A couple of things. With regard to the chimney stack, I recommend posting on the Remodeling forum of GW. With the existing closets in your bedroom and the guest room, could you totally take that space over and use part if it for an enlarged bathroom and the other part, a walk in closet oriented the other direction? The guest bedroom could have a closet built on the wall behind the toilet. Maybe thats workable maybe not. I would draw out all your dimensions on graph paper. Then taking tracing paper cut out to scale furniture (beds, vanities, nightstands, etc) and bathroom fixtures. Then place them around your rooms to see what fits and doesn't fit.

We started with one smaller idea..., but as we found more things that we wanted to replace— each possible solution has come with additional little problems... Welcome! Yep, that's how it goes. It's fine to realise this in the beginning. You can assess things & plan properly now. After you've ripped everything out is not quite a great time to start planning. Project mushrooming sometimes means saving & starting at a later stage, for a better result. We have realized now that we need to step back and start at the beginning with a directed vision and goal rather than just slapping together ideas and hoping it turns out well. GOOD! Any tips for choosing a good designer and questions to ask would be appreciated. A lot of people will have a lot to say on that one. You might consider starting a new thread on that specifically in fact. Check referrences to find people, and check referrences after you've found people. Check actual work, check work that's been done some years back. Do not go for the least expensive. They will provide the least pleasant experience, and your actual cost will be more. Check referrences. A good few. Take overly glowing or overly bitter referrences with a pinch of salt. Find imaginitive & knowledgeable people. People who find solutions, don't avoid issues, people who bring up matters you hadn't considered, people who don't just agee, but tell you straightforwardly when things aren't good or realistic choices. Check actual work... Ask what common issues or flaws are, and how they work around them. Get things written down, everything. Pricing, time frames, who sources fittings, specs of e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Ask who'll be actually doing the work, who'll be overseeing it. Don't work with the guy who'll check up at the end of the week. Find out what they actually do. Design, contracting, both... Check those referrences. Find out how long they've wrked with their employees & subs. Avoid working with friends or family. You think you have a good relationship, so you should. That good relationship is the reason you shouldn't. Check work that's been done some years back. Don't expect a free consultation in the beginning. Some pros do it. A lot (of good ones particularly) are far too busy to spend time in that way. They'll send you some pics and contacts of old clients to start off. Ask when they'll be available to start on your job. It's alright to wait a few weeksfor a good pro busy on other jobs. Once you have a good pro, deal with them straightforwardly, and trust them. If there's something you're unsure of, ask them, before asking the neighbour's cousin's dentist's brother. Oh yeah, and check referrences. It's the most preached, least practised tip. Guess how I know... For a project like this, what is a ballpark estimate for designer fee? There, I can't help, in the least. I'm a continent away, I assume, and things are... different. I do like that design with toilet immediately to the right upon entering bathroom. It’s in the master and would be fairly far to the right from the door so would not be visible easily from outside the bathroom The concern of a toilet near the bedroom is more regarding the sound, than unpleasant sightlines.

My first collection of comments are related to your revised drawing/plan: As I look at your revised drawing it doesn't look square. You state that the room is 6x6. But even so I think you will only get about 19-20" between vanity and toilet. Unless you got an 18" vanity, which is what I did in my East Bathroom that is 6.5' wide. If you remove the chimney you could put a window there. I've placed a small window in my West Bathroom, that previously was lacking one, and I love it. In my West Bathroom (I show in the last set of pics) I have a cast iron Kohler shower pan that is 36x60", with glass doors (French). I could see you doing something like that in your room. The curb is about 2" finished floor. Easy to get in and out of. The cast iron is a dream to maintain. Even better might be using a 36x48" pan then have 18" to one side for storage, as you can see in East Bathroom pictures, to the left of the tub. The storage could be in the form of pullouts like a pantry, or cabinets with pullouts like mine. They would be deep, so the pullouts would be very helpful for access. If you did cabinets, the lower drawers wouldn't be as deep, to allow for the toilet. The upper ones could be deeper. The plumbing could be housed in that pocket too. I like the idea of moving that closet wall to give you the width you need for the toilet and vanity. My East Bathroom; to demonstrate 6.5' wide room with 27" toilet round bowl, with 18" vanity. The floor tiles are 6x12 to help with floor scale. The pull outs at the tub are not as deep as the 30" tub, due to the toilet in the way, but are great for storage. roughing in: the pullouts, the plumbing is in there too and you can just sort of see the wall mounted tub fixtures. the pullouts come out as far as that door, just to the toilet tank: This toilet is the Toto Promenade in the round bowl. I love this toilet and would recommend it. But I love Nancy's idea of the wall mounted toilet with the tank in the wall. I have a Bidet on it now as you can just slightly see by the toilet lid in the pic above): These second comments relate to the plan where the chimney stays in place: I like the idea of expanding the shower. Here, a Kohler pan 36x48" could work well. One thing I did in my West Bathroom was a long wall niche that allows for a bit more elbow room. Its the only thing I like about having a niche, because they can get bogged down with products and trap water on the shelf, causing mold. I wipe down my shower daily following the showers. Last one to shower gets the honors. Its a quick wipe down of all walls and glass. Floor gets a clean every couple months, if that, depending on the shower load. I haven't had to "clean" my shower in 4 years, because of my daily habit (that I never had before). So glad I adopted this habit, I did not want the ugly mess that my old acrylic shower/tub combo had become. Since your wall is not an out side wall you could put a niche there. I only place 2 bottles of product on that shelf, lol. Any extra go in a basket that sits on the shower floor at the far end. I have a nice clinical shower stool in there too, with a gray seat that matches the floor. Nice to sit once in a while to let the rain shower head run on me. Having your toilet move down into the new expansion would be great. If you could move the wall 18" you could have that left wall become a wall with shallow built in 15" cabinets. Maybe a even a pass through into the closet for some things. It could even have a counter and uppers sort of like a kitchen. My West Bathroom; 5' shower space, with grab bar, niche, Hansgrohe rain shower head and hand held, and Fantech brand exhaust fan with light on the ceiling. The motor is in the attic and split into two locations in the bathroom, on at the shower and the other at the toilet: French doors, allow me to open the whole thing if needed, but I just use one normally: Kohler shower pan, in remodel process. This one has a center drain: Don't forget the exhaust fan, and a gap under your door to allow for make-up air to enter the room so the fan can work at evaluating the moist shower air. Click any photo for enlargement and full view.

The only way to get help here is to post a to scale floor plan . IMO free standing tubs are a PITA to get in and out of and IMO will be as dated as the corner tub you have now very soon.So post the floor plan and also some info as to what can be moved as far as plumbing is concerend. Keep in mind moving a toilet is expensive but can be done. Free standing tubs need lots of space to look right BTW