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What do you think about commingling the bathroom and the closet?

swampwiz
14 years ago

I've noticed in a lot of designs that the master bathroom and closet are commingled, such that one would need to walk though the closet to get to the bathroom, or vice-versa. I've even seen one design posted in this forum in which one would need to walk right in front of the toilet to get to the closet! Ugh!

As for me, I think this is a terrible design idiom. The bathroom should only be used for activities that require using water to clean oneself ... or for sex. The closet should be a clean, dry area for clothes. I understand why some architects would want do this, as this could simply the design - but at what cost?

Is there anyone out there who actually prefers this type of design idiom?

Comments (33)

  • kateskouros
    14 years ago

    a friend of mine has a closet that can only be entered through the bathroom. it seems less than ideal to me as i require a certain amount of privacy while indisposed. even if there is a separate room for doing ones business, i STILL want to be left alone to ...do whatever.
    that said, it's a personal choice. my friend likes hers well enough. she has a lovely home and if they wanted to change it they could have. i'm thinking maybe there are people who want to be together ALL THE TIME. (?)

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    A lot of people seem to like it. Personally, we have it now, and we both dislike it. Our new build has the closet and bathroom separated, but with adjacent doors, so one is still convenient to the other.

  • 2ajsmama
    14 years ago

    We haven't finished the master bath, but I think I'm going to like it (or not mind it). The closet door is by the tub in the main part of the bathroom, the shower and toilet are at the other end of the room (actually a separate room about the size of the closet, or a little smaller). The main bathroom only contains the soaking tub and a double-sink vanity. I preferred having the door to the closet in the bathroom instead of in the bedroom since that gave me more wall space for our double dresser, instead of a wall of doors (door from hallway to BR opening against the bathroom wall where the vanity is on the other side, then the bathroom door, then the closet door).

    I figure if DH is in the shower, he can walk across in front of the tub to dress - I used to take baths when we had a tub in the old house, the closet by the tub is convenient for me too. The WIC will serve as a dressing area (once we get 9 cases of tile out of it!) without having to go into bedroom.

    Since the toilet is in a separate room with a door, that affords some privacy. If DH is taking a shower and I need to use the toilet, I can always use one of the other 2 in the house.

    Good ventilation is required so the clothes don't get musty (another reason for having shower far away from closet). I don't even keep towels in a bathroom linen closet - prefer hall - for that reason.

  • vancleaveterry
    14 years ago

    My design has the toilet and the shower in one small room, with a large vanity area in another room. To get to the walk in closet, (which is almost large enough to be a dressing room) you also go through the vanity area.

    To me this offers MORE privacy, because if one person gets up earlier than the other, they can leave the bedroom, dress completely, and then pass one last time through the bedroom as they leave for work.

  • pattiem93
    14 years ago

    My master closet access is through our master bath. The original plan actually called for access from both the bedroom and bathroom, but during the framing stage we had them wall over the bedroom door in order to gain wall space (hubs wanted to hang the TV on one of the walls). It works beautifully for us. Our master closet is quite large (about 14 x 20 something) and I leave for work by 4:30 a.m. which is well before my husband. I can shower and dress without disturbing him at all. My neighbor who has a setup similar to our original plan has now asked my husband to close off her bathroom access from the bedroom so she can add a fireplace. And for the record- we have NO moisture issues at all in the closet

  • wildcat22
    14 years ago

    We are currently building and due to close in 7 weeks and will have this set-up, by choice. From our master bedroom, you can access the master bath which contains a jetted tub, double vanities, walk-in shower, and a separate toilet room. From this bathroom you get to the walk-in closet (that is the size of a small bedroom). From the closet, you can get to the laundry room and then from the laundry room, out to the hallway...one big circle on the 2nd level (along with 3 more bedrooms and 2 more baths). I actually *love* it this way for the same reason the PP's have said, one of us can get up and close the door to the bedroom and get completely ready, w/o ever even walking through the bedroom again at all (we could exit through the laundry room if we wanted to).

    In our current house of 8 years, the closet and master bath were separate, both accessible from the master bedroom. It was a pain to go in and out of them while trying not to wake up the other person, trying to turn lights off before exiting one while turning on the light only after entering and closing the door of the other. I guess it depends on how you live. I get up at 5am to be at the gym by 5:30am and DH sleeps until I get home at 6:40am when he gets up for the day. It also works well f we go to bed at different times...dressing for bed, removing of contacts, etc can be done in one room w/o multiple lights being turned on, etc.

  • sweeby
    14 years ago

    My ideal layout would have the master bedroom opening into a small hallway, with his and her closets on opposite sides of the hallway and the master bath at the end. So basically, a walk-through dressing area on the way to the bathroom.

  • missstaceyh
    14 years ago

    We had it in our house we just sold and are also having it in our current build. We both liked it. I liked that in the summer when I get to sleep in, DH can go to the bathroom and do everything there without having to disturb me in the bedroom. I don't think we'd have it any other way.

  • luckymom23
    14 years ago

    My DH works rotating shifts so we designed our Master Bedroom/Bath to accomodate my sleeping later than he on most days and his daytime sleeping on other days. You enter our Master through a small foyer-to the left is the Bedroom to the right is the bathroom. There is also an entrance directly to the bath from the bedroom. We like the separation of bathing/dressing away from the bedroom. It does afford us more privacy and like pp's have said it is less traffic through the bedroom if someone is asleep. We have several windows in the bath and two separate exhaust fans for moisture. My WIC is more of a dressing room and has a window too. In our previous home DH would always leave the door to the closet open and even though it was tidy it was not the best view. So for me this is a nice bonus-having our closets off the bath-if the doors are left open it's ok, I don't have to look at it while I'm relaxing in my bedroom.

  • kateskouros
    14 years ago

    sweeby: this is sort of how ours is set up. it's an upside-down T. so the bath is directly forward in a short hall with my closet off to the left and dh's to the right. i love the floorplan this way. but what i love most: two private rooms within the bath for separate commodes. that's what i call a two-person bath!

  • crazyone
    14 years ago

    swampwiz had commented on this from our prelim drawings. Our current house has a fabulous WIC off the bath but in another direction, the toilet has its own room which is perfect. the corner tub and large his/hers vanities on each side of tub and a seperate shower with a ton of floor space in t he center.. needless to say we spoiled.

    in the new house I like the idea of the WIC open with a window which puts it on an outer wall but totally agree that i do not like the idea of the toilet just in the open HOWEVER i cannot come up with ideas to rectify this, please help!!

    here is the prelim drawing

    Here is a link that might be useful: bathroom dilema layout

  • luckymom23
    14 years ago

    crazyone-
    If you cannot add more space and you could live with 2 reach in closets vs the walk in...
    then you could put a closet on either side of the bath-where the vanity and tub are now, creating a hall to the bath and just moving the vanity and tub down and have the toilet and shower share a room with a pocket door at the end with the window in that space.

  • 2ajsmama
    14 years ago

    You could put a closet (wide reach-in) where the tub is now, put the toilet (with a door opening out if it's wide enough) where the shower is. I would leave the sinks app. where they are (take down wall where toilet is now and extend the vanity area to have a seating area, maybe b/t 2 sinks, for makeup) and that makes the space closest to BR a dressing/grooming area. Or leave the sinks as-is and make current toilet alcove a "his" closet and the larger (where tub is) area a "hers" closet. Or do what PP said and make his/hers closets where tub and vanity area now, then his/hers vanities where shower and toilet are now, but then you need to find a space to fit the toilet (compartment in what is now WIC?).

    Past the pocket door (you could even take this out and leave it open) in what is now the WIC I would put tub under window (with blinds or frosted glass for privacy), shower in corner (and toilet in another corner if you can enclose it and have turned other area into closet or vanity as in previous paragraph), or if you want a huge walkin shower I've even seen them where the whole room is a shower and a clawfoot tub sits *within* the shower area. Even if you don't turn the whole WIC into a WIS (walkin shower) you could tile that room/area but have BR flooring (carpet or HW) extend into the dressing area.

    I would also square off the BR next to it and put in a long reach-in closet instead of a corner WIC in that room.

    Sorry to throw so many ideas at you, but w/o knowing your morning routine, the dimensions, and how many clothes you and DH own, it's hard to make recommendations.

  • brutuses
    14 years ago

    We specifically had our architect put our WIC access from the bedroom only and not through the bath. I don't know who originally designed WIC access through the bath, but it never appealed to me.

  • pattiem93
    14 years ago

    I asked my husband today if he would still close the access from the bedroom if he had it to do over. He says even if we build again, he'd want the same layout-he loves having closet access from the bath.

  • kats
    14 years ago

    Yea, my husband says the same thing.
    Our bathroom and closet area is quite long. I would say probably 8' wide by 30' long. As you walk we have a huge glass shower on the outside wall, then 2 sinks, a closed toilet room and then our open clothing closet. On the other side of our closet is a long hallway. Originally our architect had both sides of our closet open, one open all the time on the bath side (off the bedroom), the other a door opening from this hall. I vetoed that in a hurry as I KNOW that DH would never have closed that hall door. Everyone coming into my home would have been able to look straight down the hall and see not only the closet but the shower as well ! DUH !!!!!

  • crazyone
    14 years ago

    Hi kat and patti, do you have picture of your baths??

  • chiefneil
    14 years ago

    I dunno, it just seems nice to me to have everything grouped together for flow. In the morning I take care of business, wash hands, toss stuff in the hamper, step into the shower, then get dressed. Having the closet right there close to the shower is really convenient. Same thing in reverse after I workout - quick trip to the closet to drop stuff in the hamper, hit the shower, then back to the closet. It's also a pleasant place hang out and chat with DW while doing all the various things involved with getting ready for a night out.

    But my bathroom is a really nice space that I still love. We have his and hers toilets behind doors so they're not visible, but they are very convenient. I'm in a very dry climate so the moisture isn't a concern, but I could see it being an issue in wet climates.

    Here's an old link to my bath from the bathrooms forum.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Don't copy this terrible design idiom bathroom

  • crazyone
    14 years ago

    Chief - i LOVE your bathroom!!!! fantastic, well done

    not sure i have this much room but maybe i need to make it :-)
    do you have a floor sketch?

  • pattiem93
    14 years ago

    Well, certainly not as nice as chief's, but when we do our own build I've got a notebook FULL of ideas! This is looking from closet door across the room. Bedroom entrance is on the right. Sorry it's a bit dark-flash isn't working properly

    DH's vanity is on left

    My vanity is on right (don't know why this is so blurry-must get a new camera!)

    Don't have a pic of tub area now, but this is one the builder gave us during construction. We purchased this house after the original buyer had backed out.

    This is the entry to the closet

    The main area of this bath-minus the toilet room area- is about 15 x 20

  • chiefneil
    14 years ago

    I love your bathroom Patti - the divan (or whatever that kind of seat is called) gives it a really welcoming feel.

    Here's a link to the stock floorplan crazyone. The master bed/bath area is on the left side of the drawing.

  • kats
    14 years ago

    Crazyone,

    My bathroom and closet curve so I never could get a decent picture of the whole thing. Here's the plans which will give you an idea of what I've been trying to explain (probably not so well) LOL
    The shower is the triangle on the far left outer wall, then the 2 sinks followed by the WC then a curve and finally the long closet. You can see the end of the hall where it meets the closet on the right side of the plans (just before the bedroom entrance door).
    To enter the bathroom just in front of the two sinks are two cupboards that open from either side. In front of those is a false wall that opens on either side and allows passage into the bedroom.
    Really confusing huh? LOL

  • crazyone
    14 years ago

    wow, those are some snazzy bathrooms.. Holy.. like small houses but all seem so welcoming and restful.. I love them, thanks so much for sharing!!

  • omasch1
    14 years ago

    chiefneil,

    Love your bathroom! Since you indicated this is a stock plan, do you mind sharing the plan name/designer/number?

    Thanks!

  • crazyone
    14 years ago

    chief- this looks like a mansion esp in my standards.. do you have other photos of your home.. what an inspiration!

  • chiefneil
    14 years ago

    Hi Visions - I actually used a semi-custom builder and this was one of his stock plans, so it wasn't a plan I went out and found. We made a few changes like adding windows and moving a couple walls, but for the most part the basic plan suited our needs very well.

    Crazyone, thank you for the kind words. It's definitely a bigger house than I ever imagined myself living in, but I love it and each and every room gets used on a regular basis so we're very happy with the way it turned out. Below is a link to an old album. Many of the photos were taken shortly after moving in so the place isn't decorated yet, but it should give you a general idea of what the rooms are like.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Some photos

  • deborahlynn_wpa_net
    12 years ago

    My ex and his new girlfriend totally ripped apart the master bath and flipped the closet from the bedroom to the bath. How does this save time. You still need to go to the bedroom to get socks, panties, shoes.... all they have is shirts hanging in the bathroom. alot of wasted money. this is only a 12 x 6 room.

  • 9unicorn15
    8 years ago

    Amen, unless you have a room size closet things will be in different places.

    Also what's so cool about walking through a steaming, possible smelly room with perhaps another or two in just to get clothed.


    The best plan I have seen in over 30 years of design and home building is a hall to the primary bath, with closet space of any size on both sides of the hall. All else seems like a waste of design talent, but it saves the builder money and that's what it's all about. Oh! and to make think their smart. Huh!

  • Lavender Lass
    8 years ago

    We have closet on one side, bathroom on the other. I haven't had the walk through bathroom or walk though closet, but with our set-up....there seems to be less walking :)


  • neonweb US 5b
    8 years ago

    we dont have a master bath, just put the main bathroom right next to the master bedroom (we prefer it that way since we are on different schedules, and was cheaper to build with one less bathroom anyway) We have the shower and family closets together in a room off of the bathroom. We dont store clothes in bedrooms, but put the closets where we get dressed at. having them together is so convenient for undressing and redressing right next to the shower. The shower is walled in around the ceiling, and has a vent fan, so moisture is not an issue. The bathroom is shared with everyone so we put the washer/dryer behind sliding doors, and turned the toilet so you cant be seen even if you dont close the pocket door to completely seal it off from the room. We also have a door out to the patio which works well for hanging laundry on a clothesline, or for putting filty kids straight into the tub. Ours was a custom build that seems to be confusing to some people that we dont have closets in the bedrooms, and get dressed in the shower room. Nevermind a door so we dont have to track through the entire house to get to the bathroom. Thats the great thing about being able to build your own home-do it to suit your lifestyle.

  • tcufrog
    8 years ago

    In both our homes we've had our closets in our master bathrooms. We live in TX where it can get unbearably hot and humid. Despite the horrible summers we've never had problems with smelly or moldy clothes because of our bathrooms. We actually like the setup because we often have different wake and sleep schedules. Having the closet in the bathroom means one of us can get up and get dressed in the bathroom without waking our spouse by going through a closet in the bedroom.

  • lolauren
    8 years ago

    This is an old thread, but oh well. :)

    Our master bathroom opens to the master closet which opens to the laundry. We LOVE it as it works for our different schedules. I would hate a setup with closet and bathroom both opening to the bedroom. With all that said, I think having a separate toilet room is key for our design. That is the only time I really want privacy from my husband, and I can get it without restricting his access to the bathroom or closet.