Boy oh boy are those familiar questions! We're about midway on our reno, gut job and can relate to what you're experiencing. Believe me, the forum was our saving grace! Regarding the tub: If you do a search on the topic you'll find a wealth of information regarding this issue. In a nutshell though, if the main bathroom has a tub and you and your DH lean towards showers, converting the tub/shower combo in the master to a walk in shower is not going to have a hugh adverse affect on resale. It's actually becoming a more popular option for many, including us. But because trends vary from region to region and even in differing neighborhoods, I would first consult with a local realtor who is familiar with your neighborhood just to be on the safe side. With a bathroom that size however, you would most likely have room for a tub & separate shower or even a comfortably sized doorless shower it just all depends on your budget and preferences. In regards to the toilet, we're allowing for about 24 inches from the front end of the bowl to the door of the shower. Shower door: With our set-up, which has the toilet sitting on the opposite wall facing the shower, a typical shower door will not have enough space to open fully so we opted for a bypass sliding door instead. It turned out to be a really good option for us in the end as they do have semi frameless in a very affordable price range. Toilet spacing from the wall: Our contractor said we needed to allow for 14-18 inches from the center of the toilet tank to the counter edge and/or walls. Entry door: If you feel the entry door is a problem, have you considered a pocket door maybe? Your contractor can easily tell you if that can be a viable option for you. As far as a view from the doors, typically you don't want to see the toilet, and the most appealing view is going to be the vanity area. Something I did that I found really helpful is I went to the book section at Lowes. There they have a couple of books that are specifically geared towards bathroom layouts with several plans printed for ideas. You may want to look through them to see if there is something similar to your situation that could help you along. In regards to posting a picture, if you go to the kitchens forum, and do a search for a post titled "READ ME IF YOUR NEW TO GW KITCHENS". In there are all kinds of tips to help new posters, including how to post pictures. Hope that helps! Good luck on your project! --Lukki

Well, phooey. I taped it out in the bathroom with blue tape last night and it looked like it would fit, but with too many nos, I'm back to the drawing board. Interesting thought, Vix. Right now we don't actually have a toilet room, so much as a separate toilet "area" (there's no door, and the closet takes up too much room to add a door), but it's on my agenda to create one. In our house, it's very necessary. I generally use that bathroom to try to FIND privacy, only to have 3 people (and sometimes the dog) follow me into the bathroom. I'm looking forward to having a door that locks and a fan so that I don't have two little people handing me the TP and asking whether I'm doing number 1 or 2 (oh, and the 1 year old likes to flush while I'm ON the pot; so I've got my own special cold water washlet), while DH decides that he absolutely has to shave and brush his teeth at that exact moment. Now if I take a hike to the guest bath on the other side of the house, all three just follow me AGAIN. Sometimes when I have insisted on locking the door in the guest bath (no way to do that with our LOUVERED -- why??? -- pocket door in the master), my one year old plopped down prostrate outside the door and cried until I open the door. For my W/C, I want to put in a LOUD fan; no whisper quiet for me. Maybe I'll even add a radio. :) The way I'm seeing it, I can either get rid of the long vanity altogether and live with a fairly small vanity, plus a tub and shower, I can skip the tub and live with the kids' bathroom on the third level as the only room with a tub, or we can bump out that weird corner jog, which would give us an additional 49'' X 27'' space -- enough to fit a 5X3 tub, 5X3 shower and keep the two vanities. But that sounds very expensive and will require carefully removing and replacing the siding to match the existing. DH's response to all this was "why do we need a tub?"

Bluekitobsessed, Na_praha, Lauren, and KGW -- Many thanks! Trust me, not every detail is perfect and it took me some time to deal with letting go. [Which I've yet to master, actually.] Lauren -- I do love that shelf AND its price but we don't have much room between tile and mirror, so I will probably file that away for Upstairs Bath. We have the 20w x 10h x 6d cubby to the right of the sink, so *so far* we've been ok. Na_praha -- With single pane windows in the house I always have leaded glass window/door/sidelight envy. Hence my taking liberties with this bath since it wasn't a purist reno anyway! And thanks re the paint color. Since I didn't want a THIRD aqua-in-some-variation room, I swear I tried a zillion colors. But I realized I wanted a shade that blended with the unlighted sconce shade color, so I mixed something up and had Miller recreate. BTW, know what you mean about greys -- thought long and hard before doing a stairwell/upper hall in a cool grey, but skylight + window + fir = not too grim, so: MS KGW! Have missed seeing you around and was gonna send you a personal update, truly. Do NOT know how you got through a problematic reno being increasingly pregnant as I was losing it, esp over the [string of expletives deleted, ha] stuff that went wrong with terrazzo base and windows. I think you get a pass for lack of progress given what you endured PLUS given that you and your DH are new parents! And as much as the soapstone sounds delightful, if you can shrug your shoulders and learn to love the black granite it may be a much better use of your time and energy. Keep us posted!

I am not a guru but I can give you my opinion. Melanie on the regrets - while trying to minimalize them they still will happen! Flip side is you will likely also have some grrr that ends up turning out different but BETTER than you imagine. IMO stealing the foot makes it much more functional so I would do it in a heartbeat but I am not the expert. It also opens it up and will 'feel' better. I think that's a good spot for a broom closet and charging station and should easily stay tidy. It is about 5' wide yes? That is a nice size space. Measure what you have you want to store in there and then look for pics of what you are thinking. Utility sink in the garage - really in the winter there isn't much dirt and when it's exposed it's frozen too so I'd think the utility sink would get more use in the spring summer fall when it's thawed so I'd keep it on the table too. My opinion - your money. Ha! As far as 'enough room' - it sounds like your kids are younger based solely upon still being in the 'add more' season of life. :) I can tell you only to think seasons, think sports, cleats, basketball shoes, church shoes, boots, hiking shoes, tennis shoes, flops, bats, ball caps, backpacks, lunch boxes, water bottles (if you have girls think even MORE shoes and then purses - ack)........ I will say for my 2 the space we have is more than adequate and it's quite roomy (I just double checked and it's actually 6.5' on a side so each person has 3' plus). That said we also have a closet near that I put off season stuff in and dog food. Winter coats and snow pants and boots are not in the locker area all year. I put them in the closet over spring/summer/fall. As long as you have a spot for that I think you are fine. Off season can closets can always be in the basement as well. There are always sweatshirts hanging and ball caps. Besides that there is always a stray nerf gun, goggles, flash lights and what have you hanging out there. I don't mind it there - it's out of the way and not underfoot! Old house it used to be in their rooms and all over. We had no designated space for outdoor wear anyplace besides bedrooms. If I am feeling brave I will snap a real life pic of it in action. It is easy to pick up and look presentable when needed but typically M-F it's a dumping spot. I like an open bench vs doors because we do use it to sit down to put stuff on and take stuff off regularly. And when our parents come and use that entry they love to be able to sit down to put on and remove shoes. It's comfortable and useful. With your window placement in the bathroom and the exterior door you will find it a nice light filled space. Our exterior door there is 3/4 glass and I love how it lights the hall. It is never a dark space.