Thanks for all your replies! weedyacres, Yes my main problem is closing the 2 doors when walking into the bathroom made me feel claustrophobic. I mean I can deal with small bathrooms (I've always had small bathrooms with no problems whatsoever) but somehow this 2-door situation just doesn't seem right to me. Also I never feel safe when using the bathroom thinking someone might walk in (esp. when there're guests there even they are not upstairs!) I can never relax in that bathroom :( And other that that, yes the fixtures in that bathroom are old (except the toilet is newer) so I would like to change that, esp. the severely scratched bathtub, cultured marble countertops and sinks. And yes, I know the diagonal door seems a bit weird and definitely we need to lose some closet space to achieve that. But I really have no other clue to 100% solve the door situation (other than dividing the bathroom into 2). About the budget, we are not having a lot of money to create a luxurious bathroom, probably under 15k is the best. But now my husband is leaning towards a more basic remodel to avoid all the trouble... EmmaR, It's good to know someone had a similar experience! So yours was a master bath jack & jill too? I just wonder how it'll work out esp. when you have guests/ other family members. But seems to me your layout is a little better. You know after yet MORE thinking after my previous post, I'm now leaning towards maybe just changing the bathtub, counters, sinks, closet doors, flooring BUT more importantly, to use FROSTED GLASS DOORS instead of 2 regular doors to the bath/ toilet area! I hope this can help with my claustrophopic & privacy issue! I think I'll feel better when I think someone "knows" I'm in the bathroom somehow..., and letting more light in behind that 2 doors should help? Nevertheless, I also want to install a pocket door or something like that where the bedroom leads to the vanity area... I know... more doors :(... but that is again to solve the privacy and noise ( i will be waken up even when someone's washing hands at the sink) issue to the bedroom... So what do you all think about this idea? Is this better than changing anything structural to the bathroom? Also another minor question, any brand of bathtubs is better than the other? I'm not really looking for anything luxurious... any standard size tub that is easier to clean is good! :) Again thanks for reading!

If you swap the toilet closet with the shower, would you be able to widen the shower under the roof. I've seen pictures with the angle a about a foot into the roof line and it would give you the elbow room you want in the shower. Here is a link that might be useful: [shower[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/shower-tucked-into-gable-asian-bathroom-san-francisco-phvw-vp~475361)

I'm poor in reading plans and making fast and smart suggestions accordingly. but i want to point out one important thing to you. empty space always, always feels much smaller than the one that's built already, and has stuff put in. it's a very well known phenomena. i noticed it first when i was a little girl..when they just dig a foundation for a new house you honestly ask yourself: how this house will fit in there, at all? yet in the end it fits lol, and gets different rooms, and rooms get furnished, and you walk there with ease without bumping in the walls, and even have a bunch of friends for dinner. so whatever you decide to go with-remember your current feeling from the space is skewed due to it being empty and partially unframed. it's just hard to judge the space correctly. as for the hand towels. our space does have the wall where the hand towel hook can easily go yet i very consciously didn't want to spoil it LOL..it arches, you see. i didn't want anything in the arch. so i just put a hand towel on the countertop. true we're blessed with nice climate so no biggy. in NYC or Boston, I'd have a permanently wet towel. actually there, on some days, they never dry wherever they are. 9' feet ceilings is a great height. we have an enclosed toilet too, the ceilings are 8'..i find it pretty roomy. but. yours is smaller. the city code here dictates 3 feet I think when you build the powder room for example. if i'm reading correctly yours is a tad smaller. it won't be as claustrophobic as it feels to you now though. you can go with either height wall. or you can do it partially glass on top as not to loose the light.

I would deepen the shower where it stands. Use the little bump-out in the tub space by building a 4 ft high wall even with the regular wall and then be able to use that new wall depth to put in a ledge (in lieu of a niche) at the 4 ft height and a toe-rest for shaving indented into the new wall at the proper toe-ret height. To get storage, get a trough sink with two faucets, leave plenty of counter space on either end, and use 2 ft of your enormous vanity to build a linen closet. If you think you need more places to put things down while getting ready, put a ledge just above the faucets. I will go look for a photo to show you what I mean. Holy cow! The iPad app now lets me make links, just like the regular computer app always has. When did that happen?