master Bath / common Bath

13 years ago

We just bought a fantastic 1954 ranch house. 3100sqft 3 bedroom 3 bath. As our family is 5 we found a 4th bedroom disguised as a psudo-gameroom (w/ 3/4 bath). Our dilemma is this. Out of the three existing rooms What would be considered the master bedroom we'll call room 1, has an attached 2/4 bath while the other two rooms (2 & 3) share a large full bath. Now bedroom 2 is the largest bedroom in the house while bedroom 3 is the smallest. Neither bdrm 2 or 3 have a door to the large bath.

I would like to use the largest bedroom (2) as the master and make the large full bath the master bath. This would leave bedroom 1 as a guest suite. Functional wise I would leave the existing door to the "master bath" from the hall where it would then become the common bath for guests and general bladder relief. I know this does not jive with the concept of the private bathing retreat we see so much in today's world but how bad could it be? Can I get away with this? Neither my wife or i like gargantuan bathrooms because we both feel they take up floor space for no apparent reason other than vanity. And as much as our life plan is to be in the house for at least 15 years when we decide to move would others just scoff at this idea so much we can't sell the house?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

evierh
13 years ago
I never liked sharing a bathroom; that's just me. Depending on guests, some people also "snoop"! How significant is the size difference in bedroom #2 and the current MBR? Your kitchen looks very long, but your layout doesn't show what's along the wall common with the 3/4 current master bath. Is there some way you could redo that bathroom, perhaps enlarging it a little, to make it a full bath? I also can't tell too well where the door is to the full bath, or how one gets from the common area into that little hallway.
Patrick Mitchell
Original Author
13 years ago
The kitchen is very long and currently has cabinets only on the outside wall. the 3/4 bath wall could be bumped out. I would only have to move gas and electrical to move that wall. #2 is quite a bit larger than mbr as I just noticed I didn't put in the closet in the mbr on the model (Do'h!) and if you look at the full bath I roughed in (PS) the door from the hall as well as the door from the common areas (little "i"s).
Related Professionals
Mobile Interior Designers & Decorators · Southaven Interior Designers & Decorators · Houston Interior Designers & Decorators · Detroit Interior Designers & Decorators · Brainerd Interior Designers & Decorators · Spokane Interior Designers & Decorators · New Orleans Architects & Building Designers · California Architects & Building Designers · Charlotte Architects & Building Designers · Philadelphia Architects & Building Designers · Augusta Architects & Building Designers · Norfolk Architects & Building Designers · Durango Architects & Building Designers · Dodge City Architects & Building Designers · Janesville Kitchen & Bathroom Designers
wmpj
13 years ago
It's common for older homes not to have a master suite. Our house in Virgina didn't have one but it still sold in three weeks. I think you can keep the house as is since it works for you. Since there is a bathroom attached to the "master bedroom", the potential is there for a future owner to remodel it if they want to.
evierh
13 years ago
How do you feel about that formal dining room? If you're not locked into it, what about taking the walls out, and making 1 big common area; that would probably let you enlarge the MBR if you wanted to.
onthefence
13 years ago
I'd be inclined to use a small part of the kitchen as you've indicated.

Personally, I don't like the idea of using bedroom #2 as the master. The shared bathroom is one part of it - but the other part is that the room you've labeled as the master is more separated from the other bedrooms and has more of a feeling of privacy.

I don't think the master bath needs to be gargantuan - just roomy enough to have everything you and the wife require.
Patrick Mitchell
Original Author
13 years ago
Well, we are doing a full remodel inside and we are about to move into it to start the work. We just haven't figured out who to put where. We are starting with the Formal dining room and common areas and then we'll work on bathrooms. I have had the idea of moving the MBR wall out because we are changing the formal dining room to another common area, sort of. The wall that is separate on the dining room is load bearing and I will have some columns holding the load. the area that was there will be more of a computer area with a closet that will hold the family servers and all multimedia. there was no separate closet or area where I could efficiently keep everything so building a cabinet with proper ventilation. If I had my drawing complete I would post those too but life is getting in the way and we are close to closing date.