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This article is about private rooms for personal hygiene. For a public toilet, see public toilet.
An average-sized U.S. residential bathroom

A bathroom is a room for personal hygiene activities, generally containing at minimum a toilet and sink. A bathroom may also contain a mirror, a bathtub or a shower, and possibly also a bidet. In North America and some other regions, it characteristically contains at least a toilet and a sink; hence in North American English the word "bathroom" is commonly used to mean any room containing a toilet, even a public toilet (although in the United States this is more commonly called a restroom). In other countries, including the UK, Australia, France, eastern Europe and Japan, homes may have a separate toilet room. In Iran almost all homes have two distinct rooms for the bathroom and the toilet room. Bathrooms often have one or more towel bars or towel rings for hanging towels. Some bathrooms contain a medicine cabinet for personal hygiene products and medicines and drawers or shelves for storing towels and other items. All forms of bathroom lighting should be IP44 rated as safe to use in the bathroom.


The Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro


According to Teresi et al. (2002):[1]



Virtual Historical Reconstruction of the Roman Baths in Weißenburg, Germany, using data from laser scan technology
A bathroom in the Beamish Museum near Durham, United Kingdom



In fact throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the use of public baths declined gradually in the west, and private spaces were favoured, thus laying the foundations for the bathroom, as it was to become, in the 20th century. However, in Japan shared bathing in sento and onsen (spas) still exists; the latter being very popular.


A Hong Kong bathroom saves space by combining the shower and rest of the bathroom

Powder room[edit]

A powder room also called "1/2 bath" or "guest bath" usually refers to a room with a toilet and a sink and commonly used by guests[where?].



Family bathroom[edit]


Jack and Jill bathroom[edit]

A "Jack and Jill bath" or "connected bath" is a bathroom situated between and shared by the occupants of two separate bedrooms. Each bedroom includes a door to the connected bath. There may also be a third door allowing access to the connected bath from the common bedroom hallway.


A wetroom is a waterproof room usually equipped with a shower. It is designed to eliminate moisture damage that is caused to a home and is also compatible with the heating systems beneath the floor.



Australia and New Zealand[edit]

In Australia, New Zealand and other British Commonwealth countries it is common for a bathroom to not contain a lavatory; but with a separate 'toilet' next door (a very small room with only a toilet and perhaps a tiny hand washbasin).

Terminology in the United States[edit]

In the United States, bathrooms are generally categorized as master bathroom, containing a varied shower [2] and a tub that is adjoining to a master bedroom, a "full bathroom" (or "full bath"), containing four plumbing fixtures: bathtub/shower, or (separate shower), toilet, and sink; "half (1/2) bath" (or "powder room") containing just a toilet and sink; and "3/4 bath" containing toilet, sink, and shower, although the terms vary from market to market. In some U.S. markets, a toilet, sink, and shower are considered a "full bath". This lack of a single, universal definition commonly results in discrepancies between advertised and actual number of baths in real estate listings. An additional complication is that there are currently two ways of notating the number of bathrooms in a dwelling. One method is to count a half bathroom as ".5" and then add this to the number of full bathrooms (e.g., "2.5" baths would mean 2 full baths and 1 half bath). The other, newer method is to put the number of full bathrooms to the left side of the decimal point and to put the number of half bathrooms to the right of the decimal point (e.g., "2.1" would mean 2 full baths and 1 half bath; "3.2" would mean 3 full baths and 2 half baths).

Design considerations[edit]


Electrical appliances, such as lights, heaters, and heated towel rails, generally need to be installed as fixtures, with permanent connections rather than plugs and sockets. This minimizes the risk of electric shock. Ground-fault circuit interruptor electrical sockets can reduce the risk of electric shock, and are required for bathroom socket installation by electrical and building codes in the United States and Canada. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, only special sockets suitable for electric shavers, and electric toothbrushes are permitted in bathrooms, and are labelled as such. UK Building Regulations also define what type of electrical fixtures, such as light fittings (i.e. how water-/splash-proof) may be installed in the areas (zones) around and above baths, and showers. Contrary to some information provided with bathroom light fittings, sinks and basins do not affect bathroom zones, as a bathroom is solely defined as a room containing a bath or shower, by wiring regulations. It is still, nevertheless good practice to avoid installing unsuitable fixtures close to sinks, as damage from water splashes may occur.


See also[edit]


  1. ^ Teresi et al. 2002
  2. ^ "Types of Shower Heads". 
  3. ^ "Lighting research center - Bathroom lighting". Article from lighting research center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY 12180 USA). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 
  4. ^ "Bathroom Lighting - Gustavian Bathroom lighting". 