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!

@soundofsilence1

I think Titchy's idea is best. You should work on your DH, maybe tell him you don't want guests to hear him wee when you are having dinner.

Or worse

will you need access to your stash of preserves multiple times a day? I would, even with your interest in cooking, completely forgo the pantry for a boot room / utility with door to the bathroom in there. Where do you currently store coats / boots / washing machine and can you stick shelves for preserves there instead?

Another vote for door from pantry to shower room, and put long shelves on opposite wall, deep shelves at back. Deep shelves at the back of the pantry will store loads of preserved goods.

A layout like this but with deeper shelves at rear, and your toilet door on left.

Whatever layout you decide, I'd be putting a door on that pantry. No matter how tidy it is it's still cluttered. To me it would be the equivalent of getting a sleek new, clean eyeline kitchen then leaving the cupboard doors open.

Sorry I can see on plan now there is a door! If you want more pantry space get a sliding pocket door.

I haven’t got advice about layout, I’m afraid but just wanted to say that we have recently built an extension and have a shower room/toilet which opens out into the kitchen. I was concerned about it but it’s been absolutely fine, especially once everyone had been ‘trained’ to close the door after use. We are a family of 5 and having 2 loos and 2 separate showers more then makes up for the slightly inconvenient placing of the toilet door. Good luck!

@EuroTrashed

will you need access to your stash of preserves multiple times a day? I would, even with your interest in cooking, completely forgo the pantry for a boot room / utility with door to the bathroom in there. Where do you currently store coats / boots / washing machine and can you stick shelves for preserves there instead?

We do currently have a toilet where the pantry is sited on the plans. but it is accessed from the left and is a tight squeeze. The proposed shower area is our utility space with the washing machine and a small coat cupboard. We have learned to live with that so close to the kitchen... at least the new layout moves the toilet farther away and the access away from the food prep area.

I will need access to things like my berkey, food and gadgets multiple times a day as feeding a family of six 3 times a day means I spend my life pretty much in the kitchen, and having that stuff closer to where I'll actually using them seems like the best option.
We currently only have a washing machine which is in the area that will become the shower room. When the extension is done, we will have a run of floor to ceiling cabinets along the top right wall to house a stacked washer/dryer, coats/shoes, and utility items like hoover, mop ironing board etc. It makes more sense to me to have all that closer to the entrance/exit.

With more space I would have pushed for titchy's idea, but we have a tiny awkward "landing" at the top of our stairs to access the bathroom and bedrooms and it's tight. The idea with this extension is to make moving around the downstairs at least, much less cramped because that's an area we can change. The upstairs is what it is unfortunately.

@Sparklehead

I haven’t got advice about layout, I’m afraid but just wanted to say that we have recently built an extension and have a shower room/toilet which opens out into the kitchen. I was concerned about it but it’s been absolutely fine, especially once everyone had been ‘trained’ to close the door after use. We are a family of 5 and having 2 loos and 2 separate showers more then makes up for the slightly inconvenient placing of the toilet door. Good luck!

Thanks @Sparklehead that reassures me

Is it a long term house OP? I think the vast majority of buyers would be put off by a toilet / shower room opening into a living space, even worse the kitchen area.

I think you can still have your pantry and a door into the shower room without too much of a compromise. To give up a separate door so you can have a few more shelves in a pantry is madness (sorry!)

@Leobynature

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

Oh no it would be worse to have people unable to wash their hands before coming back into the kitchen - yuk

Corner toilet facing into the bathroom bottom right hand corner. Hidden in the main by sink.

As a guest, I'd be really self conscious about using the loo opening on to the kitchen due to worrying about noise/smells - IBS so no choice sometimes! Opening facing the garden would mean having a door by the dining area surely?

I would go in through the pantry. You can be clever with storage on the right hand wall of the pantry / use folding doors etc. Could you box in under the stairs for storage or have some built in shelves?

We still have the upstairs loo so guests are welcome to use that if they prefer...

I can see why people would prefer to go through the pantry, I just know how hard it's been living with lack of storage and a lack of space having to squeeze past things and people all the time so I'm really reluctant to give up so much useful (for our lifestyle) storage. And the pantry is barely a metre wide so it will be a squeeze putting another door in there.

Our current loo is much closer to the kitchen and dining space than the plans with the door in the upper position so it's still a vast improvement... and yes, it's our long term home

Sounds like a dreadful idea.

Someone will do a number 2 while you’re cooking or about to eat

I thought that building control mandated two doors between a kitchen and bathroom/toilet.

Can you incorporate the space under the stairs into the pantry so you still get the storage you want and get the door too?

@Whatsnewpussyhat

Whatever layout you decide, I'd be putting a door on that pantry. No matter how tidy it is it's still cluttered. To me it would be the equivalent of getting a sleek new, clean eyeline kitchen then leaving the cupboard doors open.

It will now be getting a pocket door 😁

@Africa2go

Can you incorporate the space under the stairs into the pantry so you still get the storage you want and get the door too?

no, our house has practically zero storage so that little space under the stairs (picture in previous post) is already full of things that have nowhere else to go.

OP do you have a garage? If so, keep anything that you don't use regularly out there to free up space in your kitchen and pantry.
We have a big cupboard in our garage where I keep huge casserole dishes, the platter I use for Christmas Dinner, sets of champagne glasses, attachments for the food processor that I use occasionally.....

@Bluntness100

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.

This sounds like a good option. Basically, can you put pantry where your proposed shower segment is and shift the whole shower/WC room "down" the plan, so that the new entrance is where pantry door currently is? Also, what's that room next door, below the kitchen on the plans (can't quite make it out from the pic)? I see there's a thick wall and stairs on the other side. Is it possible to put a door through there instead, rather than from the kitchen? I appreciate it may require more structural work though. All other suggestions about a self-closing door and a powerful extractor fan are definitely worth considering too.

Sorry, just seen you post about the area under the stairs

*your