Thanks so much for your input everyone! Bevangel, special thanks to you for modifying my picture. It definitely helps to have a visual! I think moving the doors further into the hall will work, and should be very easy for the builder to do. We'd lose a little more exterior hallway space (the bedroom doors were originally at the dotted line), but having the longer hallway within the master bedroom will be more dramatic. I love this website! I'm glad I finally decided to join and stop lurking. ;)

Thanks guys! This is the clawfoot tub I am considering: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/atq/5280827575.html. It is pretty - look at those legs! I would paint the outside a different color though. And if I went drop in, it would probably look a lot like the one in JLC's last picture -- in fact, that picture basically encompasses the whole look I am going for - wainscoting, the closed in shower, the little mosaic tile on the floor. So thanks for that picture! I'm still torn on the tub issue - JLC's post had convinced me that I want drop in (especially the part about it being easier to get in as you age) but amberm is swaying me back again with the prettiness factor. When I look at my inspiration pics, there's a pretty even split between drop-in and clawfoot. One other factor that I didn't mention is that we currently have a laundry chute built into the side of the tub deck -- in my original picture, you can see the hinges where it opens near the floor -- the front of the tub deck pulls open and I can toss laundry down into the laundry room. This is an awesome feature. If I go with a drop in, I will keep the chute where it is (well, it will move back a few inches with the rest of the deck but that will actually make it fall in a better spot in the laundry room so that is fine). But if I go with a clawfoot, I am either going to have to put a trap door in the floor or build some kind of cabinet...and since it would look odd to have either of those right in the middle of the room, I will have to move the whole laundry chute back under the center of the window, which drops the laundry in a less convenient but still workable spot in the laundry room. But then I have to figure out if I want a trap door in the floor or to build some kind of little cabinet or flip out wall thing to serve as the door to the laundry chute -- I'm a little nervous about just making a trap door because it seems dangerous if someone accidentally left it open. So if I went with a clawfoot, I would probably build some kind of cabinet that ran from the edge of the window back to the corner -- the full top of it could server as a ledge for plants and holding stuff you'd want while in the tub while the part that is exposed (not behind the tub) could open for the laundry chute. But this is seeming very complicated and hard to visualize vs. just replicating what we basically have now....and have I mentioned that I'm bad at visualizing?!? I guess it would look something like the way the ledge runs in JLC's Charleston Beach Cottage picture....but looking at that pic, I can't imagine how they are going to get back there to clean the floor under there and I'm worried about having the same problem. To address the counter space concerns, the vanity width is just shy of 80". The current plan is to have a neighbor custom-build my cabinets (that's what he does for a living), so I was going to go with 2 29" sink base cabinets and a 20" drawer unit in the middle. I am also planning a recessed shaker-style built-in medicine cabinet unit that should give me a ton of storage for the stuff that is currently sitting on the counter. So hopefully I wouldn't need a bunch of counter space. I envision it looking something like this: I want it to run the full width of the vanity area. I think I worked out the math and it should be doable and line up with the sinks if I use 20" doors and 4" spacers in between (6" on each end)....but here's where my issue with proportion comes in -- is that too much space? Who knows! Hopefully the cabinet guy has some kind of visualization software where he can dummy it up and I can see what it will look like. There is another window over the back of the tub that isn't visible in this picture so I'm not sure I could make a vanity over there....but I do think I should keep the tub. It is not our only tub but the other one is a regular small tub/shower combo in the kids' bathroom and it would be nice to have one that is a little nicer/bigger. Please keep the feedback coming...you all are bringing up things I haven't thought about before and I really appreciate it!

I like that plan a lot Keywest, except I would probably nix the window in the closet. Another design we are throwing around. Pretty much checks all the boxes. Door location is not ideal but workable. I really like how this one and yours above has everything open and allows for sunlight and a view no matter where you are in the bathroom. (Except on the toilet of course. lol) This design has a large closet door, and equally centered windows which is great. The toilet is right when you walk in, but I think by putting it in back in the alcove, and opening the door away from it like this, it wouldn't be too bad. Our current toilet is literately the first thing in our bathroom and it never bothered me or even occurred to me until you guys mentioned it on one of my plans. Not a deal breaker. This is my dream bathroom. I love the marble, grey vanity, bench, and especially the pony wall between the vanity and shower. What I'm imagining with built-ins above the tub, marble, and large windows. Our furnace is direct vent, and we are really limited on where we can put it due to crawl space issues. Pretty much have to put in in the addition, as per HVAC guy. Putting it inside the closet inside the bathroom on the far side is our best option. CO2 detectors are a must.

Can you identify the problem you want solved? You've described the situation, but not what the problem is. Is it the two steps into the bonus room? Or that you have to step down then up? If that's the problem, can you change the bathroom door to open into the main house? Or, create a small hallway to the bathroom from the main house; walk in straight, turn immediately left into the bathroom. That would require the small platform you say you don't have room for, but it would only be about 4' square.