I suggest a door between the bath and bedroom. When one person is still trying to sleep you will thank me! :-)

I would put in a pocket door. You may get ready together the vast majority of the time, but if someone has to get up early or come home late once in a while, it would be nice to isolate the bathroom.

You didn't ask, but your second bathroom has very little storage. If your kids are sharing this bathroom, they will eventually need more counter space and more storage space. Right now there's hardly room for a spare towel. I would either steal some space from your generous master closet to make a linen closet in the bathroom, or cut down to one sink (kids tend to not use the bathroom at the same time).

The entrance to the bathroom appears to be very narrow. Depending on what the small closet is for at the entrance it may be deeper than you need. Can this be a cabinet instead? Perhaps with a full height mirror.

Is the wall at the end of the vanity full height or partial?

Whether you need a door or not is a matter of personal preference.

Hmmm, I guess a door is in order. For sound control, and to help keep the heat in the room while showering.

@Summit - the wall at the end of the vanity is full height.

I agree that a door is a personal preference. We have no door between our master bed/bath and love it.

I love your shower too, ours is similar, but I'd extend that 5' wall (not sure of your ceiling design) either up to 7'-8' or to the ceiling unless you want to have to wipe off that bench every time you get out of the shower.

Yeah, I was wondering if the water might splash over the 5' wall. I might do a glass panel there from 5' up to the ceiling.

What do you think of moving the window in the shower, so that it's in the water/toilet closet instead? It could be on either wall (long or short), and a frosted/obscured glass door on the toilet room would allow the light to pass through to the rest of the bathroom. :-)

In regards to One Devoted Dames suggestion on the window, I'm all for adding windows, but I wouldn't remove the one from the shower especially if it's operable. We have 2 in our shower and love to open them up on cool, crisp mornings while we're taking hot showers! It's SOOO refreshing!

@htwo82 - The window in the shower is an operable awing window(all 3 windows in the bath are), with a 3' roof overhang right above it. So I could leave it open all the time, with no chance of it ever raining in, unless maybe during a hurricane.

@One Devoted Dame - I'm all for the idea of having an obscured glass panel in the water closet door, but the wife balks at that. With the skylight right there in front of the door, I think it would keep the water closet well lit when the door is closed.

Sounds perfect, Mike! I really like your bathroom, I'll be excited to see if you post pics of it!

What is going in the small closet on the bottom?

That is a linen closet for the master bedroom.

To further comment about the kids bath, I wouldn't have the door between toilet and sinks either. Think hands on door handles after using the facilities.

Agree about one sink for the kids.

In your master, I'd make the door to the toilet closet a swinging door with a push plate instead of a locking door. I did that in my condo and am doing it in my new build. This way no yucky hands touching door handles.

Will the toilet door have a frosted panel on it to let in light from the bathroom? Otherwise, I find those toilet rooms quite dark at times. Our door will have a frosted panel in it to let in light.

I like the idea of putting a pocket door to the hallway between the master closet and bathroom instead so as mentioned you can close the pocket door if one person stays up a bit later, or another gets up real early. Otherwise the pocket door could remain open and then you don't need a door on the shower.

Overall, I think it's nicely laid out.

It only needs to be 16" deep inside. Better still do this as a cabinet with double doors to enlarge the entrance to the bathroom and create more usable space for linen.

You didn't ask, but your second bathroom has very little storage. If your kids are sharing this bathroom, they will eventually need more counter space and more storage space. Right now there's hardly room for a spare towel. I would either steal some space from your generous master closet to make a linen closet in the bathroom, or cut down to one sink (kids tend to not use the bathroom at the same time).

Yes, I'd say downsize to one sink (I don't see the point in two duplicate sinks side-by-side, and they make even less sense in a kids' bathroom). This will allow you drawers for storage.

The entrance to the bathroom appears to be very narrow.

I thought the same thing. I don't care for the entrance at all: It requires a sharp turn, and the doors appear to be narrow. I'd lose the bench (though I do like it) and would make the linen closet more shallow.

Personal preference here... I would put a pocket door before the short hallway between the bath and the closet so that the person who got up early could do their entire morning routine without disturbing the sleeper. If the door were there shrink the closet at the end of the hall and drop the wall at the end of the vanity entirely.

Yes! Instead of a door on the bathroom itself, go with a door that'll block off the bathroom AND closet. Win-win.

Last thoughts:

- With the location of your multiple shower heads, I'm afraid you're going to have "bouncing off" water escaping into the main room. I don't mean the sprays would spray into the room; rather, the water would bounce off your body into the main room.

- I never like a toilet crammed into a toilet-closet, but this one is really bad. Do take a look at just how small 3' is -- and don't forget to allow for 4-6" of space for the wall + probably 4" for the shared shower wall. Mock it up with cardboard and look at it. Or, better yet, next time you're at the mall, take a tape measure and measure the width of the public toilet -- and remember that you're talking about consigning yourself to this tiny space multiple times per day.

Still on the topic of the toilet, note that the door needs to swing outward; otherwise, you'll have nowhere to stand as you close the door.

There's another reason to not have such a tiny toilet room: where does one keep extra toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, and reading material? I prefer to not have those items out on display, even if Hubby and I are the only ones using the bathroom.

Every bathroom needs storage. How that is conceived and designed is the question!

In my current house my we have a powder room that is 3'x6', and it's really not bad. That has a sink in it too, which has a 25" deep counter. My thought is that out of all the areas in the bathroom, I will probably spend the least amount of time in that water closet. I'll put a few floating shelves over the toilet to hold a few things in baskets. I do plan on adding a transom above the door, or maybe some frosted glass panels to the door.

The kids bath will likely get medicine cabinet mirrors, which will help with the storage abit. I could see stealing some storage space from the back of the linen closet, but that would be in the shower/toilet room, which probably would not be ideal. Not willing to give up any space in the master walk in closet.

I do like the idea of putting the pocket door closer to the master bedroom, effectively putting the linen closet and walk in closet behind two doors. But because of the open shower, I'm abit worried about moisture getting into the closet, since I don't think I would be consistent with keeping the WIC door closed. And then its like I have to open two doors to get into my WIC, or the linen closet.

Consider window(s) in the watercloset cell. Keep the bathroom well separated from the closet. An enclosed shower helps to keep the shower space warm. If you keep the linen closet the depth shown, you don't have to fold the sheets and towels as much. Beware of software that dimensions a wall 4".

In my area there are bracing wall restrictions(or I guess you could see them as enhancements) and alot of the side wall of the WC and all of the back wall of the WC has to be solid for the bracing wall panels. My architect did mention that I would be able to put a narrow, maybe 12" wide window just behind the door, but I think that's going to look odd from outside. I know its not perfectly balanced now, but I think it would look even more off putting a side window in there.

I'm going to explore the option of putting a transom in above that door, I'm thinking since there is a skylight right there it will put alot of natural light into the bathroom.

Question - is it generally cheaper to put a transom in above a door(assume non operable), or to buy a door with a full obscure glass panel, like reed glass?

I imagine you could find combinations of door/transom/windowed door that are equal in price. The primary consideration should be function: which best suits your needs in terms of balancing light and privacy?

Are you building in a hurricane or earthquake-prone region?

I'm a couple of hours from the east coast, near the Chesapeake Bay. Technically a hurricane did hit here a few years ago, but it was just rain and 75~85 mph winds.

I would think your architect/engineer could come up with some way to get a decent size window in that 3'x5' space to make it a more pleasant space to be in. But then again they are showing the finished wall or the studs to be 4" thick.

That's my fault, not his. I was the one who drew up these ideas. I know my dimensions aren't perfect, and they don't have to be, I just use this as an easy way to share my ideas with my architect and on the forums.

Your fixture pkacement is going to be awkward in that shower because of the window. It’s on the wrong wall. And it’s going to be cold and drafty too. The trench drain is going where exactly? Do you want to be standing on it? Or is it going across the wall from the entrance? That is the traditional location for s trench drain for a zero entry shower. That all has to be planned to the Nth d free before you ever get to the rough plumbing and foundation pour. Because it had to be poured into the concrete, and you only get one good chance to do it right.

Sophie, the layout the controls to turn the water on and off/set temp would be on the 5' high wall, so you could reach around and get the water warm without getting a blast of cold water on you. The diverter valve to control which head is on would be on the wall between the two heads.

This bathroom is on the 2nd floor, so I would not have to worry about the concrete. But I would have to worry about the floor trusses. So instead of getting into changing those, I would just make a 3" high step up into the shower area, and then slope it slightly to put the french drain in along the wall where the shower heads.

Hey, what do you guys think about this layout? Call it layout B, and the first one A.

I dislike windows in showers... They always get particularly yucky for me (tile/grout cracking and deterioration, not to mention cleaning challenges). Is this a build-quality issue or a design issue?

I had assumed windows in showers were a design "flaw" so to speak, due to water/moisture coming at the window from both sides, but is that actually the case? Is this one of those scenarios where, done well, it's no big deal, but done poorly, it's awful (and many times, it's just done poorly)?

Here's the layout layout, A, updated abit. I'm thinking that having the bathroom in the middle like in plan B just imposes on the room too much, even though it really helps to separate the shower off.

You aren’t planning a curbless shower if you are planning a 3” curb.

And you don’t know anything about the physical construction of bathrooms, and how that integrates into the home construction as a whole. Obviously. This whole bathroom suffers mightily from the lack of professional knowledgeable design. Hire a Kitchen and Bath Designer or you will be paying thoudands in change orders. Or thousands in mold remediation.

I would bet this is the top of the iceberg regarding amateur design. You need to hire a real architect.

There's another reason to not have such a tiny toilet room: where does
one keep extra toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, and reading
material? I prefer to not have those items out on display, even if Hubby
and I are the only ones using the bathroom.

Always consider your real motivation; that is, what you really want to accomplish.

In this case, you're saying you need storage near the toilet, but a toilet-in-a-closet doesn't necessarily equate to closed storage -- if your goal is closed storage, look for ways to have closed storage:

- a small linen closet between the toilet and the vanity

- a piece of furniture in the bathroom

- a wall cabinet above the toilet

- a pony wall with a pull-out drawer

- a large toilet paper holder that holds two rolls + a phone rack

- shelves above the toilet with basket storage

My point: Be sure you're addressing what you really want ... the type of storage you need, the size storage you need, storage where you need it... not just tossing in a design choice.

Hey, what do you guys think about this layout? Call it layout B, and the first one A.

I don't like the bottleneck created between the toilet closet and the wall.

OK...since there's no "baffle" wall on the shower, you will get a lot of splash on the floor adjacent to the shower. Do you see that?

Here we go again with the judge and dismiss... I did spend thousands on hiring a real architect(And it was well worth the cost BTW). What you see here are my ideas. And I don't know much about bathroom design, that is why I am posting here. I my ideas on this forum to see what others think, hear their ideas, and make a few tweaks. Then I share the refined version with my team if I like it, and I see it as an improvement.

@Virgil - Yeah, I know the rainshower head closest to the vanity will tend to splash water on the floor outside of the shower area. I wonder if I could put a floor drain in that area? I'm not too worried about the splashing, as I don't think that shower head will be used all the time, maybe 10% to 25% of the time? Just when the wife and I both need to get ready at the same time. I see the rainshower head close to the window as being the one that gets used the most, and the close proximity of the 3 walls keeping that area somewhat warm, at least while the water is running.

I like version B, Mike - but I like A better. One thing you may consider is shortening the length of your shower so that the entry wall lines up with the face of the water closet wall - which I really think is your best option. To give you an idea, I've included a pic of our shower plan (an no, the hooks aren't really THAT big, lol!) Ours is 8' long x 5' wide, with a 36" entry. I've got 2 towel hooks hanging on the entry wall inside the shower. The (wall mounted) shower heads are on a 5' wall spaced evenly, with a rain head directly in the middle. My DH and I shower together daily so I can tell you, it's absolutely perfect spacing, not drafty, and stays warm. (to add, we ended up not putting the bench in that's shown on this plan)

How high are the ceilings in the shower? You could do what DH and I are doing and put one shower head on the short wall and one overhead in the center. That would eliminate the splash problem out the opening.

As for keeping the shower warmer without a door, good luck. We stayed in a place in S Africa that has a similar layout and I froze my butt off in that shower. No thanks. I love a door to keep the steam and heat inside the shower.

Oh, and another thought - those carve outs are something we decided against after talking with our tile guy. He said they're a pita to make, then keep water from sitting in and cracking. He suggested frosted glass floating corner shelves instead, so we put 4 in and I absolutely love them! Here's 2 of them in the far corner and one hiding back behind the ladder.

Here we go again with the judge and dismiss

You asked for opinions, right?

I'm not too worried about the splashing, as I don't think that shower
head will be used all the time, maybe 10% to 25% of the time?

I think it might be a big deal because you're planning a wooden bathroom door right there in what I expect will be "the splash zone". I don't think it'll be a flood with each shower, but I think the damage will add up over time.

Oh, and another thought - those carve outs are something we decided
against after talking with our tile guy. He said they're a pita to make,
then keep water from sitting in and cracking. He suggested frosted
glass floating corner shelves instead, so we put 4 in and I absolutely
love them! Here's 2 of them in the far corner and one hiding back behind
the ladder.

Whether you go with niches (I've had no problem with them) or corner shelves, don't skimp on shower storage.

I haven't had any problems with my shower niches.