En-suite bathrooms are terrific, especially if you happen to have a large family. Not only does having your own en-suite mean that you and your other half have a far better chance of managing to get a shower before work, but you’ll also find that your expensive toiletries seem to last longer too. Other pluses include not having to share your bathroom with guests and, the fact that it could increase the value of your home.
So, the temptation is definitely there to have an en-suite created just off the master bedroom. Should you though?
Well, here’s a list of things to think about before you sign that contract.
How much will it cost?
How much you’ll be expected to fork out on your en-suite depends, of course, on the type of furnishings etc you fancy. Typically though you can expect to spend anything from £6k to £9k depending on the quality of the furnishings and how luxurious you’re looking for it to be. This includes not just the material costs but also the plumbing, electrical, decorating and labour costs combined.
Do you have enough space?
Typically en-suite bathrooms don’t require a lot of space since they tend to be small in size. According to the experts an en-suite bathroom can be created from as little as 1.7m x 2.6m while a shower room would take up as little as 1m x 2.8m. Ideally you can use some space in the bathroom and perhaps a walk-in wardrobe or even some space from the loft area. What you don’t want to do is use a nearby bedroom, since in doing so could sizeably decrease the value of your property.
Will there be furniture small enough?
These days you can buy compact wall-hung toilets and sinks. There are also units which are triangular-backed in order to fit neatly into a corner. Then again, vanity units combine storage with a sink.
When it comes to the shower you can have a shower bath (if there’s enough room). This is a ‘P’ shaped or ‘L’ shaped bath with a transparent glass panel at the irregular shaped end and which is for showering with. If you have space for a shower only, then consider getting bi-fold shower doors. That’s because these fold inwards meaning you don’t need to account for additional space in the bathroom when the door opens outwards (as the majority of shower doors do).
In the main though, your en-suite will require at least four basic items. These are;
• Toilet
• Sink
• Shower
• Heating
If you’re taking space away from the bedroom to create the en-suite then to lessen the effect you could consider putting up a wall of frosted opaque glass or glass tiles. This way you’ll have extra light in the bedroom if the en-suite has a window, and it’ll make the existing bedroom seem larger. Meanwhile, consider fitting glass tiles or a large mirror in the en-suite itself to ‘double’ the space.
If light isn’t an issue but space in the bedroom is then you could save on storage space by making the wall between the en-suite and the bedroom into a handy wardrobe.
How complicated is it to set up hot water
Most homes these days have a combi boiler (a heating system which provides hot water on demand). This is great in energy-efficiency terms but might not be when it comes to your new en-suite, since it may not have a good enough water flow to supply it. A plumber will be able to advise on whether or not this is the case and ato check the water pressure for you. He or she can also advise on the type of shower you’ll need.
What about heating?
Underfloor heating is an option, so too are radiators and even heated towel rails (the latter can really make a difference in an en-suite because of the room’s compact nature).
If you fancy having a go at planning your own en-suite bathroom then take a look at this article here in the DIY magazine BuildIt. Meanwhile, to get the most out of your en-suite in terms of space this article here titled 18 Ideas to Make a Small Bathroom Look Bigger is definitely worth checking out.