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Building a Home

Closet onto Ensuite for Children's Bedrooms

urbanfamily_yyc

10 years ago

To save the number of doors taking up wall space in the bedroom, I opted to have the closet open up to the bathroom ensuite instead (layout photo attached). This is for our three children's room. Before we build, I'm really hoping to get feedback if this is a good idea or not from someone who has tried something similar. Also:
1) Is it okay to have no door between the closet and bathroom or should I plan for a pocket door as separation?
2) Would others prefer to have the closet within the bathroom instead? The reason we did it this way is that one usually showers, grooms and then gets dressed last so this made ergonomic sense to us. It's also nice to get dressed without the worry of wet feet.
I look forward to comments and feedback thanks!

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Comments (7)

kirkhall
10 years ago
If you have your closet open to the bathroom, you'll need a vent fan that can handle that square footage of bathroom (larger) than just the size of the bathroom space.

Your clothes/closets will be within the "steamy" area.

I'd probably not do it for those reasons, but if you live in a dry climate, maybe it won't be a problem.
LuAnn_in_PA
10 years ago
Also, the child in bedroom #1 is going to have to keep their closet floor very clean, or it will hinder bathroom access.

I personally don't like it.
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These remarks relate to the Bedroom Entrance Option The European style drawer slides take 1/2" on each side. Lee Valley Tools Catalogue drawer slides. So that means losing an inch. The Kohler Purist and their Kathyrn shower receptors - both cast iron and porcelain like a good old-fashioned tub - are 36" x 48" and that probably makes for a comfortable shower for most people. The 30" dimension shower would be far more uncomfortable for me, as I am a big person. Those extra couple of inches (51 - 48 = 3) would make your linen pull outs that much more usable. Big towels would probably have to be rolled, but the linen closet would be so worth it! A six foot long vanity absolutely has room for dual sinks - we have them in a five foot long vanity here - but if you are not sure you want them, then why the long vanity? Are you going to make a place to sit and do your hair and make-up? Or do you simply want the cabinet space? If it is the cabinets you want, then make a tall cabinet in part of that space and do a 4 ft vanity and a 2 ft linen closet. Do drawers in the base cabinet of the linen cabinet over by the toilet so that you don't have to worry about opening cabinet doors there. Then you can have a robe and towel hanging space at the end of the shower, instead of a narrow linen closet. The four-foot long vanity space could have a trough sink in it, that would actually allow room for two people to use the sink if needed. Again, look to Europe for space-saving measures. Here is a Lacava trough sink in a 48" space with two faucets. To quote the designer: kelley gardner "The sink is 34" and the entire width of space is 48". The space between the faucets is roughly 22" "
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athensmomof3
10 years ago
I don't care for it and think it would be a problem at resale. Not to mention the steam issues - no thanks!
chispa
10 years ago
Don't care for it either. My teen kids take long showers and forget to turn the fans on, which would not work well if the closet was in the same space. You could wire the light and fan together, but I like to have a choice of when I want the fan running. Luckily, we live in a dry climate so the extra humidity my the kids create doesn't cause too much harm.
palimpsest
10 years ago
These baths would both work with doors into the bath proper, so you could just keep a single opening in the bedroom which walked past the closets and into the bathroom. Whether you put doors on the closets themselves is up to you. I would, which would require a little reworking of the upper corner bath, for the amount of extra depth needed.
DreamHomeDreamer
10 years ago
If your insistent on not having the extra doors... I would rather walk through the bathroom to get to the closet like in some master suite set-ups. Preferably putting a pocket door on the closet, add a vent fan large enough to handle both the closet and bathrooms. Plus I might consider having the electrician wire the lights so that when the light is switched on the fan ALWAYS comes on as well - to help the steam issue. Just my 2 cents.
urbanfamily_yyc
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks everyone. This plan will be scrapped and I'm leaning towards palimpsests' thoughts or else back to the 2 doors again.
If anyone is curious, I did find some great layouts combining a walk-in closet and ensuite without doors facing onto the sleeping area. Unfortunately we don't have enough space to pull it off. http://pinterest.com/pin/80713018295158631/

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