Bathroom layouts

Half of renovated bathrooms — 51% — end up under 100 square feet. Another 31% are 100 to 199 square feet. Small is normal, and a well-planned small bathroom beats a poorly planned large one.

When homeowners do gain space, 31% take it from a home addition, 22% from a closet, and 20% from an adjoining bedroom. Borrowing from a closet is usually the cheapest expansion because the wall is often non-structural and the plumbing wall does not move.

The cost logic is simple. Sinks are relatively easy to relocate. Toilets and showers are not, because their drains are large, need specific slope, and often run between joists in a direction you cannot fight. In a slab-on-grade home, moving them means cutting and repouring concrete. Get a plumber to look before a designer draws.

If accessibility is a goal, layout is where it is won: door width, clear floor space beside the toilet, and a shower entry without a step. Houzz shows 17% of those addressing aging in place widen doorways. That is a framing job — plan it now or pay twice.

How to choose

Have a plumber review the plan before the designer finalizes it

Joist direction and drain runs decide what is cheap and what is not. Designers do not always know your floor.

Borrow from a closet before you build an addition

22% of expansions come from a closet. It is the least disruptive way to gain a few feet.

Move the sink, not the toilet

Sink drains are small and flexible. Toilet and shower drains are the expensive ones.

Design door width and turning space now

Wheelchair-accessible doorways are structural. Retrofitting them later means reframing a wall.

Check the joists before planning a curbless shower

A no-step entry usually needs the floor recessed or built up. That is a structural conversation.