The guest bath-also commonly referred to as a “powder room”, is primarily a convenience. Having a guest bath means not having family, friends, colleagues and even clients admiring your child’s collection of rubber duckies.

Belmont 1st Floor - Home Plan But what’s the best location for a powder bath? Well, that depends on how you live in your home. In home designs such as our Belmont, the guest bath is just off the garage entry. That’s a great spot when you’ve got little kids because when they run full speed in the home to use the bathroom, they’re not thinking about removing muddy shoes!

Stanford Two Story House Plan - 1st Floor A centralized location such as in our Stanford home plan puts the bathroom equally convenient from just about anywhere on the main floor.

Other considerations for powder bath location are views and noise. In most homes, bathroom doors are left ajar-a sign that the bathroom is not in use. With the door open, is the primary view the toilet? That’s not too inviting. Something as simple as flipping a door swing or changing which wall the toilet backs up to can have a dramatic effect on the view.

If the powder bath adjoins entertaining areas such as a family room, consider optional sound deadening measures so that guests’ conversations won’t be interrupted by the sound of a toilet flushing.