A master bathroom — also called a primary bathroom — is used every single day by one or two people. The best designs don't start with tile samples or faucet finishes. They start with how those two people actually get ready in the morning, and then layer the finishes on top of a layout that works.
Quick answer: Start with the layout and plan at least 30" of clear space in front of each fixture. Give each person their own zone — a vanity area, a landing spot, and dedicated storage. Then choose a shower configuration that fits your plumbing reality, size the vanity to the wall (not to a catalog), and build in storage at three heights: countertop, drawer, and tall cabinet. Finishes come last.
At Century City Baths, we've remodeled primary bathrooms across the Chicagoland area — from 1920s bungalows in Berwyn and Portage Park to split-levels in Schaumburg and new construction in Naperville. The homes are wildly different, but the design principles that make a primary bath work are remarkably consistent. Here's how we approach it.
Start With the Layout, Not the Finishes
Almost every primary bathroom that "feels off" has a layout problem, not a style problem. Beautiful tile can't fix a door that swings into a vanity, or a toilet you have to sidestep to reach the shower.
The clearances that actually matter
These are the numbers we design around:
- 30" of clear floor space in front of every fixture. Code minimum is often less, but 30" is what makes a bathroom feel comfortable rather than cramped.
- 21" minimum from the front edge of the toilet or vanity to any opposing wall or fixture — 30" is far better.
- 15" from the centerline of a toilet to any side wall or vanity. 18" is the comfortable number.
- 32" minimum shower interior, though 36" x 48" is where a shower starts to feel genuinely good, and 36" x 60" is the sweet spot for most primary baths.
- 36" of walkway between fixtures in a double-vanity layout.
- Door swing clearance — a 32" door needs a full 32" arc of empty floor. In tight Chicagoland bungalow baths, a pocket door or barn-style slider often recovers 8–10 square feet of usable space.
Four primary bathroom layouts that work
1. The galley layout. Vanity along one long wall, shower and toilet along the other. This is the workhorse layout for older Chicago homes with long, narrow bathrooms. It keeps plumbing consolidated on two walls and leaves a clean path from door to shower.
2. The three-wall split. Vanity on the wall opposite the door, shower on one side wall, toilet on the other. This is the most common layout in suburban homes built from the 1980s onward, and it's easy to upgrade in place without moving drains.
3. The wet room. Shower and freestanding tub share one glass-enclosed, fully waterproofed zone. It's a modern, spa-forward look that's gaining real traction in Chicagoland new builds and gut renovations. It requires serious waterproofing and a properly sloped floor — this is not a DIY project — but it makes a mid-sized bathroom feel dramatically larger because the glass doesn't chop the room into boxes.
4. The compartmentalized layout. The toilet gets its own small room with a door, while the vanity and shower share the open space. For two people on the same morning schedule, this is genuinely life-changing. Plan on a 36" x 66" minimum for the toilet compartment.
A note on moving plumbing
Here's the honest trade-off: relocating a toilet drain or shower drain adds cost, and in a Chicago two-flat or a home on a concrete slab, it can add significant cost. Moving a vanity sink is usually inexpensive. Moving a toilet typically means opening the floor.
That doesn't mean don't do it. It means decide early, with real numbers in front of you, whether the improved layout is worth the plumbing work. We'd rather have that conversation on day one than mid-demolition.
Shower Design Ideas
For most of our clients, the shower is where the budget and the excitement both concentrate. Here's what's worth it.
Size and shape
A 36" x 60" shower — the footprint of a standard tub — is the most common upgrade we do, and it's a genuine improvement over a 32" x 32" corner unit. If you have the space, a 42" x 60" or 48" x 60" shower with a bench changes the experience entirely.
Curbless showers are increasingly popular and have real practical value for aging in place. They require recessing the subfloor or building up the surrounding floor, so they're easier in new construction or when a full gut is already happening. In older Chicagoland homes with joist constraints, we'll assess feasibility before promising it.
Fixtures worth considering
- A thermostatic valve. It holds your temperature when someone flushes a toilet or runs the dishwasher. In older homes with original supply lines, this is the single best comfort upgrade.
- A handheld on a slide bar in addition to a fixed head. It's the most-used feature in almost every shower we build — for rinsing, for cleaning, for washing kids and dogs.
- A rainhead, mounted on a ceiling arm so the spray lands where you stand rather than on your shoulder blades.
- Body sprays — be honest about whether you'll use them. They require a larger valve, more supply capacity, and they add cost. Some clients love them; many never turn them on.
Enclosures
Frameless glass is the clear aesthetic winner and makes small bathrooms look larger. Semi-frameless gets you most of the look for meaningfully less money. A fixed glass panel (no door at all) on a longer walk-in shower is clean, easy to clean, and increasingly our recommendation when the geometry supports it.
Skip the door that swings into a 30" walkway. Choose a sliding or fixed panel instead.
Niches and benches
Build at least one recessed niche — 12" x 24" minimum, placed between studs, set 48"–52" off the floor, with a slight slope for drainage. Two smaller niches at different heights work well for two users.
A bench should be 17"–19" high and at least 15" deep. A full bench eats shower space; a corner triangle bench or a fold-down teak seat often serves better in a mid-sized shower.
Vanity Design: Sizing, Height, and the Double-Sink Question
Do you actually need two sinks?
Not always. Here's the rule we use: if your vanity wall is less than 60", two sinks will make both of them worse. You end up with cramped bowls, no usable countertop, and drawer boxes interrupted by plumbing.
A better option for 48"–60" walls: one sink, one long counter. You get real landing space, full-depth drawers, and a surface that's genuinely useful for getting ready. Plenty of couples who thought they needed two sinks end up preferring this.
If you have 72" or more, a double vanity makes sense. Plan 30"–36" of counter per person, and keep the sinks at least 30" apart on center.
Height
Standard vanity height is 32". Comfort height is 36" — the same as a kitchen counter — and it's what we install in the large majority of primary baths. It reduces back strain and feels more substantial. If someone in the household is notably shorter, or if kids share the bathroom, standard height may still be the right call.
Depth and type
21"–22" deep is standard. In a tight bathroom, an 18"–20" shallow vanity can recover critical walkway space without feeling like a compromise.
- Floating vanities make floors read larger and simplify cleaning. They need blocking in the wall and a wall-mounted or relocated drain.
- Furniture-style vanities suit traditional Chicagoland homes — bungalows, Victorians, center-entrance colonials — and feel less builder-grade.
- Full-overlay flat-panel vanities read contemporary and keep sightlines calm in smaller rooms.
Sinks and countertops
Undermount sinks are the easy choice — no rim to catch grime, easy to wipe into. Vessel sinks look striking but reduce usable counter space and are harder to clean around; make sure the combined height still works at 36".
For countertops, quartz is our most recommended material: non-porous, no sealing, and it handles toothpaste, makeup, and hair products without staining. Natural quartzite and porcelain slab are excellent as well. Marble is beautiful and will etch — we'll install it happily, but only after a clear conversation about patina.
Storage: The Part Most Bathrooms Get Wrong
Storage is what separates a bathroom that photographs well from a bathroom that lives well. Design storage at three heights.
1. Drawers, not doors
Drawers are the single biggest storage upgrade in any vanity. A cabinet with a door and a single shelf wastes the back half of its volume because nothing in the back is reachable. Full-extension drawers bring everything forward.
Our standard primary vanity spec:
- A top drawer with a U-shaped cutout around the plumbing, with dividers for toothpaste, brushes, and daily items
- Two deeper drawers below for hair tools, bulk products, and towels
- Outlets installed inside a drawer so hair dryers and electric toothbrushes charge out of sight
2. Tall storage
A linen tower — 12"–18" wide, 84" tall — stores more than most people expect and takes almost no floor space. If you can place one at the end of the vanity run or in a dead corner, do it.
A recessed wall cabinet between studs gives you 3.5" of depth for a fraction of the room cost. Ideal for a water closet or the wall beside the toilet.
3. Shower and wall storage
Recessed niches (covered above), plus a shallow medicine cabinet — recessed, not surface-mounted. Modern medicine cabinets with integrated lighting, defoggers, and interior outlets have come a long way and are worth the upgrade.
The two-person rule
Give each person their own dedicated, clearly separate storage — one side of the vanity, one half of the linen tower, one medicine cabinet each. Shared storage in a daily-use bathroom becomes contested territory. Separated storage eliminates an entire category of small household friction.
Lighting, Ventilation, and the Details That Matter in Chicagoland Homes
Lighting
- Sconces flanking the mirror at 60"–66" off the floor produce flattering, even, shadow-free light on the face. This is the single best lighting decision in a bathroom.
- A ceiling fixture or recessed cans for general illumination.
- A dedicated shower light — wet-rated.
- Dimmers on everything. A bathroom that works at 7 a.m. should also work at 10 p.m.
Ventilation
This matters enormously in our climate. Chicago winters mean sealed-up houses and high indoor humidity; summers bring their own moisture load. An undersized or unvented bath fan is how mold and peeling paint start.
Size the fan at roughly 1 CFM per square foot of bathroom, with a minimum of 50 CFM, and more for larger rooms or enclosed showers. Vent it to the exterior — never into an attic or soffit cavity. Run it on a timer or humidity sensor so it stays on 20 minutes after the shower ends.
Heated floors
In Chicagoland, electric radiant floor heat under tile is one of the highest-satisfaction upgrades we install. It's a modest add during a tile job and almost impossible to retrofit later. If you're already tearing out the floor, this is the moment.
Older-home realities
In Chicago bungalows, two-flats, and prewar buildings, we regularly encounter:
- Original galvanized supply lines that should be replaced while walls are open
- Cast iron drain stacks worth assessing
- Knob-and-tube or ungrounded circuits requiring a dedicated GFCI-protected circuit
- Uneven joists and out-of-plumb walls that affect tile layout and glass fit
None of these are unusual. They're just reasons to work with a contractor who opens the wall expecting them rather than being surprised by them.
Style Directions Working Well Right Now
Warm minimalism. Soft whites and greiges, white oak vanities, large-format porcelain tile, matte black or brushed brass fixtures. Clean without feeling cold.
Classic Chicago. Hex or penny-round floor tile, 3x6 or 4x4 wall tile with a pencil cap, polished nickel or chrome, furniture-style vanity. Right at home in a bungalow or a Victorian two-flat.
Spa transitional. Large-format tile, a wood-tone floating vanity, frameless glass, a freestanding tub, and lots of indirect light. The most-requested look in our newer-construction remodels.
Moody contrast. Deep green, navy, or charcoal vanity against light walls, with brass hardware and a statement mirror. Works beautifully in a smaller primary bath where a single bold element reads intentional.
A Realistic Planning Sequence
- Define the users. Two people getting ready at the same time? One person with a long routine? Aging in place over the next 20 years?
- Lock the layout. Decide what's moving and what's staying. Get plumbing costs attached to those decisions.
- Size the fixtures. Shower dimensions, vanity width, toilet clearance, door swing.
- Plan the storage. Drawer counts, tall cabinet, niches, outlets.
- Design the lighting and ventilation. Including electrical capacity.
- Choose finishes. Tile, counters, fixtures, paint, hardware.
- Confirm permits. Most Chicagoland municipalities require permits for plumbing and electrical modifications — this is standard and we handle it.
Doing these in order prevents the most expensive kind of mistake: falling in love with a finish, building the room around it, and discovering the layout never worked.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much space do I need for a comfortable primary bathroom? A well-designed 60–80 square foot bathroom can be excellent. Around 100 square feet, a double vanity and separate shower become comfortable. Above 120 square feet, you can add a freestanding tub or a compartmentalized toilet without crowding.
Should I keep a bathtub in the primary bath? If it's the only tub in the house, keep one somewhere — it affects resale. If there's a tub in another full bath, converting the primary to a large walk-in shower is a decision very few of our clients regret.
How long does a primary bathroom remodel take? A typical full remodel runs 3–5 weeks of active work once materials are on site, with additional lead time for design, permitting, and ordering. Custom vanities, specialty glass, and some tile can extend that — which is why we order early.
Is a curbless shower possible in my home? Often, yes — it depends on joist direction, floor framing depth, and whether the bathroom sits over a basement, crawl space, or slab. We assess this before committing to it in a design.
What single upgrade gives the best return on comfort? Drawer storage in the vanity, a thermostatic shower valve, and good vanity lighting. None of them are glamorous. All of them are used every day.
Let's Design Yours
Every primary bathroom we build at Century City Baths starts with the same conversation: how do you actually use this room? From there, we handle layout, permitting, plumbing, electrical, tile, glass, and finish — with one team and one point of contact from demolition through final walkthrough.
We serve homeowners throughout the Chicagoland area, and we've worked in just about every housing type the region has to offer.
Ready to start? Contact Century City Baths for a consultation, and let's design a primary bathroom built around the way you live.
