For the final six years, having one toilet labored surprisingly properly for our household of 4. However this yr, as a part of our current renovation, we lastly added one other toilet – and boy does it really feel luxurious after so a few years with out it! At this time we’ll share why, the place, and the way we lastly added a second toilet to our smaller dwelling.
We’ve additionally bought not one, however TWO video excursions beneath. There’s a fast walkthrough of the lavatory (with a peek at the remainder of the downstairs renovation). Plus an extended, no-detail-spared tour Sherry recorded for Instagram.
New Rest room Video Excursions
Earlier than we dive into the method of including this toilet, let’s stroll by the completed area. The primary is a fast spin across the toilet to orient you, (filmed by steady-handed John). It begins within the new “lounge” space (which was the principle a part of our current renovation) and leads you into our new ensuite toilet.
Be aware: You too can watch this video on YouTube.
This second video is one I posted on Instagram that’s a extra detailed look (and admittedly much less regular handed – sorry!), together with some yappy explanations of how issues work and why we made sure choices. A few of the identical information is roofed within the textual content beneath, however this video is unquestionably the best, most thorough strategy to expertise it!
Be aware: You too can watch this video on YouTube.
Now let’s cowl some backstory earlier than entering into all the after photos.
Why We (Lastly) Added A Rest room
We assumed that including a second toilet could be tremendous excessive on our precedence listing once we moved right here in 2020. We’d by no means lived in a one-bathroom home earlier than, not to mention as a household of 4. However the pandemic deterred us from speeding into it, and we shortly realized that having one toilet wasn’t an enormous deal in any respect… particularly with an out of doors bathe that all of us beloved.
Then issues modified final fall. Not as a result of we had been determined for one more toilet, however as a result of we determined to renovate a big a part of our home’s downstairs structure. The primary targets of that renovation had been to (1) give us extra entry/visibility to our yard pool and (2) make our son’s room larger. The toilet wasn’t even on our radar at first!
However in speaking with our contractor, we determined it made sense to sort out the lavatory whereas the home would already be torn up. Plus, it could be extra cost-efficient as a result of framers, electricians, drywallers, and so forth would already be on website and an entire lot of partitions would already be open. The contractor even stated “the lavatory will probably be simple and low-cost” due to a quite simple pipe-run that he may add beneath our raised deck out entrance. Music to our ears!
The very last thing to do earlier than formally including it to the to-do listing was to pin down the place to place every thing… which proved more durable than anticipated! Let’s simply say we thought of EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE WAY you may lay out a small toilet… perhaps 10 to fifteen instances every.
Laying Out Our Second Rest room
The choice about the place to place the brand new toilet was simple: this nook of our bed room. It was a pure spot to create a full, ensuite toilet from present sq. footage with out impacting the bed room’s operate a lot in any respect. We’d principally simply lose the storage & show area beneath and the room would grow to be a bit extra of a rectangle as an alternative of an L form, which at all times was somewhat quirky.
That is the tough flooring plan we confirmed our contractor when he was bidding the job. You possibly can see the place the lavatory was going (at proper, in inexperienced) and the way it could require relocating our bed room door and shifting certainly one of our Ikea closets. You too can see how weirdly formed our bed room is – so many angles!
The contractor appreciated the final plan, however recognized just a few code necessities to think about – largely clearance round the bathroom and the door swing. So earlier than he took our concepts into his CAD software program, Sherry and I used Photoshop to map out nearly each attainable association we may consider – rest room right here, sink there, perhaps a pocket door? These are just some, however we thought of actually EVERYTHING that was attainable with code concerns and all that jazz.
This small area was QUITE the puzzle. Altering one factor (like widening the door to fulfill code) impacted one thing else. Now’s the bathe too cramped? Are we making a clusterfug between the bathroom & open door? Actually, our massive thought of a pocket door wouldn’t even work as a result of that door was required by code to be wider than the area we had subsequent to it for it to recess into the wall. Womp-womp. So it was again to a large conventional door that must swing in or out.
To not be deterred, we continued to brainstorm (simply John and I for days with graph paper and tape on the ground, together with our contractor and his son, who had numerous concepts to throw into the pot. Lastly, we landed on two options that helped every thing click on into place:
- Swap out the broad conventional door we assumed we needed to have (which requires cumbersome framing & jambs in addition to a ton of area to swing out or in) for an identical set of Ikea closet doorways, which might be mounted to a thinner facet panel, incomes us area inside and out of doors the lavatory that isn’t “used up” by door swing, in addition to a extremely cool seamless closet look from exterior the lavatory.
- Use the facet of the Ikea wardrobe because the “wall” within the toilet, quite than including additional framing & drywall round it, which additionally saved us a good quantity of flooring area we thought we’d be dropping.
The second was a fairly unconventional answer, however it could give us just a few essential inches to assist us meet code in all of the necessary spots – thereby creating a toilet that’s not too cramped or tight feeling (the truth is it’s ADA compliant with a zero entry bathe!). Our contractor laid it out in CAD to make certain, and people two tweaks actually made all of the distinction. The bathe bought larger, the clearance round the bathroom elevated, and the entire thing felt extra open and spacious.
To be completely certain that we appreciated this plan greater than the 274 different ones we thought of, we taped every thing out on the ground earlier than demo started and “walked” our new flooring plan for just a few days. We truly did this for a number of the earlier iterations as properly. This was the primary model that felt – dare we are saying it? – spacious. I do know you’re laughing as a result of it appears insane on this image, so that you’ll simply should belief me that really strolling it and dwelling with it was sufficient for us to say: that is the one.
One final consideration was how this might all look from the bed room. Sherry and I took to Photoshop once more to render what it would appear to be. Forgive this hasty “earlier than” photograph I snapped utilizing my 0.5x lens. You possibly can see the lavatory taped out on the left facet. You too can see why we thought that was the right spot for our ensuite toilet although. It completely makes extra sense of the room’s L formed structure.
First, we mocked up the brand new bed room door location, the shifted closet, and a “conventional” door to the lavatory (far left) simply to verify it wasn’t the one answer that appeared good. We assumed it could steadiness the door rather well, and feared we’d be again to sq. one as a result of we had been fairly dedicated to the double door idea at this level. Fortunately we each hated it. The door to the room being shifted again about 2′ from the door to the lavatory (because of our wall of built-ins) made it look dumb. We had been thrilled! (Be aware: we wouldn’t need to shift the lavatory door again to the place the bed room door is as a result of our toilet would actually not have room for something and wouldn’t come near assembly any form of code necessities for clearance).
So sure, we had been downright jubilant that we didn’t like that rendering. The combination of doorways appeared extra chaotic and off-balance than we anticipated. It was truly a reduction once we mocked up the closet-doors-as-bathroom-door model, which keep in mind: at this level was principally our solely workable plan. It immediately made the room really feel extra symmetrical, which is extremely exhausting to attain with all the bizarre angles on this room!
We even had enjoyable mocking up a cupboard above the door…
… after which selecting a shelf as a result of it felt much less “wall of cupboards in every single place” and added some good dimension.
So between the CAD drawings, the tape on the ground, and our photograph mockups, we lastly felt assured about our plan. All that was left was to… make it a actuality. Straightforward, proper?
Rest room Development Progress
Development truly was very simple, fortunately. It was all dealt with by our contractor, and the few curveballs they encountered had been fairly small and straightforward to resolve. However listed below are a few “in progress” photographs that can assist you higher perceive the structure.
See that part of blonde plywood on the ground in these photographs? That’s the place the shifted Ikea wardrobe would go (which was in entrance of the place our new bed room door was positioned). You possibly can see how there’s solely framing behind it, not on the edges. A wall is about 5″ thick, so not framing the edges saved us almost A FOOT of linear area on that wall (!!!). We did have the contractor add some 1/2″ wooden panels to the uncovered wardrobe sides to provide them a bit extra end & power, although. You’ll see that in our after photographs (and it may be seen within the two movies we shared above as properly).
Let’s skip forward to the after photos, since it will likely be simpler to speak about a few of our materials alternatives and design choices. Plus, these are the enjoyable half anyway!
Rest room Afters
I do know you’re wanting to look inside the completed toilet, however let’s keep exterior for yet one more second to point out you ways the doorways turned out. Right here’s an angle just like the one above.
We’re SO RELIEVED that the doorways labored out in addition to they did. Not solely did they remedy our floor-planning challenges, however in addition they created this cool “secret room” impact. It’s virtually like the lavatory is hidden amongst our closets!
It’s somewhat exhausting to get a great image of this complete wall (with out breaking out that weirdly-warping 0.5x lens once more), however this shot (and the video in the beginning) offers you an thought of the way it all connects. Plus, you may see the little show shelf John constructed over the bed room door to interrupt up all the closed closet doorways. It provides some good dimension and shade up there.
Our blend-in-with-the-closets door answer actually helps the lavatory really feel rather more spacious than it’s. The outswing retains the doorways from cramping the lavatory AND the precise opening is broad & beneficiant – almost 35″ throughout! Right here’s John (and Penny) for scale.
John truly did lots of end trimwork on these doorways after the contractors put in them, together with the encompassing “jamb” that offers the passage a extra completed look. It additionally conceals the hinges higher and provides the doorways one thing to relaxation towards when closed (maintaining them flush with the closets). He additionally added fake baseboards and a middle strip to the doorways to provide us full privateness.
However sufficient about doorways – let’s transfer on to the bathe, which turned out larger & higher than we anticipated. Throughout the flooring planning course of, we had been at all times somewhat nervous it would really feel tight or cramped (and it was exhausting to “stand within the footprint” once we taped it off as a result of a wall of cabinetry ran alongside that again wall earlier than – form of reducing the bathe footprint in half). The concern of it feeling cramped and tight is one cause we selected gentle, shiny wall tile, a glass divider, and a doorless/curbless entry. These had been all methods designed to make the bathe really feel spacious, seamless, and vivid – and it labored! We knew we may at all times add one other piece of glass if we needed a door, however we each actually prefer it this fashion. We additionally had an open glass bathe on the pink home – simply with a facet wall however no again wall or door – so we must always have identified we’d prefer it! Nevertheless it was a reduction to every take just a few showers and say: we don’t want that door!
Inserting the bathe on this wall additionally gave us the largest bathe attainable on this area. It’s 5′ throughout and, due to the angled wall, it flares from about 3′ broad on the open facet to 4′ beneath the shower-head. So for as soon as, the bizarre angles on this room labored to our benefit as a result of it’s the widest the place we truly stand to bathe (as I show absolutely clothed beneath).
Once I’ve proven video of the bathe on Instagram, individuals have apprehensive that water should get in every single place as a result of there’s no curb and no door, however it’s completely wonderful. The alternative wall with the controls doesn’t get moist, and the ground slopes all the way down to direct water again towards the linear drain beneath the shower-head. It’s exhausting to inform from the photograph beneath, however that facet pane of glass may be very broad (see above) so nothing splashes out past that wall.
Talking of the linear drain: it was an answer to a type of little curveballs we encountered alongside the best way. We initially deliberate for a standard heart drain, however there was a flooring joist proper the place it wanted to go as a way to be centered. Our contractor instantly steered a linear drain that they use for all of their tasks (apparently some have points, however this one has been nice for the 5 months we’ve been utilizing it) and it allowed us to offset the pipe. A linear drain additionally meant the ground solely needed to slope in a single route (towards the wall) as an alternative of sloping in on the edges too, which is good. We’d by no means used a linear drain earlier than, so we had been pleasantly stunned that you can inset your flooring tile proper into the drain cowl itself! So it has a fairly clear look. And the entire thing pops out simply if you must entry the precise drain cowl.
We saved the bathe controls fairly easy, with only a shower-head and one wall-mounted hand sprayer. We largely needed the sprayer to make cleansing simpler, however it may be good to have each issues spraying on you on the identical time too. I truly use each on a regular basis once I bathe in right here and John’s taller so one thing about his top makes him like all of the water coming from the bathe head as an alternative.
And as you’ve seen above, we had them place the bathe controls on the alternative wall so you may flip every thing on with out getting moist. We additionally added a easy area of interest beneath them so it’s not seen if you enter the room, however holds all of the bathe issues we want in there. We debated doing a ledge like our final bathe, however we didn’t need something bumping out or cramping the usable area in any respect. And as for the position, we needed the underside of the ledge to double as a shaving ledge – which I show for you within the video tour in direction of the highest of this submit. It labored out so properly!
I additionally defined in my yappy little video above that, for now, we solely have that one towel hook in right here. We thought of placing extra on the backs of the doorways, and we may at all times add them – however it seems that one has been working nice (our whole household makes use of the out of doors bathe most of all, so the indoor loos are extra for the sink and bathroom than anything). However once more, we are able to simply add a hook or two to the again of the doorways if we ever really feel like we want extra.
Sufficient in regards to the bathe! Let’s spin to the opposite facet of the room the place we’ve the floating vainness and storage shelf we constructed beneath it. You too can see how we frosted the window for privateness (with out blocking the pure gentle). That is the frosting movie and utility equipment we used.
We selected a wall-mounted, floating vainness to maximise visible floorspace and this wooden vainness match completely, had nice storage, and got here with the engineered marble prime and brass {hardware}. All we needed to provide was the sink faucet, which is similar line as our bathe fixtures. We really feel fortunate we in a position to so intently match the brass end on the fixtures, the vainness pulls, and occasion the brackets holding the bathe glass!
I notice this won’t appear to be lots of toilet storage to some individuals (okay, or many individuals), however do not forget that for the final 6 years we had been sharing a equally sized vainness with our two children. So that is virtually the Taj Mahal to us. John additionally loves that the highest drawer flips all the way down to retailer his contacts and glasses.
The mirror over the vainness was above the fireside in our bed room. We had been SO excited that it match right here completely, as a result of we’d already determined to splurge for a much bigger Body TV for films upstairs and put the upstairs Body in our bed room (no extra watching TV on our laptop computer in mattress!). And since this mirror wanted a brand new dwelling, we love the way it fills this wall so properly. There’s nothing like an outsized mirror to bounce gentle and make a room really feel larger.
You too can see the thermostat for our heated flooring on the wall above. We’ve by no means had heated flooring earlier than, however we had our contractor add them as a result of there was no strategy to route an HVAC duct to this room and the flooring would get SO COLD on this nook within the winter (even once they had been simply wooden). We had no bother maintaining this nook cool in the summertime, however we apprehensive about chilly tile flooring within the winter months (no thanks!).
We clearly haven’t needed to used a lot them but, however we’ve gotten numerous encouraging DMs from individuals who use heated flooring as a main warmth supply for his or her loos, so we’re very excited. Actually I cranked them as much as 85 the opposite day, simply to see the way it feels and I LOVED IT. Additionally each pets beloved it.
I’m certain I’m forgetting about 100 particulars, however the very last thing I’ll point out is that my FAVORITE THING is including colourful artwork and equipment and textiles to a toilet in addition to some contemporary greenery.
The towels, framed prints, a cute cleaning soap pump, a shiny pink storage field, some household photographs, even a crocheted creation by our son – all of it makes it really feel so enjoyable and cheerful in right here. And the feel from the gleaming tile and the wavy edges of the mirror (and the cleaning soap pump and the plant pot) together with the sculptural wooden entrance of the vainness make me so pleased.
We’ve lived right here six and a half years (I do know! the longest we ever lived in a home earlier than this one was 7 in our final Richmond home!) and we’re completely savoring the truth that we’ve slowly and thoughtfully turned this 1-bedroom/1-bathroom home (really, that that was the unique home’s itemizing!) right into a purposeful 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom dwelling for our household. So grateful. Renovations can really feel like they take endlessly and stretch you so skinny to need normalcy once more, however once they’re over it’s superb how instantly price it they’ll really feel. We’re simply so pleased we took this on and all of it turned out so properly.
Rest room Sources
For comfort sake, listed below are all the toilet sources linked in a single spot for you:
*This submit incorporates affiliate hyperlinks, so we could earn a small fee if you make a purchase order by hyperlinks on our website at no further price to you.
Extra posts from Younger Home Love
