Well, phooey. I taped it out in the bathroom with blue tape last night and it looked like it would fit, but with too many nos, I'm back to the drawing board. Interesting thought, Vix. Right now we don't actually have a toilet room, so much as a separate toilet "area" (there's no door, and the closet takes up too much room to add a door), but it's on my agenda to create one. In our house, it's very necessary. I generally use that bathroom to try to FIND privacy, only to have 3 people (and sometimes the dog) follow me into the bathroom. I'm looking forward to having a door that locks and a fan so that I don't have two little people handing me the TP and asking whether I'm doing number 1 or 2 (oh, and the 1 year old likes to flush while I'm ON the pot; so I've got my own special cold water washlet), while DH decides that he absolutely has to shave and brush his teeth at that exact moment. Now if I take a hike to the guest bath on the other side of the house, all three just follow me AGAIN. Sometimes when I have insisted on locking the door in the guest bath (no way to do that with our LOUVERED -- why??? -- pocket door in the master), my one year old plopped down prostrate outside the door and cried until I open the door. For my W/C, I want to put in a LOUD fan; no whisper quiet for me. Maybe I'll even add a radio. :) The way I'm seeing it, I can either get rid of the long vanity altogether and live with a fairly small vanity, plus a tub and shower, I can skip the tub and live with the kids' bathroom on the third level as the only room with a tub, or we can bump out that weird corner jog, which would give us an additional 49'' X 27'' space -- enough to fit a 5X3 tub, 5X3 shower and keep the two vanities. But that sounds very expensive and will require carefully removing and replacing the siding to match the existing. DH's response to all this was "why do we need a tub?"

Oh no! Well, thank goodness he's okay! I hope he didn't hurt his collarbone. That couldn't have been fun for his little bod and he may appreciate a chiropractor, or at least a hot bath and a back and neck rub before bed. Sheesh. Well, they say that God looks out for babies and fools and we've all seen plenty of proof of that. Hope your baby is truly unscathed. Just what you didn't need, though, and at such a bad time. So sorry, Laurie. I hope DH is a good sport about it and also a good handyman. Yeah, time for a good talk with that son of yours... about asking permission not just to have the tree but to go get it all by himself... and about how crawl spaces above houses are constructed. I'm sure he thought he was helping you though. :/ Some days the bear gets you! :( ((((hugs))))

"Isn't it funny how so many who have the tubs never use them yet when people look for a home they love seeing a jet tub in the master bath? Is it just the "thought" of that magificent soak we all wish for but never take that puts in our minds that we must have the tub?" Ditto with all the chef kitchens with professional ranges. In my area, hardly anybody cooks in their chef kitchen because everybody is too busy. OP renovates for resale, i.e. bang for the buck, which isn't necessarily primarily for functionality.

Wow. You guys are awesome! After talking it over with my husband - we decided on swapping the playroom and office. We will also add double french doors that can bring light in to the entertainment area. We do need that full bath as my mom will stay with us (weeks at a time from overseas). The playroom will be at the bottom of the steps so I can peak on the girls while im upstairs clean/cooking/doing whatever. The staircase will be open so we can pivot furniture. This will bring light in immediately as well. Under the stairs will be added storage for their art supplies/school supplies...etc. The bath will be right off the bottom of the steps so people can quickly access the bathroom if the powder room is occupied upstairs. It also removes the bathroom from being open to the entertainment area.