New bathroom and ensuite project

[PissedOffNeighbour]

Hi - we have had plans drawn up to make our very small bathroom a bit bigger so that we can fit in a shower and also create a new ensuite. I would love a free-standing bath but suspect we don’t have the space. Any comments/ideas would be very welcome as I’ve not had to design a bathroom or enduite before. Our house is a fairly large Victorian semi with 4 double bedrooms. Plans attached. Thanks very much!

Looks as though this works. Shame the loo is first thing you see in both of them [pet hate of mine]

Thanks - Yes I agree about the loo - will have to try and choose beautiful ones! I can’t see how a different layout would work though

The showers sharing space behind the wardrobes is definitely a great use of space. I also don’t like seeing the loo first but your only option would be to swap loo and basin but then you’d loose wardrobe space. Maybe choose a back to wall loo with a concealed cistern so not so unsightly. You could definitely fit a freestanding bath into the bathroom but cleaning around it could be tricky. You can get shorter ‘slippet’ style baths around 150cm long, if that’s your style.

Thanks. I would rather not lose wardrobe space as we will already have less than we currently have (wardrobes currently in alcoves behind where the bed is in the plan).

The loo in the main bathroom will be under window so will need to fit underneath so Hope concealed sisters will work. I do like slipper baths but was concerned about the cleaning factor!

Hello again - we have revised the plans slightly to make both showers wider and to have a freestanding wardrobe in our bedroom rather than built in as it seemed to give us more storage space. Just wondering if anyone has any further comments before I send the plans to our builder? Thanks.

Grohe do a concealed cistern and frame for wall hung loo that is 83cm high so designed for under windows.

Have you considered a back to wall bath (Aka D shaped bath) - has some of the effect of a freestanding but without the cleaning nightmares

Another thought. I see you are boxing in the chimneybreast in the master bedroom in order to put the bed headboard on that wall.

An alternative is have the bed in the middle of the room and build a false wall or (better) a half wall behind it, you could then put wardrobes each side of the chimneybreast, and drawers or shallow cupboards in front of the chimney breast.

This creates a semi separate dressing area behind the bed, ans means you're not wasting space like you do with the boxing in option.

Won't be everyone's cup of tea but just an idea!

Thank you @minipie! Yes I am considering s back to the wall bath although I was hoping that a roll top bath on legs would make it easier to clean underneath etc as it’s off the ground?

I like your idea of the low wall/dressing room!! Where in the plan would you put the wall?

Thanks

Well you'd need 600mm for the wardrobes, then say 900 in front of them (could be a bit less if you had sliding doors on the wardrobes) so the low wall would end up about 1500mm from the back of the alcoves. You'd also need to move the bedroom doorway as far as possible to the left so you don't walk straight into the bed when you come in! I haven't measured it out on your plan so it may be there isn't quite enough space, but worth a try? It's what we're doing in our bedroom where we also have an awkward chimneybreast on the obvious "bed" wall.

Bath on legs means you can access all the floor but requires a lot of crouching down and reaching under with something long... Also means you can see the pipework from the bath drain (where it runs between bath and floor) which creates a dust and grubbiness trap... But yes with a back to wall there could be some hard to reach corners at the sides, depends on the exact style you choose.

I’ve see a few false wall with wardrobe area behind for ackward ‘bed wall’ layouts and really like them!

Thank you. The architect is drawing it up for me - I think it might be too tight but will see and I will post plan here for you to see!

I’ve just remembered my parents did the false wall thing to create dressing room back in the 70s! They must have been very ahead of their time!!

Mine had it too! although the dressing room was semi divided off their bathroom not bedroom. It's back

Here is the revised plan. Much as I love the idea - I sadly think the room is too small for this. The gap between the wall and foot of the bed is just 1 meter. I think if we weren’t putting in the en suite this would be a fab idea. What do you think @minipie?

I think the latest plan looks great.

If you are in the market for a new bed I would go for a divan style bed without a frame so there are no hard corners to bang into. Also look at floating\platform beds.

You could also have a sliding pocket door into the ensuite. This would give the illusion of more space.

Sorry just realised the last pic is showing electrical layout and not measurements. Here is one with measurements.

Hmm the 1m I could probably live with but the 0.7m to access the dressing spaces is really tight. I agree it's probably not quite big enough. Sorry for the red herring!

I'm intrigued by the way the architect has done his n hers dressing areas in a T shape rather than just straight across - I might nick that idea for our project...

No problem minipie - I love the idea but think I’m just trying to fit too much in! Yes I really like the his and hers dressing areas too - think it makes best use of the narrow bit with the chimney breast. I hope you do this and I would love to see a pic of the results!