This discussion has been had over at the Old House forum, so you might want to check that thread there for other ideas. I definitely agree with the armoire idea, or have some period-style built-ins constructed. Put your funeral suit and cocktail dresses in a guest closet along with other occasional items. What I do is switch out my wardrobe seasonally, which is a great option if your climate allows it. This also gives you an opportunity to really purge your clothing. (That would be another choice. Harsh reality as it is, part of the trade-off in living in our beautiful old homes is compromised storage space by modern standards. When we moved in here, I got rid of soooooo much stuff, and I cannot tell you how great it still feels. Most people really only wear a few things over and over again. You don't need 75 t-shirts if you really only wear 5 regularly. Same thing with work clothes, I found even though I kept buying them, I didn't really wear most of them - so out they went. I also religiously follow the "one-in, one-out" method for mine and DH's clothes and shoes. It's harder for him to choose than me!)

I would be hesitant to give up room in my bath area. If you shrink it to 7 x 5 you'll be limited in the size tub/shower you can use and I'd think you'd want the largest you could put in there since this is the MBR. As the other poster mentioned, moving all the plumbing will quickly add up, and moving a toilet is usually the last thing you want to do. Whether you have a slab or crawlspace under your home will be the determining factor. I've included a drawing of how I'd probably do the area. Our last home was similar to yours and limited in closet area, so DH used the spare bedroom and hall bath as his dressing area. I would take the small closet space in your BR and add it to the hall bath closet.......then one of you can use it as your personal closet. If you don't need a double sink, the other option would be to reverse the closet/sink layout I've drawn That would then give you more closet space in the BR but you'd have only one sink. The double sink wall shouldn't need to be there for privacy.......isn't there a door at the entrance to your BR? If you really wanted to get carried away with a remodel........and the hall bath isn't needed by others........you could absorb that bathroom into your plans and make a large bedroom/bath suite! :)

I think my closet plans fall into the range of "real people". Most of us don't have Oprah-sized closets or the number of shoes owned by -- is that Mariah Cary? Most of us -- even if we had the space -- wouldn't install a custom island topped with granite. After all, as lovely as these spaces are, they're closets. Here's my inspiration picture -- though at 7' wide x 8' long, my new house closet will be a little bigger than this one: Specifics that matter to me -- obviously, you'll have way more space and will be able to have more: - 3' of walking space down the middle of two aisles. - A pretty light in the middle of the space ... and maybe a couple canned lights on the edges. This is, of course, not important in terms of function, but I want a bit of fancy in the closet. - Since I am only 4'11", I will shorten my hanging clothes area. I want matching hangers. - Plenty of folded space -- we are on the cusp of retirement and won't need lots of dress clothes. Plus we want no dresser in the bedroom, so we want space for EVERYTHING in the closet. - A couple built-in drawers for unmentionables. - Space for roughly 30 pair of shoes for me, 10 pair for him -- plus several pairs of boots for the two of us -- but our footwear doesn't need to be showcased as if they were something special. - A few attractive baskets up top for "boxing up" traveling items, purses, out of season items, etc.... and a planned space for a step stool since I want to access those baskets. - My inspiration pix shows wallpaper on the back wall, but I'll probably paint something pretty with a stencil. I have a round mirror, which I plan to repurpose on the back wall ... and I want a shelf underneath it, which can hold jewelry, etc. - A fluffy rug in the middle of the closet. - A valet rod on each side of the closet for "hanging out" church clothes. - One narrow "open locker" at the doorway on each side ... with a couple hooks. This will be for clothes that we plan to wear again ... a once-worn nightgown, workout clothes, or jeans. This'll keep them separate from the "completely clean clothes".

I like Fun2Be's last 2 pictures, with a rod on the short side of the closet. I think that makes efficient use of space that's otherwise hard to get to. If you don't have a lot of long clothes (dresses and pants), that would be a perfect spot for them - leaving the other closet available for a double rod. My Mom's closets have deep sides. She uses the inaccessible back part for out of season clothes, and moves the current season to the space in front of the door. You can definitely put shelves above the clothes rod - maybe even two. In my hubby's closet, I put the rod up as high as I can reach, put a shelf above for long-term storage, and two shelves below for everyday things (shoes, briefcase, etc).