Help me with my master bath layout?

6 years ago

I'd love some advice on my master bath design. I tried a ton of layouts to come up with this one, but now that I see it in 3D it's not quite what I expected. It's in a very high end house, and I pictured a light filled spa feeling bath. But it seems tight and not as open and bright as I thought. The wall with the door to the outside faces south into my backyard. The east faces a house but it's a ways away and doesn't face us, and there's trees, so privacy isn't much of an issue.

- I'd like to keep it in these dimensions if at all possible, 11'2" x 20'5", with the entry door near the closet and not the bedroom area. (I was just in a hotel where the bathroom opened right off the side of the bed and it was so obnoxious.)

- The main part of the shower now is 4'6"x4'6", with a 30" opening area.

- The wall with the door to the outside faces south into my backyard. The east faces a house but it's a ways away and doesn't face us, and there's trees, so privacy isn't much of an issue.

Requirements:

- Space for my stand-alone infrared sauna

- Large (not mega large) walk-in shower with no door. If I have to, I could ditch this and go with some glass. Just hate glass. I'll never clean it regularly and it will have spots. But I could do it and use a frosted glass if it would make the layout better.

- Door to the outside hot tub

- Space for bench and hooks, towel bars

- Toilet in room (We never use but it's considered a big faux pas here, in this price range, not to have it)

- Storage: About 8' of vanity. I put a tall cabinet to the left of the vanity but don't need that; mostly did it for separation from the toilet. But need some linen closet, either a built in one like is there or a cabinet one.

- I don't want a tub, but wanted to leave space for one. So someone could put a tub where the sauna is. Or I thought if I wanted a tub in the future it could go in the corner with the windows. I had been picturing that a real cool looking standalone spa tub to give it the spa vibe (if I did just go ahead and put it in now). But it's seeming too tight.

My architect did warn that the 3D images sometimes give the wrong impression in this regard, and thinks it will be OK. But I'd like to explore other options.

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Comments (9)

qofmiwok
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

Here are 2 alternate plans I came up with. The first is a wet room concept. I just saw something like this at an open house. I could put between pane blinds on the back windows in case we needed privacy some time. The second is only better in the sense that the original shower is almost 5' wide with the outside wall, and the sauna/toilet could be a bit less than 4' wide. So there's a foot of extra space in the middle. (Of course the shower could be cut back a little in width, but not sure how much below 4' I'd want to go.)
cpartist
6 years ago
I would suggest also posting in the bath forum.
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If I were you'd I'd pose this question to Bevangel--often found in the building forum (you can locate a post by her, click her name, then email her through GW to ask her to post on this). She is very knowledgable about accessible homes/baths, etc. From another post she commented on: "Any room or closet that you want to make wheelchair accessible needs to have a wide enough door (32" minimum) for a wheelchair to get thru. Accessible bathrooms need to have a 5' diameter circle of clear floor space so that a wheel-chair can get turned around in them." So, I worry, right off the bat, that your bathroom isn't wide enough. Plus, having a glass shower front means you won't be able to put in a grab bar on that wall for use for a weaker person to get on/off the toilet.... I think that wall needs to be solid, at least from the half-way point down. If you cannot, under any circumstances move the shower's location, then I would make the closet narrower--at 4' wide only, and give the rest to the bathroom. If you can afford to cut the slab for a shower drain only (this won't be that expensive, in the grand scheme of things...), I'd try moving the shower to across from the sink/toilet and all the way "down" to the wall. Then, have your closet run across the right wall. If you draw that out, you might find you can get a wider area in the center of the bathroom for accessibility. Or, since it is a fairly square space (10x11) you might find that extra expense isn't worth it. Finally, I'd consider making the whole 10x11 space bathroom/linen closet, and building a closet on the door side of the bedroom (just a reach in). Bathroom space would look like a long bath, with lots of space in the "front"/bottom of it. And, along the bottom wall could be a reach in closet or cabinetry set up. This would give you the turning radius needed as well.
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That was my first thought, photo looks awkward even if chair slid fully underneath - not a fan.. Much depends on your avail floorspace and wall lengths - certain styles would work better in certain bathrooms... This was my most difficult decision and I ended up deciding on no makeup vanity, instead two very large 60" single sink vanities but I will post photos of two of my favs youve described.
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To some degree, it's personal preference, and sometimes, it just depends on how the house ends up. I can see benefits to both. I've never lived in a closet-first house, and I've lived in two bath-first houses. The production home I'm building now also has a bath-first arrangement. I like the idea of not needing to pass through the bathroom when I'm putting away laundry, but I also like the idea of a closer toilet (my husband gets up in the middle of the night). I am in the habit of gathering my clothing *prior* to showering, whereas my husband likes the closet adjacent to the shower so he can go get his clothes afterward. We also like the idea of connecting the closet to the laundry room, and then connecting the laundry to the kids' bathroom (via a door or a pass-through), which requires a [master bed --> master bath --> master closet --> laundry --> kids' hall bath] sequence. I also strongly prefer all bedrooms on the same wing/side of the house. Honestly, I could live happily either way... The houses I grew up in never had a master suite, so I feel lucky to have it. :-)
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Okay, down to the Final 2. I've added some dimensions in here to show some clearances. The first is very similar to one of the ones I posted above. 7 ft Vanity up top with the toilet up there also. There are no problems real negatives to this except that I'm not hiding the toilet in the hallway that you will see in the 2nd image below. The 28.5" is tight, but we currently pass through an opening that is only 24" to get to our Shower and Toilet. And our current toilet only has 28 inches clearance in front to the shower. 34 inch in front of Bath, this is with the Vanity Seat pushed in all the way. The 2nd Image I also like. This puts the Toilet into the lower section separate room. This is 37" wide and can be up to 72" Long. Easy plumbing all around, but the only downfall is I would need to replace a window where the Shower is. And if I replace that window, it will lead to replacing 5 others in the front of my house. At least the two Bathroom windows will need to be replaced, and I would start searching for what to do with a window in a shower. I've seen to just tile all around, but I'm sure you dont want any wood or metal anywhere. . We only get a 6 Ft Vanity opposed to the upper image with a 7 ft Vanity. I need to watch the sizes of the Tub and Vanity in the below image. I need to keep at least 30 inches. Definitely more room in the above image, but the toilet is in a nice place in this one. Thanks for all the comments. Time to start plumbing!
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PRO
User
6 years ago
Yes, and 11 foot wide shower is excessive. But very spa like feeling You could do another linen cabinet on the left side for more storage, and reduce the size. Or, add the tub that the room is missing. Like maybe a 48" Japanese soaking tub. Or a walk in tub. Relocating the shower to the bottom and the spa to the top open up the center. Removing the walls to make it more open also create the spacious feeling. You can do a regular door on the bedroom if you want, or a pocket door. Lining up the doors to the exterior to the hallway also increases the spaciousness.

Alternative B would be to reduce the overall size of the shower, and the room. You still get a plenty large shower, and a more spacious feeling. The pocket door to the closet likely will never be shut, but it's there. Again, lining up the doors to the exterior brings in twice the light into the space, and creates more of a destination space to the bathroom, because there is no door in the middle of it.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
6 years ago
Why does the drawing you posted show walls right next to each other??

Is your "architect" licensed?
cpartist
6 years ago
BTW: A 3'2" wide hallway is quite narrow. I'd make sure your hallways are a minimum of 42"
qofmiwok
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thanks for the responses.

Yes Mark. It is a custom modular, being partially built in a factory.

cpartist Yes, I reduced that to get more space in the bathroom, but my architect enlarged it in the original in the circulation area by the closet. With a different layout I might be able to go back to 4'.

Cooks Kitchen Unfortunately I don't like those because there are great views to the back and you are blocking them with showers and saunas. I also think the door to the outside is better from the bathroom than the bedroom because the floor will be tile instead of wood. I don't want to have to worry about tracking water from the hot tub onto the wood floor.

I also want a bench to sit on and places to hang towels and robes. In your layouts I see no place for a bench and only possible to hang towels in front of the shower glass.
katinparadise
6 years ago
I like your layout as it sits with the exception of the 38" hallway. Can you steal a few inches in either direction to get to 42"? Your shower is large enough that a glass panel should be fine and you shouldn't need doors. The only change I would consider making is to center your door to the outside on the opening between the shower and side wall and and to change the swing so it opens into the dead space as opposed to toward the shower door. The second smaller linen closet is a nice idea for soap, toothpaste, a few extra towels, etc. Saves space in the larger closet for sheets, more towels, etc. I sold modulars for almost 9 years. May I ask who is building it?
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
6 years ago
"Custom modular" is a oxymoron. What made you decide to go the modular route?
PRO
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Perhaps if views are a priority, locating the bedroom there where it could have multiple windows from multiple directions would make much more sense than placing a private and more closed in space like a bathroom in that location. The overall home plan would seem to be the larger issue. Good luck!

Help me with my master bath layout?

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qofmiwok
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cpartist

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Help me with my master bath layout?

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qofmiwokOriginal Author

cpartist

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Mark Bischak, Architect

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katinparadise

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qofmiwok
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qofmiwok
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