Combining an Ensuite and Bedroom

Having an ensuite in your bedroom or next to your bedroom is such a treat and you want it to be somewhere that you can relax and somewhere that can be a refuge for you. A bedroom ensuite design is different to a regular bathroom design as it shares space with your bedroom so there are some tricks to creating the right environment for combining an ensuite and a bedroom.

Should the bathroom ensuite be in a separate room?

The first question to ask is should I make the bathroom open or closed to the bedroom. Now this is really about personal taste. Conventional wisdom would say normally the bathroom is closed to the bedroom but it could be an idea to perhaps have the vanity visible from the bedroom.

Bedroom with closed ensuite

This is an example of a shower with a conventional ensuite closed to the bedroom. Note that the product that can be viewed when the door is open is the bath which is attractive and allows for privacy.

Ensuite separate but open to the bedroom a

Ensuite separate but open to the bedroom b

This bathroom is separate from the bedroom but there is no door so everything can be seen from both rooms. This would work for a couple or family who are comfortable with a less private design.

The vanity is a good choice because it’s nice and clean, it’s not something that you need to be worried about people seeing whereas with the shower or the toilet you might not want people in the bedroom being able to see you when you’re using these items. The answer to this question really depends on personal taste but you just need to think about those aspects before you go ahead and do a combination of a bathroom and a bedroom.

How will the bathroom be used?

The question is who is going to see the bathroom. Are you comfortable with being naked in the line of sight of the bedroom? Is your bedroom something that is a thoroughfare for the whole family?

Display Home Photos High Res 008

This bathroom faces the bedroom with the vanity as the focal point and the toilet suite hidden behind a sliding door. The shower is tucked in the corner but still visible from the bedroom.

Display Home Photos High Res 009

If this is the case, perhaps it might be an idea to have the toilet suite in a closed room like the picture above or you can have the shower as well hidden from the bedroom if you’re concerned about being naked. Some people really enjoy the idea of having a free standing bath or a luxury item in the bedroom.

Bath in the bedroom Block 2014 aBath in the bedroom Block 2014 b

Bath in the bedroom Block 2014 c

Bath in the bedroom Block 2014 d

This bedroom features a bath in the bedroom and the rest of the bathroom is located behind the wall but it is still open to the bedroom. It's quite a daring design but looks amazing! The carpet and tiles are completely different which works well in this space to separate the bedroom and bathroom areas.

This is perfectly fine and, again, you need to consider who is going to be using the bedroom and the bathroom. If you do this, if you put some of the items in the actual bedroom itself, you need to think about how you combine the floor coverings. You can’t have a bath on top of the carpet. In that case you need to think about tiling at least where you’ve got the bath and then do you tile the entire room or do you look at tiling the part where you’ve got the bath and then you carpet the area where you’ve got the bed. If you go along this path, it might be an idea to match the color so it doesn’t look so broken up.

Essential Products for Your Bathroom

Amongst the most important essential products for your ensuite bathroom would be the vanity. This should have ample storage so you don’t have things cluttering up the room. Another idea to combat clutter might be to have a shaving cabinet so you’ve got the mirror but you’ve also got items put away inside the shaving cabinet.

You also need a toilet suite. You need to consider whether this is going to be in a closed room or in an open area. If you want to keep the whole bathroom open and you don’t want a closed room with a door, an idea is to create a nib wall which is a little wall that hides the toilet whilst still keeping it in the same room as the rest of the bathroom products.

And then, lastly, the item that would be found in most ensuites is a shower. A bath would be an additional extra if you want to have that kind of feeling of luxury or if you feel that you use the bath a lot then adding a bath into the ensuite is a fabulous idea.

Bathroom design