Is putting a sink in the bedroom too bizarre?

July 1, 2008 12:46 PM

Real Estate Filter! I'm thinking of doing a little addition to my house which would add bigger closets, create a bigger master bedroom and add another bathroom. I'm considering one feature which I can't decide whether it would be too weird or not...

...a sink in the master bedroom.

When I lived over in England, all the bedrooms in our house had a sink and vanity in them and I thought it was great. Perfect for families and really handy. I miss that sink! My idea is to create a kickass walk-in double shower and toilet room off the master and put a sink right outside that door, in the master bedroom. I'm trying to keep the addition in line with the house and not take over too much of the yard -- it's a small lot.

I have two questions for anyone who has bought or sold houses in the U.S. -- as a buyer, would this just look totally weird to you? Would it be akin to seeing a toilet in the living room in terms of seeming "not right"? Also, I've got a question out to our last realtor as to how that would look in a listing -- would it have to be listed as a 1.5 bath house? Anyone know?

posted by amanda to home & garden (36 comments total)

Personally, I believe a sink alone would look weird. A sink and vanity, however, if attractively presented and matched to the rest of the room, might trigger an "Ooooh, nice!" reaction. That would switch, however, if I walked into the bathroom and found a shower, a toilet, but no sink.

It isn't rational, I know, but we're not looking for rational, we're looking for taste.
posted by adipocere at 12:50 PM on July 1, 2008

As for the listing, it should not be listed as 1.5 bath unless there was a toilet as well. A sink by itself doesn't count for a bathroom.

For the oddness of it, it is completely fine. My parent's home built by themselves in the early 80's in the Midwest had a vanity/makeup area with sink in the master bedroom. Perfect for getting ready (makeup, hair, etc) without taking up the bathroom.

The only thing I can't quite tell is if you're planning for this to be an additional sink (one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom). If that's the case, go for it. If you're planning to put the sole master bathroom sink actually in the bedroom, I would rethink your plans. People won't want to do all sink-based bathroom activities outside of the bathroom area.

My only other advice is to make sure it fits well into the master bedroom layout. If you can have it tucked away a bit, that will help it not stand out as a main focus when you walk in the room.
posted by shinynewnick at 12:55 PM on July 1, 2008

What about putting the extra vanity in the master closet space if you're going to have a walk in closet rather than in the bedroom proper? That would remove the immediate "hotel" reaction I'd have to a sink in the bedroom itself.
posted by true at 12:56 PM on July 1, 2008

Yes, as a buyer this would indeed look totally weird. US born and bred, if the master bedroom has a bath, the sink is close enough.

I have seen the sink and vanity just outside the toilet and shower/bath, but as part of the part of the bathroom, not in the bedroom itself.

I'm currently looking to buy and have seen some odd things like this and for me it is totally off-putting, ymmv, but it makes me wonder what other odd things are going on in the house and how competently the house has been upkept. Not insulting you, just being honest!

I have no idea what a realtor would say...
posted by cestmoi15 at 12:57 PM on July 1, 2008

I think it would be off-putting only because people aren't used to it. So it would stick out and they wouldn't know where to file it. When talking amongst themselves about the houses they were looking at, they'd say, "You know, the one with the sink." They'd get used to it once they bought and wouldn't care after a while, but it might be a slight point against during the selection process IMO.
posted by Askr at 1:02 PM on July 1, 2008

When I was a kid, the master bedroom in our house had an attached bathroom (with sink), plus a small anteroom between the bathroom and bedroom where there was a second sink. So, I guess it's not unheard of. There was, however, a wall between this sink-room and the rest of the bedroom, so if someone was standing in front of the sink you couldn't see them from the bathroom.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:04 PM on July 1, 2008

Just as a clarification, I am a Realtor. The way to make it not seem so odd is to design it as a vanity area that happens to have a sink, and is partially blocked when entering the room.

But it is always a matter of what the buyer likes and does not like, as evidenced by cestmoi15's reaction to a vanity in the master bedroom:

...makes me wonder what other odd things are going on in the house and how competently the house has been upkept.

Adding a unique but classic feature to a home does not reflect on the maintenance of the home in any way. But if the buyer doesn't like it, that's the end result.

If it is a feature you want in your home and it is affordable, go for it. Take the time to do it right, and you should be fine. You could also consider laying it out as a seated vanity area, which is much easier for makeup application.
posted by shinynewnick at 1:22 PM on July 1, 2008

Another vote in the "weird" column. I wouldn't want a sink in the bedroom, and I wouldn't want to have to bother with its removal, so if I were a potential buyer, I would probably bypass your house. It would have to be pretty awesome in a lot of other ways to make my short list, and even then, if I found another house that was comparable in price, location, quality, etc. I would most likely choose the other one. And if there were no sink at all in the toilet-and-shower room, that would be a definite deal-breaker.

The setup backseatpilot describes - where the sink is outside the bathroom, but you can't really see it from the bedroom - might make it a little better to some buyers, but I stil wouldn't want it. Even if it's not a deal-breaker, it's at least a large item for the "con" portion of the pros & cons list.

However - if you really want it and plan to live there for a long time, go for it. Not every decision should be based on resale value. If you do it right, it might be quirky and charming. Just be prepared to accept that you might put off a portion of potential buyers who won't see it that way.
posted by boomchicka at 1:24 PM on July 1, 2008

To clarify in case there is confusion -- the house currently has one standard bathroom. The added bathroom would be off the master bedroom and would consiste of a bathroom that holds shower and toilet with the vanity and sink outside the bathroom and in the master. The sink would be built in like a piece of furniture with a mirror above, etc.
posted by amanda at 1:28 PM on July 1, 2008

Is there any reason why the sink/vanity isn't going in the en-suit bathroom? To me it would be weird to have a room with a toilet but no sink.
posted by missmagenta at 1:34 PM on July 1, 2008

I'd vote for weird. I mean.. who wants to brush their teeth in their bedroom?

However, a vanity built in with a small sink (additional to the master bathroom, not instead) would be lovely.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:35 PM on July 1, 2008

Honestly, as a home buyer in the US (California and Chicago) this would immediately make me think "oh, look, they didn't spend the money to do this right, they just crammed things in where they had room." In fact, that's what I thought in the one house we saw that had this arrangement. It seemed odd and cheap.

So if you want a house that you can live in and love, do it, but personally I wouldn't do it if resale value is of any importance to you.
posted by davejay at 1:35 PM on July 1, 2008

The added bathroom would ... consiste of a bathroom that holds shower and toilet with the vanity and sink outside the bathroom and in the master.

So no sink in the actual bathroom? Then yeah, definitely weird. What exactly is the benefit of having the sink outside the bathroom? I don't understand it at all. If it's right outside the bathroom, why not just put it right inside? It wouldn't be any farther away, just blocked by a door.
What if you structure the bathroom so it's in 2 parts - one door leads you to the sink, the second to the shower and toilet room? That way no one has to brush their teeth in the bedroom, but you can have a barrier between the sink and shower / toilet, which is what I'm guessing you like about it....?
posted by boomchicka at 1:40 PM on July 1, 2008

Well, the benefit is that I'll have room to have a generous shower in the Master Bath unstead of a crammed in shower.

Really appreciate the gut reactions here -- very helpful.
posted by amanda at 1:42 PM on July 1, 2008

Yeah, I always thought the sink in the room was pretty handy, too. Can you design it so there's room for a teeny fridge, and a potential realtor could call it a coffee bar? I would totally love a coffee bar in my bedroom. And a nice baristo to serve me coffee in bed...
posted by theora55 at 1:45 PM on July 1, 2008

When traveling in Europe, and staying in budget accommodations, I always appreciated rooms with a sink because then I didn't have to walk down the hall to the shared bathroom if I needed to pee at 3am, and my girlfriend appreciated them for post-sex cleanup, especially when there was a line at the bathroom. Meaning, at least a few of your potential house-buyers are going to assume that this sink has been routinely used for purposes less savory than putting on makeup.

In older European buildings that were retrofitted for indoor plumbing, perhaps in the early part of the twentieth century, bathrooms were expensive and took up limited indoor space. Adding sinks to bedrooms was cheap and easy and didn't take up almost any space, and took pressure off of the bathrooms because toothbrushing, postcoital cleaning, face- and armpit-washing, underwear-laundering, and other functions could be done in the sink instead of in the bathroom. American houses built after about 1940 or so (which is most of the residential stock in much of the US) were designed with indoor plumbing in mind, so bathrooms were plentiful and bedroom sinks not needed.

I'd still buy the place, but then I've peed in plenty of sinks and the idea doesn't bother me. It's definitely "not normal" for modern US residential architecture, but an afternoon of going to open houses will show you a lot of odd architectural choices; a bedroom sink doesn't really come close to the worst most buyers will have seen.

Honestly, I think the advice of doing renovations to make yourself happy, rather than doing them with the next owner in mind, is a good approach. The next owner may do a teardown to build a mansion, or may want to repaint in bright red, or something else. So do what you want, and when you go to sell either pull the sink out (easy to do) or just sell it as-is and hope that the buyer appreciates the effort.
posted by Forktine at 1:46 PM on July 1, 2008

With the clarification, amanda, I thus change my lowly professional opinion of the addition. If you are considering resale, your master bathroom should contain a shower and/or tub, a toilet, and one or more sinks. Period.

These can be segmented however you like (many people like having the toilet in a separate small room in the master bathroom, or making a vanity area in the bathroom itself - here is a self-link to a home that my father-in-law built, bottom center picture showing the bathroom in that style). You can't see from the angle I took the photo, but there is a "normal" sink behind me as well, meant to be his-and-hers individual sink areas.

If you don't have a sink in the bathroom area itself, I wouldn't consider it a full or half bathroom for a real estate listing. Here is an online article about the .25 bath, which is what you could consider an additional single fixture - such as an extra vanity sink in the bedroom area.
posted by shinynewnick at 1:48 PM on July 1, 2008

Well, the benefit is that I'll have room to have a generous shower in the Master Bath unstead of a crammed in shower.

Oh wait - no bathtub? That might be a negative for a lot of buyers too. But you have to draw the line somewhere. I still say build it if you want, just be prepared to deal with the reactions (i.e. expect that it might take a little longer to sell your house).

Can you design it so there's room for a teeny fridge, and a potential realtor could call it a coffee bar? I would totally love a coffee bar in my bedroom.

Me too! But even then I would want it off in a separate hallway, maybe one that led to the closet and bathroom.
posted by boomchicka at 1:51 PM on July 1, 2008

I have looked at a lot of houses, and I would think that it was very odd. It would seem like a hastily-done do-it-yourself job. I would wonder about all other "improvements" in the house, and probably figure that they were poorly done or odd somehow as well.

Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses - it would be worth it to do it traditionally. Plus, if your bedroom is carpeted the sink shouldn't be there in the first place. It's just asking for a mold problem.
posted by Ostara at 1:53 PM on July 1, 2008

Hee -- our house is quite small on a very small lot -- there is no room for multi-segmented bathrooms with his/her vanities and separated toilets. Not that kind of house. The size of that kind of bathroom would probably nearly equal the size of the current master bedroom. I appreciate the suggestion, though.

Also, there is a bathtub in the standard existing bathroom.
posted by amanda at 1:59 PM on July 1, 2008

The plan sounds inconvenient, for these reasons:

Anyone using the sink in the middle of the night (glass of water?) or early in the morning (brush teeth, put in contact lenses, put on makeup, trim/shave) while the other resident is sleeping would necessarily wake the other one up by switching on the light and running the water.

Any female residents with monthly cycle stuff going on would probably prefer to wash their hands while still in the bathroom.

Getting water drops on the bedroom carpet or hardwood rather than bathroom tile would worry me.
posted by xo at 2:03 PM on July 1, 2008

Like others have said, it might stand out and seem a bit bizarre if the sink were just along the bedroom wall (even if outside the bathroom), like this. However, I think it wouldn't seem strange at all if there were a semi-private area near the bathroom with a sink/vanity, like this. I've definitely seen these in the US in houses. (fwiw, I haven't bought or sold houses.)

Ideally the bathroom would also have a sink for the reasons that shinynewnick et al mentioned: People won't want to do all sink-based bathroom activities outside of the bathroom area. I was once in a bedroom that had a sink/vanity enclave (no door) outside a tub/shower/toilet room (with door). That felt strange to me.

Nth-ing that toilet + (shower or tub) = 1 bathroom; toilet w/o shower = .5 bathroom. (Sinks are assumed.) Perhaps just make sure to include some variant of 'vanity with sink in master' as an amenity, if that's do-able.

Also, many people in the US seem to love "double sink" set-ups (though I don't completely understand it), so this would be a similar situation and maybe have additional appeal for that reason.
posted by sentient at 2:08 PM on July 1, 2008

My first apartment (a dingbat in North Hollywood) had a vanity in the bedroom--it was pointed out to me that the mirror wouldn't fog up since it was separate from the shower.
posted by brujita at 2:15 PM on July 1, 2008

shinynewnick, your Dad's work looks pretty amazing! I think my house would fit in that house's media room! Okay, maybe not quite that small but close.
posted by amanda at 2:17 PM on July 1, 2008

a sink in the master bedroom. [...] would this just look totally weird to you?

If you have a good plumber and discuss your requirements with them, they can fit a sink in such a manner that you can remove it later. That way when it comes time to sell, if your real estate agent says you should lose it, you can get rid of it fairly easily.

Obviously, planning this puts a few constraints on the room design - you don't want fitted carpet around the bottom of the sink pedestal if you're going to remove the sink, and you don't want to damage your plaster removing tiles from the wall. Within these constraints, however, I don't see why you couldn't have a fitted sink that was trivial to remove should you want to later.
posted by Mike1024 at 2:30 PM on July 1, 2008

If the sink is in a different room from the toilet then you have to deal with a door handle on the way out before you've washed your hands. Either that or pee with the door open then go into the bedroom to wash up. Either way isn't that nice, and everyone should always be washing their hands after using the toilet and before touching supposedly clean stuff like door handles. So my reaction to seeing a set up as you describe is that it isn't very hygienic and ew what's the rest of the house like? It's just not practical to split this stuff over two rooms.

If their was a duplicate sink in the bathroom than this issue goes away and a really nice vanity+sink unit could look lovely. But then you don't get any space savings which seems to be one of your main motivations.
posted by shelleycat at 3:14 PM on July 1, 2008

Our master bedroom is exactly this way, and we never thought much about it. The only thing we dislike is that there is carpeting around the toilet/shower, and the sink. I'd like to take out the carpeting around there and put in some tile, but I don't see what the big deal is, as long as they are close. My toilet and sink are in different rooms, but they are separated only by a few feet and a wall with a door. Actually, I also wish the door was a sliding door instead of a regular one, but I don't have a problem with the toilet and shower being in a different room.

And sentient, I don't know about anyone else, but I miss having a double sink because my husband slobbily leaves his shaving cream and whiskers residue in the sink every morning. I liked having my own sink where I didn't have to either clean up his mess or look at his mess while I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, etc. He should clean it up, and I have asked him to, but he doesn't, and he apparently won't. Given the popularity of double sinks, I gather he's not alone.
posted by Shoeburyness at 3:39 PM on July 1, 2008

Even if I liked how the house was set up without a sink in the bathroom, I´d be concerned that when I wanted to sell the house people would think it was weird and not buy it.

That said, I don´t think I would want a sink in a bedroom that I shared with another person, when that room has it´s own private bathroom. ¨Perfect for families¨??? Whoever is in the master bedroom has their own private bath, it´s not like they need to wait for the kids to be done in there. I used to live in a dorm room with a sink in the room and bathroom down the hall, and it was nicer than not having a more private sink available, but not as nice as not having to share a bathroom with 40 other people. That´s the experience a sink in the bedroom reminds me of.

there is no room for multi-segmented bathrooms with his/her vanities and separated toilets.

Put the sink in a little alcove of the bedroom, with a wall separating it from the rest of the bedroom. Possibly put in a door frame but no door if you don´t want to have a door between your bed and your sink. Put the door to your sinkless bathroom in this area. The closet could even be in the sink area (I don´t care for that myself, but it´s more common than having the sink right out in the bedroom). When it comes time to sell, decide if it would be best to have one or two doors in this area and how they would be configured.

How any of this will affect the sale price of your home has a lot to do with what other homes in your neighborhood are like. If you live in a part of town with lower home prices where there are a lot of homes on the market that are either falling to bits or odd in various ways, chances are good that no potential buyers will care what´s going on with the sink -- but chances are you don´t live in that sort of neighborhood.
posted by yohko at 3:40 PM on July 1, 2008

I lived in an apartment that had a sink in the master bedroom. I loved the sink in the bedroom. The bathroom was tiny, so it let me get partially ready (brush teeth, put on makeup) in the morning while my ex was showering or going to the bathroom in the morning. It was very easy to get used to, and I missed it when we left.
posted by sandraregina at 3:43 PM on July 1, 2008

I marked as best those answers which seemed to really get what I was suggesting and had something positive to say about it -- however, the general MeFi gut seems to be saying that you just don't like it. There were definitely some angles raised here that I had not considered. So, I'll surely be heading back to the drawing board and doing more thinking on this. Thanks all!
posted by amanda at 4:39 PM on July 1, 2008

I grew up in a house with sinks in the bedrooms. It was an obvious bonus when there were teenage girls and student lodgers living there. But the only bedroom that didn't have a sink was the master bedroom, as that had an en-suite that room didn't need the extra sink. What I'm trying to say is that I'm from the UK, and I'd find it weird that the sink was in the bedroom when there was a perfectly good bathroom there.

That house also had a main bathroom and a downstairs loo and is a hodgepodge of extensions and additions. Why it had so many places for ablutions I still don't know, although Forktine's post is really interesting, I've never thought of it like that, and now I'm wondering if the large number of sinks is because for a time in the early 20th century the house was used as a maternity home.
posted by Helga-woo at 5:37 PM on July 1, 2008

Yeah, that house was pretty crazy, lots of great features and won Home of the Year in a major area publication. The pictures don't even do justice to the square footage and height. Good luck with your plans, Mefi mail me if you have any questions.
posted by shinynewnick at 7:06 PM on July 1, 2008

The house I live in and got before my wife and I met has a sink in the master bedroom; it is laid out much like a hotel room, with a sink/vanity area off to the side attached to a bathroom with another sink and the rest of the things you would expect. I like the layout but my wife doesn't. So as others have said, it depends on the potential buyer. Given that you seem to be willing to put a lot of money into this renovation there may be more cost-effective places to spend your money (adding another whole bath, for example), but if you have your heart set on a sink in your bedroom, go for it.
posted by TedW at 7:50 PM on July 1, 2008

I love love love love love quirky houses. Although I hate pokey crammed in shit. Or anything that creates less space (pointless walls) or makes it useless (space for a bath that was not used... it's a bathroom! You can't put anything else in there! Ugh!!). And even though SO likes more standard looking homes (pretty much the exact opposite of what appeals to me) he agrees he would like a sink in his room. It would hardly be inconvenient.
(You could certainly make it an inconvenience but that doesn't seem to be your goal.)

Do it. Only... it's interesting so you'd best stick with a look that's basically utterly safe and boring. Interesting and striking might be just a bit too much for more anal types. (Please note my idea of striking is not ugly colours, combinations of ugly colours and multiple garish patterns.)
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 5:38 AM on July 2, 2008

I grew up in a house with a sink-vanity in the master bedroom. US midatlantic; small 2 bdrm house built in the 1940s. Both bedrooms shared a single full bath (with sink), and the master bedroom had a little closet-like area with a sink in it. It was probably about 18" deep. It had two full-height half-width doors that hinged out, each with a full-length mirror on the inside, so you could see your front and back once you were dressed. The sink was embedded in the left side of a countertop, at a good height for use when standing. Under the counter, there were small drawers and then a cabinet under the left side, and an open space for a stool under the right side. It was terrifically useful; great place to bathe a baby, cut a kid's hair, do makeup, store all kinds of sundries, etc. There was no carpet in the bedroom, so moisture wasn't an issue.

I would love a master bedroom with a little area like that.

But I wouldn't consider a bathroom without a sink. I think you should find a way to shoehorn a sink into the bathroom. There are tiny, tiny little sinks which might make it easier. examples
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:46 PM on July 11, 2008

I love the extra sink in the bedroom thing. But not having a sink in the bathroom ruins the positive attributes of having a sink in the bedroom -- it takes it from unusual but handy touch to "didn't bother to plan the bathroom sensibly." I'm with LobsterMitten -- get at least a tiny sink in there.
posted by desuetude at 9:47 AM on July 13, 2008