Your views on an ensuite - new design planned.

[KatyWhatsit]

Would welcome some thoughts. We are going to refit our en
suite for the 2nd time .

It's a LARGE room- around 14 feet long and 6 wide. But one end has a bit taken out for a cupboard ( water tank.)

This means we can't get a bath and a separate shower cubicle no matter how much we were to re-arrange. The bath is non-negotiable because it's a good selling point to have 2 baths and make use of the large space for the en suite.

I'd love an oval style bath- freestanding on the long wall- with the tap unit standing on the floor. www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Gabella-Contemporary-Freestanding-Bath---1790mm/p/161783?reccs=pdpsimilar

Q is- if you were to buy the house ( we will sell at some point) would it out you off not to have a better shower in an ensuite rather than a hand-held hose?

The only other option is to stick with what we have which is a shower above the bath on the wall.

There is a P-shaped bath and shower over it in the main family bathroom.

Isn't a cubicle the same as a walk in shower?
We have a walk in shower in the main bathroom, but it is in a large cubicle.

We had a similar issue with space, however ours was the main house bathroom.

We really needed a bath, but could only got in a short version due to the width of the room, can't remember now if it was 1600 or 1500.

We decided on a similar layout to these photos. Meant lots of space for drying off, its accessible for older relatives who finding stepping in to a bath difficult etc.

I know you have the cupboard. Is it possible to change the door to access it from the bedroom or hallway instead, so that you can have the bath run along the end wall?

It's a little more work, bit worth it to get the layout that works best for you.

If you already have a bath - 2nd bathroom has to be a shower. I wouldn't buy a house that doesn't have one.

@FallingForRosie wow love that grey bathroom! Saved it to my Pinterest!

This is our en suite - not quite finished but I love our shower!

Would you be able to get a bath in if you had a free standing one, placed at an angle?An angled stand alone bath says "luxury" to me.
Can you do a quick plan with measurements for us to look at?

On bath and one shower is, for me, vastly more desirable than two baths - however luxurious - and no shower. I'm quite happy with a wall-mounted shower over the bath.

If you want both a luxurious bath in your ensuite, and good selling point, but don't have space for a separate shower, the best option IMO would be to have a really nice shower over the bath.

Don't try to squeeze in a small free-standing shower!

It depends on how long you are staying there. If you are modelling the house for you or to sell. For you stayin ghete the next five years, donut exactly as you want, so the big romantic bath.
Me if I was buying it would want a big luxury double walk in shower thing. 2 baths would baffle me and one en suite I saw had a bath and a shower and we were going to rip out the bath to make more storage/a seating area if we bought it.

If you intend to stay in the house for a good while then you should do what suits you and makes you happy. If you're thinking about resale however, a shower in the en-suite makes sense. As a showerer another bath which I would never use with a showerhead above it would have the opposite of a wow-factor for me. I don't know anyone who baths more than once a week (showering in between!), so I think you're over estimating the attractiveness of having two baths.

Roomy, walk-in showers are great for people who shower daily pre-work, those with mobility issues and the heavily pregnant. A shower over a bath just isn't the same, and people who are buying this as a "forever" house might think about those practicalities rather than being impressed there's room for another bath in the en-suite.

I like MarmiteTermite's example. You could easily have a walk-in shower with wow factor by making it spacious with perhaps a built in seat and (if you can spare the £££) steam room capabilities or whatever.

Yes, it would put me off if there was not a single proper walk in shower, only 2 showers over bath. If you're not planning to sell any time soon, maybe the family bathroom will need renovating by then and you can do a walk in shower in the family bathroom instead?

Thanks everyone.
The houses in our close, were all built with 2 baths with a shower over.
I very much regard the family bathroom (now) as our guest bathroom. DCs have left home so it serves as a bathroom for guests. It was redone about 3 years ago and is hardly used- fairly pricy tiling and flooring- and we won't be doing it again. It's got the typical P-shaped bath, shower screen and shower.

I prefer a bath myself every evening. The en suite also has all my toiletries, make up etc in it and I don't want to have to move these when we have guests staying if I were to use the bath in the 'family' bathroom.

We- and our neighbours with identical houses- have managed without a walk in shower for over 20 years, and don't find it an issue.

DH in fact sits in the bath and showers mainly using the hand held shower that way. Don't ask- he just likes to.

I think we will do what suits us and if we sell- won't be for 2-3 years at least- then people can factor in a re-fit bathroom if they want to.

OP I agree with you. I love to bathe - very rarely shower - and my H and I barely use the ensuite as it's just a shower & use the family bath instead. If you use a bath, put a bath in there.

However, if its 14' x 6', I don't see why you cant have both. You could have a lovely bath along the short wall at one end and a lovely big shower across the short wall at the other end (you might have to rejig cupboard) with lots of floor space in the middle for sink & loo.

Something like this across one end

That's about 140cm in length

Can you post a floorplan? I love a layout challenge :)

I'd love to post a floor plan but am useless at this kind of thing.

The room is long- almost 14 ft- and around 5 ft wide- just wide enough for the bath down the long wall with the basin on the same wall , and the loo at the end of the narrow wall (facing the door.)

The other wall won't take any fittings as there is a large window, a radiator and an plumbed-in heated towel rail. So I am trying to fit it all into a wall of 11ft (one end is taken out partly by the airing cupboard.)

There is the illusion of space, but in terms of fitting it out, there is just one wall of 11ft and the narrower end where the loo is.
I think the comments are helpful in so much as they just confirm that I can't get rid of my bath.

It really is my 'unwind' sanctuary. I can lock myself away and don't have to flit across the landing to use the other bathroom when we have guests.

We have managed with a shower over the bath for years and we each shower every morning before work. There is always the option of the P-shape bath/shower as well.

However, if its 14' x 6', I don't see why you cant have both. You could have a lovely bath along the short wall at one end and a lovely big shower across the short wall at the other end (you might have to rejig cupboard) with lots of floor space in the middle for sink & loo.

Sadly not.The short wall has the loo on it. If we had the shower on the 'other' short wall, we'd lose the wash basin. There is nowhere else for the wash basin. The other wall is a big window and a rad. Moving the basin away from those, further down the wall, would bring it almost right into the doorway.

It's really frustrating because if we could get a small basin on the other wall opposite the bath we could have bath, shower etc.

As others have said a big shower would be better in an en-suite if you’re considering selling points. However, if you want a second bath then you should go with the bath.

@namechangedtoday15
The bath would possibly fit along the short wall, but it would be a massive plumbing job to re-site the loo from there to the long wall.

The loo waste is on an outside wall goes along the short wall and joins the waste in the family bathroom (they are side by side ) .

But I will have a think on that and see if a bath would fit the short wall.

While I'm here, has any used John Lewis to come and do a plan?
Not saying we'd buy from them but be interested to see what they came up with.

But radiators, towel rails and even sometimes loos can be moved... or maybe the water tank could move (eg if there is loft space above the en suite this would be fairly easy) Of course it costs more to do these things but if you are refurbishing the bathroom already then moving a towel rail or radiator may not add much to the cost and you might decide the added value of a shower is worth it... Worth asking a builder or plumber what it would cost extra to move some of these items?

Another idea, you could steal space for a shower cubicle from the bedroom? (only if the bedroom is generous sized though)

Floorplan: easiest way is to draw the room plan out yourself on a bit of paper (no need for it to be to scale, just mark the dimensions on), take a photo on your phone and then use the Image button under your post

Do you still need the water tank? How old is your boiler? A new combi boiler might eliminate the need for a water tank. Would this free up some options?

If you're doing it for yourself then put in what suits you. But if I was to look at buying from you & you'd fitted a wow factor ensuite without a freestanding shower, I wouldn't even factor ripping it out, I'd walk away as I'd think it wasteful to rip out a fancy bathroom.

To be a bit more blue sky, how about taking some of this massive bathroom to create a walk in (through) wardrobe area?

Or make the bedroom bigger?

Or some combination?