Tiny en-suite of it worth it?

[Lavendersquare]

We are currently renovating our house, and the plumber working on our main bathroom, mentioned that it would be really easy to add a small ensuite bathroom to the main bedroom. However, when we’ve explored this in more detail the maximum size of the finished room would be 1.5 m x 1.5 m.

I’ve drawn a scale drawing (1 square = 10cm) and can fit a compact toilet a 800 mm quadrant shower cubicle and a smallish vanity sink but I’m not sure whether it’s going be so small as to be unusable.

What are your experiences of very small bathrooms? Are they actually worth it? We are a family of 5, with two adult children at home and a teenager so another shower would be a real bonus. There is a window and the remaining bedroom would be 4.3m by 3.5m so plenty of room as wardrobes are already fitted to another wall.

Before anyone asks, the shower room cannot be any bigger 1.5m x 1.5m maximum.

I’ve attached a plan that shows my working out.

My plan

It's not a terrible idea. Would a pocket door - or slide open door on the external wall - be an option to give you a bit more space for a larger shower?

Swap the sink and the toilet
switch the way the door opens
so you’re not looking at a toilet when you open the door

Yes it is worth it, I consider two things. Firstly could you put in a corner toilet? Several makes on the market and secondly make sure you can adhere to the building regulations about how far apart thins have to be. When we did it I remember there were some rules.

My en suite is about 1.8m by 1.5m at the widest point (the door is on an angle, as is the back wall) but it's pretty spacious with a curved corner shower.

Does it have to be a full bathroom? Would just a shower improve your life? Or a shower plus small basin for teeth, maybe even with the basin in the bedroom, 30s style? Then you can have a decent sized luxurious shower. If the toilet is needed but won't be used much, you can get toilets with a small basin on top of the cistern

My sister had one that is basically a shower in a wardrobe. I’d rather have a bigger main bathroom. Also I don’t really like en suite, especially if there’s a toilet. In your bedroom?

Could you make it a wet room without the cubicle ?

If it is a 1 bathroom house only, esp 1 bathroom with toilet/bath combined then it probably adds ++ extra value putting an extra toilet in.

Have the door opening into the bedroom, gives masses more space and safer. Swap toilet and sink.

My uni bathroom was tiny, door opened outwards with sink opposite the door, loo one side, shower the other. It was perfect.

Got to admit I'm not a fan of ebsuute really, how many other bathrooms do you have? As long as a house has 2 loos and people are reasonable about long baths I'd be fine without.

Tha thanks for all the comments, I should’ve said in my opening post that the toilet has to go where it’s shown on my diagram due to the plumbing being directly on the other side of that wall.

The pocket door is definitely an option and one that I think we would probably go for as opposed to the door opening into the bedroom because that will potentially get in the way.

I agree with the other posts that say that an extra shower would be an advantage in a home full of people. I don’t like the idea of a sink in the bedroom. I think it’s a bit odd.

I’m reassured from your comments that the room would be usable, is there any chance you would be willing to post a photo?

I would definitely do it, it will add value for sure & be so useful!

We added a 2m by 1.8m bathroom. Which I know sounds a lot bigger but we also have the washing machine in there! It's wonderful.

Theres lots of space saving solutions, you could even do a sliding bathroom door so it doesn't need to take up space coming in.

The only thing I would say is to make sure the shower isn't too small as small showers aren't great. 800 x 800 is fine though ☺️

how about this version

toilet as before
square wetroom shower not a curved one because they are too small. the shower needs to be mounted on the same wall as the sink and angled to the back to keep the water in the shower
two fixed glass walls to separate shower from the loo and to keep the sink dry-ish

small wall-mounted sink/vanity (V) (this area might get wet from the shower)

towel rail behind the door

I have a shower room about that size and it's fine. I decided on a square shower compartment and could only have the loo in one place, and I have a very small vanity unit for the sink, so there is storage under. Definitely an asset.

There are toilets with a sink above

Have awww.betterbathrooms.com/Images/BUNLAUCCPAN89557_1_LargeThumbnail.jpg?width=90&height=90&v=2 compact toilet with a corner cistern.
Pp
We put in similar and it has been useful when we have a house full of guests

it's actually not that easy to take a photo of it's so small!!

I have a wet room along my hallway and refuse to have an ensuite. The smell would turn my stomach. I like a bedroom to be a bedroom.

I would swap your door and sink round (but check the door clears a 800mm square shower when open). If the door could open into the bedroom that would be even better. It would make the space seem bigger and you would be more likely to keep it closed that way.

I'd prefer a larger shower cubicle but cannot see how it would fit and pass building regulations whilst still having a full size sink and toilet.

An alternate solution would be to fit a cloakroom sink under the window
https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/nile-compact-455-x-205mmm-wall-hung-cloakroom-basin?preSelected=true&sku=NIL455LH
and have a quadrant shower opposite the window (1.2 x 800). I wouldn't go wider than 800 because the toilet would feel cramped. The curve is needed to avoid interfering with the walkway from the doorway. https://www.screwfix.com/p/essentials-rome-offset-quadrant-shower-tray-right-handed-gloss-1200mm-x-800mm-x-45mm/443eh

An amazing option would be that layout but with a wet room floor (no step into the shower!). You will need a screen between the shower and the toilet. Imagine this with a loo next to it:
https://www.drench.co.uk/p/harbour-i10-10mm-tall-wetroom-panel-gm-pv?sku=harbour-i10-10mm-tall-wetroom-panel-gm-1200-bp&ppc=true&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19847663658&gbraid=0AAAAADLmi5tfXgo9_bBDgAaH6KIqu7xbC&gclid=CjwKCAjw0dPRBhAPEiwAE5vTTpkdv0UB7QgCM7W5ukuN9-P_DDJ8si4CwACvh3ebBomYyRv1d43EDxoCzeEQAvD_BwE

Don't forget to allow for the thickness of tiles.

It may depend where the soil pipe is. Presumably it would be sharing this with the main bathroom.

Our en-suite doesn’t smell.

I find the people who don't like en-suites on this thread a bit odd. Feels like they need to start their own AIBU thread.

What smell are they talking about? You can use the family bathroom for no 2 if it's that much of an issue. Or just get an air freshener and some bleach. Millions of people and hotel rooms have en-suites.

Appreciate these pics might not be 1.5m by 1.5 but give a nice bit of inspo for how it would look!

You could probably have the shower longer towards the sink as sinks only need to be quite small.

I definitely would. Our old house had a tiny one that was approx 1m x 1.7 it was perfect. Also always good if someone has a sickness bug / covid to keep a separate bathroom!

Our downstairs bathroom is a similar size and layout to your initial suggestion. It's absolutely fine as a second bathroom and doesn't feel cramped. We have a small vintage cupboard on the wall above the slimline loo but that is the only storage, we keep the majority of things in the main bathroom and so we only keep absolute essentials in the downstairs one. Sink is 60cm wide so feels generous and we have curved corner shower.

I will say I'm not keen on en suites because they are not as flexible as having two family bathrooms so if you are renovating is there anywhere else in the house you could have a second bathroom or is an en suite the only option?