Family bathroom plus ensuite, or two family bathrooms?

(37 Posts)
CurrerBell Tue 18-Feb-14 13:59:18

Which would you prefer?

We have plans for an extension and will be adding a new double bedroom plus ensuite. The ensuite will be taking up one side/corner of the room, but it's struck me that we could just move the door and make both rooms separately accessible from the hall. This would make the layout more flexible (e.g. we could keep our current bedroom as the master bedroom without having to move rooms).

But could the lack of ensuite put potential buyers off in the future?

Also, both our bathrooms will be front facing - could that be a problem? Obviously we will have frosted windows & blinds. We are pretty overlooked from the back too (well, from everywhere as we are on a corner plot!).

LeonieDeSainteVire Wed 19-Feb-14 18:32:19

What BowlersArm and PotOfTea said!

I would never willingly live anywhere without an en suite now, my bedroom and bathroom are my (and DH's) private space and I love it. In an ideal world my (non existent) spare room would also have an en suite, so privacy for guests too.

Mutley77 Wed 19-Feb-14 13:48:46

Couldn't live without an en suite. It's an unspoken rule in our house that dh doesn't use the en suite for anything smelly and steam never an issue with good extractor.

Jack and jill doors a good idea for flexibility.

CurrerBell Wed 19-Feb-14 09:44:36

Lots of helpful responses - thank you. We only have two children but do have overnight guests quite often so that is a consideration. I'm edging towards the ensuite again now or perhaps the jack and jill doors... The doorways would be right next to each other (at right angles) even if we had separate doors off the hall, so easily accessible (although possibly slightly annoying to have to find a dressing down just to step round the corner!).

We are considering putting a deep Japanese-style bath (Omnibath) in our main family bathroom as it fits better than a standard bath, and would be more usable for DH (who is tall). Has anyone had any experience of these? We would have a separate shower too.

RudyMentary Wed 19-Feb-14 03:18:25

I love our en-suite and would definitely go for this option

RuddyDuck Wed 19-Feb-14 02:46:58

We have a family bathroom and an en suite, and I prefer that arrangement to 2 family bathrooms. We have 2 teens, who share the main bathroom. Quite often we have extra teens sleeping over and, as others have said, it is much better being able to use our en suite at night rather than putting clothes on to go across the landing.

I think it depends how many dc you've got. If we had loads the 2 bathrooms might be better than 1 plus en suite. But for us this arrangement works. We also have a downstairs loo, which helps in tbd morning rush.

LondonGirl83 Tue 18-Feb-14 23:10:55

We have an ensuite accessed through a dressing room. That buffer really eliminates all the potential negatives-- you can't hear any more than you would from a separate bathroom.

Its nice having privacy from guests and kids. We are fortunate enough to have a family bathroom, a separate shower room on the 2nd floor and our ensuite. Really depends on how large your family is.

MummytoMog Tue 18-Feb-14 21:38:45

We put in four loos when we built the extension. It may seem like overkill, but for four years I've only had one bloody toilet in the house. My poor dad (couldn't get upstairs) had to use a freaking commode in the living room. It was awful. So downstairs loo, family bathroom loo and two en suite loos (so guests/lodger have their own and so do we). Our possible lodger is mostly interested in staying with us because they would have their own en suite and they're sick of shared bathrooms.

elfycat Tue 18-Feb-14 20:45:49

We did a loft conversion a few years back and have the shower room door off the hall. We could have had an ensuite, but then the other upstairs bedroom user would have had to trot downstairs for a midnight wee.

This works well for us as from time to time we cram as many guests as we can into the house (sometimes with additional tents in the garden) and having 2 family bathrooms means there's no awkward letting someone through your room to use the shower, and 2 people can use toilets (after much beer drinking usually) at the same time, again without awkwardness.

The DDs are young at the moment so we pretty much get the room to ourselves anyway as they prefer baths to showers. At some point we'll be wearing dressing gowns to nip out in the night but I'm still happy with the 'ensuite to upstairs' option we chose.

AnnoyingOrange Tue 18-Feb-14 20:14:13

I like having an ensuite bathroom. As others have said, it's a private sanctuary away from the children. Also I can nip to the loo in the night without having to find a dressing gown.
We've had an ensuite for about 20 years and noise/steam/smell has never been a problem thanks to a window, an extractor fan and a door.

I can't understand the new fashion for having a bath in a bedroom though

ScentedScandal Tue 18-Feb-14 20:08:39

I love ours too. I think they're great if they're a good size.

ShoeWhore Tue 18-Feb-14 20:05:30

I'm amazed at some of the replies on this thread.

I love having an ensuite. So convenient and private.

Bowlersarm Tue 18-Feb-14 20:00:04

Exactly potoftea

How can anyone not want an en suite?

There are only advantages.

It's so lovely to have a little bit of a sanctuary from the turmoil which is, family life - lovely though it is, it's great to have some privacy and no one banging on the door hurrying you up.

All your lovely bath oils, soaps, shampoos, extraordinary expensive lotions and potions, lined up and untouched by anyone else.

Or having to tidy it all up because guests will use it.

Or having to put clothes on whilst you nip to the loo in the night.

Best room in the house grin. Wouldn't be without it.

potoftea Tue 18-Feb-14 19:47:15

When we built an extension, we put in an ensuite. It is now my favourite aspect of the house! I love the privacy of it and how I can have anything on show there knowing no visitors are going to have a nosy around.
I love the nearness of it if I am ill and knowing there won't be anyone else using that bathroom if I need to run for it.
I find it useful for cleanups after sex because we can pop in there naked, whereas would have to cover up to run across the landing to family bathroom.
And now that our children are all young adults who have friends stay sometimes, I love that I can shut my bedroom door and have total privacy until morning when I am showered, dressed and with my makeup on before I venture out into the rest of the house.
If your children are young, you may be thinking that 2 family bathrooms is more useful, but very quickly they will be adults and that aspect of life is totally different.

MrsCampbellBlack Tue 18-Feb-14 19:27:43

Wow, philoslothy you really do like your ensuite wink

MoreBeta Tue 18-Feb-14 18:33:36

We used to have an ensuite in our other house and I didnt really like it that much. We had proper bathrooms also.

Now in our new house we have a proper bathroom with a bath but also having a proper really nice shower room built right next to our bedroom but not a door inside leading into the bedroom. The door is in the corridor right outside at right angles to our bedroom door. It means more people can use the shower room and we still have a lot of convenience. We also have a WC on the upper floor and shower/WC off the utility room too so everyone has access to a WC on every floor no matter how many guests.

Artandco Tue 18-Feb-14 18:23:26

X2 bathrooms. Hate ensuites. If one adults wakes early for work then the other would be disturbed by shower etc in en suite. With x2 then an adult can use one, teens use another, and anyone who doesn't have to be up can sleep. Same in the eve.
If you have children/ teens also its easier when older as they can get ready in Eve's between 2 bathrooms without killing each other!

Philoslothy Tue 18-Feb-14 18:17:19

I don't want to share a bathroom with my children or guests. I don't want my children dipping their fingers in face creams and makeup, I don't want my older children helping themselves to my makeup etc.

It makes sense to have my clothes near where I shower and get dressed rather than traipsing through the house in my towel.

My bath and shower are huge, we shag them a lot.

Sinkingfeeling Tue 18-Feb-14 18:12:15

I'd go for two bathrooms too - much more flexibility in terms of how they can be used. Never been keen on en suite bathrooms and can't really understand why the majority of the UK population see them as so desirable. confused

Bowlersarm Tue 18-Feb-14 18:02:29

Definitely an en suite.

Really love ours. Wouldn't live anywhere without one now.

Philoslothy Tue 18-Feb-14 17:58:30

We built our own house. We have ensuite a for the bedrooms however to create a buffer between the bathroom and our bedroom we have walk through dressing rooms between the two.

MrsCampbellBlack Tue 18-Feb-14 17:52:19

2 bathrooms for sure. I loathe en suites for all the reasons mentioned above.

HappyHippyChick Tue 18-Feb-14 17:51:10

I have 5 kids so two bathrooms would get my vote, so they're not traipsing through my room to get ready on a Saturday night!

Vickiyumyum Tue 18-Feb-14 17:46:56

I'd prefer two bathrooms. I've got an en suite and I hate it and it's only me that uses it. Because it's a smallish space it has an extractor fan that takes forever to switch off after the light has been turned off. So I tend to find my way in the dark to the loo.

Even though on the same floor two bathrooms would have been preferable. Or a bathroom with shower over bath and a shower room.

We're not ensuite fans either, but lots of people seem keen.

I like the idea of putting 2 doors in if possible so you can lock one and have ensuite or family.

MerylStrop Tue 18-Feb-14 17:30:03

I'd prefer two bathrooms

Without a shadow of a doubt

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