I think it would get used frequently as it is near the doors and living space. I don't think it would need much storage space though. Honestly, I don't need much of a laundry room as I would never fold clothes in the laundry room. But, I would hang some clothes temporarily. I am wondering if I am using this space the best. That's all. I appreciate your input.

Is that 7’11” space a hallway? It seems you could steal some of that space for the laundry room, powder room and still have space left over to do something else with, like a closet.

Rockybird, the architect thought that hall space should be uniform with the foyer. I also thought it would look/feel better as well. I planned on creating a drop center with that space. Do you disagree with that reasoning?

Thanks cpartist, I really appreciate the feedback. By" small closet into the foyer", do you mean in the hall next to the bathroom?

Eliminate the double doors and the narrow end wall, around the laundry room. There is no need for them. Than you have the entire area open and lots of natural light with your entry doors, and plenty of area to place even a table, you can use a portable island to fold clothes or ....arrange flowers or whatever. Nice floor plan. Save money on the walls and door construction. Your appliance repairman, will really appreciate it too! If you have to have double doors open when you are in the laundry the hall is blocked. You may want to look into bi fold doors, each door hinges in the center to fold flat against the wall, or the widest single pocket door you can locate...

Yes I did, but looking again, I don't think you have enough width unless you want to cut into the laundry closet too.

redsilver, no walls around the laundry room? I don't think I can do that. Thanks for your ideas though!

Instead of the double door could you do one large pocket door?

Will look at that. Thank you!

Brikar, I agree with you and the architect. I like the wider foyer and would prefer that over a larger laundry.

Can you stack the w/d?

I dont think this gives you much extra room (maybe 1-2 feet), but can you flip the bathroom and laundry room? Make the powder room very simple with a pocket door. There might be room for a closet also, opening into the foyer. It makes it further away from the living room, but then you dont risk hearing people go potty while in the living/kitchen area. Maybe you could even add a door to the laundry from the master closet so you dont have to walk around.

Here I'd disagree with rocky bird for because then that puts the laundry room closer to the public room.

I dont know which I prefer, cpartist. I think I’d prefer the laundry room on the bedroom side. I’m just putting it out there for her to consider.

My washer/dryer do stack. I would definitely want the laundry near the bedrooms. Does something like this work? Might be best to leave as is. Just need to know that I considered all options.

How are you getting an island in the master closet? If the span is 10’, the clothes take up 1.5-2 feet each, and you need an aisle on either side of the island, you only have 0-6” left for the island itself. Can you ask your architect about this? If you truly cant get an island in there, you could steal a couple of feet from the closet.

In your drawing above, there’s no really no room for counterspace, so it’s effectively smaller than the original drawing.

Do you need a powder room? Must the 2nd BR be ensuite?

Thank you Rockybird, I have paid no attention to the island closet situation. She took some space from the closet to give me the powder room. Before it was just laundry. I will look at this closer.

You might be able to get a peninsula in the closet (2’ wide) if you steal 2’ From the laundry, which would be effectively the same size as the original drawing if you stack the w/d. But i just noticed that there is only around 2’ Of aisle space for the laundry..so I think it’s more like a laundry closet? Is this a new build?

I dont know if the wall is load bearing, and maybe it wont fit, but could you steal space from the garage? It’d be in line with the doorway into the garage, so shouldnt steal much space from the cars.

Here's another idea. This means you'd lose some square footage in your closet but since that middle is useless, why not use it for more storage in the hallway?

Now your closet would be about 7'7" wide which is plenty wide enough for hanging on both sides.

I made the powder room narrower and added that space to the closet length.

I kept the laundry closet the same size, but centered the washer/dryer in the space.

I added two closets to the hallway. This could be for linens, out of season clothes, a utility closet or a combo.

Are you open to suggestions for the master bath, the second bath and the other bedroom? Or are those already fixed?

Are you fixed on the master bedroom being where it is right now?

Can we see the full floor plan?

cpartist, In the initial design, the second bedroom was the main bathroom. We set it up as Jack and Jill for that bedroom. My elderly parents may move in, so I wanted them to have their own bathroom. Next to the vanity in the guest bedroom is a small closet. The vanity is smaller. I am open to all suggestions. Building will start soon. But, we are still gutting. I think I like your suggestion for the hall closet. Actually, I REALLY like what you did here.

Oh, and the whole floor plan is in the second photo of the OP. I can see if I can enlarge it, if you like.

I wanted the bathrooms to have room for walkers. My husband is doing well, but he does have Parkinsons. So, I wanted space.

cpartist, In the initial design, the second bedroom was the main bathroom. We set it up as Jack and Jill for that bedroom. My elderly parents may move in, so I wanted them to have their own bathroom. Next to the vanity in the guest bedroom is a small closet. The vanity is smaller.

If your parents will be moving in, then I like the bathroom as you have designed it to give them the extra space they will need. However, if they are moving in, DO NOT do a bathtub for them. It is a hazard for the elderly to climb into and out of a tub. In fact if you can, I would consider making the shower a no threshold shower.

In fact, I would redesign your parent's bathroom more like this. While it technically isn't ideal in terms of walking in and seeing a toilet, if your parents ever need a walker or a wheelchair, it will give them the room to maneuver in the bathroom.

The toilet can have grab bars on the side of the shower and on the side of the wall. The shower door will be wide enough to get a walker through. You can make the shower a bit wider to help too and of course lots of grab bars inside the shower.

As for your bathroom, I felt it too was less than ideal. By flipping the toilet and the shower and turning the toilet sideways, it gives you a larger vanity area and a larger shower if you want. If you don't want a larger shower, you can make the closet larger instead. This also gives you the ability to put in a pony type wall or even a full height wall between the vanity and the toilet. In fact it would be quite elegant to make the vanity a separate "enclosed" area similar to what I have in my bathroom (see photo below).

I'd put the window for your bathroom in the center so when you walk into the bathroom the first thing you see is the window and the light.

I am open to all suggestions. Building will start soon. But, we are still gutting. I think I like your suggestion for the hall closet. Actually, I REALLY like what you did here.

I'm glad you do because bottom line is we never have enough storage and storage is what helps keep a house tidy and neat.

I just revised the master bath to account for your husband's disability. I'm glad he's doing well right now. My Mom had Parkinsons and the best thing she did was to exercise daily. When she had a foot problem and had to stop exercising for 3 months is when things started to go downhill for her.

If you'd like, feel free to message me.

Oh, and the whole floor plan is in the second photo of the OP. I can see if I can enlarge it, if you like.

So it's basically a nice 2 br/2bath house or are there other bedrooms on another floor. Are you in a retirement area? I ask because if you are, I don't think you'll need to have a bath at all.

We planned on using a shower instead of the tub. It isn't shown that way. Sorry. My mother is already using a walker. I didn't think there was enough room to put in a no threshold shower, if that can be done that would be great. The bathroom layout was designed considering the placement of existing windows. Maybe the window in the showers can be closed. Should I see about closing all the windows? Only the shower one would be a must. The window on the toilet side of the wall is street facing.

In the master bath, build a wall between the vanity and toilet? In my parents, put the closet between the vanity and the shower?

There is another bedroom downstairs and plenty of space to add more if someone wished to. Our neighborhood is of mixed ages. Young families and retired. We live on a small lake and there is no buildable property left. Homes sell quickly in this area. My husband exercises every other day. I know every day would be best. However, he puts in long days working on the house and neighborhood projects. He is very busy and very social, so that is good. He is also newly retired and very happy about that. Thank you for your concern and for helping me! I am sorry that your mom had the setback. Such a sad situation.

We planned on using a shower instead of the tub. It isn't shown that way. Sorry.

Hey no problem. :) Just wanted to make sure it worked best for your Mom and Dad.

My mother is already using a walker. I didn't think there was enough room to put in a no threshold shower, if that can be done that would be great.

There may not be enough room in Mom and Dad's shower, but I think if you make the shower long enough in your bathroom, it could be done. Hopefully they can do a smaller ledge in your parent's bathroom. Maybe put a small grab bar just inside the entry to the shower?

My Mom was able to maneuver over her step in her shower until almost the end.

The bathroom layout was designed considering the placement of existing windows. Maybe the window in the showers can be closed. Should I see about closing all the windows? Only the shower one would be a must. The window on the toilet side of the wall is street facing.

Can you make the window taller so it's just a fixed window that is higher? (Below is a picture of my window in my guest shower to show what I'm trying poorly to explain.)

That's what I have in my guest shower. Of course my guest shower is only used occasionally.

In the master bath, build a wall between the vanity and toilet?

That was my thought. It doesn't have to be a full wall. It could be a full wall like I did, but it could also be a pony wall. I was thinking if it was a full wall, depending on the height of your ceilings, you could drop the ceiling down a bit in the vanity area to give some dimension to the area, define it and make it feel a bit more intimate. I didn't do that in my vanity area, but did drop the ceiling in my tub area. (It's an architectural trick.)

The other advantage is then it gives you a place on both side walls to hang hand towels.

In my parents, put the closet between the vanity and the shower?

I keep going back and forth as to whether the closet should be first and then the vanity or the vanity first and then the closet. I think I would personally want it between the vanity and shower, but that really is a personal decision.

What I like most about this version is the fact that it's a wide open area for your Mother to maneuver around.

There is another bedroom downstairs and plenty of space to add more if someone wished to.

Gotcha.

Our neighborhood is of mixed ages. Young families and retired. We live on a small lake and there is no buildable property left. Homes sell quickly in this area.

It sounds lovely and like an ideal area

My husband exercises every other day. I know every day would be best. However, he puts in long days working on the house and neighborhood projects. He is very busy and very social, so that is good.

That is the most important thing. That he stay active. It sounds like even though he technically is exercising every other day, he's still doing physical stuff on his non exercise days. That will definitely help him

Thank you for your concern and for helping me! I am sorry that your mom had the setback. Such a sad situation.

Hope you get the best house you can! And thank you.

You have given me so much help here. Thank you! So many decisions in a short amount of time!

Glad to have helped.

cpartist, would you have a picture of the dropped ceiling over the vanity. I have been looking and can't find one.

I'd still be concerned about your mother and a walker in the bathroom. How much room is there between the shower and the toilet? Plus where will grab bars go? There's so much extra room around the space that you'll need to put in floor grab bars which are a heck of a lot uglier than coming in and seeing a toilet.

I do agree about the doorway into the guest room. However I don't like where she placed it because now you are limited where you can put the bed and I think the solution is worse.

The width of the bedroom is 10'8" or 128" wide. Putting the bed between the wall and the closet on the window side (so the foot of the bed faces the entry door), means you now only have 68" of space if you use a queen sized bed. (A queen mattress is 60" wide)

So that means now your mother only has 34" of walking space. Not even a full 3" on either side of the bed. If there's a bed frame, then it's even less.

If you place the bed on the left wall you only have 126" and you need 3' for the door swing. So now whoever is on the window side of the room has even less space to move around.

So while it solves the problem of the two doors, it really creates another problem because of the bed. By keeping all doors on one side, and keeping the original size of the bedroom, the bed can be placed between the windows because the original room width was 11' or 132". That gives a full 3' on each side of the bed.

Also note that clothes don't turn corners in closets. That's the reason I left that area blank. It can be hanging for things like ties or belts, etc.

I skimmed through this thread, so I likely missed important bits of info. I played around with the secondary bedroom for fun, tried to make the bathroom more safe/accessible. Just for fun:

eta: That's a pocket door on the bathroom

Both of you, really, thank you! I am wondering, with cpartist layout, will I be able to find a shower door that will work? And am interested in feedback on benjesbride layout. enough room for a walker? I am sorry that I know nothing.... Appreciate all of you who are helping me!

I think I prefer cpartist's layout the best. I do have concerns about the shower door being able to open with the closet there. I am wondering if even taking a few inches (or whatever) from the master bath and a shower door that hinges on the left would do the trick? And then could the door going into the bedroom open out into the hall instead of into the bedroom?

You have a total of 93" there if I added correctly. (Don't count on it. I'm an artist. LOL)

I would make the toilet area the full 36" wide which would make the shower 57" long.

A vanity is 21" which leaves 3' for a door to get into the shower. Meaning it should be plenty of room.

I am wondering, with cpartist layout, will I be able to find a shower door that will work?

You can find a glass person to create a shower door. My shower door is 3' wide.

Also on Mom's shower I'd put the controls to the left but the shower head on the wall to the right.

BTW: I also like benje's solution. I think it's a rather elegant solution except for the closet being much smaller.

Oh and one more thing:

Welcome back benje. You were missed!

Thanks, CP! I've missed you all. I probably won't be able to stick around, but I'm sure enjoying the creativity.