En suite or walk in wardrobe?

[FlippertyFloperty]

I have made an offer on a house. It currently has an en suite, family bathroom and downstairs loo.

It's quite dated so hoping to add value by modernising.

I am wondering whether to convert the en suite into a walk in wardrobe as the bedroom isn't that big. Would this devalue the property?

Other thought is to turn downstairs loo into a coat cupboard and refurbish both bathrooms upstairs.

3 adults will be living in the house, each have a bedroom of their own.

En suite for me , assuming there is room for decent wardrobes .

I'd go walk in wardrobe personally

I’d prefer a wardrobe/storage area to an en-suite

I would much prefer a walk in wardrobe.
Good storage makes or breaks a house imo.

But I'm not an estate agent so if house value is what you care about it might be different for others.

Really depends. Younger me would have values walk in wardrobe. Older me, who needs to wee several times a night, would value ensuite.

This is what I hate about en suites if you have a partner.
Slipping out of the room across the landing to wee doesn't disturb. Having then take a whizz a few feet away with the noise and light that goes with it is much more disruptive for the other person.
Obviously if you don't share a bedroom it doesn't matter.

I could fit 2 double robes in the bedroom. Converting the downstairs loo would give me a space for coats and bags and winter paraphernalia.

Definitely don’t turn the downstairs loo into a cupboard.

In my opinion thst would make your house lose value. You may not mind, but if any prospective purchasers have small children, older family or just don’t want visitors wandering upstairs in your house they will value a downstairs loo. Also, you never know if one of you might get a sprained ankle or similar and not be able easily to climb stairs for a while.

Good point. And I definitely would not have an en suite if I had a partner.

Wardrobe every time!
If the bathroom is only a few steps away, who needs en-suite? They’re a nice to have but in my opinion, over rated.
As someone above has pointed out, if yr partner takes pees during the night, in my experience there’s more disturbance from the en-suite than the family bathroom a couple more steps across the landing.

This is a good point, thank you.

I’d prefer a wardrobe. Who wants to clean endless bathrooms?

We remodelled recently, and the architect kept trying to persuade us to change the office into an en suite. We ignored them. It’s much more useful as it is.

We converted an ensuite into a walk in wardrobe. It was so much better and far less to clean! We sold the house and I think the wardrobe was a key selling point. However we did make it clear to any buyers that the pipes had just been capped behind the wardrobes so it would be very easy to return to an ensuite if they wished

I’d go walk in wardrobe, but it depends if you can fit in a loo/shower room somewhere else, as two bathrooms would increase sales potential, if not actual value.

I understand en-suite showers but am always slightly mystified by having a loo off the bedroom. Could you have the wardrobe and stick in a loo/shower room downstairs?

I think it depends how many rooms share the family bathroom. If it’s one bathroom between 2-3 bedrooms that’s fine. I think if you have 4+ rooms upstairs then you will probably lose value if you get rid of the ensuite.

Agree with @AsWithGlad downstairs toilet is super useful.

Don’t do that - downstairs loos are very valued.

Wouldn't buy without an en-suite. You would seriously limit interest removing one when you sell

I’d go walk in wardrobe (but keep piping etc so coukd be changed back into an en-suiteand keep the downstairs toilet. Why are you worried about the resale value so soon? A house is for living in.

I think on balance I would prefer a walk in wardrobe than an ensuite, but then I've never had the luxury of either! For various reasons we had to get rid of our downstairs toilet a few years ago, and I miss having one, even though we have on halfway up the stairs. I think that, whatever decision you make, it should be based entirely on what YOU want, not how it may affect the resale value.

Having just moved from a house without an en suite to a house with an en suite, I’d definitely be keeping it. It makes it so much easier with everyone getting ready in the morning ,if they’re not fighting over one bathroom.

Handy to gave an unsuited fir if the shower breaks in the main bathroom Getting rid of it certainly wouldn't add value and even if it didn't lose value I think it would attract less viewings. But a house is for you to l7ve in, it's your home so do what works best for you.

I’d echo this. A house with teenagers and parents in benefits from more than one shower enormously! I see you’ve already agreed not to lose the downstairs loo too. I think what you have now is the most saleable arrangement of your house but you are living in it. If you plan to be there for a significant amount of time, I’d remove the en suite to have it the way you want it. But if not, I’d leave it.

What's the en-suite like? I'm not someone who is anti en-suites but I think sometimes people are so desperate to have one they build these horrible tiny windowless rooms shoved into the corner of their bedroom. We viewed a house once where there wasn't enough space in front of the en suite toilet to actually sit facing forwards on it (and I'm only 5'2 so it wasn't because I've got long legs!)

But if it's a nice en suite, I'd keep it.

I'd also definitely keep the downstairs toilet.

How big is the space? I can’t stand those tiny en-suites with hardly any space and tiny box like showers.