Ok. You all have your opinions, which I like because you come with experiences that I don’t have, and the more experience = more informed choice. In our previous post, about stained glass doors, there was a heated exchange in the comments regarding the fact that many of you did not want to use the toilet near a urinal without visual or physical protection. Although it’s not our intention to use it at the same time, it seems like it just felt gross that your face would be in the same line as the urinal (possibly with residual “elements”). If we’re being honest, it seems like this urinal isn’t a popular idea among women, but Brian, Charlie, and all of their friends are so excited about it that I’m still Team Urinal. Listen, having people in my house have fun is the number one driver of my life, and these two urine-loving men (and my brother) are very excited. So now I need to get women back on board. Message received- We need some separation between the two.
So with the help of our new extremely intuitive design program, SayWe were able to present to you visual and completely accurate (with measurements) options in the form of both elevations and floorplans. And when we had actual product selections we plugged them in as well. It really is a dream. If you’re like me and don’t know about any rendering programs, but love designing and decorating, please check it out. We’re still learning all the endless bells and whistles (and they’re doing something new every day), but the basics are incredibly intuitive, and we’ll be talking about them a lot this year. Check spokes.
Option #1: Single Outhouse – With Partition
This was our original plan, but we added a partition between the toilet and urinal. A great option is a pony wall that extends from the back wall. It can be made of wood and paneled or tiled. It can also be metal (think literal bathroom partition) or glass (like a window, possibly stained glass?).
professional: We keep the best layout, but also add a little bit of separation. Could also add a tiled backsplash with a clear start/stop point which would be beautiful (without having to do the entire wall).
Shortcoming: Partitions may need to be removed in the future to become ADA compliant. Again (and I want to be absolutely clear), we don’t plan on renting out the property for small events until after the kids graduate (if that), so we may need to modify things if we want it to be accessible. To me, this is a pretty easy change, and hell, we could add a shower curtain between them with a waterproof fabric on the men’s side (LOLOLOLOL… ok now I’m tired too). I also want to note that while I think this will work for friends/visitors or prospective parents who need access, it may not technically be in compliance.
professional: The bathroom layout is still the best. The flow from door to door is easy, and there are clear visual focal points and good sight lines. There’s plenty of room to breathe and no obstructions, but admittedly the sink is small.
Shortcoming: We may need to widen it a bit to accommodate the partition without actually pressing it in there. Also, the design of the partition would be really good because it will be the main visual line when you look here.
*****UPDATE: As I’m writing this post, I’m considering moving that window higher (we decided to replace it anyway since it’s so damaged), and if so, we can put the sink/vanity in front of that window. Right now, the window is too low (like 18″ above the floor), so I might raise it to 30″ and use that space instead. And then create something so beautiful with the same sink and vanity area should we ever, say, have bridal parties get ready there. Here’s what that floorplan will look like:
Option #2: Double Outhouse – Arguably the cutest
How cute is this!!?? And your face won’t be within inches of the urinal, which will please most of you (I hope). This is the most straightforward layout taken from the inspiration (two tiled rooms inside – shower and toilet room). It’s so cute and says “mine” and “mine” in the best of ways.
professional: Different places for each. The usual grandeur of two twin mini buildings. Also, we could make a colored toilet, which is what I want to do, but there are no colored urinals to match. But since they each have their own rooms, I can make a blue or green toilet in one and a black urinal in the other. Well, I can do that too still In the same outhouse and just figure out how to balance it visually.
Shortcoming: If we ever want to be accessible or ADA compliant we will have to at least remove the outhouse structure of the restroom. A stained glass door itself is only 24″ wide, which is quite narrow (but that’s possible, the toilet cubicle in our primary and the bathroom doors in our guest room are only 24″ wide). But at the same time, the sink is quite crowded and narrow. See here:
Other than a clogged sink, this is difficult; The flow and sight lines aren’t the best. There’s enough room around the tub to walk, but the flow from door to door is messy – you have to walk in and around this 52″ deep structure. Doable, but definitely less good flow. Of course, I could reconfigure the whole thing, but it’s starting to feel like this is just a good option, but not the best.
Option #3: Single-Wide Outhouse – Accessibility Focused
Well, there is a single outhouse, but inside is the sink between the toilet and the urinal. I guess that would be a good enough distance from the urinal for all my female friends, right?
professional: The larger shed is likely ADA-compliant. The door opening size is 48″ and there is enough room to maneuver inside. I also like that when the doors are open the sink is in the middle and has the most beautiful sight line. The toilet and urinal are separated by a sink.
Shortcoming: The doors seem much smaller, less special, and somewhat more “shed-like” than an “outhouse”, which is ridiculous to compare (I hope you all know we internally laugh every time we hear the word “outhouse”, knowing it’s not most homeowners’ dream, but I have a clear vision for it, I promise!). I worry that this structure is too big to be beautiful and quaint. Of course, we could combine the doors with smaller windows and be done with that, but that’s big.
The flow is a bit chaotic in this floorplan, too. Making an outhouse ADA-compliant can make the building too large. But to be honest, we’re unsure how much space we really need. Grech found this graphic that says we need 30-48″ of clear floor space, but not in either direction.
It seems to me that to be compliant we need a total of 59″ deep + framing material (so 65″), which is definitely too deep. But I wonder if there’s a world where, if the doors are left open and the bathroom is technically treated like one big bathroom (with no WC as a compliance measure), we might be okay? Like could the door opening be part of the turnaround area we would need?
I feel like I’m really stuck in the weeds here, by the way. Brian also doesn’t want to rent out our property as much as I do in 15 years, so perhaps we don’t need to make it “technically” or “legally” accessible (although I would love to see it work for as many capabilities as possible in general). Or maybe we design it just the way we want it now, and then if we turn it into a business in 10-15 years, we invest in modifications. But it’s interesting to learn and I like the challenge. And regardless of compliance, we have a lot of people, and I would love to be that home where people with potential can come and know they are taken care of.
Option #4: South Outhouse – Glazed Stained Glass
We wanted to address those of you who thought that stained glass would be useless without a window or light source inside the outhouse to make the colors shine. We’ll call you “Team Outdated Pizza Hut” because you compared it to Pizza Hut. Although I don’t agree, we had it perfect Same conversation and a few weeks ago the outhouse was temporarily moved. There’s a really bad window with a terrible view (of the chain link fence) that we planned to get rid of. But this idea came to our mind to install colored glass doors in front of it and see how it would look.
The stained glass sparkled in both a totally nice and really bright way. Obviously it is more powerful, bright, saturated and impressive. But I’m not on the “Outdated Pizza Hut” team. I think that properly made colored glass can certainly transmit light, but it can also just be a gimmicky and colored material (especially the more opaque colors, not transparent). Think dark speakeasy bars, salons, libraries, etc. And yes, there will be a light inside the outhouse, two huge skylights, and beyond that will be a big window, if it’s on the other wall, I promise we’ll get some light in there! (It’s also pretty sure that Gen Z loves good old-fashioned Pizza Hut and TGIF – they’re coming back!).
The main drawback of this layout is the terrible flow out the door (from the speakeasy). Now, of course, we can remove the door and/or move the tub in front of the window. But when you’re in the space, this flow feels bad (and we don’t want to remove the door because we don’t want the wall in the next room to be interrupted by a door – I have plans for that wall).
So the options are:
- Single outhouse with partition, large and easy to access, but probably not technically ADA compliant.
- Double outhouse – very cute, but definitely smaller rooms.
- Large ADA-compliant outhouse/shed.
- South wall outhouse (aka southhouse) with some reconfiguration.
Time to vote!!!
We just developed this new technique for this house project – in-blog voting (it’s so much fun). So please, please comment too, but for those of you who want to make it easier – click your button 🙂
Which way am I leaning?
Option 1 – OG outhouse, but I want to try laying it out with a large vanity in front of the window. But check this – we can leave the small sink where it is and then add a vanity for getting ready/hair/makeup, but without the sink, so it doesn’t require plumbing, in which case it can be put in later?
Also, I’d really love to hear from those of you who have experience with ADA compliance – either you’ve needed it yourself in a wheelchair, with elderly parents, or if you’ve designed another residential-inspired ADA-compliant space. Curious if there’s enough room to navigate in #1 if the stained glass doors are left open (with the main door closed and the shed closed). Again, it’s our home, and we don’t currently need to be bound to city compliance, and there’s a chance we’ll never be able to do real business from it, or perhaps only rent it out for photo shoots and the occasional team off-sites, retreats, or family reunions (but not actual event venues). So if I don’t heed your advice, it’s likely because we don’t want to make a big decision on this huge “maybe” right now. But gathering information from all of you to make the best decisions is an incredible benefit of this job. Thank you 🙂
Also, does adding a partition to #1 satisfy all the “no urinals near my face” people out there? Please say yes!!!!!
Opening Image Credit: Photo by Keltin Green
