House in Progress Diary

More creative "open source" bathroom solutions!

Luka, from Breaktime, gets into the act. (Remember to click on the picture to make it larger...)

Ok, I took care of the whole problem. You now have maximum space in the bathroom.

How soon can I expect my new drill in the mail ?

: )

CAG from Breaktime does too...

Here's my feeble attempt.

I'd really like to ditch the vanity and go with a pedastal sink, but I think the storage near the sink might be a necessity. Depending on the view out those windows, I like the tub there so you can look out, and I like toilets kinda hid a little, nothing worse then feeling like you're on display. And the shower is big enough for two ;)

Done up with the right trim and such I think the bath could look pretty good.

seymourdunfee sent us his thoughts...

Glass block the windows. Raise the bottom if necessary.
Put tub / shower across bottom of drawing.
Keep stool in current location.
Make top section the vanity area.

Good Luck.

There are a lot of "good luck" sentiments in these messages. Which is making me WAY nervous. Kind of like "Hey, you are sailing on the Titanic...good luck!"

Anyway.

Our American Bungalow pal, Diane, sent us her bathroom design (at our request) because we loved it so much.

It's not shown on the drawing but there is a bump-out on the wall next to the new bathtub where some of the plumbing goes (vents, etc.). I decided to swing the bathtub from the long wall to the short wall under the window. The only downside to this was that I was limited to a 5' long claw tub instead of a longer 5 1/2' or 6 ' tub.

I decided to go with the separate shower but space was tight. The
shower is only 3' x 3' which is about as small as you can go. It works well but
not a lot of room when you need to lean over, etc. I really wanted a
"frameless shower which is just sheets of glass held together with clear sealant. It's mounted on the tile with a small chrome channel. I wanted frameless to minimize the visual impact of the shower in the corner. I talked to
folks with the old style tub/shower setup and they didn't really like it..
The setup I have works well and it seems to fit better in modern life...

Eric A from New York City gave us a really marvelous idea.

Step 1: Move the whole house to New York City.
Step 2: Rip out the wall between this bathroom and the adjacent closet.
Step 3: Put a window in the closet and call it a bedroom.
Step 4: The ~6'x7' area outside the "bedroom" is now the "living room."
Step 5: Put a sink, a bar fridge a cooktop (2 burners you have to plug into the wall is fine) and one of those combo microwave/convection oven doohickeys in a counter/cabinet setup underneath the windows.
Step 6: Put up a curtain around the tub and a 6' tall wall/door combo around the toilet.
Step 7: Put a listing in the NY Times Real Estate Section for a "No Fee, 1BR+LR in private home, OK for shares, $1500/mo+sec."
Step 8: Laugh all the way to the bank.

I actually think my first apt. in NYC was about the size of this bathroom
and it went for $1000 more than 6 years ago, last I heard they were getting
$1700 for it. If you put your house in Brooklyn you'll only be able to get
$1200 for the "apartment" but you'll have a much better quality of life.

Another pal from AB, Rick, sent in these design ideas:

These are just quick ideas, but, here goes. I?m guessing that you don?t necessarily plan on using all period correct fixtures. Your reference to a more modern double sink vanity tells me that you?re willing to use modern fixtures for better functionality. Since you?re gong to be taking the floor up anyway, possibly move the cabinet in the lower left corner (in your picture) and put the toilet there. While the floor is up you can run the supply and drain lines between the floor joists and connect to the existing lines.

Put the cabinet where the toilet used to be, or install a different one of your preference. The closet that holds the vent stack, put doors on it to completely hide it, since rerouting one is a major job.

Turn the bathtub around so it?s on the other side of the half wall, unless the windows are too low, but from your 3D tour it looks like it would work. This will allow you to add your double sink vanity on the wall where the existing sink is now. The resulting empty space left by moving the tub, a built-in linen closet would fit there quite nicely.

And as for the pink paint, as ?unique? as it may be, I?d go with some high wood wainscoting (about 5 feet tall) with a simple rail molding across the top. Dark wood, maybe to resemble aged oak. As far as the wall color above it, maybe an off white or cream color. The ?sanitary bathroom? white look was popular until the late 20?s when color began to be introduced. But to keep it looking like an operating room I?d go with an off white. I?m not crazy about dark walls in a bathroom, makes the room too dark overall.

And, yes, my MOM writes in with her idea:

Mom: Got on this AM and read about the contest. The only suggestion I have is this, if you need space, there are showers that are incorporated with half bath tubs to fit into a small space. This will accomodate a child until they are about size or up to age 7 and then they take showers anyway. If someone is desparate for a bath, they can always use the downstairs bathroom.

Me: But what if we are renting out the downstairs room or rooms to students? :)

Mom: So your 5' 7" 6-year-old (the result of a rather tall father) takes a bath with his/her knees under his/her chin. A small price to pay.....

We love you Mom. So, where did you see this product? I searched online and...nothing. Is this something that you and Dad saw at the boat show?? Be honest.

Sedonia from AB tries to soothe our frayed nerves with encouraging words and her idea...

I like your bathroom space. It is interesting. I don't think you should have to do major renovations to make it funcitonal and attractive. Paint, floor, and some furniture and accessorizing would do wonders with this. You could upgrade the fixtures in the future as your budget allows without having t make major changes in plumbing and flooring. Off the top of my head:

Leave bathtub where it is. I wouldn't add a separate shower. 5 -piece bathrooms are for obnoxious neo-victorian spreads, not bungalows anyway ;-) Upgrade the shower head/fixtures if the tub is not as functional or nice-looking as you need. Is the tub original? Is it in good condition? A clawfoot would look nice in there also, as an alternative. But you would have to make that change before the new flooring.

leave toilet where it is. Moving the toilet would be the biggest plumbing change right? Nice bit of privacy from doorway from vent stack closet. Put a door on the vent closet? I can't tell if there is one -- it looks open. If you can't find/afford a door right away, use a fabric curtain (match to shower curtain?).

If you can move any fixtures at all, I might move the sink, but I'm not sure where. Is the sink crowded in its position between the bathroom and door? It looks like it might be. One thing you could do is get a small pedestal sink so you would have more foot room without tripping over those metal legs the current sink stands on. I was going to suggest moving the sink to the spot in between the windows. You could center a pedestal sink and have the pipes either go into the wall below the windows, or into the floor. However, there would be no place to put a mirror over the sink except to have it lapping out over the windows.

Is the built-in an original component of the room? If so I would try to keep it. *I* would use that other unused space to put some kind of interesting, funky, and unexpected piece of furniture. Like a chaise lounge maybe, set diagonally in front of the radiator.

Note: Although we know she is talking about these kind:

this kind is also interesting. If we could only get to Melbourne!)

I have always wanted a chaise lounge in my bedroom or bathroom. Or set a wooden chair in there. So you have something to sit on while dressing, or to lounge on while you are waiting for your bubble bath to fill up. And some big plants.

If you need more counter space than a pedestal sink gives, I have seen some really nice little cabinet things at restoration hardware and other places. Like the cabinets you have on either side of the sink but a bit nicer and more bungalow style.

You will feel alot better when you just paint over that pink with a nice soft pleasing color. You could do that right now just to make yourself feel better :-)

Hope any of this helps.

We forgot to write "feeling better" into our final mission for the house. I AM SERIOUS! This is a good reminder from Sedonia. The whole POINT of this is to feel better about this house.

Thanks S!

Posted by jeanne on September 2, 2003 at 5:06 PM