Very few people use a shower and bath in the same process in the US. Japan is different. A wet room with deep soaking tub and shower could give you what you want. The wet room setup could become more popular in the future here. Link.

True Japanese would have a shorter, deeper tub.

The only good way to avoid that is a wet space combining both. Nobody can answer, without your floor plan for the bath.

There is a pro and a con for everything. If a bath is a DAILY thing? It certainly may be very important for you. Or......simply stand up, and rinse off with the handheld attachment: )

Depends the type of tub you favor, and many other factors. Including who will clean a very GENEROUS space. Yes.....to be effective, it requires space.

Just know that extremely rare is the grown up, who wants to climb a tub edge of any height, to grab a daily SHOWER.

Nor does anyone who fractured a foot, or sprained an ankle or had any other infirm. Whether temporary, or permanent......that will include YOU, and your partner.

It’s your house, do what works for you.

I agree do what works for you not anyone else . I sure would not want to walk from tub to shower I have a deep soaking tub/ shower works perfectly and have no desire to change it.

I have been advised that I must have at least one tub in the house "for children" of the next homeowner. I offer their advice if you are looking for a good reason to have your tub/shower combo. There are several options included here by others that I hadn't thought of, and that I might like better than what I grew up with. Love to read the advice of others.

I removed all the tubs in my house. I'm not concerned about the next owners. I prefer showers as do my guests. Love all the showers. One is a zero entry shower.

It really comes down to what you like and how you use them. We had a shower/tub combo initially, and now we also have a shower only. If I want a shower, either works, though the shower only is nicer (but also newer). If I want a bath, I would personally not want a freestanding tub because I often end with a shower (and my kids always do). So for us, splitting them wouldn't work, but skipping the bath entirely, as long as there's one elsewhere, would be fine. Some people are bath-only people or shower-only people, and then it works to split them or ditch one. If you know you like to shower immediately after a bath to rinse off, you're probably a good candidate for the combo. Personally I couldn't sacrifice the space for separate even if we wanted it, but if you have square feet to spare, then you can think about how you'd use each.

We’ll have at least 1 other bath in the house, but possibly not a free standing shower. They’ll be combos. My husband wants us to splurge on the master suite more than anywhere else so I just feel cheap for putting a tub combo in the master bath. But I take a lot of baths, and always shower after. He doesn’t care either way. I’m just curious if I’ll have regrets in the future about not wanting that extra space for a shower as well. Thanks for the replies

It also depends on the tub you choose. I hate our particular tub--it's a super cheap one from a big box store that the PO put in for a low budget remodel. But my in-laws have a Kohler Villager, and that thing is amazing. The primary differences seem to be depth and lumbar support (ours has neither of these things). But both are shower-over-tub combos that take up the same footprint, and the price difference isn't even that crazy.

So much depends on your personal preferences and the length of time you intend on staying in the home. My sisters and I all prefer baths to showers, but my oldest sister can't step over the edge of a tub any more. I put in a tub shower combo in both my bathrooms, but may end up converting the master to a shower only at some point in the future depending on how well I stand up to the ravages of age.

I am not a big fan of free standing tubs as they take up a lot of extra, unnecessary space.

HEAVENS ! Have both! Go ahead and stand right up. Below, a quickie, with no clue as to the framing you have

allowed YOUR bath.

or........... even a bit smaller next pic. Are there other ways? Yes. These allow the shared plumbing wall, and fewer plumbing $$

Otherwise?

Nobody can answer this for you without a size and framing plan. For all we know, the size of your bath does not even allow for a separation of bathing/shower.

Life changes, (even involves moves) despite you may believe you will age out in this home. You've been advised that most adults prefer a separation of the two bathing experiences. There are no answers beyond that. It matters even less what someone else has in a totally different home, which at this point has not even a general size and layout for any of us to consider! It matters less how someone else likes to bathe! Will your bath be.........

Large enough for storage, for two person grooming at sinks etc. ?? Adequate access and space for the toilet.....where will the windows be located ?

....and more. What is the climate for the build? Will you heat the tile floor. Can you add simple infra red heat to the ceiling so a step or two to a shower is no BIG DEAL? You do have to stand to get out of the tub at some point.

You can't get the answer here, nor the possibilities. You have nowhere near enough information, other than you like the idea of a once and done wet space.

Make the bath large enough for a tub/shower combo for you, and a separate dedicated and pleasant showering experience for EITHER of you. Do this while considering all the aforementioned aspects of the bath.

It really is that simple. You get a 36 x 72 tub, in a niche. Or a more standard 30 x 60 . Next to that is the decently generous shower. The plumbing shares a wall. You need a wall in the bath 10 to 12 feet....and you stay right in your tub.

Or........ YOU tub bath in another bathroom which has the combo. Again....nobody can answer minus a framing plan. SO.....

If you mind or do not mind the walk, is the question.......

closed

open...more light etc.

Where's the bedroom, the closet, what size each, what does this living floor look like? First floor, second.who knows? We do not.

Emily, I don't think of a tub/shower combo as being cheap. Please don't feel like you are doing something wrong or being cheap by installing what you love, especially if your husband doesn't care about that particular choice. There is luxury in choosing exactly what you want. And there are lots of ways to add luxury in a bathroom, but that's where real luxury comes from, doing what YOU love. Other examples of luxury to me, are a heated floor, a toilet with a bidet, a heat lamp on a timer just outside the shower, and a heated mirror that doesn't fog up. I've heard others talk of heated towel bars. You don't have to have what other people think of as luxury. True luxury is having what YOU love and ONLY what you love.

This is the master. Usually, a bit more elaborate. How about a large shower with seating bench. And now the elaborate part. A tub shower combo right next to it. All on one wall. It could be designed with the plumbing back-to-back with the shower. A small glass shield for spray could blend into the glass shower surround. You don't need to turn the shower on from outside the tub. This could also work with a corner.

Unless you are crazy wealthy, there are always compromises with the "dream" home.

When I looked at how I spend time in my home I decided to put the bulk of my splurge spending on the areas where I spend the most time. I also like organization, so I would probably opt for larger closets and storage space, larger living spaces and a smaller bathroom.

I lived in a home with 2 5'x8' bathrooms and never felt cheated. I like having a larger vanity in my current home with slightly larger bathrooms, but I would have a hard time justifying expanding the space beyond what they are (8x10 and 8x12). It is plenty of space and fully functional for the 30 minutes I spend a day in the bathroom.

The shower footprint room in even a 36” wide tub is pretty small. Much smaller than in a 36” shower. A shower only is a much nicer experience, where you don’t brush elbows against walls, or have your bum bump a curtain or door when bending over to wash your toes. It is also less slippery, and safer.

If I were the husband in this situation, I would not be happy that I was being reduced to a second class showering experience in my home. He may not know it, but that is what would be the result.

It would be a second class tub experience for you as well. If you like a tub, you are probably pretty frustrated with how shallow they can be, and how little of your body gets submerged. That is the big drawback of a tub shower. It has to be shallow enough to step over to use as a shower.

A genuine deep soaking tub can fix that. One with a deck surround can give you a place for your towels, books, glass of wine, etc. It improves the experience for you.

Settling for less will happen enough in a build. I‘m not saying build a owner’s bath larger than your family room with his and her complete separate masters. But any owner’s bath that does not cater to each user’s preferences, is not a owner’s bath for a custom home. Even entry level new build tract homes have separate tubs and showers for the main bath. Because it is expected for the main bath.

Just saying ( again) you CAN have both. A really generous soak, the stand and rinse , and neither of you suffers a lousy/cramped shower up the road .

A 4' x 5" or 4' x 6' shower is mighty generous.

The tub space 36" x 72" allows for set down space in that tub, with a deck. You can drop in a tub, under mount a tub, slide in an alcove.

If you have small kids or they are planned? The master bath quite often ends up as the a nightly double up of toddlers in that tub as the room is generally more spacious than a kids bath. Far easier to lean over this tub, than a freestanding 21" high deep soak giving your rib cage a workout.

If you're willing to hop around the corner? You can turn at least half that separating wall to glass, for a light filled shower.

Again, nobody can really offer help, until YOU post framing plan as you have, thus far.

When you're thirty? You don't mind a cramped bath. Up the road a couple decades, or with an infirmity? You WILL mind it. Quite a bit. Clearances matter more, lets put it that way.: ) and a big bedroom tends to matter less.

I’d do both - tub with hand held hose mounted like a shower, plus separate showeR. Having the shower hose and the tub might also be helpful for rinsing things, cleaning the tub, cleaning dogs, etc.

Not having taken a bath in many years (a 6'-4" body does not blend well with a five foot tub) I had to think about the logistics of taking a bath as an adult. It sound like soaking in the tub and then rinsing off under a shower head, and washing with soap/shampoo at some time before rinsing, would be a preferred methodology.

That said, a tub/shower combination in addition to a separate shower would be advised.

(especially if the architect's fee is based on construction cost)

Stayed at Palms Place Las Vegas and loved tub/shower wet room. Spent a lot of time int there, like a spa, hot soak, cool shower, rinse and repeat lol. Open the shower door and step into a shower stall with tub, frosted glass behind tub in this case. Get a teak shower bench. It got steamy too, or add a steamer?

If you are taking a bath or a shower you have to step over the edge. My bath tub is fairly deep. Water level is 21" so it is just a bit taller than that. It is also 36" wide and 6' long. Nice roomy shower or soak. I am 61 and I placed a couple of grab bars for added safety when getting in and out of the tub. In 15 years I may need to convert to a shower, but that's okay. I am enjoying my soaks as long as I can safely get in and out of the tub. They also make transfer seats and different benches that you can use as an assist to get in and out of the tub.

Yes think safety. A broad tub ledge could be used to sit on similar to tub transfer bench as in photo above with tub filling up with water.