In #2, I like that you're not walking a long way between the bedroom and the bath or the bedroom and the closet--it seems like a really reasonable way to not go through one to get to the other.

However, I would seriously consider a toilet room, rather than the toilet out in the open. Not everyone cares about privacy in the master toilet--but for those of us who do, it could hurt resale, especially with a more expensive house.

I also like master toilet privacy.
Of your designs, I like scheme B of 2 Best.
However, I would also play with this idea:
In scheme A, move toilet to the location of your linen closet, and privatize it with a pocket door from the vanity area.
Enter straight in at the current toilet location. At this point you could leave all other fixtures where they are, or rearrange to your desire (maybe put vanities straight in the door, with tub along left wall, and shower in upper left corner).

See if that floats your boat at all.

Bob--On the bathroom thread, you mentioned you liked my shower as it was so open and airy. I played with your layout and came up with a way to give you a very similar shower. I've posted it below. Your vanity was very short, so I moved the bathroom entry wall to allow you a 6' vanity. That also allowed for a 5' wide shower (big enough for a wheelchair to turn around if need be.)

Also, could you please post the full floor plan for this level? I may have another option for you, but I need to see what the rest of the layout looks like to see if it will work.

Hope this helps!

mydreamhome - thanks for the modifications - I did like your 'open' shower pictures. Looks like you took the little closet bumpout and put that to good use giving me an extended shower and reasonable vanity length. Guess your are voting for the bedroom in front of the house.

Here is a full floor plan (bedroom in front).

kirkhall - did some very poor pictures of what I think you were saying about putting the door straight ahead. I could probably keep playing with the layout given the extra space that it gives me.

One thing about a huge shower... They are nice, and if that is what you want, great! But, it doesn't really make sense to point out they are large enough for a wheelchair when it is on the second floor (and no elevator, that I see)...
Just saying. :)

Yes, that is the general idea--gives you some more space to work with and tuck the toilet in a more private location.

My dream homes option is a nice one too; if you end up with your Master in back.

Good point on the large shower and wheelchair access.
Figured that if became an issue for us, could probably pull the rear staircase and add an elevator.

Did think of another case for the bathroom in front of the house. My current bath has a similar layout and we have nice ceiling peaks and cathedral ceiling possible with the tub centered in the window.

Don't think the room is as interesting in the side by side rear view.

Here's another option for you, bob, placing the bathroom on the back side of the house, bedroom on the front, open shower, privacy for toilet, utilized the hallway style entry from bedroom to closet/bath & large closet with his and her sides. I also straightened out the hallway which will make moving furniture much easier. That beautiful, gracefully curved staircase will also help in that regard. I would do some sort of prettied up window at the end of the hall by the switchback staircase. Where is the attic access planned for? Can you do a walkup utilizing the switchback stairs? If you can't do it there due to roof clearances, I may have another option for you. I am working on a couple different takes on this layout as well.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the modifications. They've opened a whole new set of ideas for me. I like the new straightened hallway. Much cleaner. Does make the front bedroom oversized in length.

You added an extra bath - would probably absorb that back into the closets. Would put the house at 7 baths; more than I wanted.

Having the master bedroom doors open out let's the bath/closet hall slide to the right and easier to place closets Does opening out have any
drawbacks. It has the added benefit of lengthening the left top bedroom wall for better spaceto put a long dresser we have.

I do have to look at the slightly smaller back center bedroom. We have large bedrooms now, and don't want to go too smaller in those rooms.

I'm going play around with your drawings a bit.

Thanks

Glad I could help, Bob! As far as the master bedroom doors go, I don't think there is anything wrong with having them open out. It actually looks very inviting to me when I see them--the doors to my parents' master bedroom open out like this in their new house. Plus you really do gain so much more flexibility in setting up the master suite that it is definitely worth it IMO.

I didn't know what the 1st floor looked like and how many beds/baths in all. I wanted to delete the big hallway bath by the stairs and make that either a craft room, upstairs laundry, or office. I would then rearrange the closets and the bath servicing the secondary bedrooms on the front side of the house to either have a J&J or a hallway access bath.

The secondary bedroom on the back side of the house is still a good size. That's a queen size bed I placed in there. Plenty of clearance on all sides. While it is smaller than the other bedrooms on this level, it is significantly larger than most secondary bedrooms built today. If you are ok with deleting the really large hallway bath and relocating it to across the hall, you could then extend that bedroom's bathroom into that space and gain extra room in the bedroom. However, I would think hard about what benefits you really gain by doing that.

6 bathrooms---WOW!!! So my next question is, does the back center bedroom need it's own bath or could all 3 secondary upstairs bedrooms share 1 bath? Or could you have direct access into a shared bath from both the bedroom and the hallway?

The extra space gained on the front bedroom by straightening out the hallway could be used for a walk-up attic stair. That's why I asked about placement of attic access. Alot of times rooflines on the ends of the house will preclude you from being able to place them near the ends and the stairs end up needing to be centralized. That space would be the perfect solution.

Hope this helps!

mydreamhome - you have given me so many ideas to play with. The house has 3 full baths on the 2nd floor, a spare bedroom with bath on the first, a powder room and a half bath in basement. So at 6 baths already.

I liked the idea of the straight hallway, so did some sketching. Basically borrowed about 1 foot or 2 from the closet to give me some space to put the back bedrooms bath and closet on the left side (as you had done), but leave a pretty even dimensioned closet. The bedroom loses about a foot in total space, but I gain back the hall.

I then tried some other ideas on the bath using the width of the room to try to make it more roomy. What do you think of this idea? I take a couple of feet from the master bedroom length for the second closet, but take some of the bathroom width on the right side to fit in the redesign for the middle back bedroom.

Ooooh! I really like the second bathroom layout. 2 things you might want to consider-- 1)change the swing of the toilet room door so it opens out for safety reasons, 2)push the tub deck all the way back to the wall under the windows. It looks like you have about 3' in the window alcove area measured from the window to the interior side of the back wall. Your tub deck will likely only be about 4' deep, so you should be able to slide it all the way back under the window and maximize the entry space into the shower. You've only got about 24" in the drawing now for the shower entry. IMO that would be too narrow. Sliding the tub back allows for an additional ~1' to work with for the shower access.

Hastily sketched, so dimensions not 100% accurate; kind of just put down the fixtures approximately where they might work to see if the general layout would work. The window alcove on my architects plan appears to be about 2 feet deep, so that would leave approx 2 feet of tub into the room.

The room for the toilet room also looks a bit narrow - not sure, but I would think you would want a minimum 4 feet to be comfortable? What are dimensions of typical toilet alcoves?

There is plenty of linear shelf space in the closets - approx 40 linear feet of shelves. I currently have 17 linear feet of closet space and would be happy with 30 feet. So I could steal a foot from the left closet to enlarge the bath space.

As you can probably tell, I am a total novice at this, but am having a whole lot of creative fun. (expensive fun, because until I get this figured out, can't get to construction drawings and permits and bids and actual construction on the property that I now own).

In the below, I took a foot from the left closet to add more space for toilet and shower. Also went to pocket doors but not sure if they make sense. Should probably also steal some space from one of the closets for a linen closet in the bath.

I was also thinking that if we go with the straight hallway, the extra 3-4 feet in the front bedroom where you had suggested attic access, could also be where the hall linen closet goes and possibly also a small reach-in closet to store larger items such as suitcases...

4 feet wide is HUGE for a toilet room. Minimum is 30" and that is tight. Comfortable is 36 to 42" wide.

With a pocket door on the front like that though, you either need to move your bathroom entry to the left to line the closet wall with it (essentially swap the side the larger closet is on compared to the smaller closet), or change it to an outswing door.

Well, I thought I posted a response yesterday, but it's not showing up. Let me see what I can remember...

-Kirkhall is right--4' is huge for a toilet room. 3' is plenty wide. Using a pocket door there is going to be tough., While you've got 4', you need to remember that there are 2 corner returns and casing to accommodate there @ ~6" each + double the width of the door @ 4'+ 2-4" additional. That would mean a wall that is 5'2" wide or so. Going with a 3' wide toilet room with an outswing door is the way to go here. The luxurious bathrooms at the Venetian in Las Vegas have a similar setup, so when an outswing door was recommended for my toilet room, I already knew what it looked like & knew it would work perfectly. You can put a towel bar behind the door and frankly, the door will likely stay closed 99% of the time anyway.

-Put the extra foot gained from the toilet room into the shower. You are going to need it for the entry into the shower. 2' openings are very narrow and ideally, you want 36". Your house is on the spacious size. Using a lot of narrow openings and doors will likely look rather odd. Take advantage of the spaciousness and give the rooms a grand look.

-I see the linen tower you put in by the toilet room. If you're wanting to incorporate linen storage, you could make the vanity into a U or L shape and slide in some cabinetry linen towers.

-I'm not sure I like the long hallway to the bathroom. I kind of get the tunnel feeling with it. But that is a matter of personal preference.

-About the closets--I know what it's like to have small closets. With each house, we've gotten larger (from a 3.5x2 closet with 3.5 linear feet of hanging space to a 6x5 closet with 10 linear feet of space to our current closet with 21 linear feet of space.) The thing to remember is that in larger closets, you often will do stacked rods and double your hanging space. In between the rods will be a shelf for additional storage area. In our previous closets, we couldn't do the double rods, but in our current closet we were able to. So we really have 42 linear feet of space vs 21'. When you're looking at your master closet, keep that in mind. DW will likely have 1 section of full length hanging space and the rest of hers + yours will be stacked rods. So your linear feet of storage space will virtually double. For instance, the master closet in my drawing above gives 60.5 linear feet of double rod storage. If you opted to make the hanging space on the south wall full length space, that gives you 51 linear feet of double rod storage and 4'9" of full length hanging space. (If you want to see real life photos of this set up as well as the bathroom, I can get you some photos.) With this in mind, smaller closets may be a better way to go so you can utilize the space for the living areas vs. the storage areas.

I'm still working on some ideas for your layout. Will post when I get them finished.

Hope this helps!

mydreamhome,
I was at the architects today - he liked my last concept and is incorporating it into the plans. He did say the toilet room should be only 3 foot and that it would leave room for a nice sized shower. He also suggested cabinetry linen towers on side of the vanity.

In my current house, my master closet it 5'6" X 12 feet. I used easyclosets.com organizers in it with some stacked hanging space and shelves and draws. Works out to a lot of storage. As you said, having 35 linear feet actually gives about 70 feet of hanging and shelves. My wife does have about 5 feet of full length storage and I have stacked rods.
I actually need double the space that she requires.

We also worked in the redesign of the middle back bedroom, moving the bath to the left side and straightened out the main hallway from the master to the right side of the house. He's making the hallway a bit wider since it is so long and putting a nice window at the far end. Going to use the regained space to hide the attic access and storage.

Really appreciate the design ideas - my architect doesn't realize I have a small design team in the background enriching the plans.

I have to get my plans done quickly - I've owned the new property for 2 months now and will probably take 8-12 weeks for town approval of plans. This thread really got me over a spot I was stuck in.

If possible, would like to see pictures of your bathroom to get some ideas. I will post the new plans in next few days.

Thanks again

Got back the revised drawings from my architect. I think the bathroom is very roomy and I like it. The vanity is too long, but will probably put in a linen tower next the right side.

Will probably take a foot from the master bedroom to make the left closet 7 X 7'10". Don't need all the bedroom space.

The back bedroom was redone with the bath and closet on left side. Shower looks a bit small, but I am not sure of the actual dimensions. Might consider taking a foot from the bedroom width to widen the closet and bath? Is that worth it?

The hallway was straightened and as a result needed to be widened to approx 4 feet to not be claustrophobic. It is almost 30 feet long.

As a result, the right bedroom went from 12'9" X 16' to 12'9 X 14'9" (lost 1'3"). I know most would say this is still a good size bedroom, but I have decent sized bedrooms now, and this would be a slight reduction in size for one of my daughters (she needs larger than she has now).

The large storage closet does not do much for me as we have large closets. The linen closet also does not need to be more than standard depth.

Any ideas on how to gain a bit of space (1' or so) on the right bedroom?

Might consider going back to the hallway with the kink in it if it gets back the slighter bigger bedroom. That has the advantage of not being 30' long. I'm not sure how a hall that long will look.

Any comments on this new layout?

Tbanks,

Whatever you end up with (hallway-wise) be sure that Master toilet door is an outswing in your final plans.

Like the master bath. Keep in mind that with the shower position as drawn, you will not be able to go doorless. Flipping the toilet and shower would allow for a slightly bigger shower, no glass and no door if desired. Just a thought...

Door swing on toilet room still needs to be flipped for safety issues.

The bathroom entry door just kind of hangs there in the open. I would reverse the swing on it as well. Odds are the door will likely stay open almost all the time anyway, so giving it a place to land would be ideal.

I posted a couple different pics for you of vanity options for that space that are approx the same length as yours...

Back bedroom and bath turned out nice. I wouldn't steal anymore space from the bedroom to widen the shower--utilize the nook in the closet to do that--make the bathroom door a pocket door, extend the shower down and maybe add a linen closet as you enter on the left. You may want to consider another pocket door for the closet in that bedroom as well.

The small front bedroom and too large hall entry closets may all work together to form a solution. What if you turned the long hall closet the other direction so it opened into the large front bedroom, delete the closets between the bedrooms and extend the small bedroom over. The layout has more details.

Bathroom Vanity Pics:

2 pics of opposite ends of the same vanity:

Here's a layout of everything I've outlined above:

Hope this helps!

mydreamhome - I have always admired the wavy frame mirrors you have in the first bathroom. Where did you find them?

Hi dekeoboe! Are you finished with your build? Would love to see some pics. The last ones I think I remember seeing were when you got your front door!

Those mirrors came from Garden Ridge in Greensboro. I know they had them at their location in Charlotte too. If you go look, you'll see that many of them have chips in the finish. You will have to trust me that you don't notice the chips once you get the mirror on the wall. (That's how I know Garden Ridge in Charlotte had them too--looking for the perfect finish!) Anyway, they came in 2 color schemes--the one we have that's a silvery finish with dark brown trim and a gold finish with a reddish brown trim + some sort of wavy reddish brown accent sprayed on it (imagine really thin silly string). The gold one was nice, but it was just too gold for me. My girlfriend bought one and it goes really nicely with her bedroom set. I think they ran either $99 or $199 each--$99 sounds right though.

Hope this helps!

Mydreamhome, thanks for the feedback. I really like the linen towers. Also eliminated the need for medicine cabinets as all is close to the sink. Can go with nicer mirrors as in the photos.

Thinking about the shower toilet switch, but my wife is feeling that no door facing the vanities gives no privacy at all. But it does give a larger shower.
Possibly a door on the opening as even clear glass gives some privacy. I did go back to your shower pictures and do like them a lot. Any problems with putting doors on the short side?

Was also reading that a toilet room should be minimum 60". The switch accomplishes that.

Your idea for front two bedrooms really helps. Recoups the lost space. Will probably make the left bedroom closet a door wider by shrinking the hall linen closet. And will likely make the right bedroom closet 1 foot longer.

My daughter was very happy to get the bedroom larger.

Can't thank you enough for all the advice and designs.

Glad I could help, bob4321! A door on the shower can definitely be done. The advantage to no door is that it allows the pony wall which makes the shower feel less clausterphobic, there is no shower glass to clean/no worry of water spots on the glass & it saves $$ to forgo the door. I redid your vanities on the design layout to have the linen towers on either end and to give you line of sight from the vanities. With the vanity wall being offset into the bathroom more so than the shower wall + adding the linen tower, the direct line of sight when standing in front of the right hand sink lines up with the interior edge of the pony wall. I really think that with these things in mind, the privacy thing will be a non-issue. We didn't have a shower privacy issue, but we were slightly concerned about it possibly being cold in the shower. The builder tried to talk us into a door and glassing in the upper part of the pony wall (he was way more concerned about it being cold than we were). We opted to forgo the glass at the outset, but made sure everything would be able to accommodate a glass wall and door should we find that we needed it. the end result is that we were right & we didn't need the glass or door--the shower is not cold/drafty--so that would have been money wasted and more cleaning headaches for me. So my advice to you would be the same as what we did. Build the shower without a door & glass and see what you think after living with it and using for a few months. If after giving it your best shot, you feel you need the door and glass, you can add it then. Truly, the first time I showered in my new shower it was a little reminiscent of highschool locker room showers--it was just so much more open than what I was used to with our old alcove tub/shower combo. But the 2nd shower was better and it wasn't long before I didn't think about it at all.

Glad the girls are happy with their room sizes and that the closet issue was resolved. If I can remember to bring my camera the next time I go to Mom's I'll snap a pic of her front bedroom closet setup. It's very similar to the one in the left front bedroom. It may give you some good organizational ideas for your daughter.

In the hall bath, you may want to make the wall between the toilet & tub extend out ~6" from the tub edge. It will give additional privacy for the toilet and give more visual balance to the tub area.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the new layout. I just finished up with my architect. The new plan takes almost all of this into account. For the master bath, we decided on a pocket door for the toilet in the top left. Plenty of privacy if wanted, partial privacy if open. For now the shower has glass, but could change mind later as you said worth trying without. Glass and nice door is a few thousand dollars plus cleaning and mold collection corners. And the offset vanity hides most of the opening.

I did notice that the double kids bath had no place for towel racks from the shower, so switched the toilet and tub. Area by window for towels.

Would love to see your pictures of the closet. Enlarged it to about 8x3'6".
We also added 1 foot to the front of the right bedroom. House footprint on 2nd floor 1foot larger, but room back to 16 long.

Will post new plans in couple of days. Should look almost exactly like what you just posted.

Got back revised drawings from my architect. Two questions. For the master bath below, have put the shower in the front with hopeful option to go doorless. My question is on the width of the shower. The room depth is 9'1" (ignore the 13' 4" dimension). If the toilet is given 5 feet and a 5" wall between, then the shower is only 3'6". I think that is a bit narrow to have a shower head on the long wall. We don't really like rain heads, but enjoy more powerful dual heads on the wall. I was thinking that 3'10-4' would be a better width. Choices I see are
1. shrink the toilet space by 6" - will it be too small? It is open to the side so won't feel too tiny?
2. take 6" from the left master closet.
3. move the left closet 6" into the master bedroom (has some spare length I can live without) giving 6" more for the bath.

The second question is my rework of the back bathroom. I switched the original toilet and tub locations to give space for a towel rack by the window. But the toilet seems very 'upfront' in the room. I always worry about sound traveling to the back bedroom from the bath, so it will be well insulated, but was trying to keep the toilet off the bedroom wall anyway. The door will be closed most of the time, and that part of the hallway is not traveled much except for the kids.

Thanks

If you aren't happy with a 3'6" shower, I'd bump your closet 6".

On the back bathroom, reversing the doorswing would help.

Master bath-Either take 6" from the closet or bump the whole closet over 6". Personally, I would just take the 6" out of the closet and leave the rest the same. I'd also reverse the shower head to the opposite wall especially if you do a pony wall vs. a glass wall until you figure out whether or not to do a door. The spray of the water hitting you may splash up onto the top of the pony wall in the position it's in now as you will be physically standing closer to it with the water spraying in the direction of the pony wall. By reversing it, the spray is directed to the opposite wall and any spray is not likely to make it to top of the pony wall at all. For reference, our pony wall is 5' high & we have not had any water splash problems on the wall. Lastly--double check if that pocket door will work--you've got 5' to work with 6" is taken up on the shower wall with the return, leaving 4.5' which means you may only have about a 24" door realistically. This is too small IMO. Going with a swing door would allow for a 30" door--much more ideal.

Hall bath--I liked them flipped the other way better with the toilet by the window. My suggestions on towel bars--1) install one in the tile at the back of the tub, 2) use a double shower curtain rod (allows curtain on outer rod and towel hanging space on inner rod), 3) use a cabinetry linen closet 15" deep instead of a sheetrock linen closet--this allows the door to slide down to the left allowing for approx the same space you had on the window wall on the hallway wall for a towel rod, 4) Place a towel bar on the toilet side of the wall--simply reach out and around to grab your towel 5) utilize towel/robe hooks and/or towel rings--you could even put one on the end of the wall separating the toilet and tub. here's a mock up of the locations for you...

Couple general questions for you--when I plug your layout in my system, the interior walls all appear to be 6"--is this correct? Also, the interior single doors all appear to be 30" wide--correct as well? The reason I ask is that 6" walls where you don't have any dramatic openings that require a beefier look is space that could be used more efficiently. Also, with this size house, I'm guessing 10' ceilings down and at least 9' up. Wider doors--say 36"--would look more visually correct--scale and proportion). Plus wider doors makes moving furniture soooooo much easier with less paint touch up after.

I'm so excited for you--the plan is so close!!!! Hope this helps!

I am very excited to be so close. Owe much of that to your ideas - many thanks. Below is the revised plan that my architect did quickly yesterday. Ignore the error in the front right bedroom closet door into the wrong room.

I sent a note to the architect today to slide the bedroom closet 6" into the bedroom or enough to give me at least 3'10" on the shower dimension. Can spare 6" or so in the bedroom size. Need to mention to him to put the shower head on the back wall. Will also check on that pocket door. Problem with a hinged door is that it will typically be open and would cover either the pony wall or glass for the shower. How about having it swing inward to the toilet area?

For the back bathroom, reversing the door swing helps, as you only use the toilet when the door is closed. But it is still putting the toilet in front. I had not considered those nice towel racks they have in hotels at the back wall of the shower. Towels will get slightly wet with hard shower heads I have.

I am considering putting the linen closet where the sink is, sliding the vanity to the front, and putting the toilet at the top left. My only issue there is that there are then more noise making fixtures backing the bedroom - my architect says we will be specifying sound deadening wall construction, so hopefully won't be an issue. What do you think of that idea?

One further question - is there any reason to keep the jog in the wall for the right front closet? Would it be bad to just have the closet be a rectangle or does it really not matter too much?

Not sure of the wall thicknesses - was thinking it was standard 2X4 with 2X6 exterior walls. Will ask. Ceilings are 10 foot on 1st floor, 9 foot on 2nd floor and basement.

The door sizes - guessing you are referring to the bedroom doors- will ask architect and see what he says.

I would not do an inward swing toilet room door. You would be better off with a curtain.

But, I don't understand what is the pocket door problem.

Also, on this last plan, I don't see a closet for the right lower bedroom, but the middle lower bedroom has 2 closets. I think that was a mistake, but it should get fixed.

I think the issue is that there is only 5 feet from the back wall
to the shower wall. If the opening for the pocket door is 30", then you need 30" in the tub wall to store the door. May be a tight fit for the door and it's mechanism in the wall.

Did notice the closet mistake. Being corrected.
He rushed this out for me to see quickly.

Thanks

Did notice the closet mistake. Being corrected.
He rushed this out for me to see quickly.

Thanks

If you move the wall over, so it lines up with the exterior wall surrounding the bathtub, you'll get a larger WC and also get more "depth" of wall to work with for your pocket door. That, at least, is one option.

Is it okay to put an item like a pocket door in an exterior wall when there are insulation requirements for the wall for energy star compliance?

Master shower clarification--probably just a mistype, but shower head should be on wall shared with toilet room basically opposite where he has it drawn now. That will allow a second head or handshower mounted on slide arm to the left of the main head that can still be angled to hit your body while seated on the shower bench and is perfectly placed for shaving legs.

Master Toilet- You're correct on the explanation for challenges using a pocket door for the toilet room door. 60" avail - 6" return - ~4" stud & hardware allowance = 50" avail for door + wall; 50"/2 (door + wall) = 25" door maximum. This could be rough if one of you is using a walker or crutches or one of you has to assist the other to the toilet room. Your stairs are perfect for a chair lift if one of you requires a wheelchair to get around--no way a wheelchair is fitting through a 24" opening. Inward swing door is not a good idea--potential for clearance issues and difficulty getting assistance in toilet room should someone pass out in there or need help. What if you reversed the swing to the other side so it opened toward the tub? When the door is open, it shouldn't block the view of the tub--see revision below. One other option you could try would be a frosted glass dual hinged swing door that swings both directions. When we went to Playa del Carmen for our anniversary a few years ago, they had this style door on the toilet room and it worked nicely. That would help solve some of the issues--it could swing inward when the toilet room is not in use, close when in use, and still be able to swing outward if needed. It would hinge on the shower side and you could spec the height--the ones in the resort sat less than 1/2" above the floor and extended upwards stopping ~8-10" below the ceiling. Yet another option to mull over.

Hall Bath--I got a little confused I think on the description of where everything would move to. Just to make sure before I comment, the linen closet, sink and toilet would all be on the bedroom wall? I will say, I really liked the layout with the toilet next to the window behind the tub with the linen closet and sink on the bedroom wall with the door opening toward the linen closet. I think that really works best. The question is, do you use a cabinetry linen tower or a sheetrock linen closet? It may cost a little more to use the cabinetry, but you gain that wall space giving you a spot for a towel bar outside the shower. As far as the towel bar in the shower--I had forgotten about the kind in the hotels. I was referring to the single bar style with the ceramic ends often found in residential showers--this type wouldn't protrude as much into the shower space. But either would work. In our last house, we didn't have anywhere near the shower for a towel bar and we didn't think about it when we tiled the shower, so I installed a regular towel bar on the back wall of the shower just above where the tile stopped. It was a little high for me (I'm 5'4") but it worked--so yet another option. In the new house, DS2's bath has just a skinny space for a towel bar. We ended up deciding to just use the double rod crescent shower curtain rod and he hangs his towel on the inner rod--problem solved. As far as the door swinging toward the toilet if you leave it at the front...what happens when someone forgets to lock the door and someone else opens the door--the door whacks the knees of the person using the facilities--ouch!.

Closet Issues--I'm guessing you are referring to the bumpout in the back bedroom closet that backs up to the bathroom linen closet. I think you leave it as-is for 2 reasons: 1) that would be one super-dee-duper deep linen closet & 2) you can put storage efficient shelves in that space on the closet side--think sweaters, jeans, shoes, etc.

Wall thicknesses-It does look like the architect has specced 6" walls everywhere. Your mentioning of "sound deadening wall construction" which if done "right" usually entails 6" walls. That will get mighty expensive if done everywhere + the space lost (that's 2" extra for your shower!!!). I would do the sound deadening construction in the areas that are of utmost importance (i.e. downstairs bedroom so sound from family room/kitchen don't disturb whoever may be sleeping in there, upstairs master as the kids don't need to overhear everything mom & dad discuss/do in their bedroom and you don't need to hear all the noise the kids make in their rooms/rest of the house, and the powder room because everyone in the area doesn't need to overhear bodily functions). Use cast iron drops for the waste lines from the 2nd floor bathrooms--that will virtually eliminate any drainage water sounds from the baths. Then you only have to worry about the actual sound of the toilet flushing and the water running. If that's too loud for you, then I would sound deaden the upstairs hall bath as well and leave it at that.

Hope this helps!

Sorry about the confusion on the back bath thoughts. I was thinking of following (words in layout location).
toilet tub
vanity closet
Left wall is toilet and vanity, right wall is tub/closet

Another thought is towel rack or hooks mounted to back of solid core door.

In reality we really don't even need a linen closet at all. Large one outside the bathroom.

As far as the pocket door in the master bath, 25" is not that bad of an opening. I have 24" on a powder room now, and functions okay. Would be an open space most of the time.

Have you seen baths with doors like these?

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[Contemporary Bathroom design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103)

The bump I was referring to in the closet is the front right bedroom closet (my plans say 3'9" X 8'). Could basically make it 4'7" X 8'. Not sure if it adds much to the interior storage space.

I would want soundproofing only on the one wall between the back double bathroom and the back bedroom. No reason for any other soundproofing in the walls. Definitely cast piping for the sewer lines that run down into the 1st floor.
Have to ask the architect why the walls are at 6".

Master Toilet--If you're good with 24-25" wide door, I say go for it. I hadn't seen a sliding glass door like in your pic before--looks pretty neat. I think I would worry about the glass slamming into the wall when you slide the door, though. Maybe it has some type of bumper set up in the upper mechanism to keep that from happening. In fact, if no lock is desired, with that type of door (and maybe even with a pocket door) you may be able to get away without a return--just have the door close to the wall and make sure there's a stud at that particular spot.

Front Right Bedroom Closet--I say go ahead and enlarge it. By the time you take the walls down to 4" from 6", you'll gain a foot in the closet on the side wall. The door is going on the wall that will be moving out into the bedroom, so you're really not losing anything there as no furntire could be placed there anyway.

Hall Bath--I personally like the privacy that having the toilet behind the tub by the window provides. Especially since this is a shared bath. If someone forgets to lock the door or someone on the outside decides they just can't wait any longer to get their hairbrush and picks the lock, the person using the facilities isn't on display to the person walking in/anyone walking by in the hallway. Growing up in a house where I shared a bath with DS & DB, both of whom always seemed to need in the bathroom at any cost when I happened to be in there, I would have given my right arm for the privacy that set up provides. Just my $0.02.

Hope this helps! Is the first floor mastered yet?

Reached a bathroom decision. Really don't need a linen closer in the back bath. So, will go with the door as far left as possible and putting the toilet back to the window side. Enough room for rack or hooks by shower and opens the room a bit.

You seem game to looking at the first floor. Really appreciate all the help so far Will start a new thread.

If you leave a little room behind the hall bath door (rather than "as far left as possible", you could also put a few low profile hooks "behind it" (as it is open). This would allow even more hanging space for all those grandkids. :)
(Basically, move the door to within about 6-8" of the left wall, but not all the way over.)

Another possibility is this door. (see link) It opens either direction and doesn't use a lot of wall space to do so. I have no idea how expensive they are though...
Renovator had posted them up in a previous post, and I thought they were so cool (still do) for small spaces.

Here is a link that might be useful: ergon door

Oh, hey! I found a place that sells the hardware only! (Been looking for that myself, actually)

Here is a link that might be useful: ergon hardware

This link has some more very cool door sliders and hinge types. The ergon door is pretty neat.

http://www.allforfurniture.com/AFFurniture/Home_Page.html

Just signed up for an account (only way to see their prices). Phew! Those aren't cheap either! (But, I still like them). Wonder what they'd cost if I were registered as an architect or contractor, rather than "end user/consumer".

Did you see a price for the ergon door?

Hardware, yes. If you'd like to know without setting up an account, PM me through GW. I have email ok'd.

Final Plans - have incorporated most suggestions that made sense.
-Back middle bathroom has tub in front, door moved to left to leave room for towel rack or hooks.
-master shower widened to full 4 feet X 5'10" with head on back wall to allow for possible doorless shower.
- front right bedroom closet squared off.
- all kids bedroom closets now have slider doors to allow for full mirrors (have them now and work well).
- worked out the pocket door on the master toilet room - it fits okay
- am going with double hung windows in front of house, but casements on sides and back. Casements are smaller for the same egress requirements and allow for more wall space in bedrooms

Still some small cleanup on the plans, but pulled the trigger on the construction drawings.

thanks to everyone for all the assistance. Don't think I would be at this point without all the interaction and advice.

Congratulations! Looks good.