try an antique round divan. it allows for circulation in any direction, serves as a focal point, and gives you a place to sit, read, or dress if you wish.

Thanks, Felix. Those are interesting. They're not my style, and won't fit in the space (without having to squeeze by to go to bathroom, downstairs, etc,) so if you have other ideas, I'm open to them!

Rethink the bath layout and add it to the bathroom.

Since you both may enjoy yoga together, I would deck it out invitingly for the two of you.

Yoga room · More Info

Celadon - bathroom is plenty big - I don't see a need to make the walk from the vanity to the toilet longer. :-)

Kayozzy - I really don't need another closet - it would just give me an excuse to buy *more* stuff I don't need.

decoenthusiast - that just might be the only (semi?) practical use for the space.

If it were in my house, I'd make it a glorious walk-in closet; it seems odd to have your closet is on a separate floor. But if you don't like that idea - just call it a bonus room/flex space & use it how you want. We have a similar space on our 3rd floor, master suite, rowhouse. For a long time it was a sitting area/reading nook - now it's my office. People before us used it as a nursery. It's whatever we need it to be :-)

@PN _Bos - I shower on the second floor - so it makes sense to have clothing on the same floor as the shower. Plus, it keeps clothing from piling up on my bed - which happened in every home I ever had where the clothes were stored in the bedroom. With entry ways to bathroom and steps, there really isn't room for more than a somewhat cramped walk in closet. There's also a skylight above that would end up hovering halfway over the closet and halfway over a narrow hallway.

I guess I'm confused, is your bedroom/bathroom on the 2nd or 3rd floor?

My little flex space/office also has a skylight! House twins!

I have a bedroom and a bathroom each on the second and third floor, the second floor also has a dressing room. This particular space is on the third floor. Here are photos that show the skylight.

Mirroring one of those walls might pull some more light into the space from the skylight!

Between the skylight and three windows, there’s actually a good deal of light up there. And it being a bedroom, and me being a really early riser, the light is not utilized that much.

7’x11’ may be plenty of space for you for a main bath...but for resale it will be a deterrent for most buyers...if you are remodeling in hopes that your home will increase in value to justify the cost... a spacious bathroom with a big skylight and a nice tub and big shower ... would make more sense...

Your ceiling heights seem too low by US standards ?.. maybe you live somewhere that these things are not expected?

This could make a lovely craft/project room. Do you need a place to sew, to wrap gifts, to sort photographs, to draw, to paint, or to weave? Many of us would be delighted to have such a space away from the public areas.

@btydrvn - in a 900sf home, 5x11 is just fine for the main bath. I'm not worried about resale. The fact that I have two bathrooms is already better than most 900sf homes in my area. Plus, if the bathroom encompassed the skylight, it would block the steps & the entry to the bedroom - one would have to go through the bathroom to get to the bedroom - that would not be great for resale, I'd think.

Ceiling heigh is 85". It is low. It's a 200yo historic row home - they did things differently back then...

@Yvonne Martin - thank you. On the 3rd floor, it would involve carrying stuff up (and back down) two flights of spiral stairs. Could be a decent area to write, someday, where all I'd need to carry is a laptop. A small table & desk would fit.

Just curious.. why would you want to buy such an inconvenient space for living?? Do you really think three stories of tiny spaces (and only spiral staircases)is the ideal spot to grow old in?

Never mind the low ceilings?

🤷🏻‍♀️

Would you enjoy a little art room? Leave the floor clear, which brings the eye to the walls. Maybe add a pretty full length free standing beveled mirror to check yourself before descending the stairs.

@btydrvn:

"Just curious.. why would you want to buy such an inconvenient space for living??"

I bought this house in 1999. I LOVE my home. If I need to move out twenty years from now because this is not the ideal home to "grow old in," so be it. I'd have gotten my money's worth and many decades in a lovely, historic home that suits my needs beautifully.

Visitors regularly comment on how charming, beautiful and comfortable my home is. If you prefer a ranch, or a suburban split level, or a modern condo or an elevator apartment, or a McMansion, by all means, go for it.

Just curious. Why would you criticize how someone else chooses to live?

@J R - yes! Regardless of what else I do with the space, there will be art on the walls. Always art on my walls! :-)