Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
leightx_gw

Master bath in new home - input please!

leightx
10 years ago

Hello all!

We are in the process of nailing down the final plan for our house, and I had some questions about the master bath. I'd love your input! We might change the double door entry (although we've had it for 15 years and it has never bothered me) and we'll make the WC door outswing. My concerns:

Is the shower too big? Is the bench unfunctional (is that even a word?)? We had it as a corner bench but shrunk it down some so the designer moved it this way. Shower will be zero-entry and doorless. We are in TX and don't get many cold days, so I'm not too worried about temps.

Linen closet - large enough?

MC = medicine closet - basically storage for things that need to go upright and can't easily live in drawers (hairspray, sonicare, etc).

Any other ideas / suggestions?
Is WC accessible enough if we need a walker at some point far, far in the future?

Comments (13)

  • leightx
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Oops - forgot the pic!

  • sjhockeyfan325
    10 years ago

    Shower bench - I never used mine for anything other than as a footrest for shaving my legs. If you're not going to sit on it, you could make it lower and shallower. I didn't sit on my shower bench in the 7 years we had it.

    Size of shower - it's pretty large, but I wouldn't say it's "too" large. I see two shower heads. Will two of you ever shower at the same time? If so, not too big.

    Door to shower - we went without a door for 19 years, then added one when we remodeled. I was very happy with the door. We're in mild-climate northern California.

    Linen closet and medicine cabinets - only you know how much you have to store in them!

  • asharding Harding
    10 years ago

    Master Bathrooms typically have a bathtub. Important for resale, not as important if you don't mind going without.

    My wife considers a bathtub essential.

    Your closet is quite large so perhaps shopping and clothes are more important in your case!

  • leightx
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Asharding - I know we might lose potential buyers without a tub, but we're hoping to stay here a very long time, and, with a very informal poll among friends, only a tiny fraction ever take baths. I'm hoping that some potential buyers way off in the future will see the benefit of a nice large shower over a tub - and offset the bath-required people!

    Sjhockeyfan - there will definitely be some two-person showering going on! So tell me more about the switch from doorless to door - I was planning on going without mainly because I HATE cleaning shower doors. But if there's a compelling reason to have one (actually I think we'd have 2) - I'd love to hear!

  • lee676
    10 years ago

    Is this totally new construction or a renovation? Trying to figure out if some parts of it are locked in place or already there.

    IMO, the linen closet is the wrong shape - narrow and deep instead of the usual shallow but wide. The things in back are going to constantly be blocked by the things in front. Unless you fold your towels and sheets so they're nearly 3 feet long.

    The "do I need a tub" thing has been debated here and elsewhere ad nauseum. It's never settled, because some people insist on a tub, some are fine without one as long as there's a tub in another bathroom, and some never take baths and don't want a tub at all. The last group is large enough that I don't think you won't be able to sell your house. That said, I like to at least leave some space that could potentially be allocated to a tub if renovated, so that buyers that want a tub can add one (the cost of renovation is tiny compared to cost of a house). I wouldn't personally want a bathroom without a two-person shower and a two-person tub, but that's just me. Well, me and somebody else. But there are enough that don't mind not having a tub that I wouldn't fret about it. I do like doors on a shower though even in warm climates - it keeps the steam in and avoids drafts, which I find comfortable. Certain types of textured doors look clean for a long time without being washed.

    I'd consider a decent-sized folding seat that you can pull down for sitting or as a leg rest when needed; the rest of the time you get extra space. I'd also prefer a linear/trench drain at the end rather than a center drain, because drains always feel uncomfortable under my feet. The no-step to get in the shower thing is great - be sure the entire bathroom floor is ever so slightly sloped towards the shower. Mopping the floor clean will become a snap, and you'll be immune from flooding should something spring a leak.

    The triangular medicine cabinets seem odd or impractical to me, but they may work.

  • williamsem
    10 years ago

    Can you post a larger section if the plan? I think there could be some improvements, but hard to get a good sense of things in a vacuum.

  • busybee3
    10 years ago

    looks like a pretty good plan to me!
    i would leave the door swinging into the WC since it's 8'10" long, the inswing shouldn't be an issue... the door is probably only 28" wide at most.
    i would probably put the bench staight across the entire window wall since you have the space. i can't imagine the small little bench looking too nice as drawn... there's less shower floor/grout to keep clean that way too!
    it looks like there will be plenty of vanity/medicine cab storage, etc so the linen closet size should be fine... i certainly wouldn't make the shelves as deep as the closet is drawn- i'm thinking you would step into it...
    i love the closet space and laundry room locale- looks ideal!
    i would be pretty ambivalent about the double door/single door entry to the bathroom.

  • raehelen
    10 years ago

    Wow! Huge bathroom, looks like you will have lots of light too! I agree with BB3, since you have so much room, I'd make the bench proportionate to your shower, seems oddly shaped and small in there. What will it be used for? If for shaving legs, would be nice to be big enough to sit AND have legs on there too.

    I would put pocket door into WC wall, and then have linen 'closet' open shelves in WIC closet accessible long and narrow way, rather than short and deep.

  • leightx
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Great ideas - I think we'll ditch the linen closet and just store towels in the MC.

    I'm not liking the little shower seat either - but there are actually 2 openings to the shower (is this a terrible idea?). So we can't extend all the way across under the window, but it can certainly be larger - or perhaps in the corner?

    Closet is large because we won't have much (or possibly any) attic storage) - we want everything to be accessible. So xmas decorations etc will be in here, extra dishes and things like that in the pantry.
    Here's the entire floorplan with a link below to zoom.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • Karenseb
    10 years ago

    I love your floor plan. It is my idea of close to perfection. I think you can forgo a tub and a lot of people won't mind. I like how your laundry is centrally located with access to all bedrooms.
    The one question I have on this new build is : Where is the powder room for guests. I can't seem to find it and think that would be important to future owners who would not want guests to go through a bedroom or "office"
    Certainly the bathroom for the bedroom in the lower right hand corner could be reconfigured to be a guest bathroom.

  • kirkhall
    10 years ago

    Bevangel--your advice is usually quite good, but in this case, I think you or I are mis-reading the dimension. I don't think the WC is 8'10" long (though it looks that way with the markings of the laundry room, you can see a small hash on the wall of the laundry behind the machines, not the front of the machines).

    It is probably closer to 5 or 5.5 feet long...and in that case, the WC (toilet room door) needs to not swing in. Any other configuration will be fine (with some modifications maybe, for the rest of the room), but for safety it should not swing in.

  • leightx
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    WC is 6'6" long - just checked! We can change that door configuration though no problem.

    Triangular medicine cabinets won't get a ton of usage - I mainly wanted a place to stash stuff that can't lie down in drawers (sonicare toothbrushes, hair products, etc). So they don't need to be super spacious.

    Karenseb - thanks for the comments! Guest bath is over on the other side, by the media / study. It is accessible from the hallway and designed to have easy access from back patio too.

  • Karenseb
    10 years ago

    That is a great location. I don't know how I missed it.
    I like the study at the back of the home. Your home plan seems very well thought out and efficient.

Sponsored
J.Holderby - Renovations
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars4 Reviews
Franklin County's Leading General Contractors - 2X Best of Houzz!