Designing a Bathroom for Tall People

5 years ago

I'm remodeling the bathroom my 6'5" husband will be using. As those who are tall, or who live with a tall person know, the world is not designed for the lofty ones! I'm trying to be very conscious of making the room as comfortable for him as possible while of course not making it unusable for shorter folks.

This is my second such project; in the first one I had the shower head mounted at 7' (on an eight foot wall) and put in a comfort height toilet which was the tallest available at the time.

This time I'm installing a Highline toilet from Kohler which is now their tallest model. I'm going to ask for the same 7' height on the shower head.

I'm having the vanity made custom and the cabinet designer confirmed they can build it taller than the standard 34.5" (with additional 1.5" allowance for 36" total).

So I'm asking for an additional 2" in height. That seems as if will be more comfortable while not creating a vanity that shorter guests will find awkward.

Appreciate any feedback, comments and thoughts on the vanity and anything else that has been helpful in designing with this factor in mind.

Featured Answer

Matt E.

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

As a 6’ 4” person, the two main things I notice in bathrooms are 1. showerheads that are too low, and 2. mirrors that are too low. So, I’d suggest looking for a tall mirror that will work for both short and tall people.

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Comments (6)

cawaps
5 years ago
At 5'6" and with family members all around the same height, I have no experience to offer.

I will suggest that you cross-post to Design Dilemmas. The Home Decorating forum doesn't get as much traffic as it used to before the Houzz acquisition. Most people cross post their problems, and I think most of the people who actively respond do so from the Design Dilemma side.
runninginplace thanked cawaps
chispa
5 years ago
36" tall vanities are pretty common now, so you aren't really doing anything different there. We aren't tall and did all our vanities at 36". If he has his own vanity, I would go a few inches taller for that. We've also done our shower heads at 84". If you used a handheld that has a tall bar, you could even place it a few inches higher (Jaclo makes some that are 48" long).
runninginplace thanked chispa
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Rho Dodendron
5 years ago
all 5'2" of me isn't that fussy. I have no objections to your modifications. Beware of mirror placement as I would think twice about buying a house that needed the bathroom mirrors replaced immediately.
runninginplace thanked Rho Dodendron
runninginplace
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks for the feedback, especially about mirrors. Hadn't even thought of that! Re. height of vanity, I am going to have it made at least 2 inches taller than the now standard 36 inches because that's definitely a back saver for my tall husband.

As for resale I try to stay generally within industrial design ranges because eventually the house will be sold of course. That said, this is our forever retirement home, no kids other than future visiting grandchildren (we hope) and next move presumably will be to some type of elderly accommodation.
Nancy in Mich
5 years ago
I am not very tall, only 5’8”, but I am all arms and legs. I stand taller than I look. I also have a connective tissue disorder, so I’m my early 60s, my back and joints are all crap. Some very tall people have Marfan’s, another connective tissue disorder. Stiff backs and shoulders in the mornings made it very hard for me to reach my sink faucets before I remodeled. If your hubs has similar issues, look for a faucet that arches up high, with on/off lever on the top or long enough for him to reach it comfortably. This way, you can give him extra height even though you are keeping the vanity at a height that works for others, too. I would look into a recessed wall cabinet for his toiletries, rather than making him rummage in a low drawer. If you don’t want a med cab with mirror, you can put a picture on a hinge for the door, or a simple wooden door. You can get cabinets that recess 4” into the wall between studs, but also have it extend a couple of inches past the wall for a 6” deep cabinet if he likes the extra depth. WG Wood Products makes recessed cabinets almost any size and depth. Click the “choose specifications” button in this link to see all the ways they customize them.

https://www.wgwoodproducts.com/product/deerfield-slab-panel-style-frameless-recessed-in-wall-solid-wood-bathroom-medicine-storage-cabinet-14-x-30/