Removing (too small) downstairs loo and replacing it with a coats cupboard?

[ThatThereWoman]

I live in a Victorian Terrace house which currently has a tiny downstairs toilet at the end of the passage. It's so small that only the children can sit down - and even they prefer to go upstairs (the hand washbasin is too close - I suppose it could be repositioned).

We also have a lot of coats and shoes in the passage way, and a plethora of brushes, mops etc in the kitchen.

I am wondering whether I could repurpose the loo into a multipurpose cupboard. And achieve my dream of a clutter free hallway.

The question isn't whether it would be a problem for my family, but if/when I sell the house on? There are 6 bedrooms, so I assume people would expect there to be a loo downstairs.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it.

Is your hallway wide enough to build full height but shallow cupboards (coats hung facing the doors not sideways on). with sliding doors or several narrow ones that open into the hall,
I would never give up a downstairs loo if I could help it

Never seen those sinks on the cisterns before, but what a brilliant Idea ! Much better than many of the tiny, splashy sinkettes that are otherwise in restricted spaces.

I'll take a picture in a while - have both the decorator and the cleaner (not sure why the latter since she's being cancelled out by the former!) here at the moment.

yes I could have a hall cupboard instead. That might be a better solution.

Toilet and coat cupboard.

Get rid of the sink and replace the toilet with a sink on top.

Your downstairs loo looks a lot larger than mine! And you have a coat cupboard?

Can you merge the two and create a boot room / loo? Are they next to each other?

Ithink they’re next to each other. Ideally merge them.

We removed ours to create more living space.
We then sold the property at a win.
Whilst in the process of selling, we made the mistake of mentioning it once, big mistake. Never mentioned it again during show around and no one ever asked !

what are the dimensions of the room? You can get extra-small WCs.

Does the soil pipe go vertically into the floor, or horizontally through the wall? If vertically, what is the distance between the wall and the centre of the soil pipe in the floor?

Its a narrow door isn't it? But I'd leave it alone, it is a functional downstairs loo which is useful.

We put in a similar size downstairs loo in our house, but went with a curved basin without storage underneath to minimise enclosed feeling (and knocking knees). We also managed to keep a normal width door too (but the room is as wide as a door!)

Stick a massive sheet of mirror glass on the wall to make it less claustrophobic.

Our basin is like this:
www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/nile-compact-455-x-205mmm-wall-hung-cloakroom-basin?campaign=googlebase&PS2PVV1=15517&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvJXxBRCeARIsAMSkAprXiC0ZHtzB5kC3_x3ltVqArKmmQuTUTzJ-eja3JOb3i6hS6k9wu50aAlzfEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It looks bigger than I expected tbh, assing that is not some weirdly miniaturised loo. Changing the sink should make it much more usable. And I'd love that coat cupboard too!

Spend a bit if cash on getting the loo re-done - a different loo and tiny re-positioned basin or as others said one of those loos with a basin on top, will transform it - and you will then really appreciate it and use it a lot more......as will your guests.

It would be a real loss for a big house to lose its downstairs loo.

There should be other solutions to the coats issue, mops etc.

It’s the full size door next to the cellar door. Plus view towards front door

That’s from the bottom of the stairs - coats blocking the way (I’m painting, hence random paint splodges)

This is a lot bigger than I thought from your description! And roughly the size we want to put into our house to eventually have a downstairs toilet lol
We will have extra coat storage though as I'm going nuts with all the clutter in the hallway.

I think the first toilet picture is not the OP’s.

My comment was meant for the OP, not for the first toilet pictures :-)

Would love to know the internal sizes!!

So desperate for a new loo downstairs so my mum can visit again.

I need to find my tape measure. Will look for it this evening.

Think Im in the minority but no downstairs loo wouldnt bother me at all. Id much prefer storage cupboard (especially for coats). Downstairs loos really freak me out - poo smells near the kitchen and front door - ugh! Id do whatever you want to enjoy your home! If people want a loo theyll see that it could go there when they view it. I think too many people worry about putting potential buyers off in the future or do stuff to their homes purely with that in mind! Enjoy your home as you want to.

I would definitely not get rid of the toilet if I was planning to move in the next 2 years. Looks no smaller than the one we had in our Victorian house (two floors only but 3 bedroom and 2 bath) Kids and older people need a downstairs loo so yes I think you might devalue your property by removing it.

That coat cupboard would be fine if properly fitted out - which wouldn't cost much. It just needs a rail across it from one side to the other instead of hooks around the perimeter. You could then hang all the coats on hangers and you'd get a lot more in. Use the space underneath for cleaning equipment etc.

I think it’s the cupboard under the sink that causes the pinch, not the sink itself? If so then it’s a pretty easy fix to remove that cupboard. You could replace with a rounded sink if you have budget for that.

Do you have a landing at the top of your cellar stairs? If so then that area could double as coat storage?

Having said all that... If side returns are common in your area then any incoming buyer is likely to plan on doing the side return and incorporating a loo when they do that. So in that case I wouldn’t worry too much about getting rid of it. You can always reinstate as pp says, or tell buyers all the plumbing is there already.

We are thinking of moving partly so we can have a downstairs toilet. So personally I wouldnt spend money having it taken out. You can get toilets with sinks combined now. Would that help make space?
However I wouldn't worry too much about selling if you are thinking of staying for a while. Just make it work best for your family.

keep it and get rid of sink you can get the ones where the sink is built into the
www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/iconic-combined-two-in-one-wash-basin-toilet?campaign=googlebase&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIopq-qOqS5wIViLHtCh0wxga6EAQYAyABEgIqyvD_BwE