Is there such a thing as a remote control shower starter? Barring that, maybe reach up and tilt the shower head out of the way before turning on the valve. But, yeah, even then you'll likely get splashed with cold water a bit on the arm or feet as you hop out of the way.

Or, maybe you could put that fixed glass panel on a track like this one:

OKANAGAN LOG HOME · More Info

I'm with you, total zombie in the morning. I would not like having to use a shower like that every morning. I prefer to turn the water on, undress while it's warming, then get in. Aside from cold water hitting you in a shower like that, I don't want to stand there naked on a cold tile floor.

I have been thinking a bit about this too. If the bathroom is being totally gutted and plumbing moved anyway, I wonder if there is much of an additional cost to place the valve to turn the shower on on a different wall?

Dh stayed in a hotel recently where they had cut a circle out of the glass to allow you to stick your hand through and turn the shower on.

In the first link you showed, there is a spout down low. I think I've heard it called a toe spout. Maybe they have the water come out of that spout while it warms up. When they get in, they divert it to the shower head? Yes, I agree with you that I wouldn't want to stand under cold water when I turn my shower on.

I was also concerned about this. That is one reason we decided to put in a low wall with the glass on top rather than have full floor-ceiling glass wall like this:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/hgtv-dreamhouse-traditional-bathroom-burlington-phvw-vp~2810955

Then, the idea is to have the plumbing done in a way so I can place my thermostatic valve/volume control behind the low wall and out of sight. My diverter valves would sit under the shower heads in the traditional spot. In the mornings, we could easily reach behind the wall and turn shower on w/o getting splashed w/ cold water.

Just a thought. It would be a different look from what you've posted above, tho.

I don't like it like that at all. All three of those showers could have benifeted from a new plumbing lay out.

The shower valve placement in all picked by the plumber most likely.

Have you looked at this story on Houzz.com

[How to Place Shower Controls for Bathing Bliss[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-to-place-shower-controls-for-bathing-bliss-stsetivw-vs~4690224)

Thanks for all the great feedback. I just wanted t make sure I wasn't going crazy. I'm very surprised at how many of these awkward valve locations I'm seeing here on Houzz & elsewhere on the internet, so I was starting to doubt my logic.

The toe spout is an interesting concept. I've never seen or noticed one before. I guess it would just be plumbed just like a tub.

I'm leaning heavily towards the half-wall solution, so we can place the valve near the shower entrance.

Thanks again for the help.

I had exactly your concern -- reaching in to turn on the water in our 3'x5' shower and getting my arm (or pajama sleeve) doused in cold water. We didn't have the problem with our old sliding shower doors, because the shower head end was accessible, but in our new frameless shower there will be a fixed glass panel on the left (the shower head is on the left hand side wall of the shower stall) and a glass door on the right. (We couldn't reverse the access, because there will now be a sink close to that left hand panel, leaving no room for a door.) We decided to move just the controls to the middle of the back wall of the shower, where it is much more reachable for someone standing outside the shower. We chose the simple Hansgrohe 04231 controller, so it should look fine by itself on the back wall.