Would love some help with my master bath layout...

7 years ago

Hi everyone,

Mom has moved into an assisted living facility, and we are preparing to get her house ready for sale. It's a 3300 sq ft, 4 br/3 bath home in a nice and quickly-being-remodeled part of Scottsdale, AZ. I've updated most of the house over the past few months (new baseboards and carpet, paint, lighting fixtures, windows, and new paint on the kitchen cabinets), and it looks great so far. The only remaining thing to take care of is the master bath. It's been demo'd and is a blank slate. I've attached the floor plan here. I don't have a huge budget, but I want it to be very nice and help sell the home. Note that the master bedroom/office and bath are the only rooms on the second floor of the 2-story house.

The existing plan is to add a pony wall to the left of the toilet to add a bit of privacy, and then have vanity/cabinets with 2 sinks along that entire wall (it's already plumbed for the sinks on that wall). My concern there is that it's about 138" of vanity after the pony wall, which is a LOT. I thought about putting a cabinet tower between the 2 sinks to offer more storage and create a nice separation between the two sinks.

The area opposite the toilet used to have a tiny square walk in shower (barely big enough to not touch extended elbows to the walls), and then a large sunken oval iron tub.

My initial plan was to use all 8ft x 4ft of that space to make a large his/hers walk in shower with a full glass wall with a door in the middle (similar to this, except no tub). There would be a shower head on the left, and one on the right. I'd try to fit a bench in there as well. I don't know if i'm making a mistake by not putting a tub in there, but I don't think there's enough space for one. The depth is insufficient for a standard tub, and 5ft tub put in there sideways won't leave much space for the shower. Someone I know put together a few mockups of a proposed full shower. I've attached that too.

This is the first time I've been involved in something like this. and I have a feeling i'm doing it wrong LOL. Would LOVE to hear ideas from more experienced bathroom remodelers.

Thanks.

Featured Answer

kariyava

7 years ago

Your general idea makes sense, and I wouldn't worry about removing the tub if you have another one in one of the downstairs bathrooms.

I would make the shower opening on the bottom end (in front of the toilet). That way you won't need a door, and won't impede that window either.

You can certainly do two large vanities with a tower in the middle, but since you don't have a linen closet in the bathroom, I would put one in instead (on the top left), which would still give you space for a large vanity.

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Comments (7)

rinked
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
If there is one tub in the house, you're ok.

Personally I prefer showering right next to my husband (or kid) though :) We have two shower heads next to eachother.
rinked
7 years ago
And do you have a full layout of the floor? Is there a balcony behind the shower window?
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felizlady
7 years ago
I NEVER have a closet entrance inside a bathroom. Even with good ventilation, I want to make sure the closets have no excess moisture which is always part of a bathroom. Two people live in a master bedroom, and one may be getting dressed while the other is in the bathroom, and so there is a privacy issue as well as a moisture issue. Put the closet entrance from the bedroom, not the bathroom or make the bathroom smaller so the closet door is outside the bathroom. One way or another, you don’t want moisture inside your wardrobe closet.
D Sutton
Original Author
7 years ago
@rinq, there is no balcony outside the shower window - just a flat roof with beautiful mountain views, but no walk-on access.

Thanks @felizlady, good points for sure. The floor plan I uploaded earlier had a mistake in that the existing sliding closet doors on the bedroom side were removed to enlarge the walk in. In that design, it would have been easy to move the door outside the bathroom. But for budget reasons, we decided not to demo the sliding closet doors, which limits where we can put the closet door. The only way around this issue now is to move forward with the demo of the sliding closet doors, or add another door between the closet side and the wet room. (that door originally existed, but we demo'd it already since the bathroom felt too small for a house like this.

I've attached a new (sloppily photoshopped) floor plan version that shows the original and existing sliding closet areas which are still there.
felizlady
7 years ago
A pony wall will actually not give any real privacy to someone sitting on the toilet. Only a separate small room/enclosure would give privacy, and I prefer not to have a separate space with a door because the user will need to wash hands after using the toilet without touching a door knob. Maybe a separate water closet with a two-way swinging door (no hands needed) could work. It’s easier to just lock the door for privacy. Be sure there is a good exhaust fan above the toilet.
On the long sink wall, a tall storage piece for extra towels and supplies could go in the middle of the wall or adjacent to the toilet. Each person will need a bank of four drawers next to their own sink for their personal things. Basic sink cabinets for the bathroom will be 24” wide, drawer units 12” or 15” wide, and a storage tower 18”-24” wide. Each person may want their own mirrored medicine cabinet. If two people are doing their grooming at the same time, a person with elbows out to his/her sides needs about 36” (the space of their sink plus their drawer unit). You may consider recessed mirrored medicine cabinets in a fully mirrored wall over the sink and drawer units. No mirror over the toilet.
D Sutton thanked felizlady
D Sutton
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks everyone. This is super helpful.