I think you need to decide if you want one bath or two. If you want two baths, you definitely need to figure out how to add another toilet. Also, I think it would be much nicer to have a bigger shower. Personally, I would rather share a nice bath with a roommate than have the chopped up room you have now. I would close off the door to the bedroom, remove the door in the middle, expand the shower another foot, remove all of the pony walls, and rotate the bottom sink around to mirror the top sink. I would also move a light fixture to the new center of the now-square room. If it is possible to move the toilet, another option might be enclose the toilet in its own little space with a pocket door, maybe where the shower is now. Then, move the shower to where the lower sink is, and expand the upper sink into a double vanity. It can be nice, if two people are sharing the bath, to have the toilet in its own enclosed space.

enduring - no, no vanity in the toilet room. We'd have a separate trash can that goes in there to fit between the toilet and the wall. My thought was in the cabinets under the sink, that maybe there'd be a gap along the line up of drawers and doors where the trash can could go. Kind of like how having a vanity sitting area is a "gap" though instead of having the gap expose the painted wall behind it, actually just finish it out with cabinetry material (I dont know if the trash can would be placed directly on the floor, or whether it would make sense to build up a floor at over the kick board level [so, really, just like having a cabinet with a door, but minus the door]). But again, I've never seen any think like this, so dont know if it would look weird (probably, since its not an expected design). Another thought is that if the cabinets/counter/sink part doesnt go from wall to wall, then if there was a gap, the trash can could be placed there. I dont think I really like that idea, though. I like the counter going right up to the wall, so there's no chance of anything getting pushed off the cliff. Ours currently is like that on one half (one side butts up against the wall, the other side is open because it's next to the bathtub), so I guess it could be something to get used to. We also dont have a medicine cabinet (which I hate), so there's a lot of stuff just sitting on the counter. That problem might go away with a medicine cabinet. Dont think I can change hubby's ways. You cant teach an old dog new tricks! My youngest is 2.5, so we have a ways to go before I think he'll stop being interested in what new thing has gone into the trash can. Besides, I use that trash can to throw away some of their junk as I come across it that they would otherwise protest (and if I were to think about throwing it away later, I know I would forget).

Never a problem at any house with the closet access from the bathroom. The toilet has never been close to the closet. Separate WC, too in 4 homes I've lived in (3 of those I had built). My current renovation, there is no separate WC, but the toilet is 20 feet away from the closet. I have no closet access from the master bedroom because that would require 3 doors (entry, closet, bath) in the master.

Personally, I don’t see any problem with having a walk in closet off of master bath. In fact, I like the idea... super convenient. As long as it is within your area’s building code guidelines, I don’t see why it would be an issue, or why you would feel you need validation for this idea (?). People take entire rooms of their existing houses to convert to custom closets, and most folks don’t view that as being odd. I don’t view it as being odd either, btw; and even if I did view it as being odd, it wouldn’t really be my business - since it’s not my house. As far as ‘’making things easier‘’ for your husband goes, though - I hope these extra modifications do work the way you intend, and that he doesn't just forego the closet - and throw his stuff on the bathroom floor!