@Nancy in Mich, thanks for the details. I just found your bathroom reveal post too. I'm glad you're happy with the outcome. I have been reading about the pros and cons of cultured marble; I had checked out swanstone (not available near me - Canada); I'm only seeing solid stone panels showing up on box store sites but will keep looking. The contractor, who does accessible bathrooms tends to use cultured marble from a particular local manufacturer and say it's great. According to that company's website, "It is possible to repair scratches, chips, and minor blemishes. A repair person can re-buff the surface or patch with a special mixed gel-coat compound." They also say " Cultured marble is easy to care for and keep clean. Simply squeegee after each shower to quickly remove water drops from walls and to clean, you can use most non-abrasive cleaners. If hard water deposits accumulate, they can be dissolved with vinegar applied from a spray bottle. Cultured marble that has lost its shine can be restored by using Gel-Gloss or Counter Top Magic once a year. " Of course they'll say their product is awesome, right? ;) I do recall from years ago my parents had a bathroom vanity with cultured marble all in one countertop and sink bought from a box hardware. It didn't last forever and eventually had to be replaced. Hopefully quality is different now. Also, it might be easier on a wall than a basin that is collecting all kinds of liquids and such. Right now the bathroom is too narrow for dad to go in with his walker; thankfully there's a long vanity counter he holds onto, and when going in the tub, there are grab bars and mom is there to guide him. We'll likely go 0-threshold to allow him turning space with his walker. He also has low vision and one eye has no sight so balance is a concern. Thank God he has never fallen in the bathroom. The reno plan will unfortunately mean a small vanity and essentially no storage. I'm going to start a thread to get some ideas because no one who has come out has any ideas. The main reason is that widening to door will take up their linen closet and most of where the current vanity is. I do wonder about the comfort of a tile floor - seems it would be chilly and hard on the soles of one's feet so you'd need slippers all the time. Dad already wears them but not mom. That will be an adjustment. It'll take some more work trying to find something with sufficient texture and slip resistance while being comfortable for standing on. Did you buy your new shower curtain online? It's hard to find heavy weighted ones in the local stores anymore.

I am in the process of "updating" a master bathroom for a client and we removed the corner garden tub, capped off plumbing and replaced flooring to create a small area for a sit down vanity. We put wainscoting up around where the tub was to give it a nice finished touch. But, you MUST figure out what you can spend first. That will help you figure out what you can do. As a minimum, I would remove the tub, cap off plumbing and wainscot the area, then paint the vanity a color you like, replace the flooring to work together with color for vanity and paint the walls accordingly. Replace lighting for more light.

The best way to approach this is to first have an accurate diagram of your entire floorplan with dimensions of everything. The last thing you want to do is to spend a great deal of $$$ adding onto your home with a dysfunctional layout that will reduce the value of your property. I've seen additions that turn a functional floorplan into something that is not at all functional and you don't want to go there. None of us can give you any advice with the information provided other than seek out an architect. You could get better advice with the floorplan and its dimensions including doorways and windows and closet areas.

I have 4 bathrooms, all with pocket doors, and they're great. Generally, people who are not keen on pocket doors have that opinion due to poor experiences from crappy, contractor grade hardware being used.. Quality hardware, like Johnson brand, is only a few bucks more than the standard junk, but is far superior. My house is 20+ years old and all of the pocket doors continue to work smoothly and quietly, even though they are large and heavy solid core doors.