A Bathroom Where There Was None

When houses were built in 1900 you were lucky to have indoor plumbing. If you did happen to have a bathroom it would probably look pretty bleak by 2013. In the case of my parent’s New Orleans shotgun style house the guest bathroom and laundry room were installed some years after the house was originally built as an add on off the kitchen. Over the years we have done a lot to improve the existing bathroom but the fact that it opens into the kitchen just couldn’t be changed. For empty-nesters this is not a big deal on a daily basis but when company visits they really don’t want to walk through the kitchen in their bathrobe. The only option was to build a bathroom where there was none.

But where to install this new bathroom? The shotgun lots are long and narrow with only about 3′ between the house and the property line so adding on was not an option. The space had to be found somewhere in the original footprint of the house. After much discussion about what area could be sacrifice we decide on stealing away some space between the two guest bedrooms that back up to each other.

We started by taking the closet seen above in the front bedroom and pushing the back wall out about 3′ into the back bedroom. To make sure the front bedroom would still be considered a “bedroom” we saved just enough space to allow for a small closet. Here is the plan I came up with.

The small closet can be seen in the picture to the left. There is also a cabinet above to take advantage of the full height of the 12 foot ceilings.

Since the bathroom is situated between the two guest rooms we decided on a “Jack and Jill” design with pocket doors to save space. The door themselves are reclaimed from Southern Arch a New Orleans architectural salvage company. Stripped and waxed with vintage style hardware look like they are original to the house.

With no room for a tub a standup shower complete with subway tiles and finished off with a glass shower door worked perfectly in this space.

Top it off with lots of vintage style fixtures and the bathroom is ready for guests. Have a look!