Bathrooms are otherwise known as comfort stations. As the name suggests, they are ideally sanctuaries that make you feel relaxed as you relieve yourself and/or gussy up.
However, the bathrooms on this list offer the exact opposite experience. They are so poorly designed that they may induce displeasure, even stress and anxiety, from the possibility of being seen from the outside as you handle your business.
Check out these bathroom design fails, which unfortunately exist somewhere in the world for some poor soul to endure.
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Studio Apartment... No Thanks
I Can Only Imagine What Splashes Onto Those Curtains (Restaurant Restroom)
A Bathroom In A Newly Listed Home In My Town
The bathrooms on this list are just some of the many glaring examples of poor design. But if we were to define what makes a bathroom layout look bad, designer Vicki Zagrodnik provided a criterion.
“Balance in three aspects—usability, comfort, and aesthetics—is fundamental to any space,” she told The Spruce.
These Restroom Stalls Have Translucent Doors
This Public Restroom Mirror'ish Ceiling
There is a pub, the Trent Bridge Inn, next to Nottingham's Trent Bridge cricket ground. When I went there for my first and last visit sometime around the mid 1980s, in the men's loos was a 'trough' urinal the full width of the back wall of the room, with no dividers, clearly to enable as many men as possible to use it on match days. The wall above the urinal tilted in to the room slightly and for reasons unknown, there were mirror tiles covering the full width of the wall from the top of the urinal splashback right up to the ceiling. The result was that no matter where you stood in the room, if you looked in that direction you got a clear view of the business end of every man using the urinal. It was the strangest men's room I have ever seen.
The Floor Of A Bathroom Stall In A Nice Restaurant
A lack of clearance is one thing Zagrodnik specified. It’s when a particular fixture disrupts the flow of the entire space, like having a vanity, shower, and toilet cramped close together.
As a rule of thumb, Zagrodnik recommends leaving at least 30 inches of space around these key fixtures. She also reminds about the importance of door clearance and not having them collide when opened.
That Was The Last Thing I Expected In A Bathroom Stall
Who Needs A Coin Operated Bidet On A Amusement Park Restroom? The Design Is So Capitalism
Poor Eyesight, And This Almost Caught Me Off Guard
An outdated bathroom aesthetic may induce the same discomforting feelings as one that is very poorly designed. One of them is a bathroom with too much square footage for no real reason.
As Silo Studio Design founder Gabriela Eisenhart tells House Beautiful, “No one needs a dance floor in the middle of their bathroom.”
My In-Laws Sink. "It Was Cheap". They Don't Have Reason For A Tiny Sink, It's Borderline Unusable. They Have A Decently Sized Bathroom
Slippery When Wet, I Fell Down Just Looking At The Picture
At A Restaurant Last Night, I Found These Urinals For Very Skinny, Very Intimate Friends
The finishes on bathroom fixtures can also make it look dated. According to designer Cathryn Lindsey, chrome, brushed nickel, and yellow brass are no longer in style and add very little to no value to the overall design.
Beautiful Parisian Bathroom
It would have taken up the same amount of room if they had just put the toilet against the same wall as the sink, facing the wall with the door
Restroom Guessing Game
Space Saving Basin. The Washroom At A Local Business. Not Sure Whether The Basin Has Grown Or The Wall Is Eating It
“These tones often feel too cold or inexpensive,” Lindsey said. “They lack the warmth and depth to bring any sense of polish to the space.”
Instead, she recommends either a refined, polished nickel or unlacquered brass to make the space feel more elevated.
There Is A Swing In This Bar Bathroom
Maximum manoeuvrability for the friend holding back your hair while you puke.
This Bathroom In A Gas Station
When you run low on loo paper you can print off and photocopy some more.
Best Place To Put A Bathroom
Hideaway Bathroom Behind Stairwell
This Door To The Restroom
I remember visiting a friends house as a child. Their bathroom had saloon style doors that didn’t reach to the floor and had slats you could see through. I became an expert at bladder control until I got home!
The Sink Of A Gas Station's Bathroom I Went Yesterday. Yes, I Had To Pull The Trigger All The Time To Make The Water Run, Yes, It Was Inconvenient
There looks like a latch, under the handle, like on regular petrol pumps.
The Hotel I'm Staying At Features A Glass-Ceilinged Men's Toilet Right Below The Main Entrance
A Shower With A High Entrance, Sharp Edges, Garish Colors, And A Hole
This Bathroom In An Airbnb
You Install Bars For People That May Have Trouble Getting Up And Down Off The Toilet And Then Install The Toilet Paper Dispenser Almost 5 Feet Up Off The Floor?
The ones I hate are the TP dispensers that they install at knee-level. With the cheapest TP they can buy and then you wrestle to keep it from hitting the floor when you go to use it. I end up with a snake-shaped "serving."
These Restroom Faucets
The Design Of This Toilet Seat Cover, In A Public Restroom
Eww. That’s that faux marble everyone put in their bathrooms back in the 80s. It never looked clean.
Did One Of You Design This Bathroom? Bravo
Great Positioning, Can't Open The Door Or Risk Crushing A Baby
The Only Unlocked Bathroom At My School
The bathroom is the only one on the campus at the high school that they keep unlocked. It does not have a lock on it. It has been like this for months.
I Raise Your Buddy Bathroom With Buddy Toilet Paper Holder In Buddy Bathroom With No Doors
Bathroom Sinks Looks Similar To Urinals
This Baby Staring Right At My Junk In The Restroom
Never Thought I Would See The Infamous Carpeted Bathroom With My Own Two Eyes... Yikes
When I was in in my early teens, we lived in a house that had a carpeted bathroom. Yes, it had carpet around the tub just like this. Yes, it was ugly. Yes, it was a cheap rental. It also had a window that looked out onto the enclosed back porch. My bedroom had two doors, one of which opened onto the living room and the other of which opened into my mother's bedroom, which didn't have a door that closed for privacy to the rest of the house. It was just a weird house.
This Pointless Restaurant Bathroom Mirror
Let’s choose a design aesthetic that looks like we haven’t cleaned the mirrors in 200 years…..
The Motion Sensor For The Light Is Outside Of The Toilet So If You Want To Take A Dookie You Better Do It Quickly At My Work
This Men's Restroom Stall With A Window That Looks Into The Stall
This Mirrored Floor In A Public Restroom
Restroom Designed By French Architect Philippe Starck That Shows What's Going On From Every Angle
It's a funhouse - restroom version. Not recommended if you're drunk. You'll never find your way out. 😜
Please, Do Not Cover You Bathroom Counter In Cement. This Has Homeowner Written All Over It
For Some Context I Am In The Bathroom Next To This And The Wall Between Has A Hole
These Bathroom Stalls Were Designed To Make You Feel Inadequate
At Amc Theaters, Running Out Of Toilet Paper Means You Can Conveniently Make Eye Contact With Your Neighbor And Ask Them To Pass Some Over
Found This Gem In A Chinese Restaurant
Remodeled Bathroom At Work. I Guess There Wasn't A Better Place To Put The Full Size Mirror
High School Bathrooms Are Already Wild Enough
If You Need To Go No.2 On The Go
The Stall Doors In This High School Bathroom
This Bathroom With Two Toilets, One If Which Is Built Halfway Up A Wall
Umm, maybe a giant or two lives here and the height of the toilet up on the wall, works better for those of a higher stature?
Small Airports Are The Best
I'm not sure that the baby changing table can even be opened all the way, because of the partition, at least from this angle. It seems quite useless to have it, as it interferes with the already minimal space there seems to be, to utilize the urinal on the right. How do these things pass inspection, especially in an airport, no matter how small?
Great Extra Step From A Wheelchair Adapted Restroom
These Bathroom Mirrors Turn Shaving Into A Game Of Tetris
Thanks, Walmart
The Baby Changing Area In The O’hare Bathrooms - The Whole Area Was Soaked And My 16-Month-Old’s Feet Were In The Sink
At Night, This Window Makes It So That You Can See Into Other Cubicles
Learnt The Hard Way That The Mens Toilets Were To The Left
Shower Cabin At My Grandmother's House Has A Power Outlet In It
Not My Proudest Bathroom Renovation
So many bathrooms with two toilets! I love my partner dearly, and we've been together over 11 years, but I could NOT be using the bathroom the same time as him!
In The Public Ladies Restroom In My Local High Street. Probably The Most Uncomfortable Place Ever To Have An Ibs Flare Up
Confusing “Trendy” Bathroom Signs
Is the bathroom on the right a priority one for people who really, really need a wee?
