Are downstairs bathrooms unattractive?

roses

I live in a victorian terraced house which has two bathrooms - one upstairs and one downstairs (at the back of the kitchen).

I am slowly doing up every room and the next on the list is either the loft of the kitchen.

Lots of my friends have told me I should do a loft conversion and get a bathroom put in there and I should knock down the downstairs bathroom to make a larger kitchen.

My kitchen is already reasonably large (18sqm) but it lacks natural light.

There has never ever been a problem with smell or anything like that with the kitchen and bathroom being next to each other.

The thing putting me off the loft conversion with a bathroom is cost (it's about £10k extra for the bathroom on top of the normal cost). And I actually like the thought of lots of bathrooms.

But I need to think practically and there are two scenarios:

1) If you were going to buy a three-four bedroom house (4 once I get the loft done!), would you mind a third bathroom at the back of the kitchen or would you prefer a larger kitchen with a view of the tiny garden?

2) If I can't afford to get the loft conversion with a bathroom then would you mind a second bathroom at the back of the kitchen or would you prefer a larger kitchen with a view of the tiny garden?

Badger_Lady

Hello...

If there was a second bathroom on the top floor, the one downstairs would almost certainly not get used - therefore it would be a better use of space to have a really cool kitchen with eating area... the bit on the end could also be like a sun room if you only have a small garden..?

But it's all about expense - can you afford to make all these changes straight away? Because knocking the downstairs one out and matching the kitchen up (flooring etc) is going to be more expense on top of the £10k.

How about a more gradual approach - for example, do the loft conversion without a bathroom, but with a view to adding one later?

Your friend does describe an ideal layout to me but, unless you can get the costs down, I'd be tempted to make do with your original plan until I can comfortably afford to do the rest. As long as you've got 2 bathrooms in a 4 bed house, you're doing OK.

Point is: what do you prefer? (You have to live in it!)

IveSeenTheLight

roses wrote: »

1) If you were going to buy a three-four bedroom house (4 once I get the loft done!), would you mind a third bathroom at the back of the kitchen or would you prefer a larger kitchen with a view of the tiny garden?

2) If I can't afford to get the loft conversion with a bathroom then would you mind a second bathroom at the back of the kitchen or would you prefer a larger kitchen with a view of the tiny garden?

1) Having a bathroom downstairs in this situation is not as bad as other properties. This is because you also have a batch upstairs. Most would not like the idea of only having a bath off the kitchen. Can you imagine family life with anyone having a bath requireing to traipse past the kitchen to go upstairs to the bedroom. Most people use the kitchen as a fundamental living area now. Imagine having a coffee with your friends and having your wife / husband / son / daughter walk past you after a nice steamy hot bath

In straight answer to your question however it sounds nicer to have the view to the garden than a bathroom/ Can you keep the toilet as a downstairs toilet and get rid of the bath to open up the garden area?

2) Hmmmmm, seems the same quest but with the added "if I cannot afford the loft conversion" at the start

Chopsie&Chelvis

If your house is in a family area, then a downstairs bathroom might be appealing - you can get the kids/dog etc in there and cleaned up without them traipsing through the house. Also, is the loft big enough for a master bedroom and a bathroom? Personally, I'd want it as a master bedroom if there's an ensuite / private bathroom up there.

Magentasue

Do you have a utility room? We're hoping to buy a house with a downstairs bathroom (only) and my plan is to convert it to a utility room/cloakroom once I've got a bathroom upstairs.

CYBERCIDERSAVER

The idea of an extra bathroom for the dog is a bit extravagant!!!

Bearing in ming this is a victorian terraced house so dog (and mucky kids) may have to squelch their way from the front of the house if there is no rear access.

I would knock kitchen through with a view to doing the loft conversion with ensuite.

But a downstairs loo would be good if you can fit it in...

merlinthehappypig

Our last house had a downstairs bathroom and it definitely put some people off. It's never bothered us and we are specifically looking for a downstairs bathroom for the next house, but would want one upstairs as well.

BrandNewDay

I would rather have a larger kitchen. Downstairs bathrooms are attractive to older people, I think, who would rather not have to go upstairs every time. In those situations, I think a plumbed cloakroom/"half bath" would make more sense.

In my current house, I dream of having a dining kitchen more than another bathroom, even an en suite.

Ideally, I think you should put in at least an ensuite shower in the loft and then use the downstairs bathroom for dining space.

Mrs_Thrify

Hiya, you sound like doing just what we are looking for!
I want a 4 bed house, with master bedroom en-suite, 2 other double bedrooms. and the smaller box room being made into an office/computer room.
I would not even consider a house without a downstairs cloakroom! Soooo could you not consider your downstairs bathroom as a cloakroom and get rid of the bath? I would consider putting the washing machine in there if it is large, coat rack and shoe rack....But def. a downstairs loo as I would not want visitors upstairs. The other thing I might consider when we finally sell is to put handbasens in the 2 bedrooms - reason being when we all want to go out the one bathroom for the now four adults (grown up kids)is a real bottle neck.( like everyone out for 8am work...) Best Wishes..

Mrs_Thrify

ts be polite!

WTF?_2

roses wrote: »

I live in a victorian terraced house which has two bathrooms - one upstairs and one downstairs (at the back of the kitchen).

I am slowly doing up every room and the next on the list is either the loft of the kitchen.

Lots of my friends have told me I should do a loft conversion and get a bathroom put in there and I should knock down the downstairs bathroom to make a larger kitchen.

My kitchen is already reasonably large (18sqm) but it lacks natural light.

There has never ever been a problem with smell or anything like that with the kitchen and bathroom being next to each other.

The thing putting me off the loft conversion with a bathroom is cost (it's about £10k extra for the bathroom on top of the normal cost). And I actually like the thought of lots of bathrooms.

But I need to think practically and there are two scenarios:

1) If you were going to buy a three-four bedroom house (4 once I get the loft done!), would you mind a third bathroom at the back of the kitchen or would you prefer a larger kitchen with a view of the tiny garden?

2) If I can't afford to get the loft conversion with a bathroom then would you mind a second bathroom at the back of the kitchen or would you prefer a larger kitchen with a view of the tiny garden?

What do you mean by 'bathroom' - an actual bathroom with bath or a euphemism for 'toilet'?

If you have two full-on real bathrooms, the downstairs one is a bit surplus to requirements. I'd take out the bath and put a washing machine/dryer in there with a shower cubicle and call it a 'utility room'.

It's definitely a plus point having a toilet downstairs - very convenient if you have a family or for older people too. When it comes to bathing, people generally prefer not to have to do it on the ground floor though, especially if it's right next to a busy kitchen. So keep the bog and go down the utility room route.