Finding A Place For A Chic En Suite In Your Bedroom

There might be several reasons why you should consider adding an en suite to your bedroom. The first and potentially most beneficial one is to be able to have your own private bathroom (those living with teenagers and younger kids will particularly appreciate this opportunity). You can go straight from the bed into your own shower booth to kick-start your day.

Next, you might be able to provide much more comfort to your guests, who’ll no longer need to share the bathroom with you and your family. Finally, this feature increases the value of your property by more than you’ve invested in it, which makes it a shrewd investment. Own It Detroit, a real estate management firm that helps property investors, points out that having an en suit in your bedroom is a great way to make your property stand out as well as a great way to increase your home’s overall resale value.

Initial Considerations

Depending on the size, fixtures and their quality, the price of installing an en suite can range from around a few thousand dollars to well in excess of 20 thousand. In most cases, the limited space also means that less money is spent than in case of regular, traditional bathrooms.

In terms of permits, you’re most likely not supposed to have a planning permission, since you’re not building an extension. Still, you need to comply with all the relevant regulations, so make sure you know exactly what you need and obtain the necessary documents.

Space

Although it’s possible to create an en suite bathroom by converting a smaller bedroom, you would probably not improve the resale value of your home. Instead, you should be looking into the possibilities to use space within an existing, preferably larger bedroom and have it converted into an en suit.

Most interior designers agree that you can fit a shower room into a space half the size of a regular bathroom, which means it would roughly occupy the same floor space as a fitted wardrobe.

Walls

Most walls are made using metal frames, which can support wall-mounted basins and WC with concealed cisterns. If there are gaps within stud walls, you might use them as storage niches or to hide mixer taps. Alternatively, you might install towel rails there.

On the other hand, the partition wall between the bedroom and en suite can be turned into a wardrobe. If such a wall doesn’t quite reach the ceiling, there’ll be more light in both areas of the room.

Heating and Plumbing

The issue of having both hot and cold water supplied into your new bathroom is pretty simple. If you have a boiler which provides hot water on demand, and not the one with a cylinder, you have to make sure there is enough pressure to provide sufficient hot water flow. Naturally, you need to hire experts to connect your wastes to the drains, since you don’t want to unclog blocked drains every now and then.

When it comes to heating, you can use radiators, towel rails or underfloor heating, and any rewiring job would have to comply with local and national regulations.

Making it Chic

Even confined spaces, such as an en suite, may allow you to be creative and trendy. Using waterproof tile backing board to clad the walls and installing walk-in shower trays with the waste trap in the floor is one option. You may wish to use tiles, glass panels in different colours or even large mirrors.

Since converting an area of a bedroom may leave the bathroom without a window, it might be a good idea to install a wall of opaque glass, which would provide as much natural light as possible, while at the same time maintain your privacy. Finally, you’ll also be spoilt for choice when it comes to all the necessary fixtures. Make sure you go for low-flow shower heads and aerators, which would significantly decrease water consumption and, hence, your utility bill.

As you can see, there are many reasons why you should at least consider having an en suit and many ways you can express your creativity when it comes to designing it. If you’re uncertain about the best possible option, you should probably consult an interior designer, who would be able to give you invaluable practical advice about adding this feature to your bedroom.