Thanks for the app you recommend, it’s very helpful. We are trying to fit a little bathroom in the kids’ room as they always want one.

Here’s my two cents: By trying to keep the location of the bathroom, the closet and both the bedroom doors to the hallway and the bathroom basically close to wher they are now, you are limiting yourselves from being able to find an ideal and easy-to-use layout.

First, I’d start with the bedroom, specifically the bed placement. I would not want a bathroom door to look at (or into if the door were open) across from my bed when I was sitting or lying in bed. You have enough room to get rid of this current not-ideal set-up with its lousy feng shui – so why keep it?

Also, if your floorplan drawing is somewhat correct, the bedroom has a second possible bed placement position – in front of the windows. EVEN SO, with the bed placed in front of the windows, I would not want the bathroom entrance to be next to where I slept.

So, in my opinion, the ideal placement for a door to the bathroom and/or closet is (as always) as far away from the bed as possible, which in your house would be near the entrance doors to the bedroom.

Which gets into a discussion of why keep the angled wall entrance to the bedroom and the double doors. It seems to me that considering squaring the bedroom entrance door wall, having a single door (or even double doors that are not each full-door width as your current ones are if you like that double-door look) would be beneficial in this planning stage – all before you get to the specific layout of the bathroom and closet.

So, secondly, I’d also consider what is the ideal placement and size for the bedroom entry door(s). (If I were doing all the work you are, I might also consider from the start whether the bedroom/bathroom/closet placements as they exist are ideal – I’d even consider putting the bedroom in the corner the house and seeing if the bathroom and closet would fit in nicely around it as well, etc., just for fun.)

Thirdly, I’d also consider whether one large closet is the best use of the space to maximize closet storage space. As a city condo dweller, where layouts need to be efficient, it is clear to me that having one large closet often makes for a lot of wasted space in closet planning. You might benefit from having some closet space accessible from inside the bathroom, and some closet wardrobe space either accessible from the bedroom, i.e., wardrobe doors that open directly into the bedroom space, and/or a separate closet (or closets) entirely, not accessible from the bathroom, but with a door opening directly to the bedroom or hallway, and possibly a larger linen closet that opens into the hallway.

More thoughts on closets – I get wanting to have storage for clean towels and washcloths in the bathroom, but it doesn’t always need to be an actual tall closet – there are many ingenious ways to provide for closed clean towel storage in a bathroom without installing a closet if there isn’t room for one. I also don’t want ALL my linen closet storage – that is, my sheets, and anything else I might store on linen closet shelves – to be INSIDE the bathroom – I want space to store them elsewhere.

And, while I can see wanting some laundry bins in the bathroom for some clothing (I’d like them for my underwear, socks, and whatever I’ve worn to bed, as they all tend to end up on my small bathroom floor until I pick them up and put them in laundry bins elsewhere), and for depositing dirty towels and washcloths that have hung up until they are entirely dry, I don’t want ALL of my dirty laundry to be stored in my bathroom. I want other dirty laundry items to be in laundry bins NOT in the bathroom (and ideally not in the closet either – I’ve become a fan of multiple good-looking lidded laundry bins in bedrooms (and hallways if I had space mine) but not in closets, due to needing all the space in my closets for clean clothes.)

Likewise, I would love to have storage for some clean clothing accessible directly from my bathroom – specifically for underwear and pajamas (and maybe even socks if my small bathroom floor didn’t always always wet when I’m getting dressed in the morning, due to my glass shower door only opening outward), and for some T-shirts, sweats, and workout wear that I wear around the house, I DON’T want to store my work suits, casual business clothing, sweaters, or even other pants or jeans and nicer shirts IN my bathroom, or in a closet connected to my bathroom. While I’d like to be able to put on my first layer of underwear or lounging around clothing while still in my bathroom, I don’t want my nice clothing (whether clean or dirty) to be stored in or connected to the bathroom. I’d want those in closets that did not open into the bathroom at all.

So, in your house, I’d consider putting multiple closets in that space, rather than one large one. Not just because I don’t want all my clothes exposed to the bathroom, but because I’d likely get way more closet wardrobe storage space out of the larger space as well. Walls of modern style wardrobes with tall doors that open to reveal organized storage space seem to be much far more space efficient than older-style closets that have one (or double) doors or normal height opening to actual smallish rooms. I get that you like your current configuration of having one large closet opening to the bathroom, but as you nixed some proposed layouts because they did not add enough space to the closet, you might consider whether you’d get more closet space with a layout involving more than one closet. There is definitely a trade-off, though, between maximizing closet storage space and having the open dressing-room sort of space that one gets with a really large closet, and it may be that open space in your closet that you are trying to maximize.

The original layout is my favorite, but I would certainly walk through the closet and not the bathroom. I am not north american and never see walking through bathrooms elsewhere USA.
The pros for the walking through closet would be: 1) the closet can ventilate much better with 2 doors; 2) you will have some wall space to hang the towels; 3) the flotting vanity with the big shower window will be so gorgeous and 4) even with the WC-room I do not like people (including husband) disturbing when I am in the bath (moms do not get much privacy, taking a nice shower without interuptions makes miracles). I also think a bathroom door just in front of the bed is not ideal. Much better to put the TV there, no?!
The only contra is the loosing of some closet space, but you have a huge house, so it cannot be a problem. You can also recease the whole wall (where the TV nook is) and gain some more space in the closet (and bathroom).
Anyway I am sure your bathroom will be beautiful.

I was determined to get a WC in my own bathroom and struggled with the layout so much until I decided the WC and shower could be together in its own space with one door. Doing this would make your shower less open to the main room and less of a focal point, so not sure if this helps you. But functionally I love the idea of both shower and toilet being more private and separate from the vanity area.

I like the new layout :) Thanks for sharing your thought process! I definitely can relate to going through a bunch of different layouts before settling on one when I designed my kitchen, which is finally being built right now!! For the longest time I was fighting this HVAC soffit along the load bearing wall: I wanted to take out the wall for a nice big open living space but then I’d be stuck with this giant soffit dropped in the middle of the ceiling ’cause it’s just totally unmoveable without re-doing all our HVAC. Once I embraced the soffit, I actually managed to work it into the final kitchen layout where it’s integrated with cabinets and visually disappears. Ended up saving $$$ on taking out a load bearing wall and the headache of moving HVAC. So I guess my point is if there’s anything you’re finding yourself fighting against, try embracing it instead and see where it takes you :) I also second the idea of solar tubes in the closet + bathroom and an in-swinging shower door so you don’t have water dripping off the door in the middle of the walkway into the bathroom. Also second the idea of nixing the linen closet (store stuff in vanity + walk-in closet) in favor of exploring other layout options. I’m sure whatever you guys come up with will be great for your needs :D

Love it. It seems like the best of both worlds. I tried looking up FloorDesign on the App Store, but nothing turned up. Are you sure that’s the name? Thanks!

All that matters is the measurement from the front of the toilet to the wall/door: 26” is way too cramped, 31” is fine and 40” is palatial feeling.

I made 21 renditions of our master bathroom layout in sketchup before we settled on the perfect one. We ended up with a 30’x49′ toilet closet because of space constraints – perfectly code compliant. Although the inspector did warn me that the relocation of the toilet drain pipe would have to be perfect to end up with exactly 15″ on center. (concrete slab so no easy fixes). It passed inspection just fine. It’s been finished for nearly 5 years and it’s been perfectly fine for us at 5’1″ and 6″2″. All that said y’all are taller and might want to check that comfort factor. An aside is I don’t see where you can put plumbing for the second shower head y’all want with the pocket door to the bedroom.

Have you looked into a wall mounted toilet? They give you a couple of extra inches in a tight space like your planning. 50” is going to be really tight.

Also have you thought about not having a shower door? Since your shower is pretty large/deep and depending on if you are planning for a curb or not, you might be able to get away with not having a door. Less glass to clean!

Keep up the good work!

Great process post – this is really how it goes IRL! I thought your first draft was great until you talked about how it affects your bedroom, so I do like the final draft as well. In our new house the water closet has 22″ from toilet to door and it feels plenty roomy, then 6″ to one side and 12″ to the other, which is nice because there’s room for a shallow cabinet in which I can keep necessary personal supplies. I’m surprised how annoying it is to have to leave the toilet area for certain things/personal care. Also it’s annoying to have to go into the water closet for a few squares of toilet paper to get hair off the shower, quickly blow your nose, etc. So keep in mind you may want to make provision for a handy paper towel roll or similar in the main area.

We just put in a 36″ x 60″ shower and even with 2 of us in there (and 2 shower heads) we’ve never felt cramped or had any issues with it being too small even though we read it’s recommended the shower be much larger for 2 people/2 shower heads. Although we are on the smaller side of average build. We also find ourselves opening the glass shower door IN rather than swinging it out most of the time, so if that’s an option in your space it might help on any door crowding you’d possibly feel.