You are fortunate to have a large bathroom, but I see that there are some areas that lead to your difficulties with it. A couple of inconsistencies: the plan shows closet doors opening into the bath, but the photos show that they open into the closet. That is a good thing! I think it would have been good to have a more welcoming and luxurious shower; yours seems almost like an afterthought (and dark and small). Towel hooks work well, and you could put one next to the closet door. Another inconsistency: the plan shows the shower door opening toward the closet, but the photo shows that it opens toward the sinks. This makes accessing a towel hook next to the closet door easier, but may be awkward getting out of the shower (can't tell how much room there is). A free-standing, multi-towel holder could go near the window closest to the bathtub (where you currently have the stool). Large, colorful piece of artwork above the tub for color and interest, and no fake plants. A small bench in front of the windows would be nice to lay out clothes, put on shoes, etc. A fun project for you, and a challenge, as there are just way too many doors! Good luck.

What if you eliminated the door to the closet by the shower? That would give you some towel hanging space. Then open the closet to one long run.

Visuals

@decorpatti Ha ha, you are super observant! I almost mentioned the door swings in my post, but I thought it was getting too long already and nobody would care. We requested the door swing changes in this room and several others. We knew we could see problems with what they had specified, so we tried to make the best alternative choices, though I can now see that this door-swing arrangement isn't perfect either, of course.

I thought having the closet doors swing into the bathroom in the original arrangement would be a constant annoyance, since one would be constantly blocking the shower door and the other would block the window. The commode door also is reversed from the plan, and it opens out towards the shower. This is fine, since if you're going in the toilet you don't really need to access the shower!

Also, I think there is an optical illusion in my photo of the shower door - it does indeed open towards the closets as specified in the plan. (If you look at the the bottom of the door in the photo, right along the floor, I think you can see it better. The door is almost pointed straight at the camera.) With that in mind, the best thing we can come up with is putting a towel bar on the outside of the toilet-room door.

I agree with you on the shower seeming dark, though that has been less of a problem than I expected. The lighting in there feels perfectly open and sufficient. Here's the plan for the original bathroom that we had wanted:

(Hard to find a higher quality image than the above since it's not in the plan anymore.) This wouldn't have been perfect, but I did like the shower placement aesthetically.

The problem with putting a free-standing towel bar in the corner by the window is that we never take baths, and it's not very reachable from the shower. We actually got this freestanding tub because the built-in one had right-angle tile corners, and I didn't want us to be constantly bonking into those as we walked into and out of our closets for the next ten years. So we got the freestanding which takes less space overall. So really this tub is more of a design choice (though I will probably take a bath sometimes now that we have it!).

You don't think a bench in front of the windows would look bad? They're probably only 7-8 inches off the floor, so every bench in existence would cover the nice window sills.

@HU-187528210, I like the framed mirror idea! I would have gotten that as an upgrade, but the builder didn't offer it and I'm a little daunted at the idea of undertaking it ourselves. E.g., how wide should it be? How tall? How far off the counter? What shape? So many choices where I'm not sure I know how to make the best plan. Also, good suggestion on the curtains. I was originally planning to do that, but I sort of forgot about it.

Thanks!

For wall art, I had been tossing around this idea, with a wide shelf beneath the art for tchotchkes and artfully laid-out towels and the like. But I was afraid that maybe this art isn't big enough, even though I like it.

@houssaon Wow, that is a very interesting idea I hadn't considered! I do sort of like having my own closet, and I think my husband does too, but this is definitely a good idea to keep in our back pocket. We might feel differently after we've lived here longer. (We just closed on the house in November and still have the bulk of unpacking ahead of us.)

@HU-187528210 I love this! It comes together so nicely with what you've done. These are going to be very helpful to me in thinking about this. Thank you!

FYI, I updated my original post with more photos from different angles in case that's helpful.

first thing I'd do is lose those mini blinds!

can you do some silouettes or woven wood?

everything in there is very neutral and plain. some texture would be nice.

why artificial plants when you have two large windows?

hang a plant from the ceiling w/a trailing ivy or something. super simple to care for, water once a week.

Here's my ideas.

Natural dark sisal/jute rug, but you could do anything else. just not those standard small bath mats! bring in an actual rug. they're fine to step on w/wet feet. I have an overdyed large rug in my bathroom.

I'm trying to get some texture and warmth in there. greenery, natural materials, wood.

the mini blinds are stark and cold. try the woven woods, or even roman blind

for that corner where I have the plant hanging, you could do a teak tower, or the stool.

Next. those vanities. Do you always have stuff out on the counter? you have a medicine cabinet ri can you use that?

Maybe remove the door and make it look like this?

If not, get something warm like this tray and put the items in it.

the mirrors might look niced framed out. natural wood is an option.

wood would add some warmth and depth.

for above the tub. art. maybe some shelving. you could copy this one,

Or just try what I have in my first photo, or get something large to fill that wall.

Try 1-2 towel hooks on the skinny wall by the shower door. I have the same issue. You may have to just take a towel w/you to the shower, and when finished, go hang it up elsewhere.

just look at the items they have in here. rug, ottoman, open tower shelf, light fixture, plants, window treatments.

Look at frames that attach to the existing mirror. I used Mirrormate and am happy with the results. You do have to assemble and hang them, but I found it simple.

@Beth H. : Thank you very much, these are great suggestions! Agreed on the mats not being right. We got those for the temporary place we were renting while the house was being finished, and we are using them here temporarily because we don't have a new plan yet.

Re: the rug you suggested in the middle, how big a size would you recommend? I feel like if it just goes in front of the tub, we'll be walking on the corners all the time. We need rugs in front of the sinks, where we're standing all the time, but I feel like it would be weird to have a rug in all three places. And a giant rug that covers the sink zone and the tub zone feels like it would look super weird to me. I like the idea of a rug, but I just don't know where it should actually go, and how big it should be.

The windows are close enough to our neighbors that we need something that is relatively opaque. We didn't want to frost them because there's a nice view out there, and I'd like to be able to see it sometimes, but I don't have a specific plan in mind for that yet.

Regarding the vanities, our plan is to have less stuff on the counter. We have just barely started to unpack and organize, so things are in disarray right now. Having said that, my husband is definitely going to resist putting his stuff away or adding other decorative items to his counter, but I'm thinking we can find some kind of compromise so our style isn't just pill-bottle chic.

Regarding natural wood, I've been on the fence about what color to get. I know that as soon as I buy something, now all the wood has to match that. I love the color of our flooring, but I'm finding that it's very hard to match. I know people say that floors are like jeans and the decor doesn't have to match that color, but it's made me reluctant. In our kitchen I have a lot of functional baskets and wood warming things up, but I wanted to go for something a little different in here, and I do like the floor color. But it's made me reluctant to buy just one wood thing and build on it for fear that I won't be able to find other things I want that match it.

I very much like the idea of framing the mirrors, though I'm very uncertain the best way to proceed regarding shape, height of top edge, height of bottom edge, width, etc. Not to mention that that potentially takes me into the same problem with the wood color that I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

I love your last inspirational photo, but I feel like so much of what's there wouldn't fit in our layout. I can put one thing in the corner, it seems -- either a hanging plant or a shelf or a seat or a towel rack, but not more than one of those things. Maybe that's not true?

Thanks so much for your lengthy post!

@P Banos thank you, I will look into it! I have never heard of that.

they were all suggestions for you to pick and choose what you'd like to do. of course you can tweak them to fit your needs.

the windows. look at the top down options. gives you privacy but lets in light.

cellulars

cordless honeycomb

Zebra roller blinds

Hunter Douglas top down bottoms up

perhaps you can plant something outside that blocks their view? (or are you upstairs?)

the rug. without actually standing in there it's hard to say.

something this size?

I have an 7-8 foot overdyed rug that looks similar to this. I got it here on Houzz. great for stepping out of the shower. for yours, just use a small mat.

sarah, I added some other pics of blinds to my comment

I disagree that all your wood has to match. I kept asking my decorator about "matching" wood and she was flat out against it. Said it makes your house look like a furniture ad, and she didn't mean that in a good way. "Matchy-matchy" was her derogatory phrase LOL.

Painting your walls, or some of them, would be a good way to bring some life to the room without adding dust-collectors. My vote would be for a soft watery blue-green-gray. For example the SW Sea Salt in this example. https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/8-most-popular-blue-green-paint-colours-mix-sherwin-williams-and-benjamin-moore/

@sarah
Yay. Glad you like it. Happy the mock ups helped you 🤗

For the frame really any size should do. You can probably buy a ready made one. Or just a new mirror altogether.

The frames you show are nice. I love blue. So I like them too.

Don’t think too deeply into sizing and placement of bench near the window. It can be a drop “imperfect” it’ll be fine.

💖💖💖💖

Just a logistical note: since you have walkway issues, try to keep things out of the way. We have bathmats for all showers and tubs, but they hang over the shower frame or tub side when not in use (which keeps them clean as well as out of the way). That seems likely to serve you well here. Similarly, I wouldn't keep a stool by the tub for looks, since you have to access those closet doors all the time -- you can keep it in the corner like you have now, and pull over when using, or you could even drape your towel over the window bench if need be! Good luck!

What an unfortunate switch by the builder, obviously no consultation with a designer. i hope you can put some of the ideas set forth here to good use so you can enjoy your space.

Is there sense in a high enough chandelier - near the tub can't tell - ? Canvas art is easy to dab water off of in a bathroom.

definitely a bench or shelving unit in front of the tub--you need to be able to set stuff down next to it.

SR did a chandelier over a tub and got a hare NO from Tommy once they checked the codes. I would have to add a lot of color!! Your space is beautiful, serene but not my jam. Also the floor does it get slippery? I would want a shower matt/looong runner. It's crazy what swapping out the mirrors for something with bling and changing the pulls on the cabinetry can do!

May we recommend glass wall art above the bath tub? With glass overtime condensation wouldn't ruin the quality of the image, perhaps a smaller scale than the image below but just as an example

Most practical towel solution is system below, placed on closet door near shower. It’s important to have functionality.

Place a mat over tub and place in front of tub or shower when needed.

I’d install a shelf behind tub, add greenery and large art and a bath caddy tray for soap, etc.

Orchids on vanity

Based on your mat choice/art/towels, which should all complement, add a mat at each sink.

I think window treatment may be fine once bathroom is accessorized, but there are good options.

A chandelier over the tub would look great…or if you don’t have the height for local codes, make it a decorative chandelier with candles