We spent five weeks with our parents in Honolulu and I wanted to share some revelations about preparing family guests. If you dream of owning a home that often visits friends and family because you really like their company, this post is for you.
Not all of us can afford large armed forces with separate wings or houses with multiple structures on them. If you are like most people and can only afford a structure on a moderate land, you definitely need to prioritize a key feature.
EN en suite bathroom. that’s right. The key to harmonious, low friction cohabitation is to make sure everyone has their own bathroom. The more suites, the better. The word “En Suite” comes from French, meaning “order” or “attachment”.
En Suite Bathroom: The Unsung Hero of Guest Harmony
In the first week of Honolulu, I found myself waking up every morning from 2 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. – given the three-hour time difference with San Francisco, for me, it was a certain time. Unfortunately, no one woke up except my dad, except my dad, who got up at 3:30 a.m. to check the stock market. Cool beans, I don’t know.
I have my own room and my mom put her room throughout the hall. The shared bathroom sat between us – enough to wake up the lightweight sleeper with the gentlest faucet twist. Not wanting to bother her, I found a solution: because he was awake, I quietly climbed upstairs and used my dad’s bathroom. Slightly inconvenient, but a reliable solution.
However, I couldn’t help thinking: If I had an en suite bathroom.
To be a polite guest, I put 85% of my toiletries in the room and left only with the toothbrush, floss and toothpaste on the bathroom counter. I even tucked them neatly to the right, so I took up the smallest space.
A few days later, my mom asked me to move them. Apparently, I put everything close to the light switch and she knocked the electric toothbrush on my electric toothbrush several times. My bad.
Since then, I moved those items to another shared bathroom upstairs, the one my wife and children use. But given that it was already cramped, my stuff was adjusted to the shelves in the closet.
I thought again: If only me and mom had an ensuite bathroom.
Bathroom ballet continues
One afternoon, after a full school morning getting off, pickles, beach and lunch, I took a nap. While I was sleeping, my wife walked to the local library to pick up books for the kids. When I woke up I decided to use her in the upstairs bathroom instead of the downstairs bathroom, just if my mom was always at home and needed it.
In the middle, my father came to the back of the house and asked me a question. Two minutes later, my wife knocked on the bathroom door. She is back and needs to use it too. What should have been a quiet five-minute personal meeting turned into a series of interruptions.
Then, on another morning, I woke up at 4:30 AM to post my post, Sleep, stay cracked: wake up early for financial success. With such a title, I don’t have any excuses not to get up early. After writing and editing until 6:40 am, I went to the bathroom. My wife woke up for 15 seconds, like a clockwork-wake straight.
Odds? Ridiculously high. If we had another suite upstairs, I might end up enjoying a quiet bathroom moment.
More bathrooms = More peace and harmony
When you’re going, you have to leave! Any type of delay or disorder can be incredible, especially if you plug into your digestive system and need to focus. The more bathrooms, the better.
What I have noticed over the years is that when people live together, their bathroom cycles are synchronized in some way. Even if I woke up at 5am and my wife got up at 6:30am, it is still very likely that at some point in the morning I needed the bathroom at the same time. The same goes for me and my parents.
In the past, I used to look down at having as many bathrooms as my bedrooms, and even more large houses. It seems too much. But now I understand. It has nothing to do with indulgence, but about comfort, privacy and avoiding frustrating sighs in the hallway.
My parents’ house has three full bathrooms, which are just two. But since the six of us were under one roof, friction was inevitable.
Buy or build a bathroom
If you like to host guests, please do a favor: rent or buy at least Two en suite bathrooms and an additional full or half bathroom. Your sanity will thank you. Actually, I now include the requirements for this bathroom, for anyone looking for an ideal place to support their family.
When I was in our new house for 10 days I felt stress relief by 80% and they felt stress relief too. Why? Because each of them has their own bathroom, so are we and the kids. This peace is worth every dollar, and then some.
The basic full bathroom is nice. However, when designing a luxurious master bathroom, consider including a double rain shower head with handheld option, a private toilet stall, double vanity and deep soaking tub with spray head. Make sure you also have a power outlet behind the toilet so you can plug in the Toto Washlet. Once you go to wash your hands, you can’t go back.
Look around to see if you can convert unused spaces, such as part of a closet or part of a garage, into a bathroom. Even better, if you are able to expand the footprint of your home, it will add a valuable livable square footage, thus increasing your resale value.
More End Causes for Ensuite Bathrooms: Your kids, relatives and friends may visit you frequently
As I thought in both schedules, I hope that 20 years from now, my kids will still come to visit their mom and me. I heard so many sad stories about adult children who have not seen their parents for years. Once they get what they need financially, they disappear!
But as long as there are two ensuite bathrooms waiting for my daughter, they certainly no longer have excuses to stop and give their elderly a hug and a kiss.
The more seductive your home is, the more likely your children, friends and loved ones are to visit. Since strong, supportive relationships are the first factor in living a long, happy and healthy life, adding more ensuite bathrooms can actually be the key to a good life.
Reader, do you think there is a secret to having a guest-friendly residence where the host and guests are comfortable for a long time? How many en-suite bathrooms do you have in your home? What are the ideal number of bathrooms a home should have?
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