the landing for the other bedroom on this floor.

DareIask · 22/02/2021 09:58

Any type of en-suite to a master would put me off buying a property. Ok with a guest room but is a no for me

StCharlotte · 22/02/2021 10:02

Definitely separate. Then you shift your thinking so that the entire top floor is the "master suite".

Exactly what I was going to say. Sounds even more impressive for your DH Wink

Talipesmum · 22/02/2021 10:14

One of my favourite things about our en-suite in loft conversion is that it is only for us. It’s really nice and calming to have it as a more private room. We don’t get any smells or anything. The kids use the main bathroom on the first floor, we use our bathroom. I strongly discourage them from using ours!! It’s all nice and tidy because of this. I’d never had one before and wasn’t expecting to love it so much. We have a good fan, really quiet, and arranged the lights / electrics so that you can turn on a warm light above the mirror with no fan coming on (for toothbrushing / quick loo visits at night to keep it quiet) but if you turn the main light on, the fan comes on.

CaughtInTheCovid · 22/02/2021 10:36

I am not a good person to ask as I loathe en suites. I think they're old fashioned and I would always choose a more easily accessible bathroom. My ideal in a loft conversion would be lovely big master with walk in wardobe/dressing room then luxurious bathroom off the landing.

shrunkenhead · 22/02/2021 10:44

Separate bathroom. Ensuites are v dated and have had their day.

pointyshoes · 22/02/2021 10:51

En-suite. If there’s enough space to have a sensible layout and to be able to move. It must also have a window. Properly planned en-suites don’t let smells into the bedroom . It’s en-suites that have been added later in the corner of a bedroom which don’t have windows and rely on fans that are so grim. En suite doesn’t automatically mean small or pokey, and can be just as luxurious as a separate bathroom. Surely if it’s just a bedroom up there no one else will need to access the bathroom

cheeseismydownfall · 22/02/2021 11:00

Like MsMarch says, I would go for a separate bathroom, but consider the upstairs as a complete master suite, but with the bonus that the bathroom available to other members of the household in an emergency.

Personally I much prefer having our own en suite in a family house (I have never experienced any of the issues MN seems so anxious about) but the fact it is a self-contained floor makes it a completely different IMO.

Disfordarkchocolate · 22/02/2021 11:05

To have it separate is hardly going to make it hard to get too so I'm definitely in the separate camp. The less bathroom noise I hear from my husband the better.

ChikiTIKI · 22/02/2021 11:05

I would much prefer seperate too. Sounds like the square hallway might be viable to turn in to a walk through closet? That would be the dream!!

LindaEllen · 22/02/2021 11:06

I personally don't like en-suites as it can wake you up if your OH goes for a wee in the night. If possible, I would have it as a separate room, so long as it fits with your space. If it's only you and your bedroom up there on that floor anyway, the whole thing is your space so it's still a private bathroom.

user1497787065 · 22/02/2021 11:18

I really do not understand this bathroom smells in bedroom unless you don't have a door on the en-suite bathroom or a window. I have three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and I really do not see this as an issue. Is it about where the loo is positioned in relation to the bed?

Fifthtimelucky · 22/02/2021 11:26

@MsMarch

Definitely separate. Then you shift your thinking so that the entire top floor is the "master suite".

The extra wall and the ability to use the bathroom without noise/smell necessarily impacting the bedroom is invaluable. But because it's at the top of it's own staircase, with its own hallway etc, it still feels like an ensuite. When we have guests, they do not come up the stairs to our loft. I'm still perfectly comfortable walking from bedroom to bathroom naked etc (and depending on space, if that was a huge issue for your DH, you might be able to put a door into the "suite" at the to top of the stairs. We wouldn't quite have enough room for this but my sister, if she'd wanted to, does.

I agree with this. A separate one will feel private, as people normally won't bother going up the stairs just for the loo when there is a closer one .

But the advantage of a separate one is that it will give you more flexibility eg when you have guests, or if someone wants a long relaxing soak without being disturbed, or is ill and needs more frequent access to the loo. There will be access to both bathrooms without going through your bedroom.

If you had a downstairs loo too, that wouldn't be an issue but I think with two loos in the house they both need to be available to everyone.

minipie · 22/02/2021 11:27

I have never ever heard anyone dislike en suites except on MN Grin

However OP, since you have only one other loo, I would say make it separate so it can be used more easily when the other bathroom is occupied.

EssexGurl · 22/02/2021 11:32

Our family bathroom is closer to our bedroom than our en-suite!

We have a dressing room between the en-suite and the master bedroom. Family bathroom literally backs onto our bedroom and we hear everything!

If the loft conversion is just bedroom and bathroom then essentially it is an en-suite, so to my mind it is a matter of semantics.

In your case, I’d just plan the best use of space. Does the hallway take much space? You might get bigger rooms with a bedroom and en-suite - which to me would be a positive.

Exhausteddog · 22/02/2021 11:57

A lot of MN seem to hate ensuite bathrooms. I quite like ours. The theory is it would just be for me and DH but DS seems to use it for most things because its nearer to his room than the family bathroom.
(our family bathroom is tiny)

We had it added as part of an extension. The architect originally added another ensuite to a different bedroom but I chose to have a bigger bedroom and one less bathroom to clean

mcclucky · 22/02/2021 11:59

@minipie

I have never ever heard anyone dislike en suites except on MN Grin

However OP, since you have only one other loo, I would say make it separate so it can be used more easily when the other bathroom is occupied.

It's like staying in a hotel. It's convenient to have a private bathroom close by when it's just you.

When you're sharing the room with anyone else, be that a partner or group of friends, you really, really, really wish there was more space between your living area and the bathroom. Mainly for privacy reasons.

We all know that other people have the same bodily functions as us. Doesn't mean we want to hear them!

PinotNoisette · 22/02/2021 12:03

Depends where the space for the 'hallway' will come from if the bathroom was separate. I'd rather have a bigger en-suite/bedroom than lose space adding in a hallway or vestibule.

We have an en suite and it's fine, no toilet smells. It does have a window though which might help. DP gets up before me and neither the flush nor the shower wake me up and I'm a light sleeper.

Sleepingdogs12 · 22/02/2021 12:13

I think if you have no downstairs loo it might be a good idea to keep it separate so it is more usable for others.

MsMarch · 22/02/2021 13:04

@PinotNoisette

Depends where the space for the 'hallway' will come from if the bathroom was separate. I'd rather have a bigger en-suite/bedroom than lose space adding in a hallway or vestibule.

We have an en suite and it's fine, no toilet smells. It does have a window though which might help. DP gets up before me and neither the flush nor the shower wake me up and I'm a light sleeper.

This is interesting. Our original plans had a hallway, even with the bathroom as an ensuite. As I recall, we were told we had to do that so we could have a door for fire reasons. When we shifted the bathroom, it didn't change the hallway at all, or possibly the hallway was made a couple of inches bigger, but it was negligible. I know that.

I can totally see the point though if the landing is just part of the room, then creating a landing for a separate bathroom would be odd. But I have a feeling that building permission do not allow that any more. I can't think of a single person whose loft I have seen in recent years who doesn't have a landing, with or without the bathroom as an ensuite.

MrsClatterbuck · 22/02/2021 13:19

In our last house we did a loft conversion. The house was a semi detached bungalow. We utilised the whole space in the loft. The master bedroom was on one side and the ensuitexwas on the other side accessed by a corridor. The space beside the ensuite was used as a walk in wardrobe and I use that term very loosely. It meant you couldn't see into the ensuite even if the door was left open. It was actually higher so there were 2 steps from the bedroom into the corridor. It worked very well for us and I do miss it as our ensuite in our new house is directly off the bedroom but I have got used to it. We did have a separate bathroom downstairs and having two is great when having people to stay.