The area marked WIC is not a closet, but the shower? I think your wife will be cold long before she gets to the closet.

You could swap the closet and bedroom to bring the closet closer to the bath.

Yes the area marked as WIC is now the master shower and the door to what was the third bedroom is now our master walk in closet.

Issue with switching the bedroom with the closet is that the back wall - where the 3 windows are - is where the back yard is. The side has no view neither does the closet really. And it would be an awfully narrow master bedroom if we did switch it.

Here is what the original floor plan looks like for reference

I had a closet that was probably further away in my previous house and I never thought it was a problem ... I think that is what they invented bathrobes for! I was just happy to have my own closet and not have to share with DH. He had the closet right next to the bathroom!

The existing floor plab didn’t post, but I’ll assume the hall bath didn’t change. So, what if you take over that bathroom, expand it? And the current master bath can become the hall bath for that bedroom?

I can’t imagine losing a bedroom. I’d do like Mark suggested with the bath and closet.

We tried to keep the bedroom and just split the current master bath into a space for both the bathroom and the WIC- but it was wayyy to small. Just for reference, we have 3 more bedrooms we are keeping downstairs in the lower level of the split so we would still have 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms even after losing a bedroom on the upper level

Not part of your dilemma qustion, but do you have a washer/dryer on this level? with all that space, I might try to fit one in.

Olychick- we have a laundry room on the main level (it’s a traditional split level ranch - so the kitchen, living, dining room, laundry and an office are all on the main ranch level, (now) 2 bedrooms/2 baths including the master on the upper level of the split and keeping 3 bedrooms/2 baths on the bottom level of the split

Does "WIC" mean 'Walk-In Closet' or 'Water In Ceiling'??

If that is a shower, how many people do you expect to shower in that space at one time??

(do not answer that second question)

"Here is what the original floor plan looks like for reference"

?

Why not make that hall bath an ensuite for the bedroom? Who else would use it?

Divide the master bath in 2. Use the left side as a new general bath and reclaim the rest for the master bedroom. Take the existing general bath and combine it with space from the right-hand spare bedroom to make a new master bath. Use the remainder of the spare bedroom for the master closet.

Sorry this is the current (original ) floor plan

Also I can’t use that bedroom or bathroom across the hall- it is a split level/ if I take over that bedroom there is no hallway for me to access that upper floor

Mark- lol. The architect wanted us to have a “wow” shower - something someone would walk into and it be a showstopper.

Honestly I thought of widening it, moving the freestanding tub to the far end of the shower (and turning it sideways) and making the shower a “wet room” area. Then closing off the far end glass wall (so you have a single floor to ceiling glass door entry to the shower on the side closest to the master bedroom and using that other glass space as drywall and appending a built in (floor to ceiling) cabinet there for linens, towels etc.

This is what I meant:

Stairs are still accessible. Large part of hallway is reclaimed for Primary bedroom. And en suite is a generous square adjacent to a very large closet. There is another standard sized closet over by the walkout which serves the dual purposes of storage and sound insulation.

"Does "WIC" mean 'Walk-In Closet' or 'Water In Ceiling'??"

"Washing In Cold" boy, do not walk over to the bench in the middle 7' long space out of the shower spray.

The problem is you have too much room, and in this scheme those spaces are not laid out optimally. For example, such an oblong Master would want, as the balcony/door reinforces, a seating area. However, it would be interrupted by the ensuite door. Also, the dead space next to the closet is disproportionate (under a possible beam). The ensuite seems way too large for the house. In general, look at all the spaces in the entire house, and everything should be at the same level.

If you are eliminating a bedroom (which IMO you probably don't need to), then the other bath can become an ensuite for that other bedroom, opening up opportunities for the Master.

My memories on this house were verified when I looked at your old threads. You have a challenge. I would be designing the entire house/exterior living as a whole, whether you stage construction of the improvements or not.

"The architect wanted us to have a “wow” shower"

Who's house is this?? Do you want a "wow" shower, or do you think your money is better spent elsewhere?

3onthetree- you're right. We are actually doing an entire house (and landscape) reno at once (bold, I know). We are popping the roof off of the main level and raising the ceilings (it is currently 8" and we will have 10'6" after) and also doing a reno of the entire split level portion as well (the top floor has most of the reno work; the bottom is staying as is with a full bathroom reno and a refresh elsewhere)

Mark - I spoke with our architect today and are redoing some things in the master bedroom and bath. I think where we are ending up is much better for us (and more congruent). I'll post an updated picture soon

Here is the modified layout - much better in my view. Master bedroom size is better, it’s square , wet room now is more palatable and we have a second wic

Your revised scheme is still not there. You haven't solved the closet separation, still have a wet room (which I only see when there is no space available), disproportionate open bath area, a WIC stuck in there 'cuz room to fill.

First determine whether you have trusses or rafter ties, whether you can disregard a central wall or beam. Then determine what reducing your #bedrooms does for the SF, neighborhood, and price range of the house. It seems your architect is stuck on your programming of eliminating 1 bedroom, and that is hampering creativity. Both Mark's and Jennifer's layout are better.

If you going to use an entire bedroom as a walk-in closet, then a second walk-in closet seems unnecessary. it can open to the hall and be a laundry room.

The WIC in the bathroom is for growing mushrooms.

Not sure the reason for the vitriol - the house is in an area of $2M+ homes (we obviously bought it for far less) but we are spending a good amount of money to make sure it meets the standards in the neighborhood (for context, our neighbors house is 7600 square feet. Ours will be 3800 when done so I'm not sure I'm oversizing at all).

Moreover we will still have 5 bedrooms and 4 full bathrooms after this - and a separate 12x12 laundry room on the main floor of the house. So we're not just wasting space- if there was some use for the room other than a master closet, I'd certainly use it. There's not -- and my wife has more clothes than most people do (to be honest, she could fill both of those WICs).

3onthetree - we have rafters and I've had the engineer already sign off on these plans. The WIC in the bathroom is still decent sized and will have built in dressers for night clothes, underwear etc - and robes. That way you don't have to walk all the larger WIC .

Marks plan is so much more efficient and you can still turn the other bedroom into a closet for your wife.

But I can't have a 5x7 shower in this house- future buyers will expect a large bathroom

Also we need to have a water closet for the toilet (that closes) - theres not enough room for that in that plan

A "wow" shower does not need to be bigger than 5 x 7 to be wonderful. Keep it proportionate with the home but finish it spectacularly -- especially for a shower, bigger is not better. If the water closet is absolutely necessary, put it under the window so it's not a claustrophobic little closet. Then re-work the shower and bath.

Also we need to have a water closet for the toilet (that closes) - theres not enough room for that in that plan

Make the secondary WIC smaller.

And a shower larger than 5' x 6' is just cold.

"Future buyers will expect a large bathroom"

Do you know who is going to win the World Series?

I think future buyers will appreciate a well laid out plan. Probably won't get much cleaner in a bigger shower.

It's not the size of neighbors' houses that dictate the size of your house's individual rooms. It is the size of your house and relationship of spaces.

So consider a 7000sf house, it may have a 30'x24' Great Room, a huge 16'x18 Foyer, a double loaded staircase, lots of wide hallways, secondary bedrooms min 18'x14' and secondary bathrooms min 12'x8'. Everything is just sized bigger, and there is more blank space and blank walls.

Compared to a say 2400sf-3800sf house, where the typical size of a secondary bedroom is min 12'x10', a bath min 9'x5', an 18'x22' Great Room, etc. All rooms should be proportionate for that house. So just by looking at the snippet of drawings provided, the existing bedrooms and Foyer size, the proposed Master/Ensuite does not reside in the same design space. It would be as you would react to a human face with a mouth the size of a horse, or ears as big as satellites - something doesn't fit well in proportion. Though I do understand you have a DIY frankenstein house, but now's your chance to set it right with the amount of money you are sinking in it.

As far as not knowing how to fill up space, there are things to conceive depending on the rest of the house and your living patterns (or potential patterns common to that genre of house). Like an open loft/library area. An Office next to Master. A dedicated tv/seating area within the Master. A small private gym. An expanded Guest Suite (with direct access to ensuite).

Make sure you're not remuddling your house because when it comes time to sell, it will be the last one to sell and not because it's smaller than the other houses but because it's not laid out well.

I'm getting the sense that either you are set on the plan you have and just think it needs a few "tweaks" or that you don't really understand the vast amount of space you have. If it's the second, perhaps this drawing with some furniture and fixtures might help. As drawn, the shower is 5'x7'. The toilet is enclosed. Her closet has 54 feet of hanging space (2x27') plus room for an island dresser And there is convenient, pocket door access from bath to her closet should it be desired.

It is always important to remember that normally a vast majority of time someone is in their bedroom, they are unconscious.

Jennifer's plan is wonderful!

Not only is "his closet" substantially smaller, it doesn't have a door (pulling on my collar).

When renovating, you want it to work well for you, but also protect your investment…so resale is important. The her closet is very big, which works for you and yours…but to protect your investment, I would make sure the his closet is also reasonable….because we had this exact situation in a house we bought when we had a young family…and the her closet made for a very nice nursery, and the his closet was adequate for us to share.

Geez Mark! Haven't you seen the Venn diagram "Times when I am happy vs Times when I wear pants"? I'm just doing my bit for marital harmony.

My wife only explained about the part where there is the most overlap labeled, "Happy Wife, Happy Life".

Thank you Jennifer for the alternative plan - I think we prefer the one we settled on (yours also resulted in a loss of a bedroom). We're going to split the larger WIC so that it's still a sizeable closet space but also will have a library/office off of our master for me to work from. Our shower space is actually about 6x7 (because the "tub" will take up the rest of the wet room space). We also do not want to block either of the 2 windows as we like the symmetrical look to have a window exposed on either side of the vanity.

How you visualize a drawn plan in 3D certainly can be interpreted differently than what contributors to this thread can do. So maybe in your garage, place some tall boxes (to emulate closed in walls) to create the visual sense of your proposed Master Bath - a 21' long X 7' wide space - and also try to mark where the windows are - you may not get the feel of those being symmetrical flanking a long vanity from any viewpoint within such a long skinny space and with a door (with a full lite, presumably) breaking up that symmetry.

But, the revised Master Bedroom size and shape is a much more pleasant, so that is good.

He’s still allowed to have his own opinion and do whatever he wants with his house. it doesn’t mean he didn’t appreciate or use any of the suggestions.

Emily- I actually did take Mark’s and the others’ suggestions into account when doing the revised layout — I looked at the aesthetics and the required space and ultimately drastically shortened the master shower, had a WIC built that would both serve as my (his) closet as well as an area for night clothes and robes, etc, kept the two windows in the master for symmetry, kept the water closet because that’s my wife’s number 2 priority (1 being sufficient WIC space for her closet), made the master square for symmetry, and split her closet into a WIC and library/sitting area. I actually found everyone’s suggestions very helpful even if I didn’t ultimately adopt one of their sketches verbatim and really do appreciate everyone’s views - diversity of thought here helped me see a few things I hadn’t thought of before for sure

"kept the water closet because that’s my wife’s number 2 priority"

Me thinks you made an unintentional funny

Me thinks @3onthetree made me laugh out loud.

Me thinks we should not ask for a clearification to protect the guilty.

Oh I totally made an unintentional funny. Good catch 3onthetree lol. Wish I could take credit as intentional for that one!