Hi dmurphy; I'm just wondering if the half wall might invade into your designated commode area and make it a little too tight for comfort. Is there a lot of room between the toilet and the sink?

dmurphy, this is a side note, but I was thinking, if you did wind up with a half-wall there, it could serve a few useful purposes. It could dictate the height of a new trim detail; perhaps a chair rail with beadboard beneath (if that's your style) like this bathroom:



Also, the top of the half wall could serve as shelf of sorts; for even more privacy you could add vases, something sculptural, etc. on top.

Becky

Thanks. The space for the toilet is ok. It is tighter towards the wall than it is to the vanity. A half wall could be added without making it tight but would it feel tight? Not sure. Thanks for responding. I looked at the bathroom pictures on houzz constantly. I can never find a bathroom with the layout like ours.

Hi dmurphy! I'm so sorry, your question got buried a bit; I think people tend to respond more quickly to questions where a picture is posted and thus yours fell down the line a bit! When people can immediately grasp a room visually via a photograph, they are way more likely to chime in with advice and opinions.

That excuse for your question falling by the wayside being said, the trend as of late is to provide a separate "room" i.e. small closet-like space for the toilet (when people have the luxury of square footage to spare), but honestly, unless you have an issue of more than one person using the bathroom to shower, put on makeup, and other activities at once, I think you are fine with the layout you have, unless it's really bothering you! Sometimes I think we all (myself included) suffer from design overload, where we see too many images and think our home HAS TO LOOK LIKE THAT!

Your question made me mentally browse through every bathroom layout in every home I've ever lived in, and one place I lived in for 7 years, the door opened across from the toilet, with the sink next to it, and then the tub/shower perpendicular. Also, my parents' home has THE WORST privacy problem ever - the bathroom doubles as a hallway between the part upstairs built in 1810 and the addition built in 1970 - it has a door on either side! We all lived with it just fine and lived with it - you are not alone in your privacy concerns :) I bet your bathroom requires less knocks than ours did when I was growing up!

It may be a case of looking at so many bathrooms without seeing a layout just like yours that you feel like your layout is odd, but I assure you, it's not! However, if you still feel strongly you need to do something, as long as there is plenty of elbow room, I think your half wall idea will work without hindering your bathroom. Or sincerely, I think if you leave it as is and don't worry about the online version of "The Joneses," you'll be in great shape.

Hard to know without a picture but your bathroom sounds like a bit of galley layout. Does the door open in or out? If in, does it open against the laundry room or toilet? If against the laundry room, have you considered switching the hinges so it opens against the toilet? If there is sufficient leg room to do that while a spouse is using the toilet, then the door would offer temporary privacy while it was open. Combined with a half wall, it creates a temporary mini alcove for the toilet while the door is open. Also a toilet that doesn't look so much like a toilet, budget allowing, might help.

This is a weird layout. Usually the vanities come before the toilet and provide at least a visable shield. I don't think a wall on the far side of the toilet is going to help much. Does it bother you enough to switch them?

Thanks for all of your comments. I ended going with more than a half wall next to toilet. It is about 6 feet, 4 ft from floor tile and the rest dry wall. I cut the vanity to 92 from 96 inches. The space feels so much better. I changed the door to the bathroom to a barn door. Fabulous choice. Not having the door open right onto toilet is so much better. I had a wall added to the ceiling behind the bath tub, the medicine cabinet was added in that wall. So in front of vanity is large flat square mirror. It was a weird lay out. I was spending a lot of money to renovate the bathroom and could not justify the additional cost of moving the toilet, bath, or laundry room.

I would love to see photos if you have them. We have the same problem and moving toilet location is not an option. Completely enclosing toilet area visually cuts Master Bath in half!