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Original poster

Please share your tips for small shower room/en suite?

20 replies

Pannacotta · 05/04/2010 21:25

We're finally getting round to putting in a shower room for just me and DH (thats the theory anyway!).
It won't be en-suite but will open off the landing and there is room for a large shower, basin, loo and towel rail.

Are there any must-haves or things to avoid we should know about? (We've never had a bathroom of our own...)

TIA

OP posts:

StealthPolarBear · 05/04/2010 21:32

Well the one big thing for us was getting the door opening outwards (bathroom people didn't agree, they wanted it to clatter against the shower door ). It opens into our bedroom and doesn't get in the way at all, it would be a nightmare the other way round. Not sure how well that'd work on a landing though.
Large shower - we wanted one, but the bases come in certain set sizes, so unless you're lucky enough to have the right dimensions you're stuck with a smaller one. We got around it by asking them to put a 'seat' in the gap (as it is it's too narrow to be a seat but we keep shampoo etc on it and I use it for shaving my legs ). The base is still the bog standard size, but because of the seat you have more elbow room further up.
Get a soft close toilet seat - it will be a l;ittle bit more but you'll love it!

taffetacat · 05/04/2010 21:51

Agree re the soft close seat

Treat yourself to some new towels - only for you!!Heated towel rail is nice, don't get a really expensive swish looking one unless you are never going to have any towels on it. ( Noone including you will see what it looks like as it will be covered in towels...)

Give yourself enough room to sit comfortably on the loo, IYKWIM.

The more bathrooms you have, the more cleaning, so make it easy to clean, for eg we have a wall mounted loo thats easy to clean under and tap for basin comes out of wall so no space wasted and easy to clean.

You may choose also to keep medicines in here away from DC so think carefully about storage.

Original poster

Pannacotta · 05/04/2010 22:01

Thanks, yes a soft close loo seat is a must!

And yes I agree re the cleaning, so a wall hung loo was on my list plus a towel rail with widely spaced bars so easier to dust...

Not sure what to do about storage as we wanted a retro style basin on pedestal like this one
s%20%20WCs[pt:3]|Basin[pt:107]&page=1&pReferer=[q]ptid[e]107[a]ptdepth[e]2[a]sel[e][p]Basins,%20B idets%20%20WCs[pt:3][p]Basin[pt:107]

Maybe a mirror fronted wall cabinet...

OP posts:

Mercedes · 05/04/2010 23:58

We had a loft conversion with a small bathroom. The architect suggested we get small 'neat' fixtures which will help the room look larger. The other reason was we wanted the biggest shower we could fit in so save space on the other items.
So the WC doesn't have a handle that sticks out - it's got a button. We went looking for a small wc and sink. The sink and the wc are different makes but you can't tell. The sink was an ideal standard sink for small spaces which I can really recommend. The basin is round and deep. We liked it so much we put it in the family bathroom.
I was in a bathroom showroom the other week and I noticed that loads of sinks seemed to be same design as ours.

Oh yes paint it pale and use a mirrored bathroom cabinet.
Hope this is useful.

StealthPolarBear · 06/04/2010 08:15

ooh yes storage, we managed to cram loads into our tiny en suite so it can be done
Also - don't have the toilet roll holder in such a position that you have to dislocate your wrist or get off the toilet to get to it - I speak from experience
Don't trust the bathroom 'designers' ha ha to think of this for you

GrendelsMum · 06/04/2010 08:33

Daft point, but if you're in a hard water area, make sure you can get behind the back of the tap / taps to clean the limescale off properly.

Original poster

Pannacotta · 06/04/2010 21:19

Thanks for your adivce all.

Am bit fed up now as we had a bathroom fitter round today and he told us our options are to put in a soil stack at the front thereby having to alter the rainwater downpipes/drains, which is a real pita or put in a saniflo which means odd churning noises on the wall next to our bed plus we couldn't then have a smart shower with low level tray....

Any advice, other than don't bother?!

OP posts:

Pixelvixenuk · 08/04/2010 12:49

Get another opinion.
The saniflo system will bug you - I'm installing one in an old pantry for a rental property.
Mirror cabinets will open up the space but watch you have enough space and don't position it where you will raise your head after brushing teeth etc.
Shiny bathroom fittings will reflect light around too.
Don't have dark walls & floor otherwise you will feel boxed in!
Foldaway shower seats are useful too.

Pixelvixenuk · 08/04/2010 12:53

Mercedes, do you have pictures of your conversion bathroom? I'm doing something similar and would appreciate a peek. Thanks!

cyb · 08/04/2010 12:56

good ventilation, does it have its own window as well as extractor?

Original poster

Pannacotta · 08/04/2010 20:18

Yes we will get another opinion, I'd prefer to avoid a saniflo and having to raise the shower unit etc.

There is a window so ventilation would be fine. No extractor as yet as the room is still a bedroom!

And yes Mercedes your bathroom sounds good, streamlined is always smart...

OP posts:

blinkinblimey · 08/04/2010 22:34

don't bother with the heated towel rail unless you actually have room to get in and NOT burn your bare bum!

cyb · 09/04/2010 08:57

I have a corner shower and small free standing bath in my mini (sort of) ensuite . I lurrrve it

HerHonesty · 09/04/2010 10:21

double light switch. one for the extractor/lights one for the lights. so when dh gets up to the bathroom you dont get woken up by fan.

Eaglebird · 09/04/2010 19:59

I'd double check the building regs, I seem to remember reading somewhere that bathrooms now have to have an extractor, and it's preferred if it's wired to the light pull-cord so that the extractor comes on automatically when the light is switched on. It's usual to set an over-run timer so the fan continues to operate for 5 - 10 mins after the light goes out.

Fortunately we don't have an ensuite, as DP gets up to wee at least once per night, and I'm a v light sleeper. I'd be driven mad by the fan whirring away in the middle of the night.
I'd have to make him use a torch

Mercedes · 09/04/2010 23:33

Pixel just saw your message. We're off on holiday tomorrow morning. I can try and take a picture and upload next sunday/monday. Have a look then.

HerHonesty · 11/04/2010 19:38

double light switch is on outside wall ie not in bathroom so you dont have to have annoying light cord. obviously having two light chords would be even more annoying.

GrendelsMum · 11/04/2010 19:47

Cyb - we'd love to fit a small bath into our new ensuite - can you tell us what make it is?

Ponders · 11/04/2010 20:30

we got an 80cm shower tray (the smallest size is 70 but you don't get much elbow room in one of those) & have a bifold door; the shower room door opens outwards into the bedroom, like Stealth's.

Light switch is outside.

Ours is L shaped with the shower tray in the short bit, on the left, a very small wall-mounted basin just inside the door on the right, & the loo at the far end of the longer bit. We got out of having an extractor because we have an opening window (between the basin & the loo) but this was done about 10 yrs ago, regs may have changed since then?

No heated towel rail, but wet towels go on the rail on the radiator in the main bathroom.

Original poster

Pannacotta · 11/04/2010 22:32

Not sure about building regs and extractors but will ask our electrician, but I think you can wire an extractor independently from the lights anyway.
We would put switches outside the room for sure, we did this in our last house so we could have a dimmer, was good for relaxing baths and also middle of the night trips to the loo when you dont want to be blinded by bright lights.
We do have room to fit in a bath, my thinking was that we both prefer to shower so we may just have a large shower unit and leave the bath for the main bathroom.
Cyb do you use the bath in your ensuite?
GrendelsMum have you put in a new ensuite? I thought you were anti-ensuite, after your very funny thread on here...

OP posts:

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