Designing a Family Bathroom

Designing a family bathroom is challenging. With so many people and their needs to consider and functionality and aesthetics battling to become the priority, it’s often a stressful process with elements to think about. Thankfully, we are here to make it a breeze!

Our award-winning design team has gathered the best advice for creating a functional, high-traffic bathroom that works for everyone and looks incredible, too. Read on to find out how you can transform your space with our help.

The Functionality Needs of a Family Bathroom

Aside from aesthetics, one of the most important considerations in planning a family bathroom is functionality. This is an incredibly high-traffic area of a family home, and if it’s your only bathroom, ensuring it’s a functional space is even more essential. Let’s explore some of the practical needs of these rooms:

• Accessibility. You need to consider how accessible your bathroom is to everyone in the home. Do you live with elderly or disabled relatives who struggle to climb in and out of a bathtub? Are your children able to reach the sink or do you need a step for assistance?
• Storage. Each family member will have their own favourite toiletries, and everyone will need space to store their items. You need to plan clever storage solutions to keep things tidy, organised, and easily accessible when you need them.
• Privacy. In busy homes with family members of all ages, privacy is essential. You must have a lock on the door so that everyone feels secure when using the bathroom. However, you will need to make sure young children are told not to lock the door if unsupervised in the bathroom, as this could be very dangerous.

Elements to Consider in High-Traffic Areas

A family bathroom is one of the busiest areas of your home, which means it’s used by multiple people throughout the day. It’s also a room that gets wet and humid, and this is a recipe for disaster if you haven’t planned accordingly. Here are some elements to consider for these high-traffic areas:

• Touchless fixtures. With so many people using the bathroom, keeping things hygienic is a must. Touchless fixtures, such as taps and toilet flushes, are a great way to keep germs from spreading as easily.
• Tiles. Bathroom wall tiles are the best choice for your high-traffic space as they’re much easier to clean than alternatives such as painted walls or wallpaper.
• Light and bright colours. Keeping things airy and bright in your busy bathroom is the best way to ensure the space doesn’t feel dingy or crowded. White is also a timeless bathroom design choice, so it eliminates the need to redecorate for a long time.

Above all else, the number one element to consider in a crowded bathroom is keeping things tidy, and to do this, everyone needs to pitch in! Staying on top of the mess and cleaning up after each time using the bathroom is the best way to minimise clutter, save deep cleaning from becoming a day-long chore, and keep everyone happy. There’s nothing more annoying than staying on top of your mess but entering the bathroom and finding wet towels on the floor and empty shampoo bottles littering the shower!

Maximising Space and Clever Storage Solutions

As mentioned, with so many family members using the bathroom, installing the right storage solutions is a must. Avoid the frustration of rooting around for your deodorant in a sea of bath bombs and body butter, and organise your drawers and cupboards properly. This will mean different things for each family, so before your bathroom renovation, why not ask everyone their thoughts on this? Perhaps everyone needs their own drawer or individual baskets in cupboards.

Whatever works best for you and your family, our team here at Roccia can assist. Our luxury bathroom brands have a wide range of storage options for you to choose from, and many are entirely customisable, meaning you can tailor your bathroom to fit your family.

For example, pictured above is an example of our Laufen bathrooms. These designs won’t just look great in your home, but they are a fantastic practical option for your family. With a wide range of furniture options to choose from, you can select fixtures that work best for your family’s flow. Whether you prefer the shower to the bath or you have a skincare fanatic in the home who needs plenty of shelf space, there are numerous options that are guaranteed to work with your home.

Can Your Bathroom Grow with Your Family?

In short, yes, it can, and it should! A complete bathroom renovation is a big job that typically is only done once every ten years. Of course, your family will change a lot in ten years, so it’s important that you design your space with this in mind. As mentioned, accessibility should be at the forefront of your considerations. Do you plan on having more children soon? If so, a bath is much more practical for little ones, so including this in your layout is key. Similarly, is there a chance that elderly relatives could move in? Consider installing a built-in bench in your wet room or walk-in shower to provide a safe space to sit while showering. While you can’t predict the future, having an idea of what your family will look like over the next few years is a good way to ensure your bathroom grows with you.

At Roccia, we know that designing a bathroom for so many people can be challenging, but we are here to help. Whether you’re expecting your first baby, you have relatives moving in, or your older children are getting ready to fly the nest, we can create a space that works for you, regardless of the stage in your life you’re at.