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newhomeowner2011a

Bathroom Layout - 2 front windows causing problems!

newhomeowner2011a
12 years ago

Hi,

We are adding on a 13x9 space above our current sunroom and in this second story addition, we will be adding a closet to the 4th bedroom, a small walk-in closet and a 3/4 bath.

Ideally, we'd like to keep the double hung windows (2 side by side) consistent across the second story of the house so it looks symmetrical from the front of the house. Unfortunately, our only options are to include the window in either the 3/4 bath or the walk-in - I think the bath makes the most sense but we're having a really hard time making the layout work (and we'd prefer to stay away from a "corner shower" too if at all possible).

*If someone could share how to paste a copy of our second floor diagram, I'm happy to include it as I'm sure it would help :-)

Comments (8)

  • Olychick
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you scan your image into your computer and upload it to a free website like photobucket or tiny pics, then copy the html code and paste it into the body of your post. Hit preview and it should show up.

    Make sure it's not too big, or too small; you can resize before posting. If you need more help, let us know.

  • newhomeowner2011a
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks!!!

    In this album you can view the picture of the front of the house (above the current sunroom is where the bathroom will be) and the layout we are having trouble with. As you can see, if we are to keep the house looking symmetrical (with 2 windows in the bathroom), it runs into where we wanted to put the shower with a big glass block window. We are open to moving around the "walk-in" closet, decreasing it's size, etc. - please suggest ideas as we have exhausted the options we could think of! (we are not keen on corner showers and would ideally like to keep the 4th bedroom closet where it is as opposed to cutting out sqft from the bedroom which is already pretty small - but we are open to making the closet smaller in the 4th and master)

    Thanks so much!!!

    http://photobucket.com/2storyaddition

  • alku05
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's the layout:

    {{gwi:1454727}}

    I think that you should keep the windows in the front of the house (bottom of layout) for looks, but feel free to put a window on the side of the house (left side of layout) wherever it fits your layout. That will give you more flexibility in figuring this out.

    A 9 foot long closet is pretty big in a 4th bedroom. Why not swap the locations of the master bath and closet. The bath would border the 4th closet and you can steal some of the space from the closet by shortening it 2 or 3 feet. Or making the closet much shorter but deeper like the other existing closets in the house. Either way, that would create a nook where you could put the toilet, vanity or slide in part of the shower. The front windows would be in the closet, and depending on how far from the floor they are, you could place some drawers under them. Or a bench.

  • desertsteph
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "keep the windows in the front of the house (bottom of layout) for looks"

    doesn't look like what I see in the layout

  • suero
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    As you have drawn the bathroom windows, the front of the house looks lopsided. since there is only a small wall between the bathroom window and the left side of the house (one foot?) but a substantially large wall (5 feet?) between Kate's window and the right side of the house.

  • newhomeowner2011a
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yes, good observation! I will move the windows over as they won't be as close to the wall as the ones in the sunroom below it are (that we are building on top of) - my mistake!

    The house is an American Foursquare so it is essentially a box - below the master bath/closet is currently a sunroom. This sunroom we are building on top to create the extra space as well as behind it so it will be a rectangle from the front now. Please see picture of the model of what our house looks like pre and post 2-story addition - http://photobucket.com/2storyaddition - we were thinking of making the top windows all the same size and centering the master bath window in the middle of the second story addition. Does that make sense?

    See new diagram I've added to the album. I fixed the window in that diagram as well as offered up another potential solution to the "window" problem (please note that I don't know how to draw borders on half the cell in Excel - the windows should have approx 2.5' on each side vs. the 3' and 2' it currently has). This new potential solution cuts out 2 feet of length from the 4th bedroom and instead of putting the closet where the first diagram had it, am thinking about doing built-in closets(with hanging space) on both sides of a single window as well as one drawer at the bottom. Under the single window we could have a bench with drawers under it as well. This 4th bedroom won't have a true closet but will have built ins. In MN, I just learned it isn't required to have "closets" in rooms to be considered a bedroom. I'm not married to this window but our realtor told us that we wouldn't want to not have a window on that wall since that is where most of the light comes from during the day (because of the way the house is facing).

    The problem with this idea is that it makes an already small room a 10x9 room for furniture (still a 12x9 if built-ins are counted in sqft - not sure how that works) - small but our neighborhood is a family neighborhood so I think for resale, it could be seen as a nursery or even as an office/bonus room. Plus, rooms and closets in this neighborhood of older homes are typically about 12x11 in size and closet space isn't too big either.

    The bonus to this idea is that it keeps the master walk-in closet at a decent size (an asset considering the master bedroom size isn't huge for lots of dressers/chests/etc.) and adds a double sink vanity to the master bath while making the front windows a non-issue.

    And I did think about putting the closet at the front of the house but from various people and things I've read online, people aren't keen on having windows in their closets whereas in a bathroom you want that extra light.

    I'm sure some of you are curious why we aren't considering just enlarging the master into a master suite vs. a 4th bedroom but then the space where the 4th bedroom currently is would have a very narrow space to add both a decent size closet and a 3/4 bath. Plus, for us, we haven't decided if we want a 3rd baby - if we do, we would want a 4th bedroom of course vs. the master suite. For us, a 4th bedroom is more important b/c it can always be used as a nursery, guest room, study, etc. by either us or the next owner.

    Please lend me your thoughts on the new diagram and let me know if I'm missing anything else - thanks again for pointing out the window issue with my diagram!

  • newhomeowner2011a
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Please view pictures 3 of 7 in my Photobucket pictures -

    [IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l546/momanda09/newdiagram.jpg[/IMG]

    This is the layout we've decided on but I'm now questioning a half wall between the vanity and shower (tiled) vs. a glass wall up against the vanity.

    Another question - based on this layout, there is no place for a towel bar other than by the toilet (meaning we'll have to get the towel before getting in the shower and put it on the vanity so we can grab it from the shower stall once finished bathing).

    Any other thoughts on potential layouts? I thought about when you walk in thru the door, you could have the toilet right in front of you and the vanity up against the bedroom wall. This would mean the shower would be across from the vanity (next to the toilet). Does that make more sense as you'd have the wall between the shower and vanity to put a towel bar...

    Thoughts? Suggestions?

    I like how open the first diagram is but not sure if the towel bar issue outweighs this!

  • terezosa / terriks
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    {{gwi:1454729}}