Or maybe a pocket door.

Is your bathroom only 40 inches deep. A 28 inch depth toilet leaves only 12 inches in front of the toilet. Not to code! Can the back door be moved to another wall? Can the bathroom be moved?

Thank you so much for looking at this.

Karenseb, if we place the door on the other wall (red markings) we would swing the toilet out, facing away from the window, so that there’s more leg room. We would also get a smaller toilet - about 26 inch projection from the wall.

If we could swing the door in, as Creative Design Cabinetry suggested, we would have to keep the toilet placement as it is or there wouldn’t be enough clearance to enter, turn around, and close the door. Although that placement is not ideal (about 15“ clearance in front of the toilet as we‘ll be gaining an inch from tile removal), I think we’d be ok with code as we’d be grandfathered.

Would love your thoughts on which poison to pick. Swing in or swing out? Swinging in was my first choice but our contractor prefers to swing out because he thinks it‘s too much of a squeeze to swing it.

Jeanne - unfortunately that wall is too small for a pocket door.

Thinking totally differently, what about closing off the kitchen/hall access (blue line) and opening up the closet as the hallway (red arrow is the path from back door to dining room/kitchen).

Then just leave the bathroom the way it is. You won't see it from the kitchen or dining room.

I don't like the bathroom door opening out at the top of the stairs. A person exiting the bathroom could knock someone down the stairs. (Although maybe the hallway is wide enough that that isn't an issue.)

Closing off the kitchen wall would also allow you to put cabinetry and appliances there in an L-shape.

Greg, thank you. For several complicated reasons we can’t do that but it would otherwise be a great idea. If we had to work with my original plan would you swing the door in? If the toilet were 14” + 8” clearance from edge of toilet to the wall we have 36/37” left. We’d use a 23” door. We could also put in a small corner sink near where the sink is currently. It would occupy 12 x 12 of the corner. What do you think? Thank you!

Im sorry but the swing of the door is irrelevant. (And no, pocket doors don’t solve this problem, just like they rarely solve other basic design flaws.)

A big renovation brings up opportunities. Designers look for them in any project. Here you have the opportunity to bring a half-bath up to something resembling a current standard for safety and comfort. Being (“maybe”) grandfathered into an outdated code is a double-edged sword. Will you look back in two years or five and wonder “why didn’t we just make this thing work?” You need better advice than you can get on the internet, I’m afraid.

What is the age of the house?

Cpartist - it’s 1938.

This is the layout I have in mind. I would like to swing in so we don’t swing out into the hallway at the top of the stairs. If we have to do that, though, the layout would stay the same.

Do you think this could work? We tried to stage it and it seemed fine.

How does it swing now? Do you have a pic?

Also why are you looking to change the look and feel of the house by opening it up between kitchen and dining room?