Tongue and groove ceiling is beautiful and good for you for not ruining it with canned lighting. My family's house was built in the late 1800's (about 4000 sq. ft. including additions over the years). Lots of natural light. NO recessed lighting was ever added in order to preserve the beautiful, pre-war architecture. The house is well lit with lamps, chandeliers, and old hanging fixtures. (ceilings are 9'6"). Undercabinet lighting was added in the kitchen. Obviously, you don't see it, but provides enough light for a large kitchen, PERFECT. We are currently building a fairly large, custom home. I told my architect several months ago that I wanted NO recessed lighting in the house, ANYWHERE. To help with lighting, i've added extra windows, hanging fixtures where necessary, sconces and undercabinet lighting in the kitchen for "task lighting". However, i am adding a lot of tongue and groove paneling (including ceiling) and i think recessed lighting is very distracting (even including recessed lighting in high end homes). Well placed fixtures and lamps where necessary seem to be enough lighting for me.

I agree with brushwork's point of view but often potential buyers are facing a completed product with no opportunity to change or upgrade. The same as any "manufacturing" business, builders focus their efforts on minimizing their input costs. Sub-standard materials are the cheapest and are often used for new construction, that's where the term "builder's grade" comes from. Even more mischief can happen sight-unseen with what's behind the walls - plumbing, electrical, etc. Heating and air conditioning systems in new houses are a frequent problem because the lowest bidder HVAC subs are often lacking in competence and do shoddy work while installing the cheapest possible equipment. Problems of this type are usually soon discovered but can be expensive and difficult to remedy.

I agree with Toronto Veteran. The old triangle diagram with rules of thumb for distances is oversimplified and not very helpful for designing kitchens because it omits the fourth and most important element: workspace. It shouldn't just be the space left over between the appliances. There are few things you do in a kitchen that don't involve a stop at a work surface. And what is also omitted in the diagram is space for used items that will be cleaned up later since you are unlikely to have a separate workstation for that. Here is a diagram I made yesterday; I had to pull it out of the trash. There would be another independent connection back and forth between the pantry cabinets and the island representing the setting out of pantry materials before using the appliances. My son was a chef and taught me that was the most important part of the cooking process. The second was having someone else cleaning up while you were working. Rules of thumb are what you use when you are learning to design; they should be discarded as early as possible,

If we can't convince you on not having a separate tub, then the Shub layout you proposed is certainly better than the first one. Personally, I could not live with a bathroom that small and have two people doing their things at the same time but only you can tell if you are good to live with that inconvenient and if the time you are two in there is worth making the floor space available to walk smaller. If you are still decided on a separate tub and a double sink vanity, here some changes from your layout I suggest. That is assuming that you can work around the window on the vanity wall (and some part of it in the shower. Assuming that you can do this, I also assumed that you can change your french doors to a single door. Making this change would double the hanging space for your clothes and make your bedroom few inches bigger. You may notice that I moved the tiny bedroom door and your bedroom door too. I think the hallway is best used for the space a swing door required. I put a pocket door to your bathroom. It is a space saver. I added a cabinet. That is optional. I would really hard time deciding between free space and storage. I would use the same floor all over (shower, tub and vanity areas). It will make it feel more spacious. I added a shower curtain that you can pull all the way while you shower. This way you won't have to wipe the tub every time you shower.