Frosted glass doors for bathroom and toilet?

[WingsofRain]

We have a very dark hallway with several rooms off it including our bathroom and separate toilet.
We are intending to move and I’m trying to upgrade things on a tight budget to hopefully get the best price we can.

All the doors are damaged and look awful so I think they need to be replaced. To increase the light in the hall I’d like to get doors with frosted glass panels but I don’t know if that is alright for the bathroom and loo.

Would you be put off by a bathroom or toilet with a glass panel in the door?

I’m finding it difficult to know what it’s best to spend money on and what will just be a waste that won’t help us sell.

I have reeded glass in the bathroom door in our annexe. But it’s a small annexe for guests and would only ever have max 2 people sharing a bed in it. You can’t see anything at all through it

If its a bungalow you could install a couple of sun tubes quite cheaply.

Or lightwells if you've got the money.

Hard no to frosted doors on the bathroom!

My upstairs bathroom has frosted safety glass. Rather than replacing the door I just fitted a roller blind on it when we moved in years ago and it can be used when needed.

We live in a bungalow, with a dark corridor. We have doors, half solid oak, with clear glass panes, 9 small panes with oak around. We also have transoms. For privacy, I purchased good quality window film, to fit on bathroom door, which is removable. Full doors would make the corridor too dark and lose the sunlight from external windows.

Why the bathroom and toilet door but not the others? I would rather solid doors for bathroom and toilet and satin glass in the other doors. They give more privacy than frosted glass.

We are going to view a house with a glass bathroom door. If we get it we will swap it with the hall door which is solid... bizarre someone even thought to add glass to a bathroom.

I have lovely patterned glass in the upper third of my bathroom door.
I can't see people, just vague movement.
It is fantastic for letting in light and for alerting to the bathroom being occupied or a person about to open the door.
I find it adds safety.
And it would never break, being in the upper third.

My toilet door is solid.

Having just one door featuring an upper pane of textured glass could really add light to your passage.
Look for second hand doors.

Adding an highlite (or toplight or transom window) of pattered glass in the wall above the bathroom door would be a good source of natural light too. It would be more expensive than buying a second hand door.

Paint your loo white.

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We had the same problem in our bungalow. 6 doors off a hallway, all were solid.
I have recently changed all the doors and 3 of them are now glazed. The difference is amazing!
I left the bedroom door and the bathroom door solid for privacy. I took a long time to think about it, but decided to leave the lounge door solid too, but this is a door that we very rarely shut anyway.
I selected clear glazing but even if I had gone for frosted, the bathroom door would always be solid for privacy. I hate it if the door is left open even when empty.
The one advantage I can think of for having a frosted door is that I could tell that DH has left the light on in there again!

Euugggh! Frosted glass obscures the image but doesn’t completely block it out. You’d still be able to see someone sitting on the toilet when you walked past.

I would consider sun tubes. I have the same problem in my hall.

We moved into a new bungalow and there was only direct light coming from the front door, but all the room doors had panes of glass set into the plaster above the doors, so light came in from all the rooms. The builder called them "borrowed lights". It did make a big difference.

Used to stay in a house (ILs) where the upstairs bathroom had frosted glass in the door. When the bathroom light was on, you absolutely COULD see in, not details, but enough to know who was sitting on the toilet and to see when someone was naked in the shower. So everyone just used to hang stuff over the glass (by closing it in the top of the door) which rather negated the extra light! The bathroom had no external window and the light was supposed to be borrowed from the hallway - but the real result was that everyone just queued up for the downstairs bathroom and the room was hardly ever used.

I hate our frosted glass bathroom windows and will change as soon as I can!

Glass is very expensive.

We have similar (bungalow, dark hall). Our front door is 50% frosted glass. Opposite the front door I have a wall of interesting mirrors collected over the years (mostly from freecycle). Adds reflected light and an interest to an otherwise plain wall. Only negative comment ever was 'you must be really vain having so many mirrors' (but she was a horrible person anyway!). Anyone else who commented said what a good idea it was.

So, you resurrected a zombie thread from 2024 to add your advertising link?

The window above a door is called a lay light but you’d need to get the door frame removed and a transom cross piece) added. Plus a new door.

Alternatively if you have a wide door you could consider keeping the existing frame and adding a sidelight/door height window and getting a narrower door. You can obscure the glass

ETA sorry the above is how to get light in from outside. Complete no from me on the glass toilet doors

Thanks everyone for all the new suggestions!
We decided to have solid doors on the toilet and bathroom but glazed ones on the bedrooms.
If/when we put the house on the market I’ll probably get some film to put on the bedrooms to make the glass translucent so it still lets the light through.

I think it's important to know that there are different levels of obscure glass each with their own level of light transmittance and privacy.
It starts with the wobbly glass that you can easily see through if you get closer, through the fully crinkled glass where you can easily see the shape but not the detail. Then the highest level is smoked where you can just see a shadow but nothing else.
We have the latter on both the window outside and the window from the downstairs toilet to the utility room.
However, a lot also depends on light positioning, where you stand or sit and what the uses of the adjacent room are.

I like it, but only a small window near the top. It means I can see straight away that the light is on so don't barge in on anyone by accident! I'm not British though, and Brits seem to have no limit to their prudishness so probably not worth the risk.

I have frosted door (and wall) on our en suite bathroom but it’s just me and Dh and our space. Elsewhere get proper doors as close as possible in design and colour to existing doors or it looks messy.