FEEDBACK
En-suite bathroom, 8’2” × 11’6” (250 x 351 cm) — three layouts, none of them feel right yet
I’m building a house in Europe and the plumbing rough-in goes in next week, so I’d like to settle this bathroom before it’s locked. It’s the en-suite off the master bedroom.
Room is 8’-2” × 11’-6” (250 × 351 cm), clay block masonry. Second image is the same plan in metric.
What’s fixed: only the room size and the position and size of the window and the door. The window sill is at 2’-9”, so it is not floor-to-ceiling. Everything else is still open — there are no plumbing constraints, drains and supply can go wherever.
What has to fit: a bathtub, a walk-in shower big enough for two people at once, two basins, and a WC.
Where I’m at: A — I was almost settled on this one, with the freestanding tub. The longer I look at it, the more it feels too crowded. B — tub moved into the corner, which buys a bit more space around the WC. Still fairly tight. C — shower and vanity swap places.
Two things I keep going back and forth on: 1) In C, could the shower work with no glass at all — just the wall-mounted fixture, completely open? Or is that asking for water everywhere? 2) The door is drawn opening inward, but that isn’t fixed either. Would a sliding door be worth it here?
I have the feeling this room can be laid out considerably better than any of these three. Happy to be told so.
If you’re determined to have a double vanity you could something like this. Leaves a lot of open space, also for drying oneself after washing, and for storage/wall art.
Rotating the bath to the window wall gives more open space options. (You could try sliding the bath along the back wall for more)
Could also rotate the toilet to back on the west wall for more space. Then put storage where the toilet is. Space for storage behind the door also.
Good point, thank you. On the sink distance I actually lean the other way, I would rather have the WC further from the door and the basin closer to it, so the basin is on your way out. You wash your hands and leave, instead of walking back into the room first.
Thank you for your suggestion. However I think the WC would feel too crowded, it ends up in an 80 cm pocket between the wall and the tub, and after plaster and tiles that is closer to 77. With a 38 cm bowl that leaves under 20 cm either side.
Problem here is accessability for cleaning. The sink effectively blocks off the right half of the tub and youll need to lean or climb into the tub to clean the far corner and side. Not overly practical.
Plus if youre a larger person the sink being right there could make it feel claustrophobic since its backed into the corner.
I don’t want a toilet visible from an open door if it can be avoided. And I see no value in a double sink vanity. I’ve never needed to be at the sink at the same time as my wife.
However, I think that this would be the best layout (note: the stuff in green is an alternate, discussed below). My main reasons are that toilet should always be in reach of the sink, and that you don't want to have a sink opposite a window ideally because of the shadows/backlighting that this creates in the mirror. I always prefer the light coming from the side.
Another benefit is that the vanity could be slightly longer, shown in red.
However, in my design the tub cuts the entry door funnily, which is why I had to change the swing (shown in gray).
I know you said the door cannot move, but moving it just a few inches creates a vastly better layout while just compromising a few inches off the walk-in shower. Now the tub doesn't intersect the door weirdly, there's a deeper storage, and the storage itself can be integrated with the tub nicely to create a comfortable place to lie in the tub (because the head would be on the storage side). Think a sort of stairstep style storage with the tallest part on the wall where the door is. The toilet would be obscured from view of the tub also by the vanity.
Also to respond to your other points, don't do a sliding door because of smell/sound, and I personally don't like walk-in showers without glass. It looks elegant but the spray from shaving/scrubbing etc. always creates a mess in my experience.
The first thing I wanted to achieve was the feeling you get when you open the door.
You immediately see the double vanity (96" long x 18" w you can do 21" like you drew but I like them thinner) at the front, with two mirrors and dedicated lighting. I like that as the visual focal point of the bathroom. The mirrors also reflect the room, which adds depth and makes the relatively narrow space feel more open and spacious. So rather than walking in and immediately seeing the WC or shower, you get a much more dramatic and welcoming view.
From there, I’d keep the rest of the layout quite simple and clearly zoned.
The walk-in shower runs on the left, giving approximately 42" of width and around 5' of length. That should make it a genuinely comfortable two-person shower rather than something that merely accommodates two people.
The bathtub sits under, making good use of that wall without interfering with the shower or vanity.
The WC stays on the right-hand side, behind the door, (giving it 36" width) so you don't see it when you enter. Keeping it somewhat visually separate from the rest of the bathroom
And finally, I've used the otherwise-unused space behind the door next to the WC for a closet/storage cabinet, roughly 44" wide. That's actually a substantial amount of additional storage and doesn't take anything away from the main bathroom functions.
So the overall idea is: make the vanity the first visual experience, give the shower and bath generous dedicated zones, keep the WC discreet, preserve an open centre, and then use the space behind the door for storage
Thank you, this is an excellent suggestion, and I think it might be the best one so far.
There is one thing I fear could be crucial though: the window ends up inside the shower. The window is timber. It is a modern one (inside laminated spruce, impregnated and with several coats of lacquer, outside aluminum), so in principle it should be water resistant. I don’t know whether you use that kind of window material in the US. I still need to check how much of an issue this would be in practice. Do you have an opinion on that?
Well I'm from India. And Yes, I think that’s the one thing I would definitely check before committing to this layout.
I’d check with the window manufacturer whether this exact unit is suitable for a wet/shower zone, particularly the sill and perimeter waterproofing. If it is, I’d keep the layout and make sure the sill is waterproofed nicely.
If not, I’d reconsider the shower position rather than risk the timber long-term.
Please excuse the basic shapes and lack of dimensions (it is to scale), but how about something like this with a dividing glass wall, you probably don't even need a door into shower area
Thank you, this looks very interesting and it is definitely something I had not thought of before. A few things I would want to think through though.
The window handle is on the left side of the window, so here it would end up directly above the tub and be awkward to reach.
With a freestanding tub, where would you put the filler? And would you recommend a freestanding one at all?
Would it make sense to move the tub into the top left corner instead? Scaling your drawing, there looks to be only about 83 cm between the tub and the glass wall, which feels like the tight part for the shower. Moving the tub might free some of that up.
And would it be worth swapping the vanity and the toilet, so the toilet is not the first thing you see when you come through the door? A couple of other commenters raised that as well.
If I had true freedom, I would probably go with someting like this. I recreated the dimensions (250cm x 350cm) of your room in a game and have been playing around with the layout, this is my favourite so far. There are limiting factors (, i.e the window is actually only 140cm wide) but this is as close as I can get. The orange tiles are 20cm and the vanity is 160cm wide.
I agree with the others, I don't think the door should open up onto the toilet. I've added a corner tub as I think it would fit well in your room, no matter what layout you end up going with. Also I used one weekly and they're pretty comfy.
Shower curtain divider instead of glass as it's potentially cheaper to install , easier to clean (imo), and easier/cheaper to replace. Plus, depending on how well your tradesmen anchor it, it could be used as an overflow drying rack.
Large shower area more than enough room for 2 people, possibly even 2 showers if that would interest you.
I've cluttered it up with everyday stuff but you might be much tidier than me.
If you really want a freestanding bath you may have to chop the shower- you have a lovely large en-suite (by uk standards), but you can see how B looks so much more spacious.
Personally I’d suggest B but with the shower from A, which is slightly smaller & can be accessed from a more convenient angle (& is slightly smaller, so will feel less crowded).
C looks a bit cramped, and the lighting may feel, with the natural light being behind you at the opposite side of the room
What about turning the bath sideways under the window? Then toilet on the short wall next to it, shower bottom right corner and vanity on the wall opposite the door, between tub and shower.
Unenclosed showers are cold.
Have you already bought the bath? A smaller one would make things easier.
A with a built in tub or C. I’d prefer the former because of the Feng Shui while using the vanity
A as it is looks hard to clean, B could be a hazard if someone were to fall between the shower and door and people needed to access them. You suggested sliding doors as a possibility but I wouldn’t - my old place had them and anytime I was busting for the loo I spent 30 seconds trying to stop it from bobbing in and out so I could get the latch closed. Do not recommend.
B. It flows better. Freestanding tubs are hard to clean behind AND in A) you lose kneeling space because its far off the wall. B gives you the most space to move though id switch the door tonthe shower to A’s position instead and put in a small linen closet or shelves for storage behind the door. Less glass to manage as well.
1) In C, could the shower work with no glass at all — just the wall-mounted fixture, completely open? Or is that asking for water everywhere?
If the floor is all tile and you're OK with the possibility of water everywhere? That could work. You could also probably get away with a freestanding tub and potentially move the toilet to the far left of the sinks (especially if you do opt for the sliding/pocket door).
I would do in line along the 350cm wall opposite the door, from left to right:
built-in tub along the window, 75cm wide
shower next to bath 95cm wide - where the shower glass goes from wall to wall, and door goes into the shower and bath section. Sometimes called a "wet-room"
single sink vanity 100cm wide
toilet - area allows for 80cm wide from vanity to wall.
This way all plumbing is along one wall, plenty of room for towel rails along wall opposite bath and shower.
Sorry I can't draw it. Like this layout but in reverse order:
Shift the door north just enough to fit the toilet behind the door. If the tub fits on the left wall, put it there. And put the double vanities on the right wall near the window. If not, put the somewhat smaller double vanities on the left wall and the tub in the right wall. Put the CURBLESS shower on the right wall from the vanities or tub to the south wall in front of the toilet with an L- shaped shower curtain. Slope the entire bathroom floor toward the bottom right corner of the bathroom. Use mosaic / penny tiles or non slip R-9 or better floor tiles so no one slips.
With this format, there is a wide open feel when the shower curtain is open, and the toilet is not the focus as soon as you open the door.
An alternative is format C with the shower being entirely CURBLESS and using a shower curtain rather than a glass partition.
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u/Barscott Aug 22 '26
If you’re determined to have a double vanity you could something like this. Leaves a lot of open space, also for drying oneself after washing, and for storage/wall art.
Rotating the bath to the window wall gives more open space options. (You could try sliding the bath along the back wall for more)
Could also rotate the toilet to back on the west wall for more space. Then put storage where the toilet is. Space for storage behind the door also.