I've had both, and can't say I prefer one over the other, but size *does* matter. It has to be large enough to store a 2 seasons of clothing, has some shelving(or i'll make some), and good lighting, it's pretty complete. I plan to make a dressing room out of the MB closet, complete w/large mirror and lighting sconces on the wall, just as soon as I finish all my other DIY projects. ;o)

We have a large master bathroom and have 2 walk in closets in there. The toilet, however, is in a little room with a door and the closets are on the other side of the bathroom. I love having the closets in the bathroom. After I shower, my clothing is right there and I don't have to trapse (sp?) through the bedroom to get dressed. I have drawers in my closet as well so I have no clothing in the actual bedroom.

We moved our closet door from the bedroom to the bathroom when we moved in order to help with furniture placement. I didn't really have a preference but now that it is in the bathroom, I really like it. DH can get ready for work in the morning and I can sleep in a little it I want. However our door to the closet is just to the left of the door from the bedroom to the bath. So you don't really have to go through the whole bathroom to get to the closet, just a little corner of it. If the door was right by the toilet, I might prefer it to be from the bedroom.

I remember a thread on this a while back and opinions seemed to be mixed. Personally I like having the closet open to the bathroom so I can get dressed without having to leave the bathroom. Proximity to the toilet wouldn't be a factor for me.

My husband's closet door opens off the bedroom. My closet door opens off my side of the bathroom. I've turned my closet into a dressing room with a triple dressr/mirror and chair w/ lamp. I like not having to leave the bathroom area to get a robe, underwear, etc.

If it's an optioon I prefer the closet to be a walk through (w/ doors) between the MBR and bath.

i lived in a house that had the closets open up into the bathroom and REALLY liked that layout...it was so much easier for me to stay neat and uncluttered in the bathroom. hampers and shelves were right there in the closets, etc, etc. the closets were on opposite side of the bathroom from the toilet room tho...

I designed our home with the closet opening off the bath and love it for all the reasons mentioned above. After showering, everything my husband or I need is in there, and we don't have to wake up a sleeping spouse to retrieve something from the closet. We also have our ironing board permanently set up on an island cabinet that I made that also houses laundry baskets so that we can pre-sort our dirty clothes. We also have a TV between the 2 vanities so that we can catch up on the news in the morning.

I much prefer the closet off of the bathroom. We have a window in the closet and I love having a window there.
We have a large chest of drawers built into the closet.
We also have a window that opens in the water closet and a fixed window in the main part of the bathroom. Moisture has never been a problem.

I am a window freak and would never consider a bathroom that didn't have a window. Same for the work area of the kitchen LOL

One more vote for off the bath. We love it, it's handy for early morning flights and it keeps the number of doors in the bedroom to a minimum.

Our masterbath opens from the bedroom, and the walk in closet opens from the bathroom. Love it

I've noticed in those that prefer the entrance to be from the bathroom have both a separate toilet closet and room in their closets for all of their clothes including drawer space. If space is not an issue and it can hold it all that would be my vote also; though when out house hunting a few years ago, came across a house with the entrance off the bathroom where you needed to bypass the toilet to get to the closet plus it was a single smaller sized walk-in-closet where you'd still need to have a separate dresser.

So far, the preference is overwhelmingly for off the bathroom -- hmmmm.

I have never had a closet off of the master bathroom. I think I would really like not having to leave the bathroom after a shower to dig up some clothing. Especially in the mornings when I wake up earlier, then I wouldn't have to get dressed in the dark. (My walk-in closet is too claustrophobic for me to actually dress in there.)

However there are a few things that might concern me about this layout. Is there any concern about the moisture from the bathroom seeping into the closet? I've never had a very large bathroom and mine is currently not (yet) properly ventilated so there ends up being a lot of post-shower moisture. I would worry about that ruining clothing or promoting mold growth (especially in a humid climate). If you hadn't written it, I wouldn't have thought about proximity to the toilet. But now that I read that, I'm all kinds of grossed out by it! I recall watching something where a study was done and the bacteria found in human waste was found on surfaces in the bathroom (regardless of whether you close the toilet lid before flushing). I certainly don't want that on my clothing.

We have closets in both the bathroom (his) and in the master bedroom (mostly mine). They are not walk in closets though and I really like the layout of them. IMHO walk-in closets are a waste of space...I don't understand the concept of needing a hallway in a closet. Since it's not a passthrough to the next area I don't see the need...

I've been watching your other thread (even though I've had no real feedback), and was SURE that my answer to this question was bedroom.... till I read all the other answers.

The main reason I picked bedroom: the moisture. Problem is, I've never had a large bathroom like the one you're designing. Mine have always been on the small side, current one is itty-bitty (and on my grand list to enlarge in the future). The moisture in there is high, and having a closet open up to that is inconceivable.

However, like I said, the size of the bathroom may have some affect on that. Most of the built up moisture in there is due to the shower and since your shower is so far from the closet, it might be ok. In fact, my closet door is only about 6 feet from my bathroom door (which is about four feet from the shower door), with an open space in between and I've never had any moisture problems in the closet.

Setting aside the moisture issue, I like all the reasons given above for having it in the bathroom. It would be luxurious not to have to enter the bedroom after showering in order to get to the closet.

It probably would not be a deal breaker for me either way. Here's an idea. If you have some free time, go have a look at some of the high end homes currently on the market. We do those zillion-dollar home tours occasionally and thinking back, IIRC, the vast majority of the closets are accessed from the bathroom.

Off the bathroom.
I had closet off the bathroom in two different homes and it was wonderful.
Wait, make that three different homes prior to this one.

The best closet I ever had was 25 by 15. Gorgeous.
No, I had to share it with hubby but it was really nice.
It had room for our work out machines and was just bliss.
But, jobs changed life got a little crazy, stocks became
toilet paper and now I am down to a small closet that
needs to be redone... My to do list.

I vote closet off of bathroom. It just works well.

I *didn't* like the closet by the side of the bed in our last house - nor do I like DH and I having to keep underwear and socks in our nightstands b/c 6 dresser drawers for the 2 of us are not enough. If you both have to get up at the same time, OK, but if I can sleep late and he wakes me up getting into nightstand/closet right by the bed, that makes me grumpy.

New house has closet off the bathroom b/c door would have limited furniture placement. It's right by the soaking tub, can't say that moisture would be a problem b/c we haven't finished the bathroom yet. I *don't* like to keep linens in the bathroom b/c I think they get musty (at least in bathrooms with linen closet right next to tub/shower). I tend to keep a hamper in the linen closet (take out bottom shelf or 2), feminine products, soaps, shampoos, etc. (not medications that would be affected by humidity).

So I'd have to vote for door into the bedroom if furniture placement (and just plain looking strange/crowded) wasn't an issue. Second choice - off a vanity area or soaking tub area that you didn't expect to get too humid.

If it would have been possible in our home to have had the walk in open from the master bath I'd have done so. Now if I don't remember to get my clothes first I have to walk to the closet to pick them out. Granted it's just across the mini hallway into the master bedroom, but when you've just gotten out of the shower it's a cold walk.

You have the opportunity to make a walk-through I think.

Ours is off the bathroom. I love it for all the reasons stated here. It's a large walk-in and our dresser and chest are located in there. My husband and I used to work different hours and I liked not disturbing him when I got ready for work at 5 am.
Dee

{{!gwi}}