en-suite guest bath...does it have to have a door?

10 years ago

I'm planning the addition of a small bathroom (approx. 5X10.5) to a guest bedroom. The bathroom would be accessed only through the bedroom, through one of the two existing windows...unfortunately, the one which lets the most light into the bedroom.

The layout contemplated is very simple: entrance is in the center of one long wall. Vanity/sink directly opposite. Bath/shower combo alcove-style to the right along a short wall. To the left of the entry, a pony wall with commode behind it. I intend to use high clerestory windows around three sides of the bathroom to let in as much light as possible, while protecting privacy (it's at the back of an urban rowhouse, on the second story)
. I'd like to leave the bathroom open to the bedroom, with no door at all, to keep the bedroom as light filled as possible. I've lived in a master bedroom with a bathroom that was open to it, but had a separate doored-off area for the commode. This would only have a pony wall, but the commode wouldn't be visible from anywhere in the bedroom.
And, as it's a guest room, the vanity/sink would presumably be attractive and not cluttered up with the usual grooming stuff.

Would I be crazy to do this? Would guests likely think it weird?

Comments (14)

kirkhall
10 years ago
Weird.

I'd put a pocket door in (or barn door), so that it could be closed, but so it can also be wide open most of the time for your light.

Or, get a frosted glass door.
kai615
10 years ago
It is one thing to make that decision for yourself, but to put your guests in this position would just make some very uncomfortable. I have been reading the other thread about the MB thinking, "how could anyone want to have no door on their bathroom, that is just weird". And honestly, I am a mid thirties (so not old and set in my ways), been living with my husband for 13 years, so not shy, but sometimes you just need your privacy.

I agree with kirkhall, add a pocket door or similar.
Related Professionals
St. Louis Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Hanover Township Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Martha Lake Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Turlock Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Ashburn Glass & Shower Door Dealers · Trumbull Glass & Shower Door Dealers · College Park Glass & Shower Door Dealers · Langley Park Cabinets & Cabinetry · Billings Cabinets & Cabinetry · Effingham Cabinets & Cabinetry · Reading Cabinets & Cabinetry · Richardson Cabinets & Cabinetry · Warr Acres Cabinets & Cabinetry · Whitney Cabinets & Cabinetry · Huntington Beach Window Treatments
kaysd
10 years ago
If I were sharing the guest room with anyone else, including my husband, I would want a door (since there is no separate WC). Otherwise, I would be trekking to the hall bathroom every time I needed to use the facillities. Use a pocket door or barn door that can be left open most of the time. I like the idea of using lots of clerestory windows around three sides of the bathroom to let in light from outside. You may want to have clerestory windows between the bedroom and bathroom also.
remodelfla
10 years ago
Well...we haven't had a bathroom door in either home by way of never completing projects for over 10 years. It wasn't a design choice. I'm use to it by now but if we ever get to the master bath, the doorway will have a door.
LE
10 years ago
Seems like a frosted glass option would be the best of both worlds. I like pocket doors, too, but not everyone does. With the frosted option, the room would remain brighter even when the bathroom was occupied.
alex9179
10 years ago
I wouldn't appreciate the openness, since visual issues aren't the only reason for a door. Sometimes you want the noises from an upset GI tract to be as muffled as possible!

Make sure you have some kind of night light in there. I would hate to be awakened by a bright light in the middle of the night, which would happen with a frosted door.
jacqueline5
10 years ago
We have a pocket door, I love it and 90% of the time its open. After 23 years of marriage, not much is sacred around here, but there are times when being separated by a door is imperative!
jrueter
10 years ago
I think a door of some type is needed - a frosted door certainly would be a great compromise. I would probably just install a standard interior door opening in so in the open position it hides the pony wall and toilet. You could leave it open all the time, with little impact on the light getting into the bedroom, but guests would have the option of closing it when desired.
sixkeys
10 years ago
Any type of door gives ALL of your guests the option to be comfortable. Open or shut!
pricklypearcactus
10 years ago
I agree that not having a door has the potential to be uncomfortable for some guests. I would not like using a guest bathroom where there was no door between it and the bedroom (especially without a toilet room). While I've been with my significant other for 15 years and lived together for about 10, I still prefer to have the door closed when using the toilet. If you can install a door (pocket or standard) such that the door can be open most of the time, I think that's your best bet.
melissastar
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the feedback all. So clearly the consensus is door. I just hope I can work that out. This is a small bath being added on over the top of a kitchen addition on the first floor. Access to it will be through a window approximately 30 inches wide. At present the window is part of a whole wall of oak built-ins original to the house (built in 1907). Thus the window is set about 20 inches deep into an enclosure which consists of matching 40 inch wide by 20 inch deep cupboards on either side, a window seat below and molding/valance affair above.

So, since I want to keep the cupboards and moldings joining the two sides over the window, I may need to get a custom sized door. I think a pocket door might work, recessing it into the newly built wall behind the original oak cupboards. Or, if it turns out that the pony wall planned to corral the toilet area won't work, I'll do a door that hinges on the left and swings inward, blocking the view of the toilet.

I just KNOW that this is going to turn out to be horribly complicated in real life.! >
sjhockeyfan325
10 years ago
Access to it will be through a window approximately 30 inches wide.

Do you mean a window, as in climb over a window-sill?
melissastar
Original Author
10 years ago
Oh my goodness I wrote that poorly. Sjhockeyfan! I mean the doorway will go where there is now a window!
sjhockeyfan325
10 years ago
Glad I misunderstood!!