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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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#1
Studio Apartment... No Thanks
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#2
I Can Only Imagine What Splashes Onto Those Curtains (Restaurant Restroom)
#3
That Was The Last Thing I Expected In A Bathroom Stall
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.
#4
Poor Eyesight, And This Almost Caught Me Off Guard
#5
The Hotel I'm Staying At Features A Glass-Ceilinged Men's Toilet Right Below The Main Entrance
Pawsome 8 hours ago
My old school had a two wings that were perpendicular to the main building. When they renovated it, they put a restroom in the corner between the main part and one wing. If you stood in the floor that was half a story higher than the restroom, you could see all the urinals clearly (and the people using them). That was hardly the only issue with the renovations, but it was pretty notable
#6
A Bathroom In A Newly Listed Home In My Town
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.
#7
Slippery When Wet, I Fell Down Just Looking At The Picture
#8
These Restroom Stalls Have Translucent Doors
#9
This Public Restroom Mirror'ish Ceiling
UKGrandad 18 hours ago
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.
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.”
#10
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
liam newton-harding 19 hours ago
There looks like a latch, under the handle, like on regular petrol pumps.
#11
The Floor Of A Bathroom Stall In A Nice Restaurant
#12
This Door To The Restroom
Blue Bunny of Happiness 12 hours ago
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 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.
#13
At A Restaurant Last Night, I Found These Urinals For Very Skinny, Very Intimate Friends
#14
Beautiful Parisian Bathroom
Chihuahua Mama 14 hours ago
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
#15
This Bathroom In A Gas Station
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 21 hours ago
When you run low on loo paper you can print off and photocopy some more.
“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.
#16
This Bathroom In An Airbnb
#17
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?
#18
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
#19
Space Saving Basin. The Washroom At A Local Business. Not Sure Whether The Basin Has Grown Or The Wall Is Eating It
#20
High School Bathrooms Are Already Wild Enough
#21
Hideaway Bathroom Behind Stairwell
#22
Who Needs A Coin Operated Bidet On A Amusement Park Restroom? The Design Is So Capitalism
#23
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.
#24
The Design Of This Toilet Seat Cover, In A Public Restroom
Robyn Hill 16 hours ago
Eww. That’s that faux marble everyone put in their bathrooms back in the 80s. It never looked clean.
#25
A Shower With A High Entrance, Sharp Edges, Garish Colors, And A Hole
#26
I Raise Your Buddy Bathroom With Buddy Toilet Paper Holder In Buddy Bathroom With No Doors
#27
There Is A Swing In This Bar Bathroom
Elladine DesIsles 20 hours ago
Maximum manoeuvrability for the friend holding back your hair while you puke.
#28
This Baby Staring Right At My Junk In The Restroom
#29
Restroom Guessing Game
#30
These Bathroom Stalls Were Designed To Make You Feel Inadequate
#31
Did One Of You Design This Bathroom? Bravo
#33
Houdini's Bathroom
#34
Best Place To Put A Bathroom
#35
These Bathroom Mirrors Turn Shaving Into A Game Of Tetris
#36
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
#37
These Restroom Faucets
#38
Great Extra Step From A Wheelchair Adapted Restroom
Verity Stewart 30 minutes ago
When I use my wheelchair I went to the disabled toilet, not only was the door too small there was 2 steps down. I left it
#39
The Stall Doors In This High School Bathroom
#40
This Pointless Restaurant Bathroom Mirror
Blue Bunny of Happiness 12 hours ago
Let’s choose a design aesthetic that looks like we haven’t cleaned the mirrors in 200 years…..
#42
Restroom Designed By French Architect Philippe Starck That Shows What's Going On From Every Angle
Glen Ellyn 13 hours ago
It's a funhouse - restroom version. Not recommended if you're drunk. You'll never find your way out. 😜
#43
Please, Do Not Cover You Bathroom Counter In Cement. This Has Homeowner Written All Over It
#44
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
#45
Found This Gem In A Chinese Restaurant
#46
Never Thought I Would See The Infamous Carpeted Bathroom With My Own Two Eyes... Yikes
my sox are in flux 18 hours ago
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.
#47
If You Need To Go No.2 On The Go
#48
This Men's Restroom Stall With A Window That Looks Into The Stall
#49
Small Airports Are The Best
Bi.Felicia 20 hours ago
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?
#50
This Mirrored Floor In A Public Restroom
#52
For Some Context I Am In The Bathroom Next To This And The Wall Between Has A Hole
#53
Remodeled Bathroom At Work. I Guess There Wasn't A Better Place To Put The Full Size Mirror
#54
This Bathroom With Two Toilets, One If Which Is Built Halfway Up A Wall
Bi.Felicia 20 hours ago
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?
#55
In The Public Ladies Restroom In My Local High Street. Probably The Most Uncomfortable Place Ever To Have An Ibs Flare Up
#56
Learnt The Hard Way That The Mens Toilets Were To The Left
#57
Not My Proudest Bathroom Renovation
Sara Frazer 20 hours ago
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!
#58
Fully Carpeted Bathroom
#59
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
#60
Confusing “Trendy” Bathroom Signs
Blue Bunny of Happiness 12 hours ago
Is the bathroom on the right a priority one for people who really, really need a wee?
#62
Shower Cabin At My Grandmother's House Has A Power Outlet In It
#63
I Went To Visit My Dad At The Hospital Today, The Faucet In The Bathroom Cannot Close All The Way
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