What great tips! I am adding two bathrooms to an existing cottage that has none. We are having a small addition built that will have a two piece and then a three piece bathroom. I look at Houzz stories and photos all of the time, but still am finding it difficult to make design decisions. This video helped me to make some final decisions about which direction to take in terms of colour and style.

This is very useful information and presenting with the photos helped! We are about half way finished with our down-to-the-studs guest bath reno. I would have liked to have seen this before we designed our bathroom, but it looks we are on the right track with our choices.

Pro tip for extra spaciousness in your renovation: start with a really large bathroom

Thank you-very helpful!!!!

I'm surprised that Walk-In Tubs weren't mentioned as an option, especially with the focus on "aging or disabled family members". If we redo anything in our guest-wing shared bathroom, I would put my money on replacing the low alcove tub-shower with a walk-in soaking tub and hand shower.

Our retirement home in the countryside has two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the main floor. One has a very large shower, big enough for a whole family, and it takes almost ten minutes to squeegee the water off all that glass. The other main floor shower is about 3’x4’, a very comfortable size, and it takes two or three minutes to squeegee the glass. Because it is smallish, the heat of the water doesn’t dissipate as quickly as in the large shower, another bonus. The house has no bathtub, which works fine for us.
I only use the smaller shower, but my husband uses the larger one. A future owner could remodel the huge shower into a wet room with both shower and tub within a glass enclosure.

A good reason to hire a designer, all!

Perfect for me! Love this room!

thank you for the tips. I first time saw such a useful and a very good visual video!

Lovely

Very useful information. Thank you!

Really helpful as we consider a master bath remodel. Especially interested to hear that most are keeping their bathtub!

I have a bathtub and I want to remove it.

Freestanding tubs are pretty...but they are a bear to clean around the back side....that's where dust bunnies will hide. When we built I wanted one in a bad way, but since I'm now the cleaner in my home I'm glad I don't have one. As much as I love the look, I don't want the strain reaching around the back of it to clean. The main takeaway from the article was to hire a design professional.

There are so many great cleaning tools to add reach to your tub cleaning. Some use a brush that rotates, doing a lot of work for you. Your cleaning liquid or powder makes a big difference, too. Even vacs come with long slender flat tool to vacuum under the tub all the way to the side.

Only two of the bathrooms had a ladies vanity area. To me if you have enough room it is an absolute must! Otherwise you’re standing leaning against the vanity when you’re doing your make up and hair. Especially as you get older you want somewhere to sit. Whether you’re trimming a beard, adding your night cream or clipping nose hairs! It’s better to sit at a vanity. Ditch the tub unless you really use it or you’re into the very high-end luxury homes. Then it’s expected. People say they want a tub but then they don’t have time to use them. I sell real estate and it seems to be mostly a romantic fantasy… to leisurely soak in a hot bubbly tub. But then the phone rings or your kid is at the bathroom door knocking, Mom, can I come in? Save your money and use it to book a getaway weekend now and then.

Most of my friends/neighbors have taken out the old never used deck tub and replaced with a new free standing tub they will never use either. They most often do this because they think they need it for resale or to make the update look upscale. Because I’m a senior, many of my friends are as well. These motivations strike me as misdirected. If you love to bathe, by all means have a tub that is easy to use. If not spend your money on appointments that will make using and maintaining the bathroom pleasurable and convenient. A heated floor in a well designed curb less shower with attractive safety features and always the option of handheld shower spray. Cabinets with electric outlets to keep toothbrushes, razors, hairdryers and the like kept handy but out of sight and great lighting are where I will put my dollars.
BTW, that wet room with the tub and all that cold slab stone, I would like to see the compromised person using that get in and out of it. But yes, it does look nice all dry and clean.

Very interesting article. Thank you.

Great article with really good timely information for designers! Showing this to clients is helpful.

Good

I MUCH prefer a small shower because it’s cozy and warmer than a large one. It just needs room for a long niche, bench, rain shower head and a handheld. With a tall glass door it stays toasty warm!

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>As someone else said, if you are aging and building a new home, or remodeling to stay in your current home, you have to think of your current and future needs. People spend all this money to be trendy, and don’t plan for the future. Then they need to do another remodel, have to move or end up in a nursing, or if you can afford it, a retirement village. Safely bathing, and toileting , along with getting in and out of your home are the main issues as to why people end up leaving their beloved homes. All doors need to be 4’ wide to allow for scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, etc. And when builders/developers build or remodel homes, these things should be considered. They have been talking about building to age in place, and yet I see very few, if any, new subdivisions or even house plans which really consider these needs in a non sterile, elegant manner. They design these huge great rooms and think that’s where mobility issues end and yet you can’t easily get in the bedrooms and baths. Nor can first responders easily get you out if emergency occurs. I want the tile to go all the way up and over the ceiling with a tall shower door, so it stays warm and also the steam helps with breathing issues. At almost 70, and starting to have mobility issues, I need a large one to accommodate a shower wheel chair. In fact,I’m thinking of a shower that opens on both ends so you can go in on one side and out the other. Put either a tub, or a vanity on the other side of the shower wall. Until I need the wheelchair, a teak bench can be placed or do a built in tile one. The only issue with the built in, is you need a larger space to allow for it and the wheelchair to pass through. A wheelchair needs 5’ to turn around so adding a built in bench could take up too much space. Just need to think out the space for efficient use. Then I want handheld, a nice nice shower head(s) and a large window. I have a window over my current tub/shower and it has a southwest exposure and there is nothing nicer then having that sun shining in to warm the room and your shoulders as you take a shower. Plan your room placement to utilize nature’s light source as the sun moves around/over the house throughout the day. Planning the house’s placement on a lot to take advantage of available light; breezes that flow through and cool the house, porches, and other outside spaces in summer, along and protection from cold north winter winds. They use to plan for these things—where the rooms most used in winter were warm, and those used most in summer were cool due to placement or landscaping. Now they just try to cram as many houses on a piece of property as they can. I hate these zero lot line boxes they are building where you are paying $450k+ so you can shake hands with your neighbor. New homes need remodeling/rebuilding starting at 5-6 years with appliances and by 15 years, you are replacing windows, flooring, HVAC, and by 20-30 you are replacing roofing, siding, decks, porches, etc. It’s a terrible ripoff of the American public who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase a home, and then have to spend 25-50% of it all over again in a relatively small period of time. Many just do cosmetics and sell it — let someone else deal with the problems. Think of the well built houses that were built in the 1940s, even the early 1950s and earlier; or all the 100-150+ year old houses still standing with good strong bones, their original windows, solid hardwood flooring, and slate/tile roofs. I have lived in some of these houses built in the late 1800s and they are still there through my 70 years. But too many of those well built homes are just knocked down because they aren’t trendy. The materials are still great and someone makes a fortune off all that real wood, slate, marble, etc. Think of all the houses in Europe that are 500-600+ years old. Yes, all homes need maintenance, but you shouldn’t have to practically

We are 2/3 thru a primary bathroom gut/remodel of our 1995 two-story home. ‘Out’ went the 5x7 foot whirlpool tub & double vanity. ‘In’ went a custom laundry center (no more hauling to the main floor) split 36in tall vanities and gorgeous walk-in shower with bench & a handheld or waterfall combo shower head & wall jets. Our design inspiration was all about updated functionality after 18 years. Can’t wait for the finished product!

@Jil Roorda, can you please post pictures of your project? I am also getting ready to remodel my master bathroom and had similar ideas. Thank you

This was such useful compact information ahead of our bathroom remodel! Thank you!!!

Excellent information, especially since we are in the beginning process of a total master bath remodel without enlarging the area. So glad to hear that area size of most bathroom not as important as function and updating in neutral colors which is what we are doing. Thanks for taking time to put together quality data for us homeowners.

Free standing tubs are not comfortable for tall people, not unless you like to soak with sharply bent knees. We have two bathrooms, we upgraded the tub in one to a larger curved alcove tub and ditched the tub for a walk in shower in the other. While I think light neutral colors are 'safe', life is short. Why not have what you love now? Both my remodeled bathrooms reflect individual taste, wallpaper, seafoam vanity, semi-recessed vessel sinks, and mixed metal hardware. I don't care if someone else likes them, what count's is that I love them. If someone doesn't want to buy my house because they don't like my bathrooms they can go find another house.

@Mari will do! Countertops & same quartz shower surround went in today. 😊 still need shower wall tile, paint & all fixtures. Nowhere near picture time yet!

Figure out the budget, lay it out, choose the look and materials you want, and get bids. I tend to amass the supplies and keep them in my garage, once I've established a time frame with the contractor and we both know what I want and need. When he stops onto the property, most of the building supplies should be at hand.

Several electrical outlets!

The bathroom is the least of my concerns.
One thing I always do is remove the glass doors and hang curtains on separate rods.
Those doors and tracks get real nasty real fast. I’d rather wash or replace shower curtains.

But curtains take up visual space in a tiny bathroom

very helpful.

Thanks for this timely article. Very helpful for my current remodel. I have 2 baths & a master suite on the second floor. Want to age in place (now 84) by remodeling first floor to fit current and future needs. Decided to build a sun room to enjoy my 1/3 acre garden and ponds; rather than build the necessary first floor full bath. To fix the problem, I have taken the small guest closet and incorporated it into the powder room. The two spaces combined are only 26 square feet (5’ X 5’3”). Want to add a shower and make the entire space into a wet room. This way, if climbing stairs becomes a problem, I will have everything I need on the main level. No basement and going outside or into garage doesn’t require stairs. Please help with placement ideas. Thanks, also for the comments on the article. They are also helpful.

Thank you for your helpful comments. I really need it, especially the 2nd tip

Can half walls be installed for door less shower.

Yes, i can show you a couple of photos of master bathroom that i have done. Typically there is glass on said knee wall though