Jack and Jill bathroom

Jack and Jill bathroom connected to two bedrooms in a worker cottage in California

A Jack and Jill bathroom is a bathroom with two doors, usually accessible from two bedrooms (or other rooms). The bathroom may have two wash basins. A Jack and Jill bedroom is a term sometimes used to denote a suite of two bedrooms with a shared Jack and Jill bathroom.

Privacy considerations

To give full privacy, both doors require locks on both sides.

On entering the bathroom, one should lock the opposite door to prevent entry from the other bedroom. Before leaving, that door should be unlocked and the other door locked from the bedroom side. This will then allow occupants of either bedroom to use the bathroom, but not gain access to the other bedroom.

If full privacy is not required, for example to wash one’s face or brush one’s teeth, the opposite door does not need to be locked. This would allow the other party to make simultaneous limited use of the bathroom, especially if it contains a washbasin for each bedroom.

Lighting

Unless the doors are adjacent, a light switch is required near each door, wired either for multiway switching or, if the switches are on the outside of each door, in parallel.

Variants

Many Jack and Jill bathrooms are actually shower rooms (US 3/4 bathroom), as they have a shower but no bathtub.

One of the rooms may not be used as a bedroom, or one door may open onto a hallway.

Some Jack and Jill bathrooms are subdivided so that the bathtub (and/or shower) and toilet are in one or more cubicles, stalls or separate small rooms, each only needing a lock on the inside. These will typically have two washbasins in the common area.

In a development of the divided bathroom, the Jack and Jill bathroom need only have a shower (and/or bathtub) and toilet if the washbasins are installed into each bedroom. A Jack and Jill shares a toilet and bath/shower, but it should have two sinks, so the less-private activities (e.g. teeth brushing and hair combing) can take place in concert.

Rationale

In some older buildings, it may not be feasible to install a conventional separate bathroom accessed from a common area without carving out a long corridor from one or more rooms.

In newer buildings, the trend towards en suite facilities may mean that costs can be lowered by sharing a bathroom between two bedrooms. A single Jack and Jill bathroom can be smaller than two private bathrooms and needs only one set of fixtures.

In popular culture

The TV sitcom series The Brady Bunch featured a Jack and Jill bathroom. It has also been seen in Beverly Hills, 90210 at the Walsh residence, between Brandon's and Brenda's bedrooms, as well as on Gossip Girl, at the Waldorf residence between Serena's and Blair's bedrooms.

See also

• Bedsit