A Jack and Jill bathroom is an arrangement that is increasingly seen in more and more homes these days. In this bathroom design, a bathroom is shared between two separate bedrooms with doors entering into the bathroom for different sides. Some may wonder what the benefit is to this kind of arrangement; after all, wouldn’t everyone want their own bathroom? Doesn’t this mean you have to wait to use the bathroom if someone else is occupying it? Well, there are quite a few advantages that have lent themselves to the Jack and Jill’s increased usage among architects and preference among homebuyers. Here are just a few:
1. Space & Money
Let’s be honest: budget is a big concern for any potential homeowner. While you want to make sure that you don’t skimp when buying a house, as you will be living in that home for many years to come if not for the rest of your life, you also don’t want to go deeply into debt over your home. This means that space and efficiency must be carefully considered. A home design that incorporates a Jack and Jill bathroom saves considerable space and money, especially if they have larger families than usual.
2. Equalite et Fraternite
The kind of community that a Jack and Jill bathroom fosters depends on who is sharing it. Specifically, if your children are sharing the bathroom, this forces them to learn how to compromise, how to live together, and how to share. We can talk about instilling these lessons into our children all we want, but it is only in having to truly make these ideals work in real life that they can become a part of your child’s personality. By making sharing and compromise a part of a very basic part of their everyday life, children learn this lesson in a very deep and real way.
3. Renovations Demand It
Up to now, we’ve discussed the Jack and Jill bathroom within the context of a new home, but what about an old home – why would you choose to have a bathroom of this sort installed into a new home? Simply put, sometimes you don’t have a choice. The design of an older home can make it difficult if not impossible to have a new bathroom installed, whereas it is far more space-efficient and even architecturally sound to install a Jack and Jill bathroom. In such cases, the choice is obvious!
There are, of course, some drawbacks to this bathroom and home design. First, the bathroom is locked between two bedrooms, and so it is inaccessible from outside those bedrooms; one must enter a bedroom in order to access the bathroom. When you’re a guest in someone’s home, that can be difficult to do, especially if someone is in those bedrooms – talk about awkward!
You can install a third entrance, but that starts to create some real chaos in the Jack and Jill bathroom as you provide more points of access and entry; after all, this is already a somewhat crowded bathroom. Allowing it to become more so may make it a real point of contention in your household, which is surely not the point of this bathroom design! Ideally, the Jack and Jill bathroom encourages harmony, community, and family togetherness. It also saves money and space – so what’s not to love?
+Ken Uhrich learned long ago how to share, which is why he regularly blogs and gives home improvement tips on the Custom Home Group website.