Where are windows located? Which walls are outside walls?

The outside wall would be the one opposite of the entry, the one that shows 88 in the drawing. That is also where the window is located. Window currently is larger than the 24" walkway, I would fit a smaller window in there.

Personally, I think I would keep the layout you have. The aisle is too narrow as is the pocket door. I think a 7 foot vanity with drawers is worth more than a large shower.

I like your ideas, but I think it would be too much for your space. 24” clearance between the shower snd vanity would be tight.

If you more-or-less kept your existing layout, you could definitely still revamp some things. You could still make the vanity smaller and/or get a vanity with double sinks (always a plus). If you went for a smaller vanity, you could have space to put in a decent-sized linen cabinet next to it.

To more directly answer some of your questions:

- 24” walkway is too narow

- 24” pocket door is too narrow

- a 40” x 72” shower is not too big; it is luxurious… But it might be too big for your bathroom.

- 12” of shelving for linens is a bit tight. I’m more concerned with it being potentially awkward, though, for being so narrow and deep.

- Given enough space, a shower bench is usually a nice idea. It should go on the opposite wall from the showerhead.

@Karenseb thanks for your thoughts. I've never had a big vanity and have always suffered from small showers so I'm aiming to change that here. I've uploaded another design (#2) maybe this works better with the space.

Okay, so I've uploaded a 2nd design that I think might be more applealing. I've done away with the weird 1" super deep linen / towel area. I've rotated a few things as well. I've left a few things up to opinions here that I'd love for others to weigh in on. @Jessica feel free to jump in here, I appreciated your thoughts earlier.

Thoughts:

• Should the space between the vanity and the shower be a pony or full height wall?
• Where should I put the shower controls?
• Where should I place a bench if I do it, one side, two sides, etc?
• Where should the entry for the shower be?
• Will shower entry present problems activating shower controls?
• Will shower entry be too far from towel rack?
• Is it that big of a deal if I get rid of the window entirely?
• We were dealing with a big shower before, does a roughly 36"x88" seem too overwhelming especially for the rest of the bathroom?
• If I keep the shower size, should I be considering rain showers / multiple heads?
• Thoughts on built in shelving?

I actually a variation of your first design might work with a few modifications. First, you would need to downsize the width of the shower from 40" to 36". I was just reading an old thread in which someone was unsure if their shower was big enough (https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2328015/shower-size-ok#n=51). The conclusion was that a 36" wide shower is as long as it longer than it is wide. In your case, I think a 48"-60" would be a noticeable improvement to your current situation. Second, many vanities are in the range of 18"-20" wide. With these changes your aisle width would be between 30"-32". I do not recommend switching to a pocket door for bathrooms because of privacy issues.

One economical option I like would just to leave the fixtures where they are, but increase the length of the shower - it seems like you can increase it by 12" without moving the toilet and to replace the vanity with one that is narrower. I don't like opening a door and have the edge of the countertop right in line with the doorway.

@Andrea C thanks for your thoughts here. The problem with downsizing the shower is that it would need to stay at its current size to keep the door and walkway, its currently at 32 inside the curb and 34 outside the curb and roughly 30" from the vanity. I don't think I could extend towards the toilet either because that's the direction of the swinging door and if i flip the door towards the vanity, I think that's another guideline violation against the entry door. The more I look at option 2, the more I like it. I don't mind the work because it has to be done, repairs need to be made. This would also preserve the necessary walkways and I think would open it up a bit. That would also allow me to keep the door with a lock on it, all I would have to replace is trim. So throwing economics out the window, do you still dislike option #2?

I really like layout #2; it was something I was vaguely wondering about when I first read your post. If you went for this, I would suggest a pony wall by the vanity and possibly also by the toilet. I would still keep one bench (probably by the vanity). Due to the length, I think it would indeed be best to consider multiple heads and/or a rainfall showerhead. I also think shower entry should be centered on your walkway between the toilet and vanity. If controls are at one end, entry should not pose a problem for them.

Also, I am actually a fan of keeping the window. It could provide a handy shelf for shampoo bottles, and natural light is a plus.

I’d also recommend centering the toilet on that section of wall between the door and the shower, and putting your towel rod centered above it. I presume this would likely be just for hand towels. As non-luxurious as it is, I’m a big fan of over-the-door hangers for bath towels. And of course a vanity could have plenty of storage for extra towels.

And finally, for extra walking clearance, you could consider a flush-mounted toilet. The flush mount just gives a shorter profile, and would give a few extea inches of clearance. I don’t know the mechanics of it, though, so I’m not sure how plumbing differs.

I don’t dislike Option #2, but I think 88” of shower would be really cold. I agree with @Jessica and not eliminate the window so that you get natural light and airflow. Given that this is a primary bath, most people generally like more storage, which this plan lacks since the vanity is relatively small.

Okay lots of thoughts going on here, I love it. @Jessica @Andrea C

So I'm convinced I need to keep the window for lighting and potential ventilation so that'll stay. My biggest challenge is currently the door opening because with the distance from the entry to the shower both swinging doors open are likely to intersect. Back to that in a second. The reason I have the toilet almost in the corner is because, I'm thinking about a bypass door which would allow the shower user to either go out near the wall with the towel bar, or even just grab the towel to try, or go out near the vanity. If it's me, probably both of those functions. Grab a towel, dry inside shower, then exit near vanity. If I'm able to do the bypass then from the shower door /glass on the toilet side I have exactly 24 inches with is minimum needed for clearance, technically 22 from curb but I'm not worried about that. Okay back to the door, I'm not sure if I can accomplish a bypass in that space having only a knee wall and glass on top of that. I'd rather not make that wall full height because it'll cut off the small space even more. So if no bypass, and I do a knee wall with glass on top, now I have fixed panel with regular sliding (I hope) or swinging. If I go swinging, I'll likely need a pocket door for the clearance, I'm okay with it on a master bath as opposed to a shared bath. Okay lastly storage space. 46" vanity isn't that large but the headknocker should alleviate a lot of this tension, no? Hence also why I don't want to move the toilet closed to shower, visual cutoff and restrictions I'm thinking. Also, the towel bar area, I could play with, I can do bar and hook combo or bar shelf combo, or swinging. In reality I could get away with 16" there, it just won't be centered to curb. It'll be centered glass to headknocker.

As far as shower design, I'm thinking bench on both sides and recessed wall shelving on top of the bench, so likely 2 on each wall. Controls would be dead center, probably underneath the window. If I get the placement right, rain showers in front of the benches, so almost to the left and right of the door opening. I'm also thinking about in each (almost) corner placing handhelds.

I'm going to take a breath now. Thoughts?

3D Renders added now, this is going off option #2. I'm thinking this is a winner. Anyone see anything I'm not?

Design #2 is far better. Love the "headknocker"!!!

Does anyone have any thoughts on showerhead placement 1 or 2 and if I should do 1 or 2 benches?