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victoriaelizabeth_gw

Value of half bath? Too close to kitchen, but only one on 1stFlr

VictoriaElizabeth
11 years ago

I spent a lot of time over on the bath forum when we were doing our bathroom remodel. (I love you gardenweb!) This is my first post here on the kitchen boards.

We are restoring an 1890 Victorian house. We currently have two full baths (second and third floor). And a half-bath located in an addition off of the kitchen.

There are a couple of issues with the half bath. I think it's too close to the kitchen. And, it looks bad (obviously). The addition itself is a poor design: a box, but with one corner cut on an angle (our previous owner was creative) and then he took it one step further and boxed in a corner of it to add a (very small) bathroom.

Showing you a photo just makes it look all the more hideous, since the room is orange (courtesy of crazy p.o.) and we had just moved in, so there is a pile of stuff instead of a nicely arranged room. Obviously, there is nothing good about this look, but I also know that if we kept it, it would not look so bad once we were done with the room. Paint and furniture will make a huge difference.

More photos of the Kitchen, and the Addition.

The green wall is where the kitchen area begins. We want to make the two spaces feel like they belong together. We're still undecided about the end design of everything. We aren't going to extend the kitchen into the orange area, but we do want to make it feel coherent.

There is no other place to put a bath on the first floor. So my question is: is a half-bath in a location you dislike, worth more than the aesthetic value of not having it?

I do know that an extra bathroom, especially on the first floor is invaluable to families. We don't have children, or elderly parents so it's not an issue for us. But at the same time, we won't live here forever, and we want to make choices that suit us, but also add value to the house.

I appreciate any insight you can give me. I can argue both sides of this so well, that I don't even know how I feel about it anymore. My husband is tired of listening to me waffle on the topic. That seems to be what I am best at when it comes to renovation: Uncertainty, indecision, endless research.

Thank you!!
Victoria

Update: Drawing of kitchen and addition.
That's just the current kitchen layout, not at all a final design.

Here is a link that might be useful: Squaring the addition would require removing massive patio.

This post was edited by VictoriaElizabeth on Wed, Mar 20, 13 at 14:37

Comments (44)

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would never even consider a house with no sort of facilities on the first floor. Better one too close to the kitchen, which is what I have, incidentally. I think you will take value away by removing it.

  • robo (z6a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, I clicked on the thread to say 'half bath at any cost' but......I see what you mean about the placement. Could you afford to lose light from or move the glass door? I'd be super tempted to wall off the back of the room and creae a little vestibule, have a mini hallway leading to bathroom and to outside. Or bring door opening in to room about 3 feet and have a mini l turn to get to bath. Anything to tone down the geometry. How wide is the room?

    This post was edited by robotropolis on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 11:14

  • nosoccermom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What are you using that orange room for?
    While I agree that the little "in"house corner is a bit strange, I think that most people will want a first floor half bath.

  • VictoriaElizabeth
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I should have said that our previous house was built in 1920, and also had no bath on the first floor, so it doesn't seem so strange to us. Maybe that is why we would consider removing it.

    Room is only 13.5' wide.

    I like the idea of moving the door forward or somehow adding space between the room and the exit. Although, how that would work I don't know. The whole roofline would have to be rebuilt since p.o. did not build a full square. But thank you, that is something we hadn't considered.

    Orange room will be kind of like a den/sitting area. We have an actual living room, but we want to connect this room more with outside, since it's the only door to the backyard. We want to replace the small windows with larger, and make it kind of feel like a modified sun room. (With a bathroom in it. Haha) So that would not be as nice if we eliminated the double glass doors.

  • allison0704
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Do guest use the powder room, or do you say "there's one upstairs that's more private?" Our powder room is off the kitchen. DH is forever telling guest to go through main level guest room to that bathroom - which is fine, and it is more private. Even with the strong, loud vent fan on I don't want to hear guest using the restroom. I mentioned to DH recently we could take out the powder room and make it a second walk-in pantry. He nixed the idea, since he uses it when we don't have company!

    Yours is in an awkward location. If not having a powder room isn't a major turn off if/when you sell, I would remove. Then I guess the only problem would be guest that can't do the stairs.

  • VictoriaElizabeth
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @Allison, everything you said applies to us. We always direct guests upstairs. I think it's uncomfortable to have someone use the bathroom in the same room you're in... Particularly if that room is the kitchen. But, my husband uses it, when it's just us, and if we had children, I can see how it would be a good thing to have.

    The real drawback is obviously how awkward it makes the room. It changes the entire layout for something we don't need, but may be desirable to a future owner. And it limits the improvements we can make to the room.

    My husband feels like a buyer will find a nicely-designed room more appealing than a convenient, but weird bathroom. (Although I'm pretty sure he's also thinking how much easier it would be to just take it out, than redo it, and try to improve the layout.)

  • robo (z6a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Can't squeeze one in under the stairs?

  • CeltiaKris
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I vote for keeping it. We used to have a small 1920s house and the only full bath was right off the kitchen. Even better, while "sitting" with the door open, one could see the whole kitchen AND the next-door neighbor's side door. But I LOVED having a first floor bathroom.

    Some things I like about your setup:
    1 - The door is on the side. Minor detail, MAJOR issue.
    2 - It's right by the back door. Picture all the times you will come in from the yard covered in soil, snow?, mud, even just rain. You can head right to the powder room and wash hands, dry hair, etc. No traipsing though the house with your hands covered in manure.

    What I would do:
    Extend the wall of the bathroom all the way across that room. Plan for a LARGE archway in keeping with the house architecture. Make sure the door and the small window are visible through the archway. This will give you a bit more wall to place furniture against on the kitchen side, it will give the bathroom door a bit of privacy, and it will also create a sort of pseudo mudroom area (though, practically, you would only be able to hang a few coats there).

    It's a great space, and you'll really enjoy having some seating in your kitchen! We have a setup like that, and it truly is where everyone gravitates.

  • CeltiaKris
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I vote for keeping it. We used to have a small 1920s house and the only full bath was right off the kitchen. Even better, while "sitting" with the door open, one could see the whole kitchen AND the next-door neighbor's side door. But I LOVED having a first floor bathroom.

    Some things I like about your setup:
    1 - The door is on the side. Minor detail, MAJOR issue.
    2 - It's right by the back door. Picture all the times you will come in from the yard covered in soil, snow?, mud, even just rain. You can head right to the powder room and wash hands, dry hair, etc. No traipsing though the house with your hands covered in manure.

    What I would do:
    Extend the wall of the bathroom all the way across that room. Plan for a LARGE archway in keeping with the house architecture. Make sure the door and the small window are visible through the archway. This will give you a bit more wall to place furniture against on the kitchen side, it will give the bathroom door a bit of privacy, and it will also create a sort of pseudo mudroom area (though, practically, you would only be able to hang a few coats there).

    It's a great space, and you'll really enjoy having some seating in your kitchen! We have a setup like that, and it truly is where everyone gravitates.

  • scrappy25
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Perhaps extending the inside wall of the bath to made a short "corridor" would increase the psychological separation of the spaces. Looks like you have space to biuld a "double wall" to increase insulation and sound barrier if needed. I wouldn't buy a house without a ground floor restroom.

  • onedogedie
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm all for lots of bathrooms but I would tear that out. You might as well have a porta-potty stuck in the corner of the room. Two bathrooms will do, don't you think?

    * Edited to add - I am not against bathrooms being close to the kitchen. It's not ideal but in old houses you find a bathroom there where they've taken advantage of the nearby plumbing to convert a pantry into a blessed 2nd bathroom. But you already have 2 bathrooms, and this boxed corner looks to be in a major living space!

    This post was edited by onedogedie on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 13:28

  • ginny20
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm in the "redesign that space" camp. I, also, would never buy a house with no powderroom on the first floor. Even without your own kids or old people, things happen - surgery, injuries, illness, aging - that preclude the convenient use of the upstairs bathroom.

    My neighbor has no first floor powderroom, and she knows this means that she and her husband will probably not be able to keep their house when they become elderly.

  • function_first
    11 years ago

    Previous owner added it for a reason. Our last house had both bathrooms on the second floor and no bathroom on the first floor, and I'd never, ever buy a house without the first floor bathroom again (had two potty-training toddlers while living there -- miserable!). The people who bought the house from us added a half bath before they even moved in.

    I agree that extending the wall of the bathroom to make some sort of pseudo mudroom would be a great solution to balancing the bathroom in the corner. Failing that I would run a piece of moulding around the room at the same height as the top of the doors and paint everything above the moulding white (same as the ceiling) to stop the eye at a straight line. The wonky way they did the walls gives the addition a "fun house" effect that is dizzying.

  • skyedog
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Robotropolis is on the right track. Reworking the space to eliminate the awkward bath jut-out is your best bet. I would flatten the ceiling while your at it and you will get a much more acceptable space.

    I live in an older home and my bath is MUCH closer to the kitchen than yours so it could be worse. At least the bath is close to an exterior door, something that many people find desirable. In my neighborhood it's almost impossible to sell a home without a bath on the main floor.

  • robo (z6a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think another door (to the bath area) and double drywall would probably do wonders for everyone's comfort level. I show a garden window here but you could keep your nice garden doors as well if they would fit.

  • detroit_burb
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would turn half the addition into a nice bathroom and the other half into an open mudroom/laundry. Then it would not be an awkward space. If you already have a living room, and the home is small in a neighborhood of small old homes, that is what would add most value.

  • lala girl
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We had something very similar in a poorly designed addition to our 1920's home and I could not wait to get rid of it! Ours opened right into the main family room and had slider door essentially made of cardboard. (I made such a big deal about our new power room being private and quiet that our architect thought I was bulimic). We ended up having to move ours.

    I do think removing it would impact resale down the road and if the plumbing is there, might as well use it.

    I agree with others that I would rework that whole back wall/ceiling like Robotropolis has done - for me the location is less of an issue than the awkward cut-out, integrating it into the rest of the room would be my priority.

    PS great house - love your other bath re-do, that is so pretty!

  • VictoriaElizabeth
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow... THANK you for all the input! I knew I would get good feedback, but I didn't actually consider that you'd think of something we hadn't.

    The extended wall seems genius... I'm excited to run it by my husband!

    @ robotropolis, we considered under the stairs... and any number of other amalgamations. But there's really no under the stairs, just the basement stairway. We tried to figure out how to move the basement access elsewhere, but it's too crazy... My husband will be impressed with your drawing... thank you!!

    @ CeltiaKris I love the idea of an archway. If there's room for it, it could also minimize the weirdness of the slanted door.

    @Krisma your idea of using molding/ceiling color on the wall to minimize the weird roof peaks is fantastic.

    @onedogedie I'm laughing, but you have summed up my greatest fear. Also, the room would be so much nicer with a large back wall of windows... it would made the room seem much bigger and brighter.

    @detroitburb I should have said that we do have a laundry room in the basement... the ceilings are kind of too low to make a nice bath, or we might have considered putting a full one down there and considering it a good compromise.

    I totally agree with everything everyone has said... a pseudo mudroom would be great, a bath by the back door is great... but setting aside the practical issues for a moment, now that you've convinced me that it's more popular and actually possible to keep it and redesign it in an appealing way, I need to argue the other side which is: wouldn't you RATHER have a room with a large wall of windows? Bright? Sunny? Open? See the backyard? And deal with the inconvenience of going to the second floor?

  • VictoriaElizabeth
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @laura I must have been responding as you were posting... kind of laughed at your architect --to assume you must be ill if you want a bathroom that is private.

    Our p.o. did a terrible job with the addition. It's so poorly planned; it's hard to imagine what he was thinking. We have 9' ceilings downstairs, but he put 8' ceilings in the addition, with the peaked roof, and the slanted doorway, it makes absolutely no sense at all. I guess he thought it was interesting.

    p.s.- thanks, I am so glad to have the bath done. It dragged on forever. Now I am totally dreading the kitchen...

  • Tim Sutherland
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Having renovated a 1922 town house in Brooklyn NY, where each floor was 17' wide 50' long, we did not have, and would not put, a toilet on the entry/main floor.

    People may be shocked with this, but in a house when each floor is this small, anywhere you squeeze a toilet in means that is is in plain view. The reality is the family members may use it, guests will not. If I had cooked a good curry I would not use it if my wife was in the house.

    People need to realise that trying to turn a 1920's house into a modern McMansion does not work. Older houses have a charm that should not be lost (small closets, small rooms, etc). If people have an issue walking up or down one flight of stairs to do their business, then a multifloor house is not for you.

  • julieste
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That is really a goofy layout and place for a 1/2 bath. But, I think you definitely want to somehow maintain a first floor bath. You say you don't have elderly guests or kids, but something might happen to you where you would appreciate having the toilet available. I have a 2 1/2 story 1916 house that did not have a main floor bath when we moved in. My son tore out part of his knee and had to have surgery. I felt so terrible watching him have to bump up and down the stairs on his butt during the day to get to a toilet. This could be you too, and it is not just the very young or very old who need that first floor availability.

    When we put an addition on our kitchen the only place we were able to squeeze in a half bath was between our dining room and kitchen (think of where a butler's panty might have been; ours is a similar location). We are so glad we have this powder room now. We and our guests use it all of the time. Just put in a powerful and noisy fan to block out noises.

  • deedles
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Gotta weigh in on the 'eesh' factor. Our downstairs full bath opened directly into the kitchen.. NEXT to the stove. I cannot tell you how skeezy it is to experience the *ahem* closeness to the bathroom events. We couldn't move the bathroom very far but I made DH get it around behind the stove wall and put a small walkthrough pantry where the BR had been. What a relief. So, if you can keep it on the first floor go for it, but for heaven's sake a bit of auditory buffer zone is nice.

  • robo (z6a)
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I showed DH the photo of your bathroom and he was like "take it out!" He's shy about that kind of thing.

  • scootermom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We live in a split-level home with no bathroom on the kitchen/DR/LR level, and a half-bath on the lower level. This lower-level half bath opens right off of our family room, where we spend a lot of time. I tell everybody to do #2 upstairs (top bedroom level), especially if there are others in the family room. When we have guests over, if we're all hanging in the family room (to watch football or sit by the fire), I suggest the upstairs for more privacy.

    I really wish we had a half-bath on our kitchen level, but it would be near the kitchen and/or dining room. We'd get one heckuva strong exhaust fan, let me tell you!

  • VictoriaElizabeth
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I really can't thank you enough for your opinions...
    I thought about this pretty much all night... I do think a wall solves a lot of the weirdness-factor. And would stop it looking like a phone booth stuck in the corner. And the suggestions to pad the wall slightly are great.

    My husband liked the idea, and thought it was creative, and said he'd think about it, but I think he's still with robotropolis's DH. Basically-- it's ugly and even improving on the ugliness is still not going to make the room as nice as it could be.

    After reading all the comments yesterday, I was sold on keeping it. But you know how once you're convinced in one direction; your brain immediately starts prompting you to consider the opposite side.

    Husband is away through next weekend, but he said when he comes home we can try rearranging the furniture to mock up what a wall might look like. And that he can maybe make some kind of makeshift template to get an idea for how far we could extend a wall/what it would look like.

    Thank you for all your thoughts... I appreciate it so much!!!

  • repac
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would absolutely recommend keeping the 1st floor bath. The suggested wall will do wonders for privacy. You can still direct guests to the upstairs bath, if you like, and you'll keep an option for those who are unable to manage the stairs. We've had friends/family--both young and old--who would not be able to visit if it weren't for our 1st floor half bath. And no matter how long you're in the house, it will value to your home. Have you asked a realtor about the value of a main floor half bath to prospective buyers?

  • Bunny
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    VictoriaE, is there no other place a 1/2 bath could be added at some point? Part of laundry room? Mudroom? Added at the back of the house?

    I'm of the any-port-in-a-storm persuasion when it comes to a bathroom (toilet), but smells and sounds can be totally embarrassing when others, esp. guests, are close by.

    Also, your comment about how much nicer a wall of windows there would be. I completely agree. Can't wait to see how you solve this dilemma.

  • athomeinvagw
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    More than likely one of the main reasons that the addition was added was for that bathroom and personally I would prefer the bathroom to a wall of windows. Adding the wall as Celtiakris suggested would create a much better feel for the space and you could still add more windows to the back wall that could be seen through the large opening.

    All of this bathroom talk has me wondering, how often do some of you guys have guests stopping by to take dumps at your house? I expect my first floor half bath to rarely- if ever- get loud and smelly. Any guests staying for an extended time know that there are other bathrooms that are more private. And my kids are not allowed to use the first floor bath at all unless they want to start scrubbing it, maybe I just have stricter bathroom rules than most.

  • nosoccermom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @athomeinva
    I had to laugh.You're right: Probably not too many guys (and I think it's mainly men) who "take dumps" at our house. However, at parties, we have plenty of people asking for the bathroom. Maybe I should polling them to find out what they do or have a little check list on the wall :)

  • julieste
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Don't laugh about the little sign. When my daughter got married we had several of the bridesmaids staying at our house for several days. Our first floor powder room has a toilet that doesn't flush particularly well (everyone in our family knows this and uses a different bathroom for anything other than urine), so my daughter posted a sign in the powder room telling her friends no feminine products or number two in that bathroom.

  • scootermom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm laughing too (and guess what...I live in Va also, so I may just stop by sometime to use that first-floor bathroom, athomeinva).

    You're right, most people seem to take care of the big jobs at home.

    WHen I said I told "everybody" to do #2 upstairs at our house, I meant everybody who lives here, not all of our guests. Wouldn't that be funny? "Hey - you should have done that UPSTAIRS so we wouldn't have to smell it!"

    Bellsmom - that's a nice mockup. I think it looks like a good solution.

  • theclose
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just to add my 2 cents, I would keep the bathroom on the first floor. Love Bellsmom's mockup.

    We are under contract on our first home (yay!). When we were house hunting, I would only consider homes that either had a bathroom on the first floor or the potential of putting one in. We have a toddler and a newborn, as well as an elderly parent that can't go upstairs. The thought of potty training our kids without a first floor bathroom is awful! So, take into consideration the target buyers for your home.

  • scrappy25
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bellsmom's mockup magically transforms that awful ceiling into a simple vertex! Can it really be so? What an improvement already in the lines, not even taking the bath into account.

    With sound insulation, i think this will greatly decrease the weirdness factor. A half bath next to the back door is wonderful for children and backyard parties.

    Certainly worth trying before anything else, it wouldn't cost too much to try especially if you diy.

  • herbflavor
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Need to bump out your space at the door position and create a better entry zone consisting of a proper vestibule .The wall you are thinking of extending actually would have french door for closing off.[perhaps use the existing french door and get a new exterior door].A vestibule with storage space/hooks/concealing the in/out to bath would be a good investment.Go a little furthur with he project and push out the entry for a zone. What's the space like outside the french door?just extending the wall is too minor.....with a bit more added to the "entry" you can close the wall ,all the way ,with french door making a better den and get a much much more useful vestibule/entry. Do the outside perimeter and the interior changes can be done in phases.but this is not a huge project as the bath can stay at the side of a vestibule where it is. It's framing and a new door position basically.

  • juliekcmo
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    So am I the only one who thinks that a first floor bathroom by the backdoor and close to the kitchen is optimal?

    I try to always wash my hands after I come inside. I think a proper handwashing sink is in the bathroom, not where I prep my food.

    I live in an older home, and you can see the powder room sink from my island, but thankfully due to our remodel, you no longer see the actual toilet from the kitchen table.

    Originally the home had a very small galley kitchen and maids room. The bathroom was for the maids room (where is she?)

  • Artichokey
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Gentle reminder to all that many people who are neither "children" nor "elderly parents" may not be able to climb the stairs to use a second floor bathroom.

  • nosoccermom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok, I just developed a short pilot survey to figure out what's been going on in our bathrooms for years. You're welcome to use it to post in your bathrooms.
    {{gwi:1653931}}

    Hypothesis: Men are more likely than women to do No. 2 in somebody else's house.

  • lascatx
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just saw this for the first time, but all through it I was thinking of extending the wall, but also the possibility of putting bookshelves across that room. Like the arch, it could help create some division, add function and purpose to the wall and add even more sound buffering.

    The size and layout of the room may not make sense for built-ins or a wall of added shelving/entertainment center. Either way, I think the arched proposal or something like it goes a long way to improving the space without reducing the ceiling height (I'm tall and would hate to lower most any ceiling). How nice to have that drawn up and see the big difference it makes. It really softens the geometry of the room. A small table under the window could be a useful addition as you come in the back door and also shift focus away from the powder room.

    I would definitely want a half bath on the first floor. I might not be prevented from buying the house if I knew there was plumbing and we could put the fixtures in easily enough, but if I bought the house, I'd put one in. If it was already there, I'd try to improve it before removing it.

  • bellsmom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nosoccermom
    I am happy your survey isn't copyrighted.
    This is too funny. I am going to print one to use (selectively) when we have guests.
    (Our most convenient main floor bathroom is also accessed through the kitchen! But there is also one in the master bedroom on the main floor for those who are shy!)

    Thanks again for the laugh.
    Sandra

  • raehelen
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have to reiterate what juliekcmo said, "So am I the only one who thinks that a first floor bathroom by the backdoor and close to the kitchen is optimal?"

    My house would be close to perfect if I could 'only' add that little hallway to the DR part of my kitchen. I am a gardener, and so many times, I have to run into the house, and remove shoes/boots and head down to the other end to do 'my business'. Coming in at the end of the day, I would love a place to hang jacket, gardening gloves, etc. In your case, you would have to go through house and up stairs if you eliminate that BR. Everyone is different, but honestly, my first thought on reading your post, was extend the wall into a mudroom. The arch idea is brilliant (I wouldn't have thought of that), and Bellsmom's mock-up makes it look doable. Add bookcases on the wall part too, a good fan, and you're cooking!

  • VictoriaElizabeth
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Catching up on this post from yesterday… it just gets progressively funnier.
    Since we’ve bypassed delicacy, I’m not actually concerned about the *need* for an exhaust fan… And I agree that I don’t expect a guest bath to see much use…just the general strangeness of sitting on the sofa chatting with friends, while some one is in the bathroom two feet away. How often that would be a problem? Probably never… like you said, they can go upstairs.

    Bellsmom-- I’m impressed with your photoshop skills. That looks really nice!! Thank you!

    There really isn’t another spot for a powder room. We had considered moving it to the other end of the kitchen, where it could be aligned with the fridge and you wouldn’t see it as a boxed-out area, but then it’s really IN the kitchen. And disrupts the whole layout of the area.

    We’ve gone back and forth on the backdoor. Bumping it out to square the room would be ideal. But it would require adding a foundation, and also removing the concrete and brick stairs that lead directly down to already existing concrete patio. So it’s not just the door… it’s the other twenty things it affects.

    I wanted to square the room, and put French doors on the right hand wall, but there is a tree there, and adding steps down to ground level would require removing it. I love seeing it out the window, and was unsure I wanted to take it down.

    The problem with this project is that we are trying to fix someone else’s poor design rather than doing it right. Which may be only marginally easier than starting from scratch.

    Thank you so much for sharing all your thoughts!! I will upload a photo when we have some kind of mock up of the wall… hopefully it will give us a better idea of how it might look in reality. Bellsmom’s photo kind of looks too good to be true. And I liked the idea of bookshelves, although the wall would probably be better as a sofa wall, since the room is long and narrow and the sofa depth would be better not sticking into the room.

  • bellsmom
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    VictoriaElizabeth
    It would help if you could post a floor plan. Just draw it on graph paper with a black marker, one square per foot. Include any obstacles such as the tree and the door purposes. Then photograph it from directly overhead in good light.
    I really couldn't tell how the walls angled (if they did!) in my rendition.

    Sandra

    This post was edited by Bellsmom on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 9:45

  • RobinTaylor
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Curious what direction you went. DD is looking for a way to add a powder room on first floor without ending up iwth an eyesore.