Whether you sit down for a bath or stand for a shower, you have to get into it and out of it the same way. Are you going to have any grab bars nearby? That would be important for safety either way. But with our deep tub, we are not having a standup shower. It will be a handheld sitdown operation, yet we will still have to get in and out of the tub safely, by standing and holding a grab bar. If you have not closed in all the walls surrounding your freestanding tub, be sure the contractor adds blocks behind the walls in the appropriate spots to securely mount grab bars in several positions. I would think the width of the tub is more important in determining whether you can comfortably and safely stand up for a shower in your tub. Since ours is a clawfoot slipper tub, we omitted a standup shower feature. Even so, we still have to deal with getting in/out of the tub.

That alcove is designed to house a tub only, not a tub shower unit. You can't "repurpose" what's there without water damage to your floor, window, and behind your walls. The tub itself not designed to be used that way, and neither is the window designed to be in a wet area. You'd need to rip it all out and start over by installing a smaller and waterproof window, then installing a tub that had an integral tile flange which is part of the waterproofing system needed. Then your waterproofing membrane and whatever wall cladding you might want.

Thank you. You are right. Adding a shower and a wall in the center of the bathroom probably would not look good. Unfortunately, there isn't room for a seperate shower. I wish we had put more thought into how hard it would be to sell our house when the time came. This is our first house, and as newlyweds, we didn't need the downstairs bedroom and bathroom. We thought a clawfoot tub gave it personality.

When I look at vintage houses, I think there are always things that I would never choose myself if I were building a new house, or if I have to replace something. But if there are there and they are in good shape, I would live with them and try to like them for what they are. I would never pick out the elaborate pillar and arch style cabinet doors in the kitchen and other areas of this house, but I wouldn't take them out either. The bathroom I am renovating now is bathroom #2 for that space. It was poorly done in 2000 subway tile style with pedestal sink. (Style is fine, handsome sink, not quite right for the house). There was a crack in the plumbing that could be accessed only by making a hole in the floor of this bathroom, so the whole thing is demo'd. Evidence shows that the original original was white tile with gold sparkles with a gold and black mosaic floor, unknown fixture color, maybe gold. I could as it turns out, replicate the tile in this bathroom (Daltile Golden Granite tile for the white with gold sparkles, and Daltile Keystones porcelain mosaic in Luminary Gold and Black.) The fixtures would have to be black or white, but it would be the original color scheme. I am not going to do that. If it was still here and in good shape I might keep it, but I am not going to duplicate it. But I am going to try and do something that looks like it could possibly be original--just not gold and black.