Two years ago we bought a foreclosed home. This was the original home built by the neighborhood developer and most of it is done really well. However, it seems that the bathrooms were thrown together without practicality or ascetics in mind. The agreement we made when we purchased was that they would be remodeled. The master bath is the one that causes us a struggle.

The homes in our community typically sell upper $300,000's with some going into the $400,000's. We feel it is really important to make the bathroom aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. A few contractors have dropped by but each has said they won't have a discussion unless we are willing to agree to $30,000 being the price where we begin. They have also each asked us to provide design. Ugh!

If we could come up with functional as well as beautiful design, we would love to do most of the work ourselves and call on specific trades to fill in the gaps. This would not be a first for us.

Below you will see the current layout. There are a couple of problems with what is here now.

- The tub is huge, frankly it's not comfortable and it takes 2 full tanks of water to fill and I like my evening bath. I would really prefer a normal size soaking tub.

- The vanity is plenty long. Although I prefer one sink, I have am entirely open to two if that is what works best.

There is a tower with shelving on the right hand side, (as you face the vanity) however, there is simply no place for towels in this bathroom. The bottom portion of the cabinet has very shallow drawers so that space cannot be used for daily toiletries, skin care, etc. I sort of have a bugaboo about storing towels under the sink pipes, so that is problematic. Yes, I get that it is self-induced, but it still remains.

- The shower feels small for a house of this size and is currently done with a very cheap acrylic wrap around.

This has been an ongoing discussion for more than long enough. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sandy