My last master bath shower was your same configuration with one wall mounted head & a second hand held with a diverter to send water to it. The hand held shower head was on same wall - no additional plumbing required - a $$ saver. We added the hand held when bathroom had small remodel. I wouldn’t want a head aimed at seat getting my head all wet. Sometimes I used seat to sit on while shaving legs - easy to use hand held to rinse off while sitting, I could spray warm water on the seat before sitting on it.

That is good advise. Maybe I am overthinking. It will be nice to have a seat as I hopefully age in place. Thank you!

I think most people (me included) want the bench away from the flow of water rather than in it, so that's why it's designed that way. If that's not you, though, you can talk to your contractor about changing it.

I think I am fine with it! Seat is aesthetically pleasing as well! I’ve never had the luxury of sitting down in my shower 😂 so wasn’t sure! I think I will survive shaving my legs without water! Thanks so much!

Mount a hand held near the seat with control over temp & volume. If you need to bathe sitting down, you’ll have what you need and it works for shaving, pedicure, cleaning, etc.

That’s a good idea. I will have glass on top behind the seat to allow more natural light from window. Do you think it look odd to have a shower head off to the right near the seat?

Not odd as it would be mounted on that back wall. But, my bet is it would be substantially more cost - or maybe not if this is a new build not a remodel. I guess I’d ask contractor for quote on adding separate head on another wall from main head & just adding a hand held with the main head. I think it would work either way & perhaps depends on what your long term vision is.

I like the bench and I’m guessing would save us money without the built in seat.

I’ve never had the luxury of sitting down in my shower

I have and that's why when we built our house, I DID NOT put in a built in bench. Cold to sit on. If and when I need a bench, I'll be getting a teak bench. Warmer and so much easier to move.

What we did is put a rainhead shower on the ceiling and a handheld on a bar on one of the walls away from the shower heads but right next to the door so it's easy to turn on before entering the shower.

One temperature control but a separate control for each shower head.

Main shower head is centered on ceiling:

That’s exactly what I was thinking…can move the bench! My friend says she has a built in bench and never uses it bc too cold.

Tricia, how big is that shower now?

Shower will be 69 1/2” x 45”

I love your shower tiles and floor. Very much my style! What material and brand are your wall and shower floor tiles?

You have a large shower, I would make it about 4 inches shorter to give you more room around the toilet.

You might loose some vanity space, but if you put the sink vanity and makeup vanity on the same wall, the chair would never be in the walkway. You could do the same height for the sink vanity and makeup vanity for a continuous counter,

Toilet plumbing could remain if already done and sink plumbing might not be difficult to adjust.

Do you have a picture of a similar set up with vanity and sink together? Hard to visualize. Ty!

If I keep large shower, would you recommend a rain shower head? It seems shower is large with no functionality on right side. Like what’s the point since no water running on that side?

Also we have a window centered above the toilet so will probably leave that alone.

What about a vanity in my walk in closet on back wall? Could put a pretty bench or something across from shower?

Here are a couple of pics with vanity on the end.

Norwalk Ave · More Info

I wonder if you could exchange the makeup vanity and sink vanity. A small bench tucked under the vanity would not be in the way and if your are sitting on the bench, I don't think your significant other would be using the toilet. And if you claim the sink closest to the vanity, there would be no conflict.

In my last house my toilet was 16 inches from the shower wall and I felt too close to the wall (and it was open on the other side) .

I ended up putting in a recessed toilet paper holder which helped.

I proposed this exact idea ( except vanity in the middle of the 2 sinks) to the contracting design team and they turned me down saying it is too difficult to move the plumbing. They were adamant about putting the double sink near the toilet. So disappointed! I even showed them a gorgeous picture on Pinterest and they said it’s not going to work.

Do you have a rough estimate how much it would cost to move plumbing?

What don’t you like about the current layout? I am no designer so my head is spinning 😵‍💫

…and I trusted them for guidance!

I totally agree with Karenseb about the toilet compartment. I am certain you will be much happier with 36” clear distance between side walls. We had 42” in our pre Reno bathroom, the designer drew new one at 30” (which is minimum recommended), i insisted we wanted 36” and the shower went from 66” to 60” and feels very roomy. Cleaning would be difficult with 30” width and the toilet paper holder intrudes too much into the useable space to be comfortable in a 30” W.C. width.

Congratulations on your build! Just wanted to give a couple insights on the shower if it might be helpful. Our shower is about 4x6, so similar in size to yours. Like some others here, we didn’t do a built in shower bench to avoid sitting on a cold seat. DH and i haven’t needed to sit in shower, so we currently don’t have one, but in future will definitely get a teak bench.
We only have shower head at one end, which works well for us. I think the rain shower heads look nice, but many times I don’t want to get my hair wet so we didn’t add that feature. I honestly like not having water hit the far wall in shower. I have a towel hook on the far wall. Towel doesn’t get wet and i can wrap up and dry off while i squeegee the glass. Nice and warm when i step out of shower.
good luck with the project!

Oh interesting…that thought never crossed my mind! It’s like staying at those fancy hotels with the white fluffy towels inside the shower! 😂

Thank you! I will be a lot more excited when I get passed this period of decision making overload 😜

This house was built in 1973 so I may not get all the luxuries of a new build.

Rebuilding down to the studs due to a house fire. As stressful as this is, I feel incredibly blessed - we were not home during fire and our neighbors rescued our 2 pugs. I need to remember to keep things in perspective!

Oh my gosh Tricia - yes, your priorities are indeed in order. You are alive & unscathed and so are your furry family members. Happy Thanksgiving this year especially!

@Tricia, so glad you were all able to get out safe. Have a wonderful thanksgiving!

Thank you both for your kind words! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

I think your layout will work since your room is wide and you have close to 4 feet between the vanity and shower.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful ideas!