Toilet Room Within the Bathroom: The Ultimate Luxury or Just Absurd?

Forgive us for taking it to the loo two weeks in a row on Weekly Decor Rant but one issue in the controversial realm of bathroom design that drew particularly strong feelings from Curbed readers and editors alike was the water closet. Yep, that means a separate room with a toilet built into a larger bathroom containing the rest of the good stuff—a "toilet room," if you will. Sure, cramped urban dwellers with tiny apartments can't even fathom entertaining the scheme, which is more common in older British houses than homes stateside. But that hasn't stopped many from coveting such a setup, especially those living with partners.

Having a "toilet room" means being able to, for functional or general atmosphere purposes, keep all the intimate business you do in the bathroom somewhat independent—a proper "separation of church and state" as one friend puts it. A reader further explains in a comment to last week's discussion on bathroom pet peeves:

Pet peeve - when there is a separate loo and a decent sized bathroom and they knock through. NO! I don't want my bath/shower interrupted by someone needing the loo. Meanwhile, another reader points out that having a separate WC just seems like a silly use of space:

I agree with all of the above [bathroom pet peeves] but want to add my favorite: the minuscule claustrophobic water closet that makes one small room into two very small rooms.

But beyond these straightforward pros and cons tied to personal preferences, are there more nuanced reasons for and against their existence? Could there actually be a right or wrong answer depending on, say, the size of the bathroom? For example, at what (presumably very high) square footage does a bathroom warrant a separate water closet because it just feels too foolish and embarrassing to go to the loo in the presence of a rather nice chair or some other decor items that somehow find their way into larger bathrooms? And germs! Spores! People say that keeping the toilet in a separate room keeps the gross stuff away from your toothbrush...but isn't it also good to keep a good, open air flow in the bathroom? Let us know where you stand on this.

And please do share your thoughts and wisdoms in the comments.

∙ Let's Talk About Bathroom Design Pet Peeves [Curbed]
∙ Farmhouse Sinks: The Practical Choice or Overrated? [Curbed]
∙ 2015 Decor Trends: Things We Loved and Loathed [Curbed]
∙ Let's Talk About Stainless Steel Appliances [Curbed]
∙ Which Iconic Chairs Should Take a Backseat? [Curbed]
∙ All Weekly Decor Rant posts [Curbed]