Downstairs Loo

[Sunisshining12]

This is a bit of a bizarre question, but what would you do with a downstairs loo that is TOO BIG?! I mean, it is the size of a family bathroom!

We love the house, it already has a utility room & large storage cupboard plus 2 bathrooms upstairs so we don't need anymore showers.

What can we do with it!

We could fill it with more storage cupboards but I don't really like the idea of getting the hoover or my coat out of there if someone is doing a number 2!

Any suggestions?

Can you divide the room and make a separate entrance to a store cupboard?

Hi Chottie, this was my initial thought when we bought the house. But now we're measured it all up etc it would end up as 2 long skinny rooms, no good really as wouldn't be able to get to anything at the back of the cupboard and the loo would end up like a skinny corridor with a loo & basin on the end wall.

Make a laundry room?

Already has a large utility/laundry room

No advice really, but our house has a bath room that is tiny with a toilet, sink and bath. And a large shower room with a single square shower cubicle, sink and toilet. It's literally so large for what it is, and the cubicle itself is so small in comparison. Very strange lol

Can you give us a rough sketch of the space with dimensions?

Partition off a wine cellar perhaps? Or is that minging in a bathroom?

Kel1234, this is exactly like our loo. It looks like a bathroom that they forgot to put the bath or shower in! The loo & sink look lost

S&M dungeon?

I had a bathroom like this when i worked as an au pair. I visited a few years later and they had fitted a sauna in the spare space...

put in a shower/bath?

Blimey a sauna!! PinkSwim we would never use a downstairs bath or shower as already have a bathroom and en-suite upstairs.

I've been looking on pinterest for 'out of the box ideas'. Someone had a library but I think it's minging having all those books & poo particles in there lol

Sauna is a great idea! Could partition off the loo in its own little cubical room and put a sauna ans shower in the rest of the space :-)

Or just put in a nice piece of furniture like a nice sideboard and some plants?

Do you have a dog or muddy children? You could get one of those showers people have in boot rooms for this. Something like this

www.terrysfabrics.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/dog-shower-21.jpg

But if you have no use for the space I'd go for a really luxury feel, with oversized toilet and sink and a dressing table and mirror where guests can powder their noses! It may never be used but it would look very Hollywood! I'd also have a shelving unit for spare towels etc and to display some candles and nice hand wash/moisturisers. Finally I'd have a large pot plant in there.

User, wow there are some super spoilt doggies out there!!

I never thought of putting furniture in there, it's so cold & clinical at the moment, perhaps I should try this like you say a proper powder room for guests!

I love the sauna idea but again I doubt we would ever use it.

I get that the logical thing to do would be just stick a shower in there but it seems silly to have a shower as an ornament

We put a shower in our downstairs toilet - but we did this deliberately. We use it if one of us is up and out to work very early to avoid waking up everyone else (which works). I've also used the shower loads more than I thought I would for cleaning things (including the dog). So much easier to wash down dirty children, welly boots, etc.

Floor to ceiling "invisible" cupboards (i.e press-to-open/no handle style) where you can store anything and everything is what I'd do.

You will find stuff to go in there in no time!

Do you have children, and what age? As teens the powder room thing could be popular!

Downstairs bathrooms are "cloakrooms" for a reason and you're never likely to need a coat or hoover in an emergency that can't wait for someone to finish, but it's up to you. Shoe storage? What is your long term storage like - tools, paint, camping gear? Could it help your lives to claim that sort of stuff back from garage/loft, or is it better where it is? Basically are there any problems/limitations with your house that this space could help you solve? If not, do something frivolous and pretty with it. A big plant might help if the light is good enough.

(Or install a cupboard with a massive great lock and hide the christmas presents!!)

Yes Fivepies, we have a downstairs shower too and we love it. Perfect for not disturbing each other, and it's electric so still works if the boiler breaks. But I think either en suite or downstairs shower is fine, you don't need both plus family bathroom and it is just another thing to clean.

Airing cupboard? (Love my airing cupboard!)

In my SIL's house you have to walk through a long coat & storage cupboard to get to the downstairs loo. The whole thing us fairly narrow with just the loo and a sink in the small room at the end of the cupboard, but would something like that work?
Because the storage is before the loo you don't have to wait to access it if someone is using the loo.
Does mean the loo access isn't overly "pretty" though.

I'd do a well lit dressing table i.e. a proper powder room.

You could have a coat cupboard accessed from outside that takes a chunk out of the room rather than a slither , leaving you with an L shaped room.