Shower and washbasins in bedrooms?

[SchubertsSwans]

We have just purchased a Georgian townhouse, which was a guest house some years ago. It has a washbasin in one of the bedrooms and a washbasin and shower in another. I can't decide whether to leave them (maybe replacing with a better model) or take them out.

I like the idea of creating an en suite bathroom, but am wary of spoiling the proportions of the room. Part of me thinks take them out altogether, but the other part says they may be useful - daughters/guests/whoever can clean their teeth etc, or have a shower in private, instead of going down a floor to the bathroom (the house is on 4 floors).

Has anybody else faced this dilemma? What did you decide? Was it the right decision?

All views and advice gratefully received!

I don't like the idea of a shower in account of the damp but I lived in a rambling pile as a child and every bedroom had washstand with a plumbed basin . So purely on sentiment keep the basins but also consider reconfiguring to make a loo and bathroom between the bedrooms.

We looked at a house like that but didn't buy it in the end. I think it depends a bit on how good the fittings are etc - the ones we looked at were very tired and would have needed replacing anyway. We would have taken them out and not replaced them.

None of the ones we saw had a shower that looked as if it belonged in the bedroom, if you know what I mean. We would have replaced them with ensuites.

We bought our house ten months ago and the two largest bedrooms both have washbasins in them. Although it wouldn't be my choice to install sinks in bedrooms, they are handy. In our room I wash my hands after doing my hair and makeup which is much more convenient than detouring to the bathroom before going downstairs.

Guests have said how useful having a sink in the guestroom is - my DSis with small children found it especially useful.

Luckily the vanity in the guestroom is modern, but an inoffensive classic design and the sink in our room is a period one. If they were 60s or 70s horrors we'd have ripped them out.

I think a nice sink area within a sideboard and large mirror is great in bedroom. Practical for teeth, make up, cleaning make up, water etc. Especially if a guest room.

Shower seems weird and would create damp from steam and wet towels everywhere!

Shower = massive no no

Sink with a big mirror = so useful! Great bedrooms as people only need to use the bathroom for shower/toilet. Great for make up, doing hair, washing face when you wake up, getting a glass of water, teeth etc.

Especially useful in guest bedroms that don't have their own bathrrom.

Just no. It may be useful but water gets everywhere!

Shower - absolutely not. However, could you build an ensuite around it as you have the plumbing in place? Can you fit in a basin and loo to make a proper en suite? That is worth doing in my view as bathrooms are never a bad idea! High bedroom/bathroom ratio is very desirable.

Basins in bedrooms are like student digs or cheap guest houses. Cheap and nasty. Again, take it out or fit in a loo as well and put it into an en suite. Do you really want to see a sink in a lovely bedroom in a period house? You will never, ever, see this in any magazine - it is just not stylish.

I grew up in a period house, with basins in every bedroom. They had lovely tiled surrounds that co-ordinated with the original fireplace surrounds. Because they were all fitted on outside walls they were next to radiators, so it was a lovely, warm place to stand while doing teeth, hair, makeup, shaving etc. It also meant that there was less of a rush for the (only) bathroom, as people would only use the toilet and shower, doing everything else in their own rooms.

There was never any problem with damp.

If you do any work to the electrics you will need to remove them as they are incompatible with the new regulations. We had basins in every bedroom but we had to remove them all when we rewired and added new sockets to the bedrooms.

Thanks everybody for your comments. I will need to check about the electrics.

Do you have space to fit an actual ensuite? We've just done this in two of our bedrooms, they aren't big, the smallest is 0.8m x 2m ish. Big enough for a shower on one side, sink in the middle and toilet on the other wall with a pocket door.

There are regulations about the distance of sockets and other electrical accessories to fixed baths and showers, but not about the distance to sinks and basins.

However it would be "unsuitable" to have them where they are likely to get dripped on or splashed.

BTW boys pee in bathroom basins.

Wouldn't they have to be quite tall?

BTW boys pee in bathroom basins.

I can't get THAT upset about wee going down a sink plug hole in their own bedroom sink.

Wouldn't consider a shower. Thought having sinks in the bedrooms was a plus (also ex-guesthouse) but now want them out as they don't get used, are in the way and worried about all the standing water.

Thanks for further advice. I am now thinking maybe upgrade the sink, which is fairly horrid, and remove shower.

I would either upgrade them and build a wall round to make an ensuite and put in an extractor fan or dump the shower and upgrade the sink. I had a sink in my room and it was great for teeth, doing hair and make up and getting a glass of water to drink.

Thanks Ruhrr. I think I probably need to do a bit more research into the dimensions etc. I know en suites can be fitted into small spaces and are very convenient, but i need to balance this against the issue of spoiling the dimensions of the room.

We bought an Edwardian semi. there is a sink in the guest bedroom which we thought about removing but have left it and it is useful for guests to brush their teeth before bed, do makeup etc. Glad we left it now.

I wouldn't have left a shower in if there had been one though.

I wouldn't keep the shower without an extractor fan.

If you have boys and wash basins but no loos, the boys will pee in the sinks.