Need layout help - where to place new window?

9 years ago

Hi, I have been a somewhat silent and infrequent follower of several GW forums for many years, and have found lots of great answers. I'm hoping the collective knowledge/wisdom on this forum might help me in my current project.

The situation:

We have just started a master bath renovation - removed 2.5 tons of old tile/wallboard (who knew a bathroom weighed that much!), and framed in the new walls, as well as lowered the floor for the curbless shower.

Many of the decisions have been made - in addition to the shower, we are going with a Victoria and Albert tub - the IOS, reusing our old reliable toilet (when you get a good 1.5 gal flush toilet, you don't get rid of it!), as well as all of the tile decisions and most of the lighting decisions.

What is perplexing me now is where to place the window! In the old bathroom, it was a 48 X 48 double casement over the tub that matched a similar window in the dining room on the other side of the front door (this bath is in the front of the house - north side). I purchased a 30 W X 48 H single casement to replace it, thinking that I would put it in between the two sinks on that wall. After playing with layouts, I'm not sure that's a good idea. (The window size was selected to match other windows on the front of the house.)

Here's a photo of the wall:

Some of the constraints are:

1. The toilet and shower positions are fixed, as well as the two door locations (to closet, and to bedroom)

2. The tub will be a freestanding tub, and needs to stay on the wall between the window wall and the shower. The tub's location can slide up or down that wall as needed, but it should make some design sense, since that will be a focal point wall, with vertical accent tile.

3. The window size is pretty much fixed, based on the need to balance the front of the house. It can move left or right on that wall, though it would be easiest to not have to change the rough opening on the right side (looking out). (that would make it 10 inches from the stud on the tub wall.)

Here is the floor plan after the demo:

And here is my thought about the design.

I'm worried about moving the sink too far to the right, where it will be in the way of the tub, so I thought I might have a window seat/pull out hamper at that location. At this point, I am going with a 36 inch high vanity, with a granite top, and Kohler Caxton 19 inch undermount sinks.

I'm not married to my design, so please give any/all options! I need to finalize it in the next few days, so that I can give rough in instructions to the plumber and electrician.

Thanks!

This post was edited by pennpeggy on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 22:27

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Comments (9)

palimpsest
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
How about the tub on the window wall with the vanities down the windowless wall?
pennpeggy
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
That would be similar to what we have now (or had). I think I just switch my current set of problems for another set. I wanted the "wet" or humid areas to be close together, and away from the closet - hence moving the tub close to the shower. I think I still would have to move the window unless I shove the tub into the corner, which seems a shame to do.I was really liking how it is the focal point of that wall, and was planning on highlighting it with a vertical tile design.

Thanks for your thoughts - I'll play around with the full sized cut outs I've made and see what works.
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enduring
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Can you double check your scale of the drawing. It doesn't look like the vanity at 116", is in scale with the 58" of the shower wall, at the opposite end of the room. With a scaled drawing it is easier to make changes in the plan, because it is clear where things will fit.
badgergal
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I can't help you with where to place the windows but since you said that you will be using the 19" Kohler Caxton sink I thought I would mention (in case you dont know) that that sink comes in a 17x14" size and a 15x12". They are all the same depth. I actually used two of 15 x12 size on a 60 inch vanity. We find that size plenty big enough for us. Even if you only went down to the 17" size you will gain valuable inches of countertop space on each side of the sink and behind or infront of the sink.
Here's how the 15x12s look in my application:
Karenseb
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow, I think your tub would look great on the diagonal in the corner with free standing vanities on either side.
pennpeggy
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for the quick feedback...

enduring, I checked the scale, and I believe it is correct. The shower wall is half the length of the window wall... I realize my scan didn't copy that well, especially since I needed to rotate it, but I think it is accurate.

badgergal, I had already begun to wonder if the sinks were too big. I forgot to measure what we had before Habitat carted it off this week, but I'm sure they were smaller than 19 inches. I think 17 would be fine, and I'm glad to see your photos of the 15 (love the granite!)

Karenseb, what a great idea! I'm not quite sure why I rejected that position at the beginning of the project. I had looked at plenty of photos of the corner tub, but thought it would take up too much space, and feel too much like the old whirlpool tub that we just yanked out. I played around with my full sized templates, and kind of like it. Plus, it means we won't have to change out the window (yay!) Here's a photo of what that looks like, as well as an updated floor plan:

This design does raise a couple of other questions, though...

1. I had planned for a panel of glass for one of the shower walls - the one on the same wall as where I had the tub originally. It would have meant there was a clear line of sight all along that wall - no cabinets, etc. I can still put that glass in, but now it would be next to the cabinet, and I think I lose the "cool" effect... plus I'm wondering if it would feel weird to shower and have someone standing at that sink at the same time...

2. I had planned to tile the entire blank wall that the tub was originally on, with a couple of recessed niches with accent tiles running vertically from floor to ceiling. Obviously that won't work now, given that the wall is now broken up, so I'll need to rethink through what the tile accent "wow" factor will be. The main focus when entering the bathroom from the bedroom will be that wall/window corner. Any ideas?

Thanks again! Every time I think I've come up with all possible options, someone comes up with another one...
Karenseb
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What's on the other side of the long windowless wall?
The corner plan looks good. I would do longer vanities than what you have drawn.
pennpeggy
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The shower is in the 58 X 64 area. It's a curbless shower, and has a glass wall - originally intended to be full length - separating it from what is now the vanity.

I agree that the vanities should be bigger - still working on what size I would like here. The concern I have is that the vanity near the shower will now be next to the glass wall....so I'm wondering if I should put up a short pony wall here, topped with glass instead of the full glass wall.
Karenseb
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I think a pony wall with glass on top would look nice. Then you could extend the cabinet to the wall on both vanities if you needed more storage. In my last house I had a tub in the corner with a window on each side, very pretty. One of the vanities had drawers on one side and a built in hamper on the other side. I'm guessing the vanity was 60 in.