Thanks for the “best” opinion. :)

If you want to help with my original question that would be helpful.

If not, that’s ok too.

I think your redesign is starting to move in the right direction. It's such a long narrow bathroom, so instead of feeling luxurious, it could be just difficult to work in. I would focus the bedroom to get the most light, and try to find a better shape for the bathroom.

Others have commented about toilet rooms and closets in bathrooms. I like a lot of privacy in the bathroom, so I certainly don't want my loved one walking by to get to his closet while I'm in there. And if he's showering, nothing will frizz my hair more than having to walk through the bathroom after I get dressed! :)

So, try to do a bubble diagram for the whole master suite and see what you come up with!

Here's just a few seconds of playing around -- both closets are accessed from the bedroom, and rearranged to make the bathroom more compact.

LH CO/FL…yes that’s kinda what I’m thinking. It doesn’t feel luxurious and part of that is the somewhat narrow feel. As for closets, the original design has his/her separately. And “hers” has an entry from her bedside wall via barn door” and access from her vanity in the bathroom. So intentionally provides a continuous flow.

His bathroom is on the other side.

Thank you for the input and ideas!

No barn doors eek

A "butler's pantry" is a serving and storage room between a kitchen and dining room.

Fire your designer and hire a competent local architect.

Between the two layouts you posted I prefer the unaltered version as it has a separate shower and tub. That being said, perhaps more thought should be put into the design. Good luck!

I hate giant bathrooms and for sure toilet rooms no one should be using the toilet when someone else is in the bathroom period. I think over sized bathrooms are totally for show and not practical unless you have a live in maid to clean everyday. Function is IMO really important in every space and what you have is not functional and honestly and the plan even less so. Really think about how much time you spend in the bathroom IMO space just for no reason is just wasted space . Not in any way more luxurious for sure.

Thanks for the “best” opinion. :)

If you want to help with my original question that would be helpful.

If not, that’s ok too.

No house is built in isolation. What affects one room affects others and the exterior etc. If you truly want to fix it, it would require reworking the other rooms too, especially the ones near the master.

If what I wrote helps you to see that there might be better ways to arrange the house, great. If not, that's ok too especially since you have to live in it. All I can say is when I pulled my house out of permitting, we spent another 4 months reworking the house and it became 100x better than it was. And my house is light filled in every single room, which yours won't be.

Additionally my house doesn't have long dark hallways and all the other issues yours does. And 2 excellent architects here just agreed with me.

But like I said, it's your house. :)

Among other changes you make, consider moving the bedroom door to the foyer instead of the living room.

Now would be a great time to engage the services of a professional designer, in particular, a kitchen/bath designer. I prefer to start a new build project prior to the architect's final plans so I can work out these layout issues and incorporate them into the permit set. It avoids a lot of confusion during the build phase. Do not assume some of your changes do not need to be represented in your final permit set, and changing the layout a lot could cause delays in your project.

A good designer will learn about your wants/needs and will adjust the layout accordingly. Random opinions from strangers online will likely not take into account all the information a professional bathroom designer knows to learn from their client.

Once again, 3onthetree nailed it. MUCH better layout!

My first thoughts are:

1) The hallway and entrance to the master bedroom is rather convoluted.

2) The long vanity in the master bath doesn't have access to natural light. I'd rather have it on an exterior wall than the shower and toilet.

3) Why is there a window directly in front of the shorter vanity? Where will the mirror be?

4) You have windows in both the shower and toilet area that is adjacent to the front walk of the house. That's weird.

5) Middle of the night pee runs are going to involve lots of walking and inevitable, stubbed toes at some point.

6) I'm don't understand the 5ft and 6ft windows that are on the front of the house (one is in front of the tub and the other inside the closet. What does that elevation look like because I can't wrap my head around it.

Hi. We built a bit over 3 years ago and the whole process taught us so much. I’m always on Houzz trying to help people out… hoping to help prevent a few tears, some frustrations, and maybe money… based on what my husband laments as my overly critical eye and situations that occurred to us throughout this process and many past home experiences. I’d definitely second the designer suggestion if you aren’t into the architect suggestions. Our designer helped with the interior ( as well as some of the exterior). It was more helpful that I can express. A couple of things that I might try to change is the hallway … zig zagging to your bedroom might be a bit annoying over time. I assume you can get furniture in there from the outside… easier than going through the hall. I think I’d be okay with your bathroom and closets as is if I walked in and was buying it already built ( our bathroom and closet ended up a bit smaller than most in our future selling potential price range), but would work on rearranging as you are now if in design mode. I also have found that barn doors aren’t the greatest… light “leaks” out a lot. I’d move that closet door away from the center of the wall if your plans stay similar… having a door centered on a wall often gets in the way of furniture. I’d also say that some of what sounds like harsh opinions on here aren’t from haters. They know more than a thing or two about building houses. Wish I’d posted our plans way back then. Hang in there. Building was one of the most exhausting, expensive, and emotional undertakings I’ve ever experienced.

I sincerely believe that the best way to get a home that works for you and your family is to take the time to really examine how you live, minute by minute, day in day out. Understand your activities and your storage needs. Understand how often you entertain and how many people you entertain at one time? Do you cook or bring home takeout? Who does the laundry, how much laundry needs done and how often. Do you need to be within earshot of the kids at night?

No two households work the same. I prefer my laundry closer to the kitchen and family room to having it near the bedroom. I usually do laundry and cook multiple meals each weekend so I can just warm things up during the week when I am busy at work. By having the laundry near the kitchen my work is centralized in that space and I can switch the laundry around while something is on the stove without burning anything. If the timer goes off for a cake in the oven I will hear it if I am sitting close by while folding laundry. I can have a movie playing in the background and hear it from both the kitchen and laundry room.

This may not be the same for someone else who runs a load of laundry every evening, throws it in the dryer before bed and folds it in the morning before going to work.

If you know exactly how much space you need for bathroom storage and clothing storage and how your morning and evening routines run you can plan the space to fit your needs. I can tell you how I would change things, but that doesn't mean it would work well for you.

Something to think about:

The hall leading into the master suite is about 24' long and about 4' wide; that is about 96 square feet. At $250 per square feet, that hallway costs about $24,000 to build. If someone designs a master bedroom suite that eliminates those 96 square feet and still meets your needs and ties into the architecture saving you $24,000, would you be willing to pay them $12,000 (your net savings of $12,000)?

@shead - those windows are high transom windows that start at 7’. They provide natural light versus a view since that’s the entrance walkway

@3onthetree Nice rendering…the only thing I’m not sure about is the seating area as a standalone space. Gonna have to think that one over and envision it. But I think it’s a good idea to consider for sure.

Part of the original design allows the large cove window to allow light in the hallway.

And as one has suggested, we’ve debated having the MB entry on the foyer wall vs living room wall. If the original rendering stood as is, and we switched MB entry to foyer it would allow a nice visual & natural light in when entering from the right.

You didn't ask, but I just noticed how far away from any "public" restroom the gym is. It's a workout in itself to get to your shower or bath afterwards. :)

@LH CO/FL…we’re used to large houses and floor plans. I’m already lazy so a few extra steps is probably a good thing. :)

There’s an outdoor bath just around the corner or my sons room if it’s that important.

Although, I’ve considered making the gym into a social bar area anyways. Lol

@Jennier - all good points to consider. We absolutely designed this house with our lifestyle, and future lifestyle in mind. One thing I personally can’t stand is hearing the laundry room. So although it’s not close to the kitchen or master, it’s far enough away for me not to hear it. :) Although I shouldn’t complain since my wife spoils me by doing my laundry.

We also have a small laundry room to the north for the kids to use.

@Jeremy Ryder , so what did you determine were your needs for the bathroom and closets in the master area. Who uses what spaces when. Do you steam up the whole room 10 minutes before your wife has to do her hair and makeup? Can you get out of the shower, dry off, hang up your towel and stroll into your closet to get dressed or do you select your clothing before the shower and have them hanging right outside of the shower? Knowing every step of your morning and evening routine helps you figure out how this will work. Are you squeezing past your wife while she is spraying on her perfume? Do you need the toilet closet or could it be behind a pony wall and facing out from the wall? Do you not mind if your spouse does a #2 while you are getting ready in the morning or do you have another bathroom that can be used when you are both trying to get ready in the morning?

These are the things you need to step through and discuss. How do your routines work now, how will this new home and new design work for you? Does it remove the pain points or exasperate the pain points? Do you even know your wife's pain points? Are you sure?

". . . does a #2 . . . "

Hey!! Stop using such technical language!

@Jennifer - We’ve both looked over this design together. A “pony wall” for the toilet is a no-go for us. We like the actual toilet closet, which is what we have now.

We both hate walking past a tub that sticks out in a lot of current bathroom designs we’ve seen around our area. And since my wife is the only one who uses the bathtub, on occasion, it’s positioned next to her closet and at the end of the bathroom (current design).

Also, we currently have a fully tiled and beautiful shower…the problem is, it’s massive so we’ve decided we don’t need a shower that big.

As for routines, I travel often and the only routine is non-routine for us. :)

So when I come home at odd times, I drop my luggage and dirty clothes in the laundry room which is connected directly to the Gen suite mud room.

This bathroom is larger than our current and we’ve never had an issue with both of us in there at once.

I don’t plan my clothes in advance ever. Lol…it’s AZ. Shorts, polo shirt and sandals. Attire choice is simple in the desert.

Our current MB…it’s too large as-is and with planned built-in closets, we made it smaller.

Its an interesting layout - almost hub and spoke with the main living area in the center and the garage and bedrooms clustered around it. I would be tempted try to open up at least one source of natural light in the kitchen - not helpful at this stage i know

Thanks for the opinions. We decided to go with this layout. Plenty of light from high transom windows.

Glad to see your update. Thanks for sharing!!

Hope no one uses the toilet in the middle of the night because the flushing will wake the other person in the bed. And no, no amount of soundproofing will change that.

And why the vanity with the corner since corners are basically useless?

@cpartist - good point on the toilet. Although my work schedule is so irregular that my hours vary greatly. Not sure it will impact us significantly but definitely something to consider.

As for the corner vanity…that’s simply a drawing. Not definitive. We will probably do something else just like the linen closet…won’t be that size either.

We actually use our corner vanity to hold a lot of products. It's actually quite useful for the countertop space, but not necessarily the cabinet space under it. Just something to consider depending on how many bathroom related products you tend to leave out on the counter.

Think about a built in laundry hamper somewhere… so handy.

I just noticed you have windows over the vanities. Um where will the mirrors be?

I think he said those windows were up high. We were going to have high windows in our bathroom… but the designer changed that because all we would be looking at was the roof overhang.. not very attractive. Did they give you any elevation renderings so you can see how the outside will look and see how balanced the windows look from the outside?

The problem with the design is the circulation space, the interior hall within the master bedroom suite. As long as you have a long hallway within the master bedroom suite, you will have a problem.

@cpartist - those are high transoms that start at 7’. We are not fans of traditional bathroom vanities with lights off the wall.

@Chris - yes we will have a spot for a laundry hamper. And our transom windows on that wall will indeed only have the walkway entry overhang in view. We are ok with that based on the current design/space.

@Mark - we have considered this layout before. It requires the removal of the “cove” but more importantly changes the exterior elevation view and rooflines. Not impossible by any means but requires a lot second and third consequences. Certainly a consideration.

@Chris - renderings

My comment is more for readers to illustrate that house design is a series of path, and going down a wrong path early in the process most likely lead to more wrongs. Unless there is a compelling reason for a long hall within a master bedroom suite, the layout is inefficient and makes the construction cost higher than it could be.

@Mark - “wrong” path is subjective. That being said, our compelling reason was two-fold…we don’t mind the hallway because we believe hallways can serve a purpose to create a separate space and we also like the “cove” design. However, we are not opposed to the overall design concept you suggested as we’ve considered this designed previously. And since we’ve already closed on our construction loan but still in permit phase we can make any changes necessary.

Cool renderings. That always helps so much!!

While hallways do serve a purpose, I would seriously consider Mark's changes. Certainly better than the zig zag every single time you go in or out of the bedroom.

Don't get so hung up on what you did already that you are not willing to see the forest for the trees.

Here is a variation of the concept:

This is just a concept. If you still desire a maze, it can be worked out with your designer.

@Mark & cpartist - as mentioned previously, we had a design similar to this previously however we don’t like to walk directly into the bedroom to access the bathroom. We have seen several homes locally that have this type of flow and it’s not our first choice.

One idea is to shift the hallway to the west/left which I can show that concept later.

The real nemesis that “restricted” design flow was the cove we had designed. With that idea removed, we have a lot more options to work in a similar footprint. See below for one idea…

What is the purpose of "the cove"?

Why is it more desirable to travel a 24' hallway than a 17' bedroom to get to a bathroom?

A cove is just that…a separate space. In this case, it provides a private area immediately off the master.

Your second question is flawed based on your bias. We don’t want to walk thru the master bedroom to have access to the bathroom, regardless of distance. That is in the eye of the beholder…sounds like you prefer it. We don’t. As stated previously, we’ve seen this design in person at various models and don’t like it.

"We don’t want to walk thru the master bedroom to have access to the bathroom"

Why?

Ok so could you do something like I have with my master suite? I can get to the bathroom from both my bedroom and the hallway that leads to my bedroom.