Any time we point out having just one lavatory it spawns a flurry of curiosity in our Instagram DMs about how we handle that with our four-person household. Though we’re undoubtedly not intrepid for having this setup in any manner (so many households within the US & overseas dwell a beautiful life in a smaller dwelling with one lavatory), and we even have an out of doors bathe that we are able to use nearly year-round (which undoubtedly takes the strain off of our single indoor lavatory), there’s a stunning quantity of curiosity across the subject.
So we’re right here to interrupt down why it has labored so effectively for our household and what we’ve performed to make it further environment friendly & straightforward to dwell with.
I do know some individuals will learn this and assume “I might NEVER dwell that manner!” or “I’ve ALWAYS lived that manner, what’s the massive deal?” and the reality is that what’s proper for one household is unquestionably not all the time proper for an additional. So this publish isn’t written to indicate there’s some “proper” variety of loos – it’s simply to fulfill the curiosity individuals have expressed about how one lavatory particularly works for our household.
Tip #1: Stay With One thing For A Sizzling Second To See How You *Actually* Really feel
We moved from a a lot bigger home that had three loos and anticipated to land right here and IMMEDIATELY need to add a second lavatory…
… however by a whole yr of at-home studying the place we actually examined the bounds of dwelling in a smaller dwelling just about 24/7, we didn’t really feel the one-bathroom squeeze. In any respect. Curveball, proper?
So we went forward and added a pool and even renovated our kitchen – all with out feeling even an inkling of need so as to add that second lavatory we anticipated to wish a lot.
It has now been almost three years of dwelling with one lavatory, and to this point… zero plans to bear the fee & mud of a reno so as to add a toilet.
Now for those who transfer into a brand new home and it’s instantly clear you desire a second lavatory – don’t add a pool first. Ha! This primary level is simply that you simply’ll be capable of inform lots about how your loved ones makes use of a house when you’re in there dwelling inside its partitions, and the must-have issues will naturally float to the highest of the checklist. In order that’s why we all the time advocate dwelling someplace earlier than making any huge reno choices (which we acknowledge is just not all the time attainable, however for those who can, what you find yourself desirous to sort out first or under no circumstances would possibly shock you).
Since we purchased our home in Feb of 2020 after which lockdowns occurred, we needed to make loads of reno choices from afar (like selecting a trex shade to redo the decks and a paint shade for the inside & exterior)…
… however as for precise main structure adjustments, we primarily made zero (we drywalled over a large doorway that we might simply reopen down the road, however aside from that, all of the rooms stayed the place they have been and we made the larger decisions after we landed).
Tip 2: Ask Your self If It’s An Precise Want or A Projected Future Want
This tip is mainly the following logical step after the primary suggestion we outlined above. After you reside with one thing for a bit, and develop some concepts for what you need to renovate, it by no means hurts to ask your self if you wish to renovate one thing as a result of it’s a right away want or a projected future want. As a result of boy oh boy is there a distinction between utilizing *future hypotheticals or guesses* about what you’ll want down the street and addressing *precise wants* as they come up in your house.
We undoubtedly aren’t shy a couple of renovation (hey, we’ve mounted up seven homes)… a few of which have been insanely giant tasks…
…. and up to now we’d have jumped so as to add a second lavatory “as a result of sometime we’ll in all probability need it although we don’t want one proper now… so let’s simply get forward of it.” However we’ve discovered that one of many worst reno strikes that may be made is to do a undertaking since you’ve PROJECTED what some future model of your self will possible want, solely to appreciate later that YOUR ACTUAL NEEDS aren’t being met in any respect when that future day comes.
Once we purchased the home, this deck was off of our bed room (that set of doorways led to the wall the place we now have our king-sized mattress).
After dwelling right here for a couple of yr (throughout which all 4 of us labored and digital schooled from dwelling, no much less!) the only lavatory did not turn out to be a sticking level. No fights. No line on the door. No issues in any respect.
Plus we realized a big bump-out in our bed room would truly work as a second lavatory if we wished so as to add one down the road. We additionally realized that the wall with the doorways that led out to that deck could be an superior place to place our mattress (now we have six different glass doorways that lead exterior on one other wall!).
Over time we thought of loads of different choices for that porch and determined it might serve our household greatest if we sealed off these two further doorways that led to the bed room and used the porch as a coated aspect entryway into our kitchen (since we park our automotive on this aspect of the home).
We even earned a mini “outside kitchen” with the addition of a storage sideboard for prepping and setting out meals + a grill + an out of doors desk.
Because of dwelling right here some time, closing off the door to the bed room and including one which results in the kitchen has been a GREAT resolution (you may learn in regards to the porch renovation right here). If we had requested our contractor to only flip that porch into a toilet from afar throughout lockdowns, it undoubtedly would have robbed us of this setup that now we have now and LOVE.
So even for those who’re assured that your loved ones will desire a sure factor down the road… you would possibly find yourself with a greater plan if it’s in any respect attainable to attend till you really want one thing versus leaping the gun to “simply get forward of it and do it now.”
Yet one more instance is that you simply would possibly add or renovate your children lavatory once they’re tiny and nonetheless taking baths in your personal tub, solely to later understand that you simply want you had added a bigger double sink and a bathe as an alternative of a bathtub as a result of your children aren’t small anymore and don’t want it (and all the time used your tub once they have been tiny). Heck, you would possibly even find yourself transferring earlier than you get to that projected future second of needing one thing you paid so as to add!
Ready for that readability about what you *really want* (versus guessing what your loved ones will need sooner or later) is so precious.
We love that with time and thought we gained a brilliant useful kitchen porch AND we nonetheless have an ideal spot so as to add a second lavatory when and if the necessity arises. Plus it feels nice to know that with this method, our solely job is to make our home work greatest for us proper now (and never have the onus of projecting what some future model of our household goes to wish in a while).
Keep in mind, we purchased this home *assuming* that having one lavatory could be a giant downside. So typically we’re simply as shocked as anybody else that it hasn’t been – and it reinforces that age-old lesson about what occurs if you assume. Plus, after we actually cease to consider the explanation why one lavatory works simply effective for us right here, it’s actually not that stunning or difficult, which brings us to tip #3…
Tip #3: We Already Have A Second Bathe
One huge issue that we identified within the very first paragraph of this publish is that we do have an additional bathe: our outside bathe. Whereas it’s actually not the identical as having a full second lavatory with a rest room/sink/bathe inside, having this alternate bathe area is a large assist. Practically year-round all of us desire to bathe out right here, except it’s raining or tremendous chilly.
It beats any indoor bathe I’ve ever used and it’s additionally an excellent choice for rinsing down after a sweaty exercise or a messy day working within the yard since we don’t have to pull our dirty our bodies by the home. And clearly, it’s the MVP after we come again from the seaside and need to get the sand off as an alternative of monitoring it into the home.
Showering will be one of the time-consuming, bathroom-hogging actions there may be, so this provides me a spot to take a protracted, leisurely post-run bathe with out feeling rushed to unlock the lavatory. In the meantime, Sherry prefers a night bathe on the market beneath the twinkle lights.
Though our outside bathe isn’t as fancy as some enormous ensuite bathe or tub may be in a elaborate dwelling, it checks the field of getting a particular “luxurious” feeling bathe expertise someplace in our home. Nothing beats the solar streaming down and all of the crops hanging round. Really. Expertise an out of doors bathe for those who by no means have, and it simply would possibly change your life.
Tip #4: Our Morning Schedules Don’t Overlap
One other huge purpose one lavatory works for our household is that our morning routines are fairly unfold out. Our youngsters depart for college an hour other than one another, so one is barely awake by the point the opposite is leaving. And since Sherry and I each make money working from home, we push off our morning routines and monopolize the lavatory after the children are gone. Meaning we by no means encounter these cliche TV household clusterforks the place everyone seems to be preventing to get into the lavatory on the similar time (Shameless involves thoughts for me).
Additionally, since our two children are 4 grades aside in class, they’ll possible by no means have the identical faculty schedule. So at the same time as they become old and may have longer quantities of time within the lavatory to prepare, we don’t foresee a time when any of us are arguing over the identical morning timeslot. However we are able to completely see how having children on the identical schedule might make issues extra of a good squeeze.
Tip #5: Your Precise Youngsters Persona/Habits Can Make Or Break This
Our youngsters are presently 8 and 12, so that they’ve but to achieve ages which may stereotypically contain extra lavatory “grooming” time. I’m drawing on my reminiscence of getting two older sisters in highschool on the similar time painstakingly curling their bangs within the mirror (this was the late ’80s in spite of everything). So although we’ll have a youngster in two months, our family has but to expertise the total inflow of curling irons, hair gels, and physique sprays (yikes) that I recall from my youthful days. And even after we do, we’ve received a plan for that (look forward to it, it’s our subsequent tip).
On the flip aspect, our children are each sufficiently old that we don’t have, like, hourlong play-filled bathtimes at night time anymore, or toddlers tenting out in there whereas they’re potty coaching. There are nonetheless events when our youngest will get away the bathtub toys or replenish the sink to play within the water with some color-changing toy or what-have-you, however that stuff will be interrupted if anybody else wants to make use of the lavatory.
Tip #6: Grooming Occurs In Our Bedrooms
One other manner we be certain that one individual isn’t hogging the lavatory is by retaining it for less than, let’s say, “important” lavatory actions. So you need to use it to bathe, brush tooth, and go to the lavatory – however nearly every little thing else takes place in our respective bedrooms: doing hair, placing on make-up, making use of varied lotions and potions that hold us wanting ageless like Paul Rudd, and many others.
This actually helps lower down on anybody individual overstaying their welcome within the lavatory at any given time. Plus, it additionally implies that our solely lavatory storage (the self-importance pictured under) doesn’t overflow with everybody’s grooming provides like make-up, hair brushes, hair gel, and deodorant.
Our youngsters every have a mirror of their room and hold deodorant, hair stuff, a hair brush, and many others of their high dresser drawer. And Sherry and I every have devoted a small part of our bed room closets to our “grooming” stuff. I even put in little mirrors inside our closet doorways so we are able to see what we’re doing.
For example, I hold a small tray of hair gel, deodorant, and beard cream in my closet proper by my garments, and I mounted a mirror proper contained in the door to make use of whereas I shortly prepare. It’s tremendous handy and since I’m not in anybody’s manner, I can take so long as I would like.
Sherry has a pullout drawer subsequent to her in-door mirror along with her make-up and deodorant and hair stuff too. She has by no means been somebody to take various minutes to prepare, so this setup has been working effectively for us for over a yr now (our daughter’s setup is extra like a conceit with a seat and a giant mirror in entrance of it). Sherry likes to remind me that everybody she knew in Jersey sat on the ground of their bedrooms and curled their hair, so not doing that stuff within the lavatory isn’t that international of an idea.
I understand this will likely really feel like a downgrade for those who’re used to having your personal devoted lavatory sink or self-importance in your personal non-public lavatory, however we solely had a pleasant double sink setup very briefly in our final home (under), so it was by no means one thing we had time to turn out to be accustomed to.
Chances are you’ll keep in mind Sherry used to nearly completely do her make-up within the automotive on the best way to wherever we have been going. Level being: it hasn’t been a giant adjustment to maintain these forms of actions out of our solely lavatory now.
Tip #7: We Talk (Okay, Perhaps Over-Talk)
This may increasingly sound apparent, however a giant manner we forestall fights over the lavatory is to only talk with each other. It’s as straightforward as “Hey, I’m about to take a bathe, does anyone want to make use of the lavatory first?” Maybe this requires a stage of openness that some households won’t be comfy with – however for us, it simply comes with the territory of dwelling in a small home. Let’s name it bonding!
And sure, up to now three years now we have lived by norovirus and even salmonella! So there was loads of time for us to say “nope, this isn’t working” (we are inclined to have a 24-48 hour tiered occasion on the subject of the household falling in poor health with some abdomen bug). We’ve additionally cleaned our one lavatory rather well after somebody received sick AND NOBODY ELSE GOT IT. Speak about a miracle…. which brings us to tip #8.
Tip #8: We Solely Have One Toilet To Clear
Typically we get requested if now we have any points having company over with only one lavatory. We’ve had as many as 15 individuals in our home and haven’t had a problem. Folks would possibly go out and in all through the night time, however there isn’t a line of individuals all hopping from foot to foot, ready for it to open up with a panicked look on their faces. Very similar to a restaurant which may have only one lavatory with a lock on the door, individuals know what to do. All hell doesn’t break unfastened at a bistro if somebody has to attend for the restroom (thank goodness).
And the beauty of us all sharing one lavatory (and due to this fact solely having one lavatory to wash) is that it doesn’t sit unattended for days or perhaps weeks. It doesn’t actually have a second to “get away from us” in the identical manner that the lesser used/seen loos did after we entertained in our outdated home. Again then we’d have that panicked “is the upstairs corridor lavatory clear?! I simply cleaned the powder room downstairs!” second.
We by no means have to fret in regards to the children’ lavatory getting out of hand as a result of we haven’t laid eyes on it for every week. And as an grownup who beforehand had 12 loos to keep up/repair/fear about (sure, our home had 3, the seaside home had 3 and the duplex had 6!) I can inform you that one lavatory = the great life for us. Particularly with the bonus outside bathe – that really does take the strain manner off.
One Ultimate Thought
Our good friend Shavonda, whose household of 4 additionally lives in a small home with one lavatory (and her children are teenagers!), chimed in on Instagram with a perspective I wished to finish with as a result of it summarizes loads of this dialogue. In her family, there’s an understanding that the lavatory is a utility area. “You get in. You do what you gotta do, and also you get out,” as she put it. That’s an excellent abstract of how we really feel about it additionally, and that perspective is a giant a part of what makes this work for our household.
I feel that mindset will be uncommon to some individuals who as an alternative have a look at their lavatory as extra of a dream room/escape – particularly in America (as a result of loos have turn out to be far more than easy utility areas in a lot of homes – they’re typically “luxurious, spa-like retreats designed for individuals to unwind after a busy day”). However for us, this home and this location provide us so many different locations to “luxuriate” and unwind (our pool, the seaside, our scorching tub, absorbing the celebs out by the hearth pit, our upstairs deck, even the outside bathe!) in order that trade-off has been so price it and so doable.
We’ve been more than pleased to relegate our lavatory to a easy, utilitarian function. However we are able to additionally see how another person would possibly say “no manner, I would like my very own lavatory and an enormous soaker tub and that’s what retains me sane.” Completely. Agree 10000%. All of us have home perks which might be non-negotiables, and so they’re going to be totally different for each individual & each household.
P.S. You may see all the small print of our lavatory earlier than & after proper right here on this renovation publish. And you may see the further fancy lavatory renovation that we undertook proper earlier than we moved out of our final home right here (plus the finances breakdown for that reno).
