Toilet facing kitchen island help!

[TheJunctionBaby]

we are having an extension done and part of it is to build a small shower room into our current utility space. We are in a tiny cottage and really need the extra toilet and showering facilities, and this is literally the only place we can fit one.

The problem is that the way it has been designed, the toilet will face the kitchen island when the door is open, which is where the hob will be... I'm starting to panic that this is a really awful idea but our build is starting in 6 weeks!

I've attached the current layout... can anyone think of a better arrangement in this tiny space? We thought about swapping the position of the toilet and shower over, but this means the shower will stick out leaving an awkward, tight space in the upper right corner. We ideally wanted as big a shower as possible as our upstairs one is tiny.

My brain is exhausted trying to figure this out 😭

Can anyone suggest anything??

Ps. The sink will unlikely be where it is in the plan as it sticks out too much into the doorway

TIA!

Did your architect really think a toilet onto the kitchen was a good idea? Is there no way to have the door onto a hallway?
That is an absolute no for me with a house - it used to be against building regs but is allowed now. It might affect resale value.

But to help rather than moan:
Is the room 1.6m deep and wide? With 1625 room depth you could have the loo and shower next to each other on the top wall, and the shower on the right wall. Sink where it is or possibly tucked in on the right wall under the shower (if you have a 1m long shower tray). The shower might be tight to get in, so have sliding doors on both sides of the cubicle to help.

Or - go for a wetroom with a shower curtain.

I thought you had to have two doors between a toilet and kitchen. I've never seen a loo open directly onto a kitchen.

I think the op has already said this is literally the only place to put it and she really needs it.

Op due to sizing and size of shower I’m not sure you’ve a better option. Maybe habe one of those doors that always swings shut?

I can't get enough detail from that photo to help much, but I'm sure there's another layout that would work better

I wouldn't like a bathroom door opening straight into the kitchen, I'd consider quite a bit more work to get it opening into a hallway or something if at all possible

At the VERY VERY least you can get a fitting for the door that automatically closes it.

You no longer need 2 doors between kitchen and toilet, however I would not want a toilet facing the cooking area. I would move and build around the toilet as to make it separate and sounds and smells could be closed off. Guests could then come out to wash hands

I don't know if this would make any difference but what about having one of those loos where the hand basin is in the cistern? Might give you !pre flexibility with the layout.

Can you share any more of the floorplan? Presumably this is part of the extension rather than the entire room?

Can you place a second bi-fold door in front of the shower room door? We did that with an ancient cottage once where the only bathroom was off the kitchen but there was space to do this and about three feet between the two.

Fit a closure onto the door that automatically shuts , so that it never remains open .

Are you constrained by the soil pipe location? Or are you putting in a macerator?

I agree... I think a wet room approach would be a better option which will give you more flexibility.

Please excuse my ignorance but what is the issue with this? There is a door separating the two no?

Just seen that it has already been suggested. Sorry! However it is the obvious solution in my opinion.

OP . Regarding the sink sticking out . You can get toilets with a sink in the top of the cistern to save space .

I would have a wet room and tuck the toilet out of site. In a small wet room the shower is best opposite the door because of drainage. It will be better when you are older or have older relatives anyway.

Could you get a corner loo ? I think they do exist. & a smaller basin . & then would shower fit across the wall where the loo is now & loo could face into the bathroom facing into the bathroom towards the shower .

I may be missing the point here but if you only have one door between the kitchen and this little bathroom , how much difference is it really going to make which way the loo faces ( unless it really would be hidden on the shower side wall )

I do know that these days building regs do not necessarily mandate 2 doors between a kitchen and a toilet. - but I can see the point of trying to shield it off. Could you put a curtain on the kitchen side of the bathroom door which doesn't draw back but just hooks back on the best side to shield the loo. Also is it a pocket door ? And what is on the other side of it ? - so can kitchen furniture block the view of the bathroom entrance at all

Hard to say without seeing the whole thing. But if I am honest I would compromise if you can by having a corner loo facing into the shower room and if it is a pocket door the opening side it the one further away from the loo and if necessary a smaller shower or just compromise the shower a bit and have the loo on the shower side. One door between the main cooking area and the loo I am not sure I would like. Never mind about resale - I just would not like it. I have the minutest downstairs loo off my kitchen but made it tiny so that I have two doors between kitchen and loo ( it wasn't required by building regs - I just wanted it ) and the bit between we have made a little space with coat hooks and shelf for spare kitchen roll etc & we shove the hoover in it. - but to be fair I dismissed the idea of an extra shower early doors - but more to say you can get really really tiny or corner loos - they are fine.

Sorry that probably wasn't much help was it

But all best

extractor fan and auto door closer on door

You’ll need to implement a strict ‘no poo’ in downstairs loo rule!

@BigSandyBalls2015 - I do see your point but even so would you want to think you had Seabiscuit having a wee whilst you were gently stirring a risotto

@rwalker yes autoclosing door sounds good - or ( & does this sound mad @TheJunctionBaby could you lose a little bit from the kitchen and have two pocket doors opening opposite each other so that even if not closed the bathroom won't be in direct view - although that may be a faff - just thinking out loud here.

If I am honest if it were me I would go back to the architect with your worries and ask them to think again

All very best to you

Thanks for the responses.

I've attached a photo of the wider plans, though the island will be a bit bigger and rectangular with the hob on the left side (looking at the plans) facing across the island over to the door of the shower room

There is no hallway and no space to create any kind of one. This is an old workers cottage built in 1800 and was originally just one room downstairs and one up. The current kitchen was added at a later date and just built onto the original stone wall.

We really need the extra shower and toilet being a family of 6.

I don't love the idea of a shower room off the kitchen but it's either that or nothing, so really I just wanted a configuration that doesn't involve seeing my 5 year old doing a wee or poo whilst I'm cooking dinner 😵

I sent a rather panicky email to our architect last night - I'm sure he's rolling his eyes as I've been having a few minor wobbles now that everything is due to start shortly. It's just It's all costing a huge amount of money to not even really get everything we want but moving isn't an option.

Move the wall to the pantry to make it bigger and then put the loo and shower room in there, and then make the propose loo smaller, as a chunk is going to the current pantry and make that the loo instead.

Basically swap them round.

Put the door into the loo in the pantry. Then put a door on the pantry itself.

I would make the shower room door come into the pantry and increase the size of the pantry slightly to compensate.

Definitely I'd put the door via the pantry. I hate loos straight off a living space.

I'm house hunting and keep seeing downstairs loos with a door into the lounge. Who the hell thinks that's a good idea.

I'd put the door in the pantry too.

I had thought about a door from the pantry, but the most space for storage in the pantry is along that wall as the opposing wall is practically flush with the doorway. So we'd end up with wasted space because we couldn't make use of it as intended