I would use the 9” for the hall it will add function to the house and really not impact the bathroom IMO

That’s what I’m thinking too. Husband isn’t so sure but I’m hoping once he sees the increase in natural light ge’ll Be more on board.

Can you match the existing floor?

We should be able to. A salvage store in dallas has tons of wood flooring from other 1920’s homes and since ours is pine it shouldn’t be a problem.

If you can match the flooring I would widen the hallways. People underestimate how annoying and impractical narrow hallways can be.

I couldn'r really understand the location...is that the kitchen at the end of this Hallway? So you would loose 9"'from in there as well (where the garbage can is in pic #2). I'd widen the hallway. I live in a small house about the size of yours and have 3 sons, who are now grown and are no longer at home. But while they were here it made a huge difference in the feeling of space when there are common areas that are wider and more open

Better check it's not a load bearing wall though...

Nine inches doesn’t seem to be enough to solve your problem. What if you chose a frosted glass pocket door; add a ceiling strip of good lighting and use a satin finish paint on the walls?

Hallway/Entry · More Info

Add a horizontal stripe runner and mirror will also give the impression the hall is wider and brighter.

Transitional Hall · More Info

Can you go more than 9"? If it's just a powder room and not your main bathroom...I would make the 2 piece as small as I can in lieu of a wider hallway.

Yes to widening the hallway. I'd also look at raising the header to the hallway from the living room area because it looks quite low. Maybe it could be removed altogether such that the living room and hallway ceilings are continuous.

Thanks everyone! We didn’t end up widening the hall. To quote my gorgeous husband, “No one in the history of time has ever made their bathroom small for a bigger hallway. “ :) I think he was being a tad dramatic.

we did however take a lot of advice and installed a pocket door, removed the headers for a taller opening, and added a transom window above the door. While it isn’t finished yet those changes have made a big difference.

I’ll post final pics when we’re done, but here’s some progress shots.

Bellbookworm, that is probably a good choice. Hallways are considered wasted space - until you are jockeying to go one direction with someone who is not indicating where they are going! If you needed the hall widened to fit a wheelchair, it would be a different story. If this was the second or third bathroom it would be a different story. But in your small house, a small hall is just the breaks. I wrote (and erased, I think) something talking about how small your house was and that this was probably your only bath and in an only bath you would not want to lose space, but I decided that it was presuming a lot. For all I knew, you did have more bathrooms. Maybe they were not counted in your square footage. I was imagining you sitting in that smaller bath and regretting the mostly unused space out there in the hall!

We only have the one bathroom at the moment. We hope to add an addition in the future, but for now we’ll make what we have as pretty/ functional as possible :)