I'm assuming one of these doors goes to a hall and one goes to a bedroom? If this is so, I've never seen that idea work out well in real life. I have seen a few bathroom renovations that remove one of the doors. Two doors is also a waste of space. If you only had one, you'd gain more clear floor space for the price of five more steps to the bathroom door.

Are you firm on keeping the two doors? I have layout suggestions either way.

Yeah, here's the whole thing. I think I'd prefer to keep both doors. I've tried to arrange 'em so they'll lie against the shower and out of the way when open. (I'd close them when I shower to help contain the humidity.) I'm sure I could live without one of the doors, however,
and would welcome suggestions of any sort.

Totally depends on your house whether you even need any "wet wall". Our house has no "wet walls". They are also only normally needed for the toilet, not for vanities, showers, tubs, etc.

My last house had two doors for the master bathroomz it was shared with the mudroom. It was fine unless we had company (and needed second bathroom) then you would be walked in on, or doors would be left shut (would think it was occupied when it wasnt). We also had a gap along the sink - dont do it. Have the wall against the sink. Fyi- in my area we cannot have a water heater in the bathroom. Their reasoning is that the bathroom door can be closed for extended periods and not introduce enough oxygen. Had to have our water heater closet open to the hallway/living area.

Do you not need a coat closet in your climate or will your garage be heated and storage for boots/jackets/etc?

neonweb2 - Thanks. Probably will snug the wall up against the sink if I go this route. I'm kind of aiming for hermit-hood, so guests aren't a big concern. More guests than I can keep track of actually sounds kind of horrifying. ;) Also, I'm going to be out in the boonies, so the water heater will be electric, not gas. (I'm guessing gas was the reason behind that regulation?)

benjesbride - Interesting. Very interesting. I'm rather tall, so I don't mind stacking the washer and dryer. Also, I'd actually prefer a 4' shower--despite my height, I never step into the last foot or more of the 5' shower I have now. But I like the symmetry of your setup--mine was getting all lopsided--and will definitely consider stealing some of your ideas. Oh, and the weather will be on the cool side (http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?location=USWA0189), but I don't plan on venturing out all that often, and with such a large master closet, can't really justify having a second place just for coats.

One thing to consider about the extra foot in the shower is that you could put s Bench at the end and a handheld shower head. My husband at 37 messed up his back not long ago and we were so grateful for a shower seat and hand shower.

if you're okay with s 4' shower and a stackable w/d, it seems to me you have extra square footage devoted to bathroom that might be more useful in the kitchen.

Here's another idea that gets the bathroom door closer to the bedroom and the washer dryer and water heater out of the bathroom. I think you could do this with 7.5' width and you could give over more space to another room (skipping the cabinet between toilet and shower.

I don't see a closet in the second bedroom? Isn't that required for a bedroom?

benjesbride - My current shower actually has a bench at either end . . . that's how I figured out I don't miss the last foot of space. ;) But yes, I definitely want one bench in the event my knees/back/whatever go bad. Hope your husband's doing better now. And although I definitely like your latest suggestion, that's part of why the bathroom is so big, too . . . this is meant to be a "forever" house with plenty of room for grab bars and wheelchairs and so on.

kathyg_in_mi - Right you are. Only in this case, I mean for it to be a bedroom for my pets, not people. If necessary—either for resale or to
satisfy a loan officer—I figure it'll be simple and inexpensive enough to just throw
a closet into one corner of the second bedroom.

In case it's helpful to you for planning, here are some ADA guides for clear floor space in a bathroom:

Excellent, thank you.

The larger shower is more useful for elbows than feet.

BenjesBride already drew out my suggestion -- thanks for that! Moving the washer/dryer to the hall seems to relieve a great deal of "busy-ness" in the small bathroom.

However, going for all possibilities: With such a large pantry, why are you trying to fit these large machines into the small bathroom? They (and the water heater) could fit into the oversized pantry.

I'd also consider a change with the water heater: Could you go with a point-of-use water heater, which requires less space in a small house? Or could you go with a "low boy" water heater /hidden under a shelf so that you could have some space up above for folding clothes?

Finally, I understand that you're trying to have a door to the hallway AND your bedroom ... but in such a small space, the door swing is going to be problematic. I see two solutions: 1) make the door into your bedroom a pocket door. I usually would say something like, "Pockets are a bad choice for doors that're opened frequently", but since your goal is a hermit-like existence, I figure the door'll stay open most of the time anyway. 2) Go with a pocket door for your bedroom ... and place a hinged door in the hallway so that you have a small "hallway" that's part of the bedroom, and the bathroom door's in that small hallway.

Yes, I think a closet is required for the room to officially be a bedroom.

weedyacres - Fair point. I'll watch my elbows in the shower and see what happens. :)

mrspete - Regarding the oversized pantry, yeah . . . I can't imagine filling it with food (or food and kitchen appliances and mops and more). But I was trying to keep all my water-using stuff close together. Less plumbing to put in (and potentially repair), faster hot water, and then less hot water left sitting in the pipes when I'm done. And unfortunately, a point-of-use water heater may be out because this house'll be so rural; there are no gas lines, and I guess electric water heaters don't perform as well. But I love the lowboy suggestion--that's almost definitely going in. A pocket door's a great idea, too. Thank you.

Regarding w/d. You want the set against an outside wall if at all possible. My washer installation required it be set against a load bearing wall. The dryer will need the shortest run to outside for the vent, unless it is a condensing dryer. With front load washers there is a lot of force during the spins. If the washer sits in the middle of a joist span it will bounce the floor. This all depends on flooring too. If you're on a concrete pad then you can put it anywhere. But the dryer will be your limitation. You will need to calculate the vent run for your set to match your dryers need. Going over that, and you will need a buster fan in the duct work, I believe. Also, stacking washer dryer is not as useful as having them side by side. Repairs require taking the stack apart. If the washer fails, then you either have to get a matching washer again or get an entire matched set to fit together. If they are side by side you don't have to. So that is how I'd do it if I had the room, side by side. People aren't getting many years of use out of most washer brands I've heard.