Master Bath Plans + My Design Thought Process

Over the weekend, David and I were talking about future plans for the master bath in our Maryland house, so I thought I'd share a little about my thought process when designing the layout of a space.

Here it is now - not horrible, but outdated, and the configuration could use some help..

The master bedroom / bath is located on the second floor. There is only one bedroom on the second floor, so it is a private bath, but doesn't have a private entrance. Making it an en suite would be ideal.



Here's our main issues with the space.

Currently, the entrance door and closet bifold doors open into each other, so while it's not cramped it feels cramped. Originally, there was a door between the sink and tub / toilet, but it was removed by the previous owner and is just a cased opening -- but it still feels cramped. The tub is also on the smaller side..

Here's the existing floorplan. (I have the overall measurements, but I didn't have time to measure the whole space, the rest are approximated, but close)

and here's what I came up with .. 

It solves all of the issues and the flow feels much better.. I'm not sure about is the shower width, I'd like to make it as wide as possible, but we're restricted to 8' total width, so it may have to be a little narrower (the measurements are to code, but it may feel a little tight, so we'll have see)

Here's a 3D drawing of the proposed space #1 (not the exact finishes .. limited options in Sketch Up) .. we could fit two shower heads on the other wall .. we could also have three walls of glass verse two, but since the toilet is on the other side, it may be best to keep that solid .. lots of glass to clean, so I'll have to think about that too!

I love the idea of adding a little make up vanity on the end.

Towel bars would be added next to the new entrance..

I think in the long run, having a private entrance would be better and increase resale value, BUT moving walls and plumbing would be a lot more work probably a lot more money too (but cost would be cheaper since we'd be doing the labor ourselves ..)

So we're also considering less invasive options.

By switching the door swing and bifold doors, the flow is much better and it feels a lot more open. Enlarging the cased opening to the maximum width would also make it feel more open.. Removing the shelving next to the tub would allow for a longer shower (it could be slightly wider too in the existing foot print). and two smaller sinks could fit at the existing vanity.

Proposed 3 is the same as proposed 2, but the closet across from the vanity would be converted into a make up vanity and tall cabinet. It still has a good bit of storage in the bathroom, but the closets outside the door could supplement.

The main problem with proposed plan 2 + 3 is that they don't answer the problem of the lack of a private entrance .. Originally, I thought the new door placement has to be where the existing shower is due to the window / furniture placement in the bedroom, but If I remove the small closet outside of the bathroom, I should have just enough room.

Something like this, might be the answer to a private entrance, while not moving everything around!

*Update - since the new closet would hold extra linens / bath items, we'd only be accessing it about once a week. The every day items would be held in the vanity, so we weren't bothered by the proximity of the closet door to the sink. 

So, that's my thought process! I didn't go into how this would affect the ceiling - since it's a cathedral ceiling .. but I've been thinking about that too .. I have plans/dreams to utilize the space above .. so I'm considering that too, but that's another post!

3D drawn in Sketch Up // 2D drawn in Floorplanner

What do you think? Is the lack of a private entrance a deal breaker? or not too bad?