Bathroom Help

Two sinks.
Plenty of counter space for both of you if you can swing it.
A separate bath tub from shower if you can do that.
High counter.
A door to the toilet so you can close it off if someone stinks it up.
Cabinet for the towels and bath products separate from under sink storage.
If you get modern above counter sinks, make sure they are usable (for instance, to wash your face. Some of those are not functional.). Otherwise enjoy your newly renovated space.

We redid our bathroom about 5 years ago. We were going to do a doorless shower (there would be only partial glass) and I'm so glad we didn't. The glass guy said they aren't very practical with kids (water gets everywhere). Also, we stayed at a hotel recently with only a partial glass door and dang! That shower was cold inside! This same hotel shower also had a "rain" faucet hanging from the ceiling of the shower and I'm so glad we didn't get one of those, too. You have to completely get out of the warm water to shampoo or soap up (since it comes form directly above and you can't adjust the nozzle) and you get cold. I guess the combo of the open shower door and the rain faucet just made it a very cold shower.

We chose a really great, deep cast-iron tub from Kohler. Trouble is, the rim of it isn't wide enough to hold a shampoo bottle or anything else so when you're lounging in the tub, that's really not handy. If I had to do it all over again, I'd pay more attention to the width of the rim.

I also wish we'd paid the extra money for a fan that sucks up moisture/smells. We have a small (high) window so we didn't do it, but now I wish we had. Have to have the window completely open so that the moisture from the shower doesn't get the walls and vanity wet -- makes for a cold shower/bath in the winter!

Hmmm...what else? Dimmable lights are fabulous ... make sure you have enough electrical outlets ... if you're tiling the shower/tub, bring the tiles all the way up to the ceiling (don't stop at top of shower stall/door); looks more modern and makes ceiling look higher ... have your contractor make insets in the shower walls for shampoos/conditioners, etc. but make sure they are tall enough to hold those bottles ... solid surface counter tops are much better than tiled; grout lines absorb make up and muck ... higher vanities are now the new normal ...

Have fun!

If I ever redo our bathroom, I'm getting deep whirl pool tub. I want one that I can submerse myself in. And a door that locks. :)

When we redid our bathroom in our last house we added a two person jacuzzi tub. We had a heater for the water and everything. I would not do that again. We purchased a quiet model, but just filling it up was a lot of water. If I was to redo our bathroom in this house, I would add the heated floors and a heated towel bar. In the first house we put in a custom vanity and granite counter tops. I would do that again. If you can, get some bathroom design magazines and pick and choose the things you like.

there's a place in KC that does AWESOME tile work! We had them completely redo our bathroom. Its a nice spacious shower with a shower head on each side (front and back), floor to ceiling 12x12 dark tiles all the way up. I love it- it looks so good and they did fast, quality work. I think they have a website now.. tilemasterskc.com

I think you will regret the 'no shower doors' as the heat will escape too quickly during your shower. We had friends who had a really cool shower area and no door. They finally caved and installed one.

A good strong ventilation fan! Bathrooms that are damp all the time are harder to keep clean (the ick in the shower seems to grow faster, the towels get musty and need to be changed more frequently, the walls get dirty because dust mixes with condensation and runs down the walls) Plus it is just more pleasant if the moisture and various smells are sucked out.

LOTS of storage, without sacrificing floor space.

grout-less surfaces.

a scald protector on the water line....so that when somebody flushes, you don't get burned. One of our bathrooms has this, the other does not. Very important detail as far as I'm concerned!

My house came with pedestal sinks in each bathroom. I really dislike them. While fashionable, there is NO storage and no where to set things like a toothbrush holder, etc. I dream every day of having a cabinet style sink w/granite or man-made counter top.

In Europe, they have wall mounted towel heaters! Nothing better than a warm towel on a chilly morning.

My favorite thing in our bathroom is that our double vanity is in the corner, so I get one side of the "L" to myself and hubby gets the other.

What I hate about our bathroom (this list will be longer lol):
- not enough space to move around generally
- not enough counter space
- toilet so close to sink
- not enough storage
- only one sink
- EXACTLY what MLB said - we got a modern sink that really limits our usable space. It looks really cool and we get compliments on it all the time, but I cannot even set my hair dryer on the counter. Really a pain!

What I love about our bathroom:
- tile floors (medium sized, great color)
- jacuzzi tub with jets
- the door locks =)

What I would love:
- two shower heads
- a place for candles all around the tub

Hope this helps and good luck!