apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

That's beautiful! Though I hope the light is mighty bright, because I bet that when the door closes it feels pretty small and claustrophobic in there.

(Also, I think that you didn't finish the very last sentence of the post. What are we to remember?)

this is lovely, but, oh god, it reminds me of a house I once visited where they turned a 2x4' space under the stairs into a powder room. fyi - it is not pleasant to pee in such a cramped space (and i'm a small gal). please don't attempt to put a bathroom in such a niche.

Many of the bathrooms abroad are this size and great examples of efficiency and design. The only reason why homes are so super-sized here is because the general populace is super-sized.

This partially explains why that drunken Southerner left a mess in my closet. Now, if only I could figure out why he used my cat as tp.

These don't always work if you're trying to do them within codes, meaning you're doing the work with a permit. But yes, having only one bathroom doesn't seem to work for larger families or roommate situations. I lived in several flats in SF where the WC was separate from the shower/tub. It definitely was a plus when having several roommates!

i agree with dmh - the first thing i thought of was there is no way that is up to code!

Sorry but bathrooms this small are hardly efficient not to mention an echo chamber which makes it mighty uncomfortable for those using it and those standing in its vicinty.

Wrong. Just all sorts of wrong. Like Sparklebot's comment.

Here in the Midwest people sometimes have what I call "grandpa toilets" in unfinished basements--just a toilet sitting out in the middle of the space, no sink or anything. Yes, they're gross.

This is much better. For a house that would otherwise only have one bathroom, it could be a lifesaver.

My inlaws did this in a previous home, and it worked very nicely. It had a pocket door, and was decorated beautifully. (Admittedly, the acoustics were a bit...much.) Across the hall, another double closet was turned into a main floor laundry room. Apparently the house originally had a lot of closet space?

sally305, a "grandpa toilet" would freak me right out.

wow, grandpa toilets. so wrong and then, I guess, so right?

I have to give them kudos for squeezing a bathroom in that tiny space. This is probably super gross, but this couldn't possibly afford any odor privacy. Nothing like throwing open double doors into the living room after using the potty - it might as well be a grandpa toilet!!

Small half baths can be so useful, so I applaud the use of space. However, there MUST have been tons of work done in there, b/c closets aren't typically plumbed. And if a lot of work was done, then I'm not sure what the appeal is of keeping it like a closet, rather than turning in into a regular half bath (ie with a pocket door).

And that door? The size of that closet looks like it would be double doors, but it looks like just one huge door and that takes up a lot of space when opening and closing it.
Imagine though if a bathroom was to have those double doors that lock in the middle. I wouldn't feel right doing my business in that.

It just seems all kinds of awkward to me.

ummmmmmmm this is how bathrooms were originally added to homes.
its where the phrase "water closet" comes from.

Ditto to pompote. In Europe where many buildings dated from before individual sanitation facilities (meaning that people in apartment buildings would share a single toilet and separate shower/bath per floor), once it became more widespread, "water closets" like this were added to homes. My current apartment's is about 2.5' x 5': http://www.flickr.com/photos/fraise/3071172100/ and my previous apartment's had a clear pattern of growth: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fraise/72459238/
from tiny water closet, to having a standalone shower unit put in post-WWII (the building dates from the early 1800s).