walk through bathroom to get to the closet

[Katsmeow]

I am looking at floorplans for new construction.
The floorplans all require walking through the bathroom to get to the closet.
All of the floor plans are like this.
This is a home in a 55+ community.

My parents' homes and my current home isn't like this.

My first thought is that I don't like it.

Is there a reason for designing a house like this?

I've never seen or heard of that design. Sounds very strange to me, and I wouldn't like it either.

This is definitely more common than not. Hmm. Let me see. During our marriage we have owned, I think, 5 houses. All of them had at least one closet off the master bathroom. You got to the closet through the master bathroom. One of them had a second closet off the bedroom. 4 of these houses did, of course, have separate water closets for the toilet. Those houses were mostly built in the 1990s and the 2000s. Our current house was built in the mid 80s and had 2 tiny closets off the master bathroom. However, the toilet area was separated by a wall but had no door. That was a real turn off to us. We did remodel the entire bathroom and ended up with a separate toilet room. We ended up building a separate closet off the master bedroom along with an armoire and some built in drawers in the master bathroom (used by DH). So, I no longer have my clothes in a room that opens to the master bath. It is OK but inconvenient in some ways. I like to dress in the bathroom. But if I take clothes in there when I shower I have to find a place to put the clothes. If I forget something or don't take clothes in there then I have to traipse to the master bedroom to get the clothes and perhaps to dress. I've really gotten used to not having to do that so it is an inconvenience when I have to do it.

 

[Sunnymar]

This subject seems to be much ado about nothing. I now live in a house with this floorplan and have also previously. I like it because after showering, we always dress in the closet and bath, never in our bedroom as there are no clothes in our bedroom.
Our mirror never fogs, steam isn't a problem in our bath, so obviously none is in our closet, BTW the closet has a door that can be closed any time (we rarely close it).
Our shower is a steam shower which my DH uses frequently, the steam vents out one side but still never fogs the mirror, it will never reach the closet.
Also our toilet is enclosed in a water closet there are no odors or "fecal matter" to contend with...
Pick the floor plan that works for you, closet off the bath is common.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

My house has this. Upscale one story 1980s build that has been remodeled. Actually you walk through the vanity sink area. Closet off the side. You don't go as far as the shower or toilet room. I never considered it an issue ever esp since its the master. My DH is the only other person to see it. Do I care if he's washing his hands and can SEE me change clothes? Zero. I care zero. No the closet isn't humid at all ever. I never even think about it.

 

[always_learning]

Our current house's master is similar to the plan linked.

Walking through the bath to get to the closet was odd at first, but it only took about a week to get used to it. I actually prefer it over walking through the closet to get to the bathroom, which I actually find surprising.

If the floor plan is built out like our house and the ones in my area, the door to the bath room will be a pocket door, the door to the toilet room will be a regular door, and the linen closet will have a bi-fold door. That set up takes care of the likelihood of doors hitting each other. The main door, if closed, also stops light & noises from being too loud in the bedroom.

The closets I've seen (in person and online) mostly have the California Closet design where there is at least one set of drawers. In our closet, we each have one and therefore have no need for a chest of drawers in the bedroom.

Privacy.... we have a towel rack hanging over the clear glass door so the towels help with privacy. Otherwise, a curtain will work. I did think about having the clear door replaced with a frosted one but so far, we're happy with how things have worked out. For the most part, we just let the other one have the bathroom for showers and it's not a biggie as far as privacy goes.

With regards to humidity from the shower, such a large closet will most likely have it's own air conditioning duct, and there should be a fan for both the shower and the toilet closet. Even coming straight from the shower, the mirrors aren't even fogged, so I have no worries about the clothes.

As for the whole fecal zone/stinky clothes thing, we have not had an issue with smells at all outside the toilet room and can't honestly see this as a concern. Traveling smells just don't happen.

The only thing I would not like is if we had to get up at different times, as some folks have mentioned. However, in retirement areas, this is less of a concern, hence this plan is typical to make use of water pipe locations and to maximize the closet space since some of the areas used as closets would not be usable in bathrooms (odd corners, etc).

 

[marinauser]

I don't believe that the decision has much if anything to do with the toilet - except that the open water is a big source of humidity in that area. I would always avoid having that kind of humidity right next to a closet if possible. I have been in some homes with the closet as described and you could feel the humidity in the walk in closet. Keep in mind that often such closets do not have a AC/Heat vent or other air circulation ventilating the closet.

 

[Sunset]

Apparently I've been wiping fecal matter on myself for 32 years. I should let anyone who hugs me know. We have a small house with a towel bar in the only place it will fit, and this won't change. Watch out, here comes "fecal Joe."

What I want to know is do you time your trips with the clock

I always worry I'll put the towel over the toilet back on the rack and as the toilet is flushing the towel will fall into the toilet causing a flood

I once knocked a small shampoo bottle into the toilet as it was flushing, and while there was no flood, in the end I had to remove the toilet to get the jammed bottle out.

 

[JoeWras]

I once knocked a small shampoo bottle into the toilet as it was flushing, and while there was no flood, in the end I had to remove the toilet to get the jammed bottle out.

This is a very common issue. I've shared here before that my dad was a plumber, and he specialized in repair. At dinner, he always had war stories.

The three most common things he had to fish out of toilets were: toothbrushes, false teeth and eyeglasses.

It always happens the same way. Someone flushes the toilet and then moves to the vanity to do something else. As the toilet is flushing, a loose sleeve or something else brushes against the item and it falls the wrong way. The rest is history.

I always found his stories funny because I imagined all these people with false teeth out there that at one point were full of "fecal matter." Very few people would throw them out. Too expensive.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I can't get the phrase "fecal matter" out of my head. Thanks a lot, folks.

 

[karen1972]

This is how our master bedroom is set up, I like it a lot

The biggest thing is my honey gets up at 5, I get up at 7, so he can now go into the bathroom, close the door and shower/dress/ etc and no lights on in the bedroom, no noise in the bedroom as he rummages for socks, etc.

- We put in custom closets so everything went into the closet rather than still having a dresser, if you have a dresser and a closet its annoying as heck.

- We have an ottoman we put in the master closet so we can put our socks on.

- Our bathroom/closet only has skylights so no windows which means less likely to see a peep show when people walk out of the bathroom because they forgot something, or to get dressed (which in a 55+ neighborhood w/ little space between the houses is more likely to happen.)

Now the other thing with 55+, typically its master bath, then closet, then door to laundry, which is super convenient and my ideal setup.

 

[eytonxav]

I miss the master bathroom and closets we had in my prior home before downsizing, I think it was close to 20x20. The bathroom contained my squat rack and bench and dumbbell rack in the center of the room. DW's closet was off the bathroom and probably larger than the entire master bathroom in my current home. It also had a separate closet for me that was plenty big as well. Most bathrooms I have seen in north Texas have closets that must be accessed via the bathroom.

 

[USGrant1962]

I miss the master bathroom and closets we had in my prior home before downsizing, I think it was close to 20x20. The bathroom contained my squat rack and bench and dumbbell rack in the center of the room. DW's closet was off the bathroom and probably larger than the entire master bathroom in my current home. It also had a separate closet for me that was plenty big as well. Most bathrooms I have seen in north Texas have closets that must be accessed via the bathroom.

That's just weird.

 

[eytonxav]

That's just weird.

Didn't need a separate workout room and could jump right in the shower after a workout. I guess those who do not lift just don't understand

 

[Music Lover]

Didn't need a separate workout room and could jump right in the shower after a workout. I guess those who do not lift just don't understand

I lift but I still don't want a gym in the bathroom. My weights are currently in the basement but at one time were set up in a spare bedroom, both which I consider to be ideal locations.

 

[W2R]

Didn't need a separate workout room and could jump right in the shower after a workout. I guess those who do not lift just don't understand

I thought it sounded like a great idea! Well, unless you or your DW trip over the equipment when headed to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

In my old home I had the home gym in the (unused) formal dining room, which had not one but TWO ceiling fans. That was also helpful.

As for my present arrangement, I do not even have an en suite master bathroom. I do have three double door closets in the master bedroom, which is quite large and is where I keep my home gym equipment. It has two ceiling fans, too. For a shower I wander on down the hall to the bathroom, which is too small for gym equipment but at least it isn't far.