Does your son want a shower stall with a door or is he OK with a curtain instead of a door or even an "open" shower - part walled in/part open w/no door or curtain?

Would a wider shower but the same depth work (e.g., 5' wide x 3' deep)?

Since there's no overall measurement for the length of the combined spaces, how thick are the walls b/w the Closet & Dressing Area and b/w the Bathroom & Dressing Area?

Sorry, buehl, the overall numbers are there, but hard to read. They are 167"x76.5". The walls are just a regular stud thickness with drywall on each side, so probably a little less than 6" for each wall thickness.

A 5x3 shower would probably feel like heaven to him :-). I have a 32x48 and feel it's adequate; a little larger wouldn't be unwelcome. I'm guessing he'd prefer a glass door shower....even a sliding glass door. He and his wife are very meat and potatoes, nothing fancy

There is another closet like that one in the room, but as my DIL was going to lose her vanity area, my son was going to remake the other closet into a vanity/prep area. I've seen in some of the newer homes, you actually enter a the master closet from the bathroom or vice versa. I wonder how they handle the potential moisture?

If you can move the wall b/w the bath and the dressing/closet area and have each room about 80"x76,5" you may be able to fit a 40x40" rounded corner shower stall and a walk in closet. You can have separate entries from the bedroom side or keep the bath entry in the WIC.

If they can get by with a slightly smaller closet, they could have a huge walk-in shower--no door or curtain to clean. :) Since the existing shower has a drain, maybe it could be extended, and the toilet moved to that location, and the existing vanity made a little wider.

I think they're looking for a solution that keeps separate entrances for the closet and bathroom. Since they'd be losing a closet by creating a vanity area where their 2nd closet is, the goal was to create a bigger closet and bigger shower. They don't need double sinks, but more vanity surface area probably would be nice, too.

How big is the second closet? Have you considered putting the new vanity area into the bathroom/ closet area you are changing and keeping the second closet as the only closet?

Can you please post the entire second floor?

A vanity area in the bedroom is not a great idea, but expanded closet space in the master leaves you with some really good options for the rest.

Also, in which direction do the floor joists run?

I'm sure I can do better, but here's a quick thought. If they are open to using pocket doors instead of hinged doors, they can gain significant space. One idea keeps the vanity in the master, the other keeps it in the bathroom area but puts the closet in the master. Possibly making them smaller we can get both in the same space.

Or something like this

Here's the overall floor plan, not necessarily exactly to scale, but close enough. I did forget the window in the master bathroom and one kid,s room, but it does show that none of the walls to expand the "closet, dressing, bathroom" area can be changed.

The vague arrow to the left of the diagram is the directions of the joists. I'm sure the hallway walls are load bearing (and they also have ductwork) so I'm fairly sure that the walls inside that closet, etc area aren't load bearing. So that whole closet,etc area can be reconfigured.

i was at the house today and had some ideas to throw out. I'll post them in a little while. Also, a question...what is the narrowest width measurement considered reasonable for a walk in closet? I know you need 24" to account for clothing on each side, but how wide (or narrow) can a walkway between hanging clothes be?

Here are 2 of the ideas which we talked about. It's a quick and dirty presentation, but hopefully you can see what we’re hoping to accomplish. I also want to keep in mind that this is not a large house, probably about 2500-2700 sq. Ft in a mid-priced community in central NJ....still $$

With version 1, depending on the walk in closet aisle widths, moving the current bathroom wall out 1 foot, we can accommodate a 36x48 shower, and have a vanity next to the shower. We might even have room for a small cab in front of the window to act as a vanity area with storage for my DIL, especially with a mirror above it, almost as the current vanity right now. It,s not a luxurious bathroom or closet, but it improves both the storage space and shower size. Pocket doors might be a consideration here.

Version 2 presents a couple of issues. It also needs to have that bathroom wall pushed out 1 foot, but it keeps the door in the same relative position, which means that the bathroom stays approximately the same, with a bigger shower and vanity. However, the closet only adds about 4 linear feet of hanging space, or with upper and lower rows, approx 8 inear feet. The issues are my DIL still won't have the vanity she needs (I should add she uses lots of hair products and makeup) so they'd lose that additional closet space (it's a 7 foot reach in closet opposite the window wall -in the diagram above, it,s on the upper wall of the master) and we'd need some sort of special closet doors to make the now L-shaped closet accessible. The advantage of this version is that it won't make the bedroom feel smaller because the dressing area is open to the bedroom.

Do you think they would be amenable to using two feet of space in the guest room to accommodate a large master closet? If so, fantastic. If not, they can use the interior wall as a closet.

eam44, I realized I had forgotten to include that other master bedroom closet. It actually exists in the spot where you added one in the guest room. Actually half of that is the master closet, and the other half is the guest room closet. They can't intrude further into the guest room as the door takes up the rest of the width of the hallway. There'd be no way to get into the guest room. Good suggestion, though.

They can make the guest room closet part of the master closet and use an armoire in the guest room.

Eam, I brought that idea to my son, but he felt he didn't want to remove a closet from a bedroom, for resale purposes, even though I pointed out it was a pretty easy thing to reverse.

Well that's the great thing about being the homeowner, you get to choose what works for you. In my last diagram they can put a closet where I have the vanity. Let us know how it goes.

I'm still thinking about eam44’s suggestion about expanding the existing closet. I think that would get them the biggest bang for the buck. While their bedroom is not tiny, it looks larger right now because it visually expands into the dressing area. If they close that area off, and put in a vanity in that second closet, I think they'll feel cramped.

I also came across a neo angle shower pan in 42x42, which may actually be another choice for them. The bathroom would only need to be expanded by a foot, and this size my give them a larger feeling shower over the 36x48. My son hates his current 36x36 new angle, so I don't know how receptive he would be to that idea, but it would retain that ever important vanity area for my DIL, albeit a little smaller.

I'll post a version 3 shortly.

Version 3 with the neo angle shower. It looks as if a small cabinet to add storage can be next to the sink.