We added an 8'x10' bathroom upstairs, and, along with floorplan changes in 2 bedrooms, and the associated wall demo and construction (including adding 2 closets), it cost us around $10K. It was all DIY, using mid-range materials and glass doors on the shower. So your cost should be less than that. We're currently gutting to the studs a 5'x7' bath and replacing all the house plumbing, so a close equivalent to what you're doing, except you're also adding walls and a closet. Our budget is $1K for the bathroom and $1K for the plumbing. So bottom line: I think you can do it for $5K if you watch your material choices and DIY everything. Average bath remodels may cost $15K, but they're also typically hired out. As for resale, I live in a basement area and in my experience, many/most people are looking for a certain number of bedrooms to handle their kids, and they consider basement bedrooms in their calculations, even if they technically "don't count" for assessor/appraiser purposes. In fact, there are some people building new homes that put the master on the main floor and all the kids' bedrooms in the basements (I wouldn't do that myself). So there may be families with young kids that want all the bedrooms on the same level, but others with teenagers may actually prefer to have a basement bedroom to put their teen. :-) A 6' wide walk-in closet will be a little tight, with just 2' of walk space between the clothes. But it's doable, and better than you've got now, so I don't see a problem with it. You can get a decent shower valve/fixture set for $300 and change. We bought all of ours on ebay, and they've got separate temp/pressure controls. See one example linked below. Good luck with your planning! Here is a link that might be useful: Delta faucet set on ebay

Check on an appraisers forum to see if there would be any difference in value. Unless you are getting cash for the sale or a large down payment from the buyer the appraisal will be the determining factor if you actually get more at the sale. If you do this change, do it for yourself and not for resale. If you do this change, make sure you don't make the current floorplan dysfunctional as that will take value away. If you are using the exact same square footage and not adding any, then it is doubtful that your home would add value but you would need to get twin sales in the area to see how much, if anything, is added to the value. It may open up the buyer pool and sell more quickly though. As the others mentioned consulting with a couple of Realtors in your area would help you get a handle on the current market.

I have a small reading room in my house. Basics are comfy chair, good warm lighting and a book case and side table. If it were me and I was thinking about getting a chair for in there I might look into one of those chairs that folds out into a guest twin bed, just in case . . . I'd then put the chair in the best lit corner of the room kitty corner from the doorway, and then the meditation area on the kitty corner from the closet corner, out of the door's energy flow. Some plants, maybe a little TV screen to do my yoga workout videos, a small set of speakers and whatever mat I use for the meditation. The only meditation I have done is bio-feedback tapes for migraines and I ALWAYS fell asleep with those, so my meditation room would include a pillow and blanket . . . . I'd also look carefully at getting some soothing yellow light in there, and not florescent . . . some candles or pot pourri. I am a huge devote of the Buddhist goddess Guinyan (goddess of compassion) because my mother visited her shrine in Tokyo many years ago and brought back a few icons from her. Her icon is the lotus flower, so if it was me, I would do a kind of lotus/watery theme in there. But if your meditation is based on the Christian tradition, maybe some color or icons that represent a favorite saint or apostle or even from Christ's life. Something evocative . . . We have a small bonsai juniper, which reminds me of the scraggy trees from the Holy Land, so something like that, whatever floats your boat. I like to create little rotating altars with small iconic items that evoke a certain memory or scene for me, and be rotated out as seasons and thoughts change. Kind of like a tablescape only not a dinner table. I have something like this in the bay window of my office, something to look at and rest my eyes and concentration from work.

A lot of this is going to depend upon your local codes, I think. In some places they may want it to swing in, only, and it some it may be able to swing out. In some locations, a sliding door will not count as an egress door, it would have to be a swinging door. However in many instances a door would not be necessary for the emergency egress you talk about (which I realize is not the door's primary use) if you have an appropriate egress window. I feel like a closet would have to be awfully large to have a useful exterior door in it. A closet is not typically designed for passage to someplace else on a regular basis.