Just to clarify, the two small squares and large square on the floor are contrasting tiles to complement the main tile. Also, the skylight will be more inbetween the sink and toilet not right over the toilet. Thirdly, beside the towel warmer we may have a hamper, and/or spare towels.

Carol

Thanks for your response. We were thinking of pocket doors leading to the shower area. Also, over the weekend we talked about making the shower a little wider probably more like 60" X 37" (and hence making the vanities or linens a bit more narrow).

Carol

If two of you will be using the shower at the same time, it would be better for the shower to be at least 42" x 60".

Two things -

1 - Consider doing kitchen cabinet height vanities, much more space and more comfortable.

2 - Is your shower large enough to go without doors? Why is the towel warmer encased in walls?

Hi cangelmd! I think we will make our vanities higher (i.e. kitchen height as you suggested). I think that is wise advice - and can't imagine why bathroom counters in the pass were so low.

The towel warmer is not encased in walls. When my husband made the plans he just blocked off some space for a towel warmer. We may not even get a towel warmer -- I will be just glad to dry off with clean and dry towels. Currently 6 of us are sharing two bathrooms, and my teenage sons typically leave their towels on the floor leaving moist towels for the next user LOL.

Does the plan as a whole work? I worried that breaking the space into 3 areas might be a problem (i.e. feel cramped as compared to keeping it all open). However, the convenience of being able to get ready at the same time as my husband on busy workday mornings lead us to this design. It is so hard to make all these decisions. Input is so helpful -- so keep it coming please and thank you.

Carol

I would nix the doors from either bathroom into the shower area, and probably the walls in the drying area as well, to make the room more open. But you may be the type that values privacy in the master bath (I'm not, other than toilet). You can add pony or full walls to screen the toilets instead of just having the open door to do so.

And I would go with the wider shower.

Oooh! Very nice! Can't wait to see this one!

I know it takes more room, but I would really want a wall next to the toilet so that the door doesn't hit the toilet all the time.

Something to think about with cabinetry: Any door against a wall will need a small filler. That means you should plan your cabinet sizes to allow an inch on both ends of each vanity.

Do the bathroom doors open into the toilet? Is that possibly annoying versus opening against a wall where you can put a stopper?

Skylights in a bathroom is a marvelous idea. Love! I didn't do the math but it doesn't appear it will be cramped in the his/her spaces for their purpose. A bath towel folded in thirds is about 10-12" wide. A linen closet less than 14-16" might be a little cramped for circulation.

Sorry for the odd Qs but my brain works weird!

Thanks for all the replies -- I really appreciate the input.

Weedyacres: One big open bathroom was what we had originally designed with the help of a bathroom designer --just like you suggested :). Picture the same plan with one door from the masterbdrm to the centre of the bathroom infront of the shower. In this plan there were no pocket doors nor interior walls (except pony walls partially blocking each toilet). However, we were convinced to rethink the plan by a few people (a different designer and one relative) who really didn't like the idea (especially two toilets in one open space -despite partial coverage by half walls). So yes, I do see the benefits of having one big space rather than breaking the room into thirds -- but did get cold feet over maybe wishing for more privacy and efficiency in terms of us both needing the bathroom at similar times during hectic mornings. Your question on door style for the interior door leading to shower area has got me thinking we might be able to compromise with a different door with some glass -- not sure if this works in the pocket opening style as space is limited for these interior doors.

Houseful and Westvillager: Thanks for pointing out the door swing problems hitting the toilet. We will change the design and have the doors swing the opposite way so they hit the walls near the pocket door (with a door stop). My DH made a quick change from the original design with the bathroom in one open space so we missed the door problem. Thanks for the tip on leaving an extra inch on the end of the vanities and to watch sizing on the linens.

We do plan on making each vaniety a little smaller than shown to increase the size of the shower a bit as per the idea posted by Suero. I was planning on putting on a glass door on the shower as I fear water splashing or drafts otherwise.

If other people think we would be better off taking down the interior walls to make the bathroom one open space, please post your opinions. I want to get this bathroom right for us and not turn off future buyers (although we are in no hurry to sell this house).

Thanks for your help. More suggestions/opinions are very welcome.

Carol

I think it looks great and would leave it divided up like you have it. It seems like a very functional design for your lifestyle. Two things that would concern me are: 1) It looks like the space for J's dresser is a little tight, especially after adding door trim and 2) I would want a bench in the shower drying off area.

Because of the way you have the shower area closed off, it won't get drafty in there even if you don't put a door on the actual shower. Plus if you really do get a heated towel bar, that should keep it fairly toasty in there. I think leaving off the doors would be a great way to increase the size of the shower without compromising the space of the other two rooms.

These are great suggestions. Thanks ncamy!

Carol

I like your overall layout. I tweaked a few things more just for the heck of it only because you are looking for alternative ideas.

"As is" the only real negatives I see with your bath are the toilets being on the shared bedroom wall. That can be a noise issue depending on DWV materials used and stack location. The other is that the shower is a bit narrow. By no means is 37" too small, but it could be a little tight.

I did a quick alteration of your existing plan. There are positives and negatives to what I've done in each drawing, but again, there are simply "what if..." types of things. And mine are NOT really to scale. Just quick moving of walls, etc.

In the one below I increased the size of the shower and separated the linen from the vanity. Toilet location remains the same.

In the second one the shower width and the vanity share the 7'11" dimension, so you can have a roughly 48" vanity and a roughly 44" shower, give or take a few inches on either.

I moved the toilets off the bedroom wall. The toilet space needs to be a minimum of 30" wide per code, wider would be more comfortable. That's a 15' wall, so even with 42" toilet walls that still leaves room for an 8' long shower. The linen closets go behind the opened doors.

This last below one is similar to your original, in that the toilets and vanities are essentially in the same places. I just lengthened the shower.

The long 15' wall has the centerlines of the toilets 18" away from the adjacent walls and 18" away from the open doors, essentially making the toilet space 36" wide with the doors open. The bathroom entry doors are 2'-6" doors. The shower is 48" wide.

With the shower being 48" wide, that leaves 5'6" for the width of each vanity or vanity/linen combo on the other 15' long wall.

There are a couple of other iterations where fixtures can be flipped, but I thought I'd just toss those out as alternative ideas.

Wow mongoct! Thanks for taking so much of your time to think about some alternatives for us -- and for drawing them out as well. We really appreciate your kindness. You have given us lots of great designs to think about. I am very, very grateful.

Carol

Hi Ontariomom, what arrangement did you finally go with and us it possible to get pictures. My husband and I are planning a similar layout as we have demanding jobs that require us to out of the house around the same time.

Do you need 2 doors and 2 toilets? You would have more wall space in the MBR with one door. And just 1 toilet would give you more options with the shower and vanities.

maries,

You are right. We didn't need 2 of everything. We did just what you said. The original post was years ago, when we were planning the new ensuite. The design we went with is below.

tiggsy,

We decided to change course on our plans. At the time of the original post we were planning out the design on paper. We are finally mid-build. There are no pictures to share. Here is the plan we went with.

I love the final plan! I'm sure you can't wait to try out that shower!

Thanks maries. I think the shower will be wonderful. However, we are very long way out from completing the project. Our family of 6 is living in the rest of the house, and the upper level including the ensuite is just framed in. Our project was a gut/large addition so we already had CO. It is also a DIY project.