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mrspete

What do you want in a master bath?

mrspete
10 years ago

Bouncing off the recent discussion threads, what do you intend to put in your master bath?

My goals: A moderate sized bath that will age with us.

Will include
- Large, no barrier walk-in shower with rainforest shower overhead and adjustable handheld shower
- Moveable stool in the shower rather than a bench
- Standard sized tub placed by a window; must have hand held shower for washing hair and cleaning tub
- Easy access toilet (no closet) set in good sized space
- 5' vanity with single sink and drawers for storage
- Large mirror over sink
- Small linen closet to hold laundry basket and towels
- Grab bars in appropriate places

Comments (15)

  • kirkhall
    10 years ago

    And, heated (tile) floors.

    For me, 2 sinks (I know you are a one sink person) and I don't need a tub--a large shower is enough for me.

  • gabbythecat
    10 years ago

    We have a walk in shower, decent sized vanity (one sink), grab bars by the toilet and in the shower (shower bars have not yet been installed). We also have room for a bench - haven't chosen one yet. Oh, and we have pegs, not towel bars. Towels on towel bars always seem to look sloppy, no matter how perfectly they are hung.

  • tibbrix
    10 years ago

    Not a practical thing, but I love sconces for lighting in bathrooms.

  • maggiepie11
    10 years ago

    we're doing the works in our master this time - his and her vanities, lots of storage, moderate size shower with built-in granite bench, and clawfoot tub with handheld shower set in front of a large window, private potty room with storage cabinet above.

    but the single feature i'm MOST excited about is the outlet we remembered to put inside the linen cabinets to keep our ugly electric toothbrushes charged and out of sight. :)

  • beaglesdoitbetter1
    10 years ago

    Towel warmer (preferably drawer style)
    BIG bathtub.
    Walk-in shower w/ thermostatic shower control (ideally digital, like the Kohler or the Moen iodigital)
    Body sprays & handheld (rainfall head OK, we have them in our showers but I wouldn't miss that too much)
    Lots of storage
    Outlets in drawers so my toothbrush can be plugged in w/ no visible/unsightly cord
    Hidden shower niche/cubby so you don't have to look at all the stuff in the shower.

  • mlweaving_Marji
    10 years ago

    Walk in shower with rain head and handheld shower head, linen closet, 2 vanities/2 sinks, toilet in alcove but no door.
    No tub this time, had it and used it maybe 2x's a year, no body sprays this time. After living on a boat for 4 years and sharing a bath that has one sink, toilet, shower head and little vanity cabinet in a space that is no bigger than 2'x3' I am looking forward to having my own vanity drawers and my own sink! Oh, and a linen closet.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    10 years ago

    Some of the key elements we put in our mbath:

    speaker in the ceiling so we can listen to music or news in the a.m., gentle music when steaming.

    steam shower

    hand held shower in addition to shower head

    heated towel bar

    heated tile floor

    two sinks with an appliance garage in between with an outlet to hide our plug in stuff

    We didn't want too big a room as a big room is hard to heat from a shower. We put our tub in the guest bath to keep the room smaller. Also, I never liked tubs under the bath window because we open our window all the time and I didn't want to be stepping in and out of the tub to get to it.

    DH's pet peeve, a sink placed in such a way that the door hits you in the butt when you're standing there.

    A consideration, the moveable bench will move whereas a built in one won't. I use my bench more for putting my feet up on to wash and shave...a moveable bench may slide. Also for steaming, the wall becomes the back rest.

    (aside to maggiepie, granite is very cold to sit on in the shower, so we went with corian instead)

  • akshars_mom
    10 years ago

    My Requirements:

    1) Two sinks/two Vanities with enough storage
    2) Large shower with rain shower and hand held
    3) Toilet not visible in site when we open the door
    4) Enough storage
    5) Proper place for a clothes hamper and trash can.

  • mrspete
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I don't have an opinion on pegs vs. towel bars. Are you going with them just because you see them as neater looking? Do towels dry as quickly? I'm wondering if they fold over on themselves more?

    I'm not a fan of big bathtubs because they require more water, and it's harder to keep the water HOT. I do like HOT.

    Forgoing a tub isn't an option for us. My husband uses the tub daily, and I use it several times a week.

    I agree that I don't want a bathroom that's too big because it is harder to keep warm.

    And something I forgot: my husband badly wants a TV viewable from the tub. Years ago he started bringing our old 13" TV into the bathroom so he could watch the Olympics from the tub, and he wants something permanent in the bathroom --- wall mounted would work well. He also wants a shelf near the tub for his ipod speaker.

  • gabbythecat
    10 years ago

    Re: pegs - we've always had towel bars. But we found it to be difficult to keep the towels hung evenly so they looked tidy. No matter what we did - and my dh is very tidy - they always looked sloppy. Pegs look casual, so the towels always look fine even when hung unevenly...as far as drying quickly - we haven't had a problem with that. We do have large wooden pegs, not just metal hooks. Maybe that makes a difference?

    The casual look of pegs works really well in our house - it's a log house, lodge style. In fact, we have pegs in our entry ways for our jackets as well. For us, it's much easier than fiddling with coat hangers, especially for a jacket that we pull on for a quick trip to the mail box or the wood shed.

  • illinigirl
    10 years ago

    his/hers vanities my husband insisted upon
    no bathtub
    large-ish (?) shower with built in bench, handheld, standard and rainhead shower (75 gallon water heater with recirc pump to go with that)
    some kind of dim lighting available so bright lights don't have to be turned on
    heated floors
    pegs for towels
    sconces on the sides of the mirrors rather than on top

  • galore2112
    10 years ago

    I decided on a big shower (it's 8ft x 4ft) with a rainhead, six body sprays and a hand held spray, all controlled with an ioDigital system connected to a tankless gas water heater.

    I don't have a bathtub but the new shower is everything I expected it to be and more. It's wonderful - the combination of so many shower heads with the tankless heater and the digital shower valve (which is plumbed with 3/4" lines for hot and cold each) makes for a very nice experience.

  • beaglesdoitbetter1
    10 years ago

    MrsPete, we put a TV mirror in our bathroom. Like this one. You cannot tell at all that the TV is there when it is off. They come in any size. Another possible option for your TV :)

    {{gwi:1415361}}

  • lolauren
    10 years ago

    In contrast to those who wanted small enough rooms to feel warm, I wanted a big enough room so I wouldn't overheat and the mirrors wouldn't fog up. I work-out, shower, blow dry long hair and use a curler or another heating tool...... if the room is small/hot on top of that, it's too much for me. So, to say the least, heated floors, towels and such don't appeal to me. :)

    Other things we requested that I would request again:
    * big shower w/ two shower heads (also have a rainhead that we never use.) -- shower just has a teak bench
    * Three banks of drawers
    * Linen closet
    * Toilet closet
    * a bath tub (ours is jacuzzi since DH wanted it, but I don't like that.. I do like having it for when I am sick or hurting.)
    * a small TV up on the wall (this was also a DH request.. he does use it consistently)
    * natural light :)

  • Carol.33
    10 years ago

    For us (still in the process of building):
    Large walk in shower (no glass!!) with rain shower head and hand held, teak bench, grab bar.
    No tub. No toilet enclosure. Hooks for towels, no bars. Large vanity with single sink, lots of drawers. Appliance garage with multiple outlets inside.
    The far left door on the vanity opens to reveal a laundry basket. The laundry room is directly behind the bathroom, so there is an opening in the laundry room where the basket, which is on a roll out shelf, comes out. Looks like this in the laundry room. (We haven't put the pull on the door yet, or tiled the floor)