Bathroom and en suite

[YourDandDaddy]

We have just moved into our 'forever home'. The original bathroom has been split into a bathroom and en suite. Both with room for a bath. We have 3 young DC who will obviously all be teenagers one day! We are planning to extend for a bigger kitchen and fourth bedroom and doing quite a lot of renovation work. I need to decide about bathrooms!

I love having a bath in peace so ideally I'd enlarge the current en suite and have a shower (practical) and freestanding bath (luxury). This would feel a bit squeezed though and would only allow room for a shower in the main bathroom. I'm also thinking for 3 DC I should include a shower room in the extension (ie 3 upstairs bathrooms). But this would mean we the 4th bedroom could only be a single.

I'm trying to predict our future needs as we are doing the work now. Can anyone with 3 older DC advise? Am I over thinking this?!

Surely better to have 4 good-sized bedrooms and stick with 2 bathrooms? Depending on your hot water arrangements there may be a limit to how many can shower at the same time anyway.

Bath with shower over in the ensuite?

I think that the child who ends up in the single room might feel short changed. Also, 3 people to one bathroom isn't that bad.

In terms of having a freestanding bath a d a showe in the ensuite, could you do a shower over bath? If you like the freestanding look, there are these baths that are kind of freestanding but attach to a wall to accommodate a shower over (like the photo).

Could you just have a shower room (no loo or sink) instead of another bathroom?

I'd say having a loo and sink is more important than a third shower or bath actually. DC are more likely to be wanting to use the loo and brush their teeth at the same time.

Well, not using the loo and brushing their teeth at the same time themselves

We have 3 teenagers and recently renovated.

We have an en suite for us with a huge walk in shower, double vanity etc. The main bathroom for the teens has a bath with really nice overhead shower.

We also have a guest bathroom on a different floor which is smaller and has a very good shower (I basically got the same quality shower and fittings for every bathroom). I also put as much storage as possible everywhere (2 medicine vanities in main bathroom so 2 girls can have one each), under sink storage etc.

Right now, the teens are up at different times so showering works well but there is still some overlap (the one who leaves earliest has to do her teeth and contacts in our bathroom before she leaves).

I don't like having a bath - none of us do, so a bath in the en suite was not a priority for me. If it was, I think I would do that for your bathroom and then have 2 smaller shower rooms if possible. The single bedroom will be fine for a teen and could eventually become an office/extra sitting room/craft room when they move out.

Just my comment on the shower over bath - as you get older, I think this gets more problematic, getting in and out etc. Yes you can have good safety grips (and I would strongly recommend you have these put in as you tile) but if you are planning on staying in the house, being able to walk into the shower if you are recovering from an operation or just getting older is really handy.

All good points thank you! Yes 2 bathrooms for 4 bedrooms should be fine. But when you have 5 people getting ready for work/school in the morning I'm not sure?! I'm really not keen on shower baths (nor is DH), but this may be a compromise we have to make. It's a beautiful victorian house so I would love a roll top bath (which is all mine ), but also want the practicalities of showers! We do have the option of carving a third shower room into the utility. therefore having 4 double bedrooms still. But would a downstairs shower realistically get used??

We used to have a downstairs shower. DH used to go to the kitchen and put the kettle on and then hop into the shower. He loves being efficient so making coffee and showering almost simultaneously worked for him despite having an ensuite and another bathroom closer.
I'm sure you'd get use of the shower if your teens tend to get ready at the same time.

Are planning on staying here for a long time? If I was buying I would be out off by a small shower room as the 'family' bathroom and then a massive en suite.

I'd rather have an en suite with a big shower. Family bathroom with separate shower and roll top bath if that's what you want. Down stairs shower room as well so you can tell the teenagers to kiss of and shower downstairs whilst you're having a relaxing soak.

I'm absolutely not trying to be awkward here, but I wonder how many of these many threads about "forever homes" really include thinking for older age?

If you really are thinking of staying there forever, the considerations you need to think about in terms of adaptations are actually very different to those with for slightly older children!!

Downstairs showers are great! Especially for after gardening, pet care, muddy sports, etc without having to trail mud through the house. Getting 5 out of the house efficiently for us requires multiple showers, but I wouldn't compromise on bedroom space for a separate bath and shower in the same room.

Yes, stepping into a shower over bath can be an issue if you've reduced mobility, but if you've got two other showers surely you'd just use one of the others. And if you're wanting to plan for reduced mobility that's another point in favour of a downstairs shower!

Many moons ago we had a family bathroom (very small) with shower over bath as girls were babies then and a downstairs shower room that my husband used to always use. It's was a small shower room with loo & basin but also had a washing machine with tumble drier above in a cupboard (Aussie style). It was a great use of space and perfect for our needs. House sold quickly too so wasn't seen as odd etc.

Forever home - always do what you like and what works for you as a family now and in YOUR future. You could keep plumbing in place for traditional FB & ES arrangement so that a new buyer could revert easily and cheaply if they wanted - or you could do this before marketing.

But in a 4 bed I would not make a double bedroom single if you have 3 kids (but I would in a 5 bed). My 4 teens have a sofa in each of their bedrooms and friends stay over loads - my oldest is 19 and I am looking to the future and wondering when I will need to upgrade to double beds.

Our kids are realistically with us until they are 25 nowadays - back home after uni whilst getting settled into a first job - partners/friends staying over.

Not sure how to upload a photo but this link shows a wet-room type arrangement alongside a free standing bath that would save loads of space - not sure if you have though of this arrangement already?

i.pinimg.com/736x/95/d8/04/95d8049e8b7b7deb5fab85b426151125--bath-and-shower-wetroom-tub-shower-room.jpg

I would try to achieve this in both FB and ES. Some of my kids love a leisurely bath too.

If you don't have a separate downstairs loo already I would install one instead of the downstairs shower - or else have the loo and bath/shower in main family bathroom separate - so that someone can wash teeth, go to loo, do makeup when bathroom is being used.

I have 4 teens - so 6 to get out the door in the mornings. My 2 daughters, by choice, shower the night before in order to dry their hair. If you are happy for your ensuite shower to be used now and again by kids then I would nt both with 3rd shower.

Ok I think I'm finally making some decisions. Keep bath in main bathroom, shower in en suite and extra shower in utility :) I love the idea of the freestanding bath/wet room so may go with that thanks another20.

Plan is to be in this house at least 30/40 years. It does have stairs so I can imagine we'll down size at some point, but we are focusing on getting the layout right for us to live here for a long time :)

That is a great set up @another20 posted, the layout (and the tiles!) - I was going to say wet rooms aren't great in the UK but with the screen separating the shower area from the toilet and sink that looks good.

Have you got a downstairs loo OP? Could you put a shower in there rather than utility?

Downstairs toilet is very small... I guess we could think about extending it while doing work