This is exactly what we're planning to do. Who wants to look at the toilet anyway?

If light is a consideration, and if the third floor is the top floor of your house, you might want to consider a small skylight in the shower. We put a small operable skylight in our master bath shower. We think it's one of the smartest things we did. The natural light is glorious in the morning, and when the weather is good, we can open it and enjoy the fresh air. It's almost like showering outside.

Just in passing, I notice the shower head is shown at the door end of the shower. I'm guessing you did this so you could install a built-in bench at the opposite end. You may want to reconsider this, unless the door will only open outward (which could mean drips on the floor). If the door will also swing inward, you'll run the risk of it crashing into the shower controls, unless you have some sort of door stop.

wi-sailorgirl: thanks - that's what I thought

wa8b: it is te top floor, but unfortunately it is too close to the exterior wall, so we can't do a skylight. We have a skylight in our current bathroom and I love it!

good point on the shower head... I guess I assumed the door would open outward. Do shower doors usually open inward. In our current bath, it opens outward and the drips don't really bother me.

In our location a shower of this size *must have an outswinging door: if someone falls in the shower and the door swings in, if they've fallen against the door, assistance will be delayed. If the door opens Out, this isn't a problem.

In terms of the original question, I would put a partial wall with glass on top unless you want to kneel with your head close to the toilet on a regular basis to clean the glass on the surface along side the toilet.

LOL - good point on the awkward position, plimpsest!

We designed a half wall between the shower and toilet after having the same discussion, only our shower is between the toilet and the vanity. What I really like about a half-wall is the "shelf" it creates at its top which allows me to place a cup of coffee, my glasses or my iPhone down on the outside of the shower wall when I am moving between tasks.

plimpsest: ok, you sold me with your description of cleaning the shower! Half-wall it is!

annaleef: have any pictures you want to share of your half-wall?

thanks!

Here are a few:

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Sorry, but we have so many reflective surfaces that it is hard to photograph without additional images. But two of us can carry on a conversation between the toilet and the vanity without being too "exposed" since the shower is in-between. These shots came out very tiny, so I added the full album link below if you want to see the full size photos.

Good luck with your decisions. Now that we went with the half walls, we are more than happy with the choice, even though we felt the trend was toward full length glass.

Here is a link that might be useful: Larger photos from masterbath album

We're not finished with our bathroom just yet, but we put a knee wall between the shower and sink area for the purpose of having the niche hidden so we wouldn't see all the stuff. The knee wall really had to be reinforced to hold the weight of all the tile and glass.

Here's a link. Just scroll down to the pics. at the bottom of the page.

We also had to put the shower controls at the same end as the 28" wide door because the other two walls are exterior walls. It does open in or out, but we don't have a problem with it. There's only a few drops that end up on the floor when I get out, so I just put a rug there when I'm stepping out. The pullout cabinet closest to the shower is a hamper pullout, and there's just enough room at the front for me to store a squeegy for the shower.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bathroom Blog