I would absolutely love it as long as he kept his part cleaned. 2 of everything is my vote. In my bathroom, I would definitely want a jetted tub, but hubby would only need a shower in his. His closet could also be some smaller than mine. I have a friend who has his her bathrooms and she loves it. When she had all her girlfriends visit and stay at her house, it was very nice having the extra shower.

Keep us posted on what you decide. I'd love to see photos too

I would also vote for 2 bathrooms. My DH and I have that arrangement already. Since we are empty nesters we have a masterbathroom and a hall bathroom. He uses the hall bathroom and I use the master even though we have a double vanity. I love the idea. Go for it.

If you have the room to do it, go for it! My husband and I share the toilet, which is in a separate room of it's own. We have a large, 4 x 8 shower with double heads, located opposite the toilet room. At the end of that room is my husband's private sink area, with a 36" high sink. He's 6'- 4", so likes his taller sink height. In a separate room, are my sink and vanity seating area, with a 7" long counter top. Across from this is my oversized jacuzzi tub. Having this separation allows me to privately bathe and pamper at the vanity as long as I wish - without him getting in my way, or me bothering him. We share a long closet, but that is accessed through another door in the bedroom. He rises much earlier than I do, so we are rarely in each other's way when getting dressed. The only thing I'd change is my lower sink height - I, too prefer a 36" high sink.

We don't mind sharing a closet, but I believe most people would prefer 2. I think having 2 showers is excessive, when 1 large one will do. Separate sink/vanity areas is wonderful, as is a private tub area.

I like the idea of 2 baths but before you decide on anything, check your real estate tax structure. If you are doing this for resale, you want to make sure you don't tax potential buyers out of the equation. Of course, I have no idea what RE taxes are where you live, but here, they are significant and play heavily into sales.

In my town, we are not only taxed on the number of bathrooms but on the number of FIXTURES. For example, a kitchen with 2 sinks is taxed for 2 fixtures, add in a pot filler faucet at the stove and it goes to 3 fixtures. A master bath with 2 sinks, 1 toilet, 1 tub and 1 shower is taxed for 5 fixtures. Just know all the factors before you make final decisions.

My dream bathroom would include a steam shower and possibly a small sauna. I'm working on a steam shower, but don't have room for a sauna.

I would love 2 totally separate baths with each having it's own closet, sink, toilet and shower. Shared room inbetween with tub.

Personally, I would never buy a house with a large/double open shower. I like smaller (but still decent size) enclosed but with glass door.

Skip the bidet/washlet.

I love my Ann Sack's Onzen tub with jets. It can be purchased w/out jets. Not expensive and one can actually soak completely underwater. So many tubs, even longer ones, don't allow enough water depth to submerge adequately.

DH would love a steam shower at home. Our exercise bathroom was built to house one, but he opted not to install at the time.

My priorities would be a large tile shower with his and her shower heads, french doors leading to the pool, his and her vanities separated by a fireplace, and a free standing tub. One toilet.

Oh, and a door to the closet that leads to a smaller room connecting the bathroom/closet that houses a washer/dryer.

A girl can dream, right? :O)

Wow! I knew you folks would have great input -- but so many great suggestions so quickly. (I just love this forum!) And so far, everyone seems to be in favor of the two-bathroom idea...

Additional information -

- Property taxes are high, but they're based on the home's total value, and even post-renovation, we'll still only be 'upper mid-market' for the neighborhood. (The neighborhood has gone way up on us.)

- Separate closets are a must for both of us! Hubby is a neat freak and I'm, well, not. (My bath is always tidy, though.) What size closet?

- Showers - 1 or 2 is a big question for me. And how large if 1 or if 2? New homes in our neighborhood generally have 1 super-duper shower with body jets, a rain head, handheld, masseusse. (OK, not really on the masseusse.)

- Separate vanity cabinets - sure. But would you want them visible to each other in one room? (I'm thinking so you can talk before bed or in the mornings.) Or totally separate so you wouldn't see each other's little tweaks & plucks?

- No steam showers or saunas here. Our weather does that...

We have a large master bathroom with his walk in closet (7x12) at one end and my walk in closet(9x10) at the other end. In between we have one private toilet area. We have 2 vanities across from each other with each having drawer and cabinet space. Further down we have a jetted tub and across from that we have a tiled shower with a glass door. There is also another door that connect to a powder room. So this gives us "His and Hers" toilets.

If you can build it then I certainly would plan for 2 separate baths. IMHO, this arrangement is a plus for future buyers.

Gosh, I'm surprise so many would want separate bathrooms. Maybe you have more time with your hubby's but any time I can spend with my hubby the happier I am. I only wish our shower were bigger. We have a double whirlpool tub, but haven't had the time to use it. I think I'll make plans for our anniversary later this month. He just might want to take the next day off to sleep in.

I think sharing a bathroom, obviously, can be very romantic if you let it be. Even watching him shave can be wonderful.

I'm divorced, but when I was married, the DH used our small master bath with shower and I used the larger hall bath with tub. It worked out great for us in an 1100 sq ft home. I am by myself now but in a 3000 sq ft home and I love my big master bath...it has jetted tub, large shower, double sink. I have turned my large closet into a storage/craft room and the smaller one is my closet/dressing area. Toilet is separate. If I was married, I would go for the 2 master bathrooms...it is really helpful when your schedules don't match and you don't want to wake up the spouse.

We have separate bathrooms by default - we have an MCM home with a unique layout in the baths. The kitchen and baths make up the central core of the house. The galley kitchen is about 18' long. Backed up to that are the baths. On each side there is a room with a vanity, toilet and linen closet. Each of those opens into the center room that houses the bathtub and the laundry. Technically, it is a 1.5-bath house. But it actually works perfectly for us as we each have our own sink area.

I could see your baths being a variation on this theme. Perhaps each with a shower and the tub in the middle like Allison suggested. Or a bath on one side and shower on the other, with the closet(s) in the middle.

We talk about relocating our laundry and then splitting the center "bath" room in two -- a bath in one bathroom and a big shower in the other. But we would both want the shower! I personally couldn't give a flip about a bathtub, but I'd hate to try to sell the placec without it.

We have separate bathrooms and love it. We each have our own closet, vanity, toilet and I have a tub. We share a shower that has glass doors on each end. We thought about the open shower but decided too much heat would be lost and who wants to be cold in the shower? We have one shower head and a hand held about a foot to the left. I didn't want a seat in the shower so I had the tile guys build a little cubby in the wall just big enough to put my foot in....really great for shaving. We are rarely in the bathroom at the same time but still like having our own spaces.

I'm a neat freak, so separate closets have prevented homicide. :-) No advice on size, because I'm used to old houses with tiny closets.

I prefer (and have) my own bathroom. Showering together is nice, so my dream bathroom would have a shower-for-2 with a places to sit under or not under the water. Baths generally don't interest me, but I do miss my old cast iron claw-foot tub for a semi-annual soak. I definitely want my own private toilet and sink area. A bidet would be nice.

DH showers in the morning, but he loves baths. He'd like a long, deep tub. No interest in jets. He'd also like to have a urinal. His other wish is for a small washer and dry on the same floor as the bedrooms. That doesn't interest me because of noise and the risk of leaks.

We both dislike vessel sinks.

My dream house would have two master baths. His would have a urinal as well as a conventional toilet. Or at a very minimum, two toilets, one in each room. Shared shower is ok, DH and I don't personally shower together (he's a morning, I'm a night). Not a big tub couple, we LOVE our hot tub, so wouldn't want a jetted tub. I suppose a clawfoot in the ladies bath would be nice for resale, but for us a HUGE walk in shower would serve the purpose.

Separate closets, too. I'm a neat closet girl, he's a wad it up and shove it in guy.

Ideally, we'd have two master suites, with the closets/baths between. We are madly in love, but were never meant to share a bed or even a bedroom! So far, having two bathrooms has been a marriage saver, as has been a guest room for the occasional sick or insomnia night.

We are using the two bath arrangement now and it's great. We hav bathrooms comming out the kazoo so it was an easy fix to morning nutties. Mine has a claw foot tub and his a showeer. We'r going to get rid of both of them when we do the remodel and actually, I hadn't thought of two bathrooms but it's a great idea. I love DH and enjoy spending time with him...but that does not mean I want him with me when I tweeze something or while he poops :oP Separation of church and state is a rather good thing!

Sweeby we're adding a stackabl washer and dryer in our master closet/dressing room. We have one in our bedroom in alaska and it is a wonderful addition to a master suit.

How big on the closet...well we have 14x11 in our anchorage home and frankly it's not enough. Because I'm in a victorian now I'm learning to think victorian and have a vanity table in the nook off the bedroom. It's a joy to sit and do my hair and makeup while watching the ferry go in and out of the bay :) So, I'm going to keep that in mind while desiging this space. We will go with as large of a closet as we can (our space is probably 20x45 or so), walk in, U shape closet with one side for him, one for me, and an island inbetween. I'd give up a lot of bathroom space for a huge closet!

I guess I am just too used to sharing bathrooms, but I don't see the need for two completely separate baths.

I would love to have separate countertops and sinks, and a lower seated area for me to do makeup and "maintenance". LOL DH is about 10 inches taller than me, so he would love to have a taller vanity area, mirror and lighting.

Would love to have a steam shower for DH, not needed for me, but would like to have a shower at least as large as what we have now (4 ft long front to back) for comfort, but with a heated bench for seating.

No bidet needed. Taller toilet, elongated bowl, not set into a "toilet closet", please.

A nice deep soaking tub would be lovely, and large enough that DH could have a nice soak and be mostly under water without his legs folded. LOL Jets don't do anything for me, but I know he would love them.

Heated floors, tv behind mirror, audio system for iPod with speakers spread around space. A stylish gas wall-mounted fireplace visible from tub and shower, with the crushed glass instead of rock or wood-look. Double chaise in front of fireplace to share, upholstered in something that could withstand wet bodies, perhaps a plush terry cover over outdoor-treated canvas. Breakfast bar with coffeemaker, mini-fridge and toaster oven.

Separate closets would be nice. We each have a closet, but they are not walk-ins, just side-by-side on the one bedroom wall. Works fine.

sweeby

Wow I wish I had that conundrum -
I'd make a pros/cons list -

Pros - separate spaces, privacy, no need for sharing

Cons - Potential increase in taxes, maintenance & cleaning, increase overall cost of construction/materials/time

Also:
Local real estate mkt -
Architecturally does adding this enhance the home's exterior

Another vote for 2 MBs. I think it is a novel idea. We don't have a "MB" per se. DH uses an upstairs BR while I like to use the other. I have my "stuff" and its organized, etc. His stuff, well alot of it, not so much. Since DD went off to school people ask me why I continue to use my bath, why not share his? I like my own bath. I love DH dearly and spend lots of time together. However, tolieting and bathing are activites that I personally feel don't necessarily have to be a "together" activity.

If you can afford to do two baths, I would be sure to do one with both a shower and tub, with an eye toward selling. The other (not yours) could be just water closet vanity, shower. I LOVE THE IDEA.

You have already investigated the tax situation for a potential buyer and since that is not a problem for resale, I say go for it. My only question is will you recoup your investment? I just assumed you would get little if any poster in support of sharing a bath if you could do otherwise. LOL

Please post pics when you finish your project.

Another lone ranger here - we actually like sharing our master bath. We have one very large closet in our master bath, which is for linens, etc. not clothing as that is also off the master bedroom.

I'm not a shower person although a shared shower is sometimes nice, but no double shower here either. Oversized/soaking tub. Double vanity and sinks. Our toilet is seperated by a wall - not a complete seperate room. It's what we decided on when we built and it has worked for us for 11 years.

tina

I have a relative who has this - on either side of the master, there are two baths with closets off each of them. His is smaller (natch), has a higher vanity, a toilet and a large shower. Her is larger, has a tub but no toilet, and a makeup area in addition to the sink vanity. It's nice, but they don't really avoid each other in the morning, since they have one shower.

Honestly, we don't mind sharing a bathroom so long as we have separate vanities - DH's is taller than mine. But separate closets have been a huge pressure release! And it would be nice to have a separate toilet area in retrospect...

Deb

What a fabulous discussion! Thank you all for your comments and suggestions -- Keep 'em coming.

- As to cleaning, we're in a low-cost labor market, so most people here have cleaning help.

- I love the idea of having a mini-laundry room, but I doubt I could talk Hubby into it.

- I think he'd like the idea of a urinal. He kind of wanted to put one in the garage, but I vetoed it!

I'm starting to like the idea of more privacy -- well-stated LAX and Igloo! ;-)

If we do go his & hers, ideally what degree of togetherness / separation would you want? Would you want an open connection? A pair of French Doors that could be opened or closed? Complete separation?

I'm in the "don't share a bathroom if at all possible" camp. As a matter of fact, I only put one sink in our 2nd home bath (against advice) since there isn't any reason 2 people need to be in the bathroom at the same time. I love the guy but I don't need to spend 24/7 with him or watch him brush his teeth.

In our everyday home, I have the master bath and he uses the hall bath. When we renovated I put a taller vanity in his, raised the shower head & added a curved rod to give him a more spacious feeling. He has a tub/shower in his, I only have a shower.

We have one walk-in closet which works out fine because we're of similar neatness levels.(Yogacat's homicide comment really did make me LOL).

I would love to have 2 separate bathrooms. Our bathroom is 11x14. Space was an issue for us, so we got 2 separate vanities, instead. Each vanity has a storage floor to ceiling cabinet, and we have a regular closet. I love all the storage. His vanity is higher (4") than mine because of his bad back, and he is taller. Mine is the standard heght. We have a whirlpool, jets and air combo.

We have 2 separate closets in the M Bedroom. His is 6X6. Mine is 8x10. LOL

If I could have 2 bathrooms, I would get a nice multi headed shower for each of us. The showers would be solid. I hate cleaning the tiled ones.I would get a tub for ME. The vanities would be similar to what I have now. Storage in both bathrooms a must.

I live in a cold climate, so that means it's sylish and practical to have a summer closet. It's large,double doored, not a walk in, located along my hallway downstairs. The walls are lined with cedar. The purpose is to take all your wool clothes to the cleaners at the end of the season and haul them downstairs to the cedar closets for storage during the summer months. So in the summer I only have a selection of summer clothes in my walk in closet to choose from. :0) Cedar is very pretty.....just a thought. The size.....I don't need a big closet. I have a lingerie chest, an armoire, a gentlemans chest and the summer closets.

Also a valuables closet with a floor or wall safe is cool! You can lock your jewelry in it, but access it easily if needed. Install in your walk in closet.

I LOVE a large bathtub, jetted, next to a bank of windows with a view of the woods, next to a fireplace, with a TV, stero/CD/MP3player all right there and cubbies with lots of rolled up towels and candles. :0)

Big shower, with 2 heads and a seat and mirror for shaving.(this we don't have) :0) Done in glass block, with a walk around entry, no door.

Another vote for two bathrooms (with cleaning help! LOL)

First and foremost: Heated Floors. If necessary.

HERS: My dream bathroom would have a deep sink and a higher (taller) faucet to make it easy to rinse my hair -- and a lower makeup area too -- one with a seat or chair.

A free standing bath for long hot deep soaks. (I'll bring the martinis!)

A basic tiled shower stall and toilet.

HIS -- His bathroom would have a larger all tile shower with a seat. Sink and vanity and toilet.

IF I had the money -- his bathroom would be WELL insulated for noise containment (singing in the shower and other fun stuff .....) PLUS he would LOVE to have room for a treadmill or Nautilus machine and a TV!!

Well - you asked!!! LOL!!!

Time to buy another lottery ticket!

Jan at the very small uninsulated (stupid builders) Rosemary Cottage

Personally, I would love to have a single very large master bathroom with two separate (and very large) closets off of the bathroom and two separate toilets behind separate doors.

I picture two separate vanities perhaps across the room from each other. This would allow us to talk in the morning, but then I can put on my makeup/pluck eyebrows in peace and not have to watch him get toothpaste all over when he brushes his teeth. (LOL) Obviously I would need enough space for makeup and hair styling. (I personally don't need to sit, though it might be nice for that option for those that do.)

I would prefer to have a single large two person shower with shower heads on opposite sides so that we can shower individually or together. I would like a single soaking tub (no jets for me) that would be large enough to fit one person and comfortably fit my 6'3" significant other.

Most importantly, I would like two separate toilets in their own small rooms with doors off of the bathroom (probably on opposite sides too). I would put fans in each and perhaps improved sound proofing. Toilet usage is one morning ritual that I definitely do not wish to share. And maybe even a urinal in his (as long as he was responsible for cleaning it). And then some storage in mine for feminine supplies. (Nothing is less romantic than toting feminine supplies across the bathroom from the vanity to the toilet in front of your significant other.)

For closets, I would definitely want two separate closets to help prevent me from taking over his space. (Yes this is a problem right now with our single closet.) For me, I would need one large enough to find clothes, try on outfits, etc in the closet itself so I can get dressed in the morning without disturbing him when I wake up earlier. He would probably just be happy for his own closet. I would definitely make room for several large hampers. We generate a lot of dirty clothes in my household (daily we generate nice work clothing, relaxing after work/running errands clothing, and workout clothing). I love the idea of a quiet washing machine in the master suite, but that would be quite a stretch luxury-wise.

Wow I suddenly feel sad about my small single-toilet (not in its own room), single shower master bathroom...

I did a pretty extensive "his and her" master set-up a few years ago.

"His" bathroom, dressing area, and closet were on one side, "hers" were on the other.

In the middle was a large steam shower, shared by both bathrooms. But built so when you were in each bathroom it appeared the shower was exclusive to that bathroom. ie, it wasn't a "see through" to the other bathroom.

To the side of the two closets was a laundry room. Laundry room had an ironing set-up and pants press too.

Her closet had a large central island, long yet only about 24" wide. There was one set of 24" drawers, but the drawers could be pulled out from either side of the island. The perimeter walls were mostly hanging rods with a couple of doored closets. Another ironing board. Steamer.

His closet had a more square island. Only a few drawers, mostly pull out shelves (shelves on slides). Another pants press. Same perimeter set-up.

His bath had a toilet and urinal, and a jetted tub. A flat screen behind a two-way mirror. A club chair in small sitting area.

Hers had a washlet and an air tub. Flat screens on the wall that were used as a photo slideshow (changing "art" so to speak). A make-up area.

Gotta run...

Yet another vote for two separate baths. I've been astonished for years when I tour high-end, recently built homes to see huge bathrooms with double sinks, whirlpool tubs, enormous showers.....and then the toilet stuck in an itsy bitsy claustrophobic closet. I've said for years that if we ever build a custom home I'd opt for two separate normal-sized bathrooms, each with its own sink, shower, and toilet. Since you wouldn't be sharing the bathroom the toilet wouldn't have to be in a closet. For us, particularly, this would make more sense since my DH treats the toilet like his reading room. Built-in magazine racks would be on our list! Neither of us are bath people, though I think that for resale purposes to families with young kids it does make sense to have at least one bathroom somewhere in the house with a tub. Actually, since we're approaching the senior years it probably would make sense to have at least one shower that is handicapped-accessible.

Speaking of accessible: we recently toured a new over-55 development and were astounded at the stupidity of the designers in not incorporating universal design (handicapped accessible). I'm not talking about wheelchair height vanities, either, just sensible things like eliminating steps and having wide doorways. Instead, the garage was several steps down from the kitchen; the deck had a completely unnecessary step in the middle of it, a trip hazard even for the most nimble; the master bedroom had the toilet in a closet with a doorway that couldn't have been more than 24" wide, and you couldn't open the door to the toilet area without closing the entry door to the bedroom. What *were* they thinking!

If we're fantasizing, I like the idea of a LARGE dressing room with the laundry room off of it, with room for ironing board set up and fabric steamer. It would be OK to share the dressing area with DH as long as there was plenty of closet and shelf space. It's always the little things that prove irritating: every morning when I try to get into my closet, which has a mirrored door, my DH is standing in front of it and I have to ask him to move. His closet has a mirrored door as well, but he rarely closes it. Silly, perhaps, but sometimes thoughtful design in can eliminate these little annoyances.

Since this is the real world and we live in a 1500 sq. ft. mid-50's house, I let my DH use the upstairs bathroom in the morning while I trod off to the unheated bathroom in the basement--and I can't complain, I realize that we're better off than 95% of the world. But it's sure fun to fantasize!

I'm in the minority that loves a big, luxurious bathroom but would see separate ones as a waste. We've got his & hers with a lot of things in the house, and I like the idea of separate toilet rooms for each (with urinal for him, but no bidets), and separate vanities, but two showers or two bathtubs seems like too much. We're also not a couple that values privacy in the showering/getting ready routine (toilet is another story!), so wouldn't put a premium on a house set up that way.

We do have his and her closets, though, and love them. Mine's 12x12 and his is 6x12. Solid wood built-ins and we feel positively indulgent.

I love the idea of separate closets. We have that now, and absolutely love it. The woman's closet can have place for jewelry, a large built-in for shoes, a built-in for handbags, and a place to lay out outfits (small settee). Each closet can have a full-length mirror. If I had the space/budget, I'd love separate vanities and toilets but with a connecting large, airy room with lots of windows, a large walk-in shower, and a very large soaking tub (no jets). Delicious!

We recently designed a master remodel but have decided not to do it because the cost was crazy, however, in my research, the many old married couples I asked said the key to happiness is separate toilets :) They also said separate closets where the key to bliss.
What we would do if money were no object:
I would have two separate toilets in their own rooms on opposite sides of the bathroom. He definitely would want a urinal in his. To me that is my biggest want and the following would be gravy..... I would share a bathroom but each have a vanity with some space in between them. A single shower with heads on each end. A joint entry into the closet but each having a 'wing'. The entry would have a 5 ft high (give or take) dresser of drawers with each of us having drawers on our side. To me that is the best of both worlds. It gives you a little privacy but you can still see each other and talk. In the middle would be a washer/dryer stack and ironing board. I'd have a 3 way mirror. A mini room off the closet that holds your suitcases is a cool idea too. We'd have a joint tub that seats two. Neither of us care about jets. We would each like it to be deep enough that you are covered up to your neck. A heated floor would be nice (extending into the shower floor). I love getting ready at a dressing table but wouldn't want one in a bathroom that gets hot and steamy. It would have a window for light and so I can hang out and linger while watching birds or whatever. It could be in between the closets at the entrance or a little alcove in the bedroom. IMHO if space is an issue, I would sacrifice big glamorous bathroom for closets. Big bathrooms are nice but it's mainly just for looks. But, nobody has ever complained that their closet was too big. I would want a closed shower so it stays warm. Good luck!

I can see the pros and cons to both a single and double bathroom arrangement, but I did want to mention that if the shower is too large, it's hard to stay warm! We vacationed in a home that had a huge shower (maybe 5' X 9'), and it was just too cold in there! Also, a deep-enough seat in the shower is a must, imo. I'm astonished at how shallow some of the seats are in new homes that I see, even when the showers are a very nice size.

I definitely prefer his and her closets, and prefer a well-organized, customized closet to one that is just overly large for the sake of being large. And I do like pull down hanging rods.

When we were planning our downstairs bedroom addition, I saw that the architect had allowed a 21' x 14' space for the master bath, and I decided that I wanted separate bathrooms as well as separate closets. My husband's bath is larger--he wanted a big steam shower and a jetted tub, while I'm perfectly happy with a plain shower and no tub. We also have separate closets, each 8' x 10', and we couldn't be happier. It's great to never have to check to be sure the toilet seat is down. Now we don't get in each other's way when we're getting dressed at the same time, and we both enjoy the fact that we never feel like we have to rush because someone is waiting to use the bathroom.

Sigh. My if-I-won-the-lottery dream residence is an apartment in an oceanfront condo down the street where even the smallest unit has a huge his-and-her bath setup. Each is approached through its own long walk in closet. Her side has the bath with the huge soaking tub, his the two-person shower.

I think it would be heavenly to have separate baths.

Well - Hubby certainly won that round! And I'm thinking I'll really like a split-bath setup. The layout we're looking at has his vanity, storage tower, toilet and closet on one side with a walk-through his & her shower; her side has a freestanding soaking tub, vanity, armoire, toilet & closet. Each space seems nicely proportioned -- spacious without being coldly vast.

Sweeby, I tried posting earlier on this forum but lost my post. Anyway. So many great posts. Obviously this issue strikes a chord! :-) Yeah, space permitting I'd love to have it too.

Waiting to see the layout and actual bath too. I loved Mongo's description.

From a resale persepctive, I do not think this would lose money but do not believe that you'll make money either. But I'm sure folks would love it.

Hi: we are empty nesters with a City Apt (3 baths 3 bedrooms): where my bath is part of the Master bedrm and hubby uses another one as "his". We also have a rural turn of century country cottage with 3 baths on multi level so we SHARE the master bath (and it is the largest).
What you recently described with the split config and some passthru/shared areas resonates and we find has worked well.
Since space does not seem to be a constraint, you may, for resale purposes, want to consider a bath-spa. Meaning add some spa elements. I know you said you dont need more humidity or heat...but steam enclosure or ready-to-install-cabinets may not add considerably except for the actual steam generator. Mini dry or steam sauna rooms are great (we have a Finnish-style sauna...it is about 8x5 and is a separate room. Next to it is a small 1/2 bath)
Also in our 'hood, a dual bath could count as two and run into code issues. So i am sure you'll be checking out how your town regulates

Here is what we've found as best configs we've lived with or had the pleasure to experience:
- separated closet areas are ideal..even with a shares common entry. Also our requirements for lengths and drawers are different (just consider the accessories or shoes!)
- that said, i dont like the closets being super close to the water. That is humidity from the shower or tub in the very near vicinity. Further, my SIL and BIL rebuilt their master bath with her closet being direct accessed from the bathroom. I found it nice but not really conducive to full dressing...too small and i wanted to be out in the open more where i could stand back from the full length mirror
- the real reason we use separate bathrooms is the toilet and you've addressed that. we always prefer bathrooms where the toilets are a little separate...be that a half door or semi enclosed. And we really really treasure Windowed bathrooms. More windows the better
- The more isolated the toilet can be from the other areas (layout wise), the better the other areas work and feel clean, fresh,comfortable. some bathrooms we liked even had a small hand washing sink in the toilet area.
- A Toto toilet special flush toilet with a SOFT CLOSE lid for us is a MUST!!! once you have it (now others make the soft close lids too) you wonder where its been all your life. Same for the way the Toto flushes low and high volume. Unfortunately their color and style choices are limited but do check out the functionality and try to replicate. The power flush with minimal water use is good.
- I am not fond of separate bidets (and we travel abroad alot so we see these) One more thing to clean and plumb etc and addl space taken up for something not very attractive. Instead, the Toto-type bidet function can be added to a hi-end commode. For a price, of course.
- two tubs two showers feels odd. And you've addressed this too i think. A large shower with ease of access, open feeling and glass or even outside light is best. A rain head in shower is nice but not in lieu of the regular. We are very eco conscious so we arent into the multi jets --- my BIL recently did a walk in large shower with lots of jets; i cant say that it enhanced my shower experience because i would rather just finish up and not use the water. And i didnt like sloshing thru a large wet area to find a place to dry my feet. So large without everything being subject to water jets was my observation
- When i want to use water, well for me its a deep tub WITHOUT jets ---nothing to disrupt luxuriating in hot bubbly scented water A handheld as option with the tub is nice (to rinse off, to rinse hair, etc)
- Double or separated sinks are a plus -- really it is the separate mirror each of us is after! plus separated banks of drawers or spaces. My bath has bureau drawers and there I keep my lingerie so that i can dress the underthings right there. That said, some common space for the replenish supplies and for towels.
- We love thinner waffle weave towels rather than big thirsty Turkish ones...because the former absorb quickly and in humid weather, we can use 1 a day and not create immense stax of laundry. So, we both like having a stack of towels right there in the bath rather than in a linen closet down the hall.
- Lighting is important. Not just the usual over sink lighting that is good for working on the face. Some softer moodier lighting or lights on reo-stats are good. I saw mirrored cabinets spanning double sinks that had soft lighting running along the bottom. Left on, such as the evenngs, it was a nice glow and almost meant i didnt have to turn on lights brightly every time i went in.
- Audio or even a small flat panel feed to your bathroom? that will take special planning if the latter. For sure, i love listening to the radio and would love to have some thing in the bath rather than turning up my clock radio so loud!
Enjoy

We are designing our dream home. Since we are in the country with acreage, space is no issue. Interestingly, it was my husband, too, who suggested after we duplicated toilet with bidet, sink, and walk-in closet, why not make 2 entire bathroom/closet/dressing room suites? At this point, we have 21' x 21' each.

We are each designing our own space. We are connecting both to the laundry room, so scrapped my need for a washlet, His also connects to his Kubby (Kabota truck) garage, so does duel duty as his mud room. He will design that area to be easily sprayed down. He will opt for a shower only, while I'll have a shower and a tub (probably jetted) that is well sloped for soaking.

We came up with the idea of elevator OR ferris wheel (not carousel) closet sections. Both designs utilize basement space. Elevators only go up and down. Ferris wheels rotate around completely; i.e., if you keep rotating the closet sections, you will arrive back at where you started. It rotates either way. Elevators raise the top section to the top of the room (or almost), to show you the bottom section as you face your closet opening, and lower the bottom section to the bottom of the basement (or almost), to show you the top section.

The bottom section of an elevator system can be raised from the basement floor (or almost if the machinery takes bottom space) up to where you can see the bottom closet section. The top section goes up to where you can see the bottom section.

Ferris wheels take up three widths--any section you are looking at can rotate up to the top of the room, backward, then down to the bottom of the basement, forward and back up to where it started (similarly rotating in reverse).

We'll utilize red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) inside all closets and drawers of the dressing areas.

Either removes any issue of having to reach shelves above the racks. My husband will likely use elevators, while I'll have ferris wheels. How many of each is TBD, as the whole 21' x 21' is to be planned. Of course plans are easily changed before building. We'll plan for maximum area needs to avoid having to disturb stone outer walls.

No, we don't know anyone who makes these. We've only seen commercial versions that inspired us.

Wow! Sweeby here checking back in -- (Any old regulars still around?) We did finally end up building out our master suite and went the two-full-bath, two separate closets route and we love the final results!

My bath is about 11 x 14 and has a custom vanity, freestanding tub, alcove toilet with bidet seat and 3x5 shower. Some things I particularly love:

• My vanity has an 'electric drawer' so my hair dryer, curling iron and electric toothbrush can stay plugged in while out of sight. We just cut a slot in the back of the drawer to access the electricity and mounted a surge-strip inside the drawer, then fitted it out with a pair of holders for appliances. Always handy, always neat!
• For cosmetics and misc. small stuff, we fitted small side rails on the upper drawers to support a half-depth sliding shelf.
• Bidet seats have come a long way in the past 15 years and are much better looking. For those of you who voted 'no' on that -- Have you ever really lived with one? Once you do, I'd be surprised if you ever went back to without...
• My Victoria & Albert tub is beautiful and very comfortable! If you're thinking about a soaking tub, DO sit-test them first as you may need to revise your selections based on how you like to sit/recline. I definitely did! We also installed a glass shelf beside the tub for candles, bath potions and of course, a glass of wine!

Hubby's bath is 11 x 9, completely separate from mine, and has a walk-in shower, custom vanity and an alcove toilet with bidet seat. (He's a surprise convert to bidet seats.) His shower is shaped like an upper-case G with a 'drying off area' in the entrance and the shower controls mounted in the area accessible from the outside but shielded from the spray.

Our closets are located back to back directly behind our bed, so the long wall in the master bedroom has about two-feet of wall space, closet door, night table, bed, night table, closet door, and another two-feet of wall space. This works out great for us as 'robing' and 'disrobing' are the first and last things we both do each day.

For our closets, we used IKEA cabinet boxes and fittings (the Best! and SO reasonably-priced) and had cabinet doors made to dress them up. (The IKEA+Doors option we selected came in at 25% the cost of a comparable 'Container Store' closet.) Mine is 7.5 x 12 with a three-way full-length mirror at the end. Hubby's is 7.5 x 10 with a wall of built-in drawers below a window. Each has enough floor space to dress in and keeps all of the mess out of sight.

It's been a long, long journey renovating this house (20 years - seriously) but we love the end result!

Just wanted to say “hi” to Sweeby and anyone else still around from “the old days.” Hope everyone is healthy (and sane), and happy. Sweeby, delighted to hear that you achieved the dream!

Hi Les917! Nice to see a familiar name -- Hope you are safe and well and peaceably cocooning through the pandemic.

Hi to sweeby and to les. I just recommended the Sweeby Test to someone on another thread!

Hi, Becky. Not cocooning, but working full time from home, as is my husband, and we know how fortunate we are to still have jobs and some sense of security.

So funny beckysharp - I still have that Sweeby test in a file somewhere!

Sounds as if you got just what you wanted in your remodel @sweeby and that it was was worth the process. How nice to see you pop in. And you as well @les917 - you are both missed.

Hi! I love when these post updates show up in my email. Fun to look back - what a great group. I learned so much, and had such a great time participating. Nice to have this chance to reconnect!