I'd remove it, because I think it will make the bathroom seem more open, however, if you are replacing with glass, more to clean! And you will see the shampoo bottles, but you'd also see them if you had a niche.

Thanks for your feedback! If I do remove the pony wall, do you think I might as well have the shower niche? Or under a corner bench perhaps? Not sure how else people store their toiletries in a completely open shower!

I would consider having a free standing tub. Still include a pony wall for the shower with glass on top. Niche can go in pony wall so hidden somewhat.

Thanks for your opinion! I like the pony wall for hiding the toiletry mess too. Do you think the pony wall looks strange, jutting out significantly beyond the shower width? Should I shorten the pony wall to exactly the same width as the shower? It seems like most freestanding tubs have a width around 30 inches, if that matters.

You should measure out the space and do a layout to see if everything would fit. I imagined pony wall being in line with threshold. Example photo.

Shorten the width of pony wall (has to be torn out and replaced anyway) and rebuild wall to size of shower. Put the niche in it. Full length niche with solid surface top (same as vanity top and shower threshold), and designed to be high enough for all grooming products.

Thank you all! I had a passing thought about shortening the pony wall to match the width of the shower. But then second guessed myself and thought it might look weird having the free standing tub be wider than the pony wall? All the Houzz photos I’ve seen show the pony wall being slightly wider than the tub, as jackowskib’s photo shows….

I was assuming that I needed a certain clearance (?4 ?5 inches) between the exterior wall and the freestanding tub.

I think you need some room between the tub and the shower/pony wall to get in between to clean the floor! We are going to have 6 inches on each side of the freestanding tub and I hope it is enough : ). They do make free standing tubs in all lengths, so be sure to measure and include room on each side.

I actually like the pony wall. The bathroom seems open enough to me.

For a freestanding tub - keep in mind you need SPACE between the tub and the wall for cleaning purposes. Frankly, I doubt 4 or 5 inches is sufficient, even if that would be fine for code. Unless you are extremely skinny.

Thanks everyone! I’m leaning towards keeping the pony wall and getting a freestanding tub that is around 30 inches wide. After re-looking at things, I think that 8 inches from the window/exterior wall would be fine and I’ll just keep the pony wall pretty close to how it is now. I wish I had a wider shower so that the pony wall didn’t extend beyond the shower threshold, but unfortunately that doorway cannot be moved!