In the February 2008 issue of our newsletter, we asked subscribers about the most weird home designs they've known. Here's what they told us.
The Door Hit the Toilet
Susan S. of Massachusetts
In the house I grew up in, the only bathroom was at the top of the stairs. The previous homeowners had added a bedroom to the right of the bathroom, which required moving the bathroom door. The new bathroom doorway was set at an angle, with the toilet to the left of the opening. To make a door fit the opening, they cut it in half lengthwise and set it on hinges so that the door folded into the bathroom to the right, away from the toilet. If you didn't shut the door properly, the door hit the toilet seat; you had to slide the door, partially folded, until the first folded piece was past the toilet. A lot of people had to be taught to close the door properly — a lot of times, they would open the folded door all the way and then attempt to close it.
People Are Not That Short Anymore
Marilyn H. of North Carolina
One house I lived in had a bathroom that was so small that you couldn't dress in it after you got out of the tub. The front hallway was so small the furniture had to be a quite small to get into the house. The bedrooms had tiny doors — people are not that short anymore, and we had to replace all the doorway openings to the bedrooms.
Another house had a hallway going through a bedroom and had no back entrance; to get to the huge backyard, you went out the side entrance or front door. The laundry room was outside, at the rear of the carport — that was not too bad unless it was cold. You had to go down steps into the laundry room. We put in a backdoor in the kitchen and raised the floor in the laundry.
The fellow who built the house made the plans for it before it was built — I guess he knew how to make home designs but never took the time to see if it was a workable home plan.
Here's Where It Gets a Little Weird
Desiree C. of Florida
My sister's current home design, which is about five years old, has a pretty weird arrangement. There are three bedrooms, a kitchen with an eating area, a living room, a room with French doors she uses for storage that could be a dining room (although it is small), and two bathrooms. One of the bathrooms is in the master bedroom — very normal.
Here's where it gets a little weird. The other bathroom (where one would generally provide relief to guests) is a "Jack and Jill" bathroom between two bedrooms and behind that room with the French doors. So when guests have to use the bathroom, they have to either go through a bedroom or through that room with the French doors.
It seems strange to me that one has to traipse through a private area to get to the bathroom. And imagine a bathroom with three entry doors! Better not be in a hurry, you might miss locking one!
The Looks on Their Faces Were Priceless
DJ H. of Pennsylvania
We were happy to move from our apartment that had the living room in the front and a kitchen in the back. Just off the kitchen was the home's only bathroom. Between the living room and kitchen were two bedrooms — with no hallway. Each bedroom had a door into the living room and one into the kitchen — so we had to walk through either bedroom to go to the kitchen or bathroom. The kitchen was too small for anything larger than a two-person table, so we found ourselves eating in the living room or, worse yet, eating on the bed!
Each time we had new guests over, the looks on their faces were priceless (puzzled, sneers, surprised, to name a few). There was always some comment about the floor plan.
You Can See Ships Pass
Dottie M. of Oregon
I live in a Cape Cod home on the Oregon coast, where we have a lot of indoor time in the rainy season. Upstairs is a large attic room that had a large closet. There was a lot of dead space behind the closet, above the attached garage. We ripped through the closet and finished three little rooms, about 8' x 10' each, behind the closet door — it is so cute, it looks like you are opening the closet and there are rooms instead. We painted all the rooms the same sky blue as the main room. We put down laminate floors for easy cleanup. One of the three rooms has a large window with a twin bed under it, where you can see ships pass or read a good book. Every kid loves this so much and is by far the most popular play spot in the house.
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