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Ensuite vs hall bathroom for children

girlguineapig
9 years ago

First of all, I don't actually have kids yet! But we are building a two story house and planning on having two, hopefully.

The situation is that we are planning on master up, two kid's bedrooms, and a bonus room for whatever (exercise, office, etc.). We could make this bonus technically a bedroom, but to for that it needs to be accessible to a bathroom. If the two kid's rooms have ensuite baths, then I don't think the bonus can really be counted as a bedroom. We could give one bedroom an ensuite and the other two rooms share a hall bath but that seems unfair if we only have two kids. But, what if we really do have three? You never know...and that might be preferable for resail?

I suppose the ideal situation would be to give all the rooms ensuites! But we don't know yet if that's possible. The cheapest decision would just to make all three rooms share a hall bath. Thoughts?

Comments (9)

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    I only have two kids, so I don't know how a third would throw things off. My son never had a problem sharing a bathroom.

    If there is any common space on the second floor (office, playroom, whatever), you should have a bathroom accessible to that space without going through a bedroom.

    One issue with an ensuite for a kid: We tried to be very respectful of our sons' privacy, and didn't go barging into their rooms uninvited after they were 6 or 7 years old (or younger - I can't remember, they're 20 now). But they weren't very good at cleaning their own bathroom until they were older than that. I would prefer to not walk through my kid's bedroom to get to their bathroom to clean, put away towels, etc.

  • Oaktown
    9 years ago

    Well, the local developers around here probably would do 1 hall, 1 ensuite as the best bang for the buck with a hypothetical family in mind.

    In terms of fairness, there are lots of ways to balance things out between/among kids :-)

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    I'm pretty sure a bedroom MUST HAVE an egress window and a closet, but a close-by, convenient bathroom isn't a requirement. The people who make the what's-a-bedroom-rules don't care if the occupants of a bedroom must pass through another bedroom (or go downstairs) to reach the bathroom.

    Buyers, on the other hand, will care about the convenience of a bathroom.

    My vote: For your circumstances, I say go with one bathroom in the hallway. It's accessible to everyone and to guests in the bonus room. IF you end up having more than two children and you need the bonus room to become a bedroom . . . it's a BONUS for the BONUS. It gives you flexibility for the future.

  • girlguineapig
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Interesting con for ensuites, ankh.

    We have been imagining that the bonus room is really the adult hobby room and that people outside the family wouldn't really go in there, but it does seem bad not to build in more flexibility.

    Oaktown, maybe you're right about fairness. I mean if there was one ensuite and one hall bath, perhaps the hall bath would be bigger and one child might prefer that over the ensuite (a girl with lots of beauty supplies?) for example. Or views, orientation...I really like the idea of another ensuite upstairs. One ensuite and one hall for the other two bedrooms to share does seem the most versatile.

  • weedyacres
    9 years ago

    "Unequal" bathrooms are a great way to teach kids that life isn't fair. That's an important life lesson. :-)

  • LauraFaye
    9 years ago

    I would do a hall bath. We have two boys and another on the way. They have no issues sharing a bathroom now, and for the home we are building we split the bathroom so the vanities are separate from the toilet and shower. Once they are older this will work well on busy mornings. I personally don't really get ensuites for kids, I just see it as more unnecessary bathrooms that require cleaning. I would be more apt to plan an ensuite for a guest room.

  • jdez
    9 years ago

    I agree on the cleaning issue. Two bathrooms in our house is plenty for me to clean. I shared a hall bath with two brothers while growing up and I don't remember there being any problems.

  • girlguineapig
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks everyone. We decided to go with 5 BR/3.5 BA, so one hall bath for three bedrooms. I think I was getting hung up on it because we are currently living in a kid's room at parents' house and no ensuite for a couple is terrible! But I realized if his parents had a proper guest room with ensuite (which we will have), we would obviously live there.

    Can't wait to share our layout with you all soon. :)

    This post was edited by girlguineapig on Mon, Nov 17, 14 at 10:38

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