We have five bathrooms in this house. Two are "wow" bathrooms, three are not. Those two bathrooms are bigger than any of the bedrooms in my last house.

Did they "sell" us this house? Nope. Did they help with the overall "feel" of the house? Yup.

I think it's because bathrooms can be difficult and expensive to change. If all the fixtures are some shade of goldenrod, it's not going to matter what paint up you put up, the room will still look dated.

A bathroom is cheaper to renovate than a kitche, but still it's pricer than putting new flooring in a bedroom. And unless the carpet is a particularly ugly shade then, you just need a can of paint to change the feel of the room.

My master bath is larger then my smallest bedroom, it has separate large shower and jetted tub, double vanity, separate little room for the toilet. It would cost a lot of money to redo that room. Certainly it would cost more then to redo a bedroom. Did I buy the house because of the master bath? Partially. One of my requirements was a large master suite with ensuite bath that had separate shower and tub.

I also think it's because people (these days at least) like to picture themselves in a sybaritic Roman or Louis 15th "baahth", lounging like millionnaires and showing off their fancy fittings, never mind that everyone (myself included) loves the idea of their very own bathroom. I hate sharing them, even with family.. not a huge deal, but a niggling (silly I guess) thing that seems pretty hard wired.

Bathrooms aren't that important to me. Don't spend a lot of time in there. I *would* like for my next bathrooms to be big enough to store the towels in there rather than the linen closet. No space for that currently.

One thing we won't give up, however, is double sinks in the master bath. Prevents many squabbles as we're getting ready. And I like the separate toilet space, too.

I can think of a couple of reasons. Layout and room functionality are important, but if a home is lacking somewhat in those then nice baths and kitchens can outweigh those negatives for many people. I don't think that it's that people ignore good layout, but that it's something they are more willing to compromise on or do without.

Bath's are expensive to remodel so if you don't like the tile then that equals $$ and trouble. In many cases it's easier and less expensive to just keep looking for the house with the bathroom that already has the tile you like.

Some people (me) have to feel comfortable in a bathroom in order to feel clean. If I feel any sort of 'ick' (stained grout) or 'uck' (ugly tile) then I just feel yucky even after a shower. Clean is a must, but it's not the only thing that positively affects how I feel.

I have to admit that we bought our current house because of the master bath and the large sizes of the other rooms (the layout is not the best for a family and we now place more importance on that while looking for our new home). I was pregnant with our last child when we purchased this home and really wanted to have a home water birth. Our mb has a huge tub and plenty of space for hubby, kids, mother and midwife + assistant to attend the birth. Kind of a strange reason to buy a home but there you go.

Oh, and speaking of kids. Those of us with young ones often spend a good portion of the day in bathrooms - giving baths (many times more than once a day), helping them to go potty and wash their hands several times per day, fixing their hair, washing dirty faces, and dosing out medicine and bandaids. If we're very lucky at the end of the day we might get to retreat to our own bath and have a nice soak :)

Count me in as one who doesn't get it. Sure, its something I pay attention to and I have likes and dislikes but my dislikes are pretty basic. I don't care for the homes i've looked at where the main (sometimes only) bath was really really cramped, and I particularly hate baths (80%?) where the toilet is right next to the tub/fixtures. Then there are the old farmhouses where the only bath is cramped and off the kitchen. After that though all things being well maintained and clean for me its all about other things. I spend far more time in the kitchen and hopefully backporch/backyard, living room, den/office. I'm in and out of the bathroom and sleep in the bedroom-so they are both fairly low on my list.

I'm with you in that I use the bathroom to shower, take care of business and brush my teeth. I think it's a total waste of space and money to have a temple to the gods for those functions.

Our master bath is 5' x 6'. Yes, it's a bit small and 2 can't use it at the same time, but it's what came with our 1918 house. A previous owner added a 2nd full bath in the basement, but that one is only used under 2 sets of circumstances, when hubby knows he'll be affecting air quality and when we have overnight guests.

People care about them because of the cost of changing them...and the potential hassle of being without during the changes.

Count me among those who don't get this trend toward luxury bathrooms. I think a house needs an adequate number of bathrooms (I'm a bit picky on this, though, because I think that's a minimum of 3 full baths) but that's about it.

As a matter of fact, I rejected houses where the master bath was larger than the smallest bedroom. I thought it sent the wrong message to the children - that my comfort far outweighed their needs.

The concept of larger bathrooms and even more luxurious ones is not going away anytime soon..I'm of the opinion that one should spend whatever they want as long as they can afford it..So,if you desire a shower system with multiple heads,500 hundred dollar roman tub faucets,double custom vanities,granite/marble countertops,self-cleaning toilets,etc, do it...I don't think most people who have these type bathrooms are trying to impress anyone, because how many times do you invite someone up to the masterbath?

Personaly i love our large bath with all the amenities.Do we need a tv in there? no, but we like it.could we have spend hundreds less on some big box retailers faucets? Yes,but we chose not to..Will we likely get our $$$ back from this renovation/remodel,no...But we enjoy it, and thats all that matters

jy md -- even though our master bath is larger then our smallest bedroom, at 12 x 14 for a small bedroom it certainly was adequate for a child, no child felt like we were sacrificing their comfort for our own. As a matter of fact, my track running son probably got more use of the jetted tub then I did.

It's all about what fits a buyer's lifestyle. Some buyers don't need the big bathroom, some do. I love it, because I use it as an oasis to get away from the hubbub of the rest of the home. It's my space I can retreat to and no one will barge in and ask "mom" to do something for them.

Now the kids are grown and gone, and none of them ever thought we were putting our needs before them because all of their needs were more then met.

Well, as the mom of 6 very NON-deprived children, I must say that would NEVER have crossed my mind. I'm with Cordovamom on this one. I have a chaise in my bath and my youngest loves to sit there and read to me or chat while I'm getting ready for whatever the day brings. On the other hand, after a 15-16 hour day as a mom and full time personal trainer, I LOVE lighting the candles and sinking into a good soak. And isn't that what "home" should be about-loving where and how you live?

Because American's are spoiled?
:)
It's just one more extravagance that folks have been convinced that they need. Are multiple enhanced bathrooms nice? Sure. But they are nowhere near necessary.

50 years ago one small bath per house was the norm and everyone did just fine.

I didn't say I NEEDED it-I said I LOVE having it. And if I can afford it and do make sure my family contributes to our community, why should anyone care? If you don't want it, I have no problem with that. For the record, my children are far from spoiled. Also, 50 years ago, my Mom did not work 40-60 hours weekly in addition to being a wife and mother. My retired parents now live with and are cared for by my family and they love our home and our multiple baths. Yesterday, mom informed me that if we could go back, we should have added another!

I think many people use the bathroom to relax and feel "pampered" in a way. Most of the time we're just trying to get in and out, but when we have the time, it's nice to have a place that feels special.

That said, I don't need a huge bathroom. I'd like it to be nice, but it doesn't need to be the size of a bedroom. But then again, I don't like having a huge house, either. I don't understand the trend of 3500+ sq ft houses for average/small families.

Cool bathroom, Patti! Love it!

DH and I fantasize about knocking down the walls that divide our master bedroom, guest bedroom, and the main bathroom (we don't have a master bath) and creating a really cool bathroom/spa with walk-in shower, whirlpool tub, double sinks, sauna, etc. We have two bedrooms and a bathroom on the lower level, so we would be OK losing a bedroom.

Terrig, I say go for it!! I would LOVE a walk-in shower! Definitely regret not doing that. The glass looks good, but I hate cleaning it. And thank you-I honestly do love having a nice bathroom. In self defense here-we have 3 children still at home, 3 that come back frequently with 2 grandchildren, 2 elderly parents living with us and both of us have very physical full time jobs. We have a 4200 square foot home (and every inch is used!), and no outside household help. I NEED my retreat! LOL

I think the expense of changing them makes it more important that you like them. If paint color is ugly it's a few hundred $$ to repaint, or DIY. Bathrooms will cost at least a few thousand to retile or get new fixtures.

Wow. I never said that anyone who had larger master baths than kids' bedrooms were depriving their children. I think people are reading more into posts. I also think my housing range wasn't as upscale as some. So, all those who have homes with large bedrooms and even larger bathrooms, enjoy!

cordovamom - If the children's bedrooms were 12x14, I may not have objected (although I can't picture a bathroom larger than 12 x 14) but alas, the secondary bedrooms in houses we visited were TEENY. We're talking 9 x 10 or 10 x 10 bedrooms. So, if I see a house with a 15x17 master bath with secondary bedrooms 9x10, yeah I would have a problem with the house. But I see it as a poor design decision. I make no judgments on the people living in the space.

Jy md -- I see what you're saying. I agree, if the small bedrooms would have been teeny I couldn't have justified a large master bath either. As a matter of fact, my first 4 homes did not have huge master suites because our price range couldn't support a large master suite in addition to roomy enough bedrooms for 4 children. But as soon as I could afford it, I did it !!! As a stay at home mom, the one luxury I longed for was a large master bath, and when we could afford it, I got it !! And when we downsize for our next home, I'm still insisting on the large master bath, because that's my guilty pleasure.

If we had a larger home then I would like to have a larger bath. I like the pictures posted above, although I'd have a frosted or etched glass shower, not clear. Unless the steam would cloud it up. :-) I want privacy in the shower!

When we were looking for our current house, however, the floor plan and other parts of the whole picture (size of lot, wood floors, proximity to certain areas, etc) were more important to us than the baths.

Again, it all comes down to what each buyer wants. No house is right for everyone.

Bathrooms are so important cause even a small bath done on a budget is going to set you back about 3 grand WITHOUT labour, disposal of the demolished bath or permits. Not to mention the disruption of your life while you wait for the new bath to be installed, the cost of not being at work cause you need to be there while the bath is being installed. You also have to figure in time wasted running back and forth to the store for "little things" that were forgotten or need to be returned because someone ordered the right thing but gave you the wrong item.
AND heaven help you if it's the only bathroom in the house or worse you have only the main water shut off and there's only one place you can shut off the water so the whole house has to be without water while the new bath is being installed.
I also won't go into the cost of what can happen if while you are ripping out or reinstalling your new bath that someone breaks a pipe....what it will cost to have a plumber come in to fix that little oops!

Ooooh, Pattie, can I come live with you? I'll just be your tallest kid, LOL :)

Seriously, for me, functionality of a bathroom is directly linked to aesthetics.

A tiny bathroom most of the time is going to strike me as really ugly, as would a tiny toilet (we have one and I HATE it), a tiny sink (ours is built for midget height) and a tiny shower (luckily not in this bathroom).

Here's the thing, when you have a plain jane or just plain ugly bathroom, you do what the OP does, you brush your teeth, you do your business, and you get out.

When you have a beautiful bathroom, like Pattie, it changes how your life functions-you LUXURIATE in that room now, you enjoy it, and it gives you pleasure....

Thanks, disney! Honestly, we didn't buy this house for th bathroom, but because it worked for our LARGE family better than anything else that was available at the time. But now that I have it, I absolutely would look for it in any future home. And you're welcome any time! Wine will be served on the chaise!

I would agree bathrooms are important because they are expensive to change.

I personally feel the green movement and higher costs for all resources will make these extravagent "roman baths" bathrooms passe in the future. I think it will be socially frowned upon to be wasteful, eventhough you can afford it. Just like driving your Hummer to Starbucks is already being viewed as pretentious and wasteful, rather than a status symbol. I wouldn't be surprised to see progressive rates for water/energy and even property taxes in the future. I agree they are a great luxury, I just think they will become the epitome of an over-indulgent generation in a future with more limited resources.

wasteful?..I would disagree with that..recently remodeled my bathroom, and i can guarantee you that it is much more efficient then the one i replaced..significantly more efficient...from thermostatic valves that regulate the water temperature,more efficient toilets, water faucets,lighting...Just because a bathroom is large,does not mean it uses more resources such as water,electricty, etc

What is wasteful about some of the upper-end remodeled bathrooms are the multiple shower jets and excessively large tubs. It's not uncommon to need 100-gallon water heaters, so you are not only using enormous amounts of water but heating it as well.

Anyhoo, back to the OP: Bathrooms and kitchens are a pain to remodel. They are expensive and time-consuming, especially if you live in an area like ours where building codes are constantly being upgraded and becoming ever-more demanding. We remodeled our entire 1500 sq. ft. cottage, top to bottom, in a gut remodel in 1989-1990, for about $100K.

Fast forward to 2003, when we did the following minor upgrades:
Kitchen:
-new Swanstone kitchen counters and sink
-new faucet
-new vinyl tile flooring
Master bath:
-new cabs, cultured granite counters, faucets
-new sheet vinyl floor
-new neo-angle frameless shower with cultured granite showerpan and surround
Upper bath:
-new cultured granite shower surround
-resurfaced existing tub

Note these are all externals. No plumbing or wiring was needed. Demolition was very modest.

I budgeted $15K, was hoping for $10K. Guess what? It ended up being $23,000!

And this was all for moderate-cost stuff, nothing upscale or fancy. We live in a starter-home neighborhood, but our home was remodeled to be on the high-end for 2bd 2ba.

THAT'S why bathrooms are important. Even simple changes and modest materials add up to sizable $$$. And if you had to add a bathroom because the home only had a single bathroom, here in coastal Northern CA, it would cost you anywhere from $300-$600 sq. ft., especially if you have to go outside the existing walls. The new building codes will kill you on earthquake proofing, specifically on foundation work (we live in the Oakland hills, about 4 miles from the Hayward Fault).

All things being equal a larger space uses more resources to heat/cool/light. Specific indulgences I am thinking of are multiple head showers, steam showers, and monster whirlpool tubs. I wouldn't be surprised to see multiple head showers requlated more in the future, since they are a loophole in the 2.5 gpm per faucet government efficiency standards (especially in the west and other areas wtih limited water).

I agree with Chris and can only hope that water use is regulated in the future, or the price skyrockets as has gas, so that people use less because its the only way people conserve, especially in the arid west where things are just crazy as far as I can tell (water wise).
Let me just say that all those people living in areas that will soon be very short of water.....that want Great Lakes water? NOOOOO, go pound sand. You want great lakes water, move the jobs and the people to the great lakes, (not that I really want more people there) no one should be getting Great Lakes water unless they live there. Sorry if that's a little off topic bathrooms and water use do seem to go hand in hand. Indulgences seem to pair with indulgent hence my comments although I realize that of course its not "you". Todays siging of the Compact makes this timely as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Governor Signs Water Compact

Marys1000, i agree about "go pound salt" in regards to 'shipping' water off to the arid areas in the west..Just as i believe my tax dollars shouldn't go to beach replenishment or rebuilding homes in flood plains, etc...

No argument from me qdognj. While no place is immune to the wrath of nature there are some places/situations where common sense should perhaps prevail. Nothing stays the same. Just because a house/town/city was there once.........

I love having a bathroom in the master bedroom. Ours is not large (single 60" vanity and shower). I would not want it any larger because all bathrooms, no matter how pretty, get gross fast! Less to clean is my mantra!

Also, I have three people in my extended family with those large garden or jetted tubs and NONE of them use them. They are giant dust collectors.

Bathrooms are so important because builders and home magazines TELL us they are. It's business. Where there's excess cash in a buyer's hand...SELL him something!

I understand why buyers like nice bathrooms. I like mine. If you have money to spare, and a cleaner, why not have a HUGE bathroom (and huge house). What I think often happens is that House Beautiful shows Mrs. America the palatial home of Mrs. Got-Rocks -- and it becomes a 'must imitate', even though Mrs. America doesn't have bazillions of dollars to spare (or cleaning help).

How many middle-class wives and mothers killed themselves to present a house as neat and gracious as they saw on early TV programs and in advertisements?

I just posted on another thread, defending my jetted tub (jacuzzi). While I clearly didn't buy the house for the luxury bathroom I am sooo glad I have it now.

We have a very small lake cottage an hour away. DH and I have toyed with the idea of retiring there in the next few years. The serious downside to that is the incredibly tiny bathroom (for the entire cabin). There is no way to remodel it or gain SF without losing it to the already small master bedroom or barely adequate kitchen. While I love my cabin I just put up with the bathroom there. No way I'd move there full time without some kind of addition being built on. I think I'd copy a picture of Patti's and ask my contractor to duplicate it! Way to go, girl!

"How many middle-class wives and mothers killed themselves to present a house as neat and gracious as they saw on early TV programs and in advertisements?"

Oh yea, I struggled with this and wasted tons of money I really didn't have trying to match that tv this is what real people's lives look like. Years of wondering why our house, things, clothes, cars, didn't look like the ones of those favorite tv shows. Sometimes I call it my Imelda Marcos syndrome, those of us who didn't have money and felt embarrased, filling up our closets with shoes later in life (or my case things other than shoes but you get my drift).
Now that I'm older I don't care as much. But even now sometimes I get those niggling feelings, "people will think I'm strange because I don't care because I do what I want and don't have that fit in need anymore"

Oh, Neesie-thank you. You're very sweet. I know there are those who feel differently, but I love it. You can't see it in the pics, but there's also a door into my closet which is fabulous for me. I get up between 3-3:30 a.m. and am out the door by 4:40. I can shower, dress, and prep for the day without disturbing my hubby or anyone else. And I don't feel like I'm doing it all in a cramped space

chris8796

Just for your information, steam showers do not use much water to operate. They actually result in less water use because you don't run the water very much through the showerhead -- usually only a few minutes to soap up and rinse off.

Mine has been a great help in treating my asthma -- since I've started steam showering, I've been able to give up all my asthma medication. So I'd hardly consider it simply an "indulgence."

You'd see how important a bathroom becomes when you're laying on the floor with your head in the toilet after a bad bout of chemotherapy.
After 8 years of that, I'll take luxury any day. Any day.
I would no more purchase a house with a cramped cruddy little bathroom than eat egg shells.
And if I could afford Patti's bath retreat, I'd have it in a red hot minute :)

Deborah-you're in my thoughts and prayers. I'm a cancer surviver and have been where you are. 5 years ago, I never would have dreamed I'd be getting ready for work in this bathroom-they told me I had less than 6 months. I CLEARLY remember the feel of that bathroom floor on my cheek. God Bless