Appropriate number of bathrooms

2 bathrooms would be nice for 4 people.

I honestly think that is kind of stingey. Maybe because I grew up in the suburbs.

2.5 baths would be ideal, but not necessarily doable in a prewar space. Kids' bathroom would have a tub for the early years - master br ensuite matter of personal choice and space if you go for a tub & shower or tub/no shower or shower alone.

You can never have too many bathrooms. Anywhere but NYC, you'd get 3 1/2 baths for 4 people. One for each bedroom and a half bath for guests.

In NYC, I'd say 2 is the minimum.

If you can afford it, 3 bathrooms is great. The kids might need to stay on the toilet for what seems like forever when they are potty training. I have a three-person family, and it is amazing that we all need to use the bathroom at the same exact time. Also, with two children, you might have a lot of laundry and/or items which need to hang drying (like rinsed out bibs, pants, etc) and the luxury of having an extra bathroom for such things (parents bathroom, kids bathroom, extra bathroom) is lovely. More than three bathrooms, however, is just too much cleaning for me, I find.

I think at least 2 showers and 3 toilets and sinks.

Even in a very spacious apt, I find 1 bath/1 bedroom overkill. Also, I prefer each bathroom to be windowed if possible, and that's hard to do if you have the 1 bath/1 bed overkill. For traditional layouts, I like the following:

1. Classic 5 - 2 full baths, 1 ensuite, 1 accessible w/o going through bedroom
2. Classic 6 - 2 full baths, same as above, with maybe a powder room from maid's bath
3. Classic 7 - 2 full baths, same as above, with a powder room.

Postwar:
1. 2 br, non-convertible - 2 baths
2. 2 br, convertible 3 - 2 baths, 1 powder
3. 3br, 2 baths, 1 powder
4. 4br, 3 baths, 1 powder

I respectfully disagree with modern. You *can* have too many bathrooms. I can't keep more than 3 bathrooms clean. Even if they aren't used, they get very dusty, because the exhaust vents suck a lot of dust into them. Maybe it's just my lack of higher level cleaning talent, but I'd like to think I'm pretty good.

Powder means toilet and sink, no shower/bath, right?

Yep. I think having a powder room is overkill for a Classic 5 or a 1000sqft 2br. Where it starts to make sense is a 1200sqft+ convertible 3 or a C6 with a maid's bath.

I chose to have a very large master bathroom & walk in closet over having a smaller closet & an extra bathroom. If you are designing the space, it might make sense to have a master bath where the toilet & sink can be closed off with a pocket door from the tub/shower area.

i also think you absolutely can have too many bathrooms and it wastes space. we have two adults, one toddler, and one newborn on the way and basically 3 full baths. We use ONE bathroom (occasionally my husband will use the maids bath b/c its closest to the LR, but not often). maybe, when kids are bigger, we'll use 2 different bathrooms. Now, we primarily use our maids room as a guest room so its nice that it has a full bath attached. The 3rd bath, a jack and jill between our two main bedrooms, is used for hanging wet laundry. that's it. My vote is 2 or 2.5 max. I've never understood the homes that have more bathrooms than bedrooms. what is that all about????

btw - we rent, but if we owned the space, i would be very tempted to put the jack and jill to better use.

wondering,

Do people in NYC actually clean their own apartments? (just kidding!)

funny, b/c that's was another point i thought about making. if you clean yourself, you may not want too many baths. if you have extra space and a cleaning person, then maybe you can't have too many.

why the hell would you solicit advice from strangers on the appropriate number of bathrooms to have in your home? can't you sort that one out between your wife and yourself?

I personally think 2.5 baths is perfect for a family of 4. One for the adults, one for the kids & a half bath for guests. The half bath isn't necessary of course, but nice not to have to worry about guests drying their hands on your bath towel or snooping in your med cabinet.

What happens in the Aboutready family when they break one toilet seat and the landlord hasn't yet shown up with the new toilet seat?

1 is enough - everyone here is spoiled - we should feel lucky we have indoor plumbing.

Once you go past 2.5 it becomes rediculous