The best bathroom layout is the one that fits your room with its clear spaces: 15 in from the toilet’s centerline to anything beside it, 21 in of clear floor in front of the toilet and the sink, and 24 in in front of a shower. Start from the wall with the plumbing, settle the door, place the tub or shower first, then fit the toilet and the vanity. Every plan below was laid out that way.
How to choose a bathroom layout
- Find the wet wall. The wall with the drain and supply lines is where the toilet, the sink and the tub or shower are cheapest to put. Moving a toilet drain is usually one of the costliest changes.
- Settle the door. Which wall it’s on and which way it swings decides what can go beside it. A pocket door or one that swings out frees floor in a small room.
- Mind the window. It decides where a tall cabinet or a shower can’t go; one over the vanity takes the mirror’s place.
- Place the biggest fixture first. A 60 in tub or shower usually runs wall to wall across one end.
- Fit the toilet and the vanity with their clear spaces, then check that you can walk from the door to each one. The layout planner does this for your room and shows every arrangement that passes.
One-wall, two-wall and three-wall layouts
Designers sort layouts by how many walls carry plumbing. Fewer wet walls cost less to build; more give each fixture its own space.
- One wall: the toilet, the sink and the tub or shower all drain to one wall, like the classic 5x8 bathroom with the tub across the end.
- Two walls: usually the toilet facing the tub, or the vanity across from the toilet, as in the 5x7 plan with the tub along the long wall.
- Three walls: larger rooms with the fixtures spread out, like the master bathroom layouts with a separate tub, shower and vanity.
Each card below shows its count of plumbing walls.
The plan library
47 plans
2 ft 6 in × 5 ft · toilet only · 1 plumbing wall
3 × 5 ft · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
4 × 4 ft · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 9 in · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
3 × 6 ft · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
4 × 5 ft · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
4 ft 3 in × 4 ft 9 in · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
3 × 7 ft · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
5 ft × 4 ft 3 in · toilet and sink · 1 plumbing wall
3 ft 4 in × 6 ft 9 in · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
4 ft 6 in × 5 ft 2 in · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 5 ft · toilet and sink · 1 plumbing wall
5 ft 8 in × 5 ft · toilet and sink · 1 plumbing wall
5 ft 3 in × 6 ft · shower · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 7 ft · tub · 1 plumbing wall
6 × 6 ft · shower · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 8 ft · tub · 1 plumbing wall
5 × 8 ft · tub · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 8 ft · shower · 1 plumbing wall
4 × 10 ft · shower · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 9 ft · toilet and sink · 2 plumbing walls
6 × 8 ft · tub · 1 plumbing wall
7 × 7 ft · shower · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 10 ft · tub · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 10 ft · shower · 1 plumbing wall
5 × 10 ft · tub · 1 plumbing wall
7 ft 6 in × 7 ft 6 in · shower · 2 plumbing walls
5 ft 6 in × 10 ft 6 in · shower · 2 plumbing walls
5 × 12 ft · tub · 1 plumbing wall
6 × 12 ft · tub · 2 plumbing walls
6 × 12 ft · tub · 2 plumbing walls
8 × 10 ft · tub, two sinks · 3 plumbing walls
8 × 10 ft · shower, two sinks · 2 plumbing walls
8 × 10 ft · tub and shower · 2 plumbing walls
Bathroom layouts with a tub and a separate showerOpen in the planner
9 × 10 ft · tub and shower · 2 plumbing walls
Bathroom layouts with a tub and a separate showerOpen in the planner
8 × 12 ft · tub, two sinks · 3 plumbing walls
8 × 12 ft · tub, two sinks · 3 plumbing walls
8 × 12 ft · shower, two sinks · 2 plumbing walls
9 × 11 ft · tub and shower, two sinks · 2 plumbing walls
Bathroom layouts with a tub and a separate showerOpen in the planner
10 × 10 ft · shower, two sinks · 2 plumbing walls
10 × 10 ft · tub and shower · 2 plumbing walls
Bathroom layouts with a tub and a separate showerOpen in the planner
10 × 12 ft · tub and shower, two sinks · 2 plumbing walls
10 × 12 ft · shower, two sinks · 2 plumbing walls
10 × 12 ft · shower, two sinks · 3 plumbing walls
10 × 12 ft · tub and shower, two sinks · 3 plumbing walls
Bathroom layouts with a tub and a separate showerOpen in the planner
12 × 12 ft · tub and shower, two sinks · 4 plumbing walls
12 × 14 ft · tub and shower, two sinks · 3 plumbing walls
Smallest room first. Each plan passes the 2021 International Residential Code’s clearances; the article it comes from explains it, and the planner opens it with the room and the door filled in. Sizes are wall to wall.
Questions people ask
What is the best layout for a bathroom?
The one that fits your room with every clear space and puts the fixtures on as few plumbing walls as it can. For most small full baths that’s the tub across the end and the toilet and vanity on one long wall, like the 5x8 plan.
What are standard bathroom layout dimensions?
A common full bath is 5 × 8 ft; a half bath can be as small as 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 9 in; a master bath with a tub and a separate shower starts around 10 × 12 ft in our plans. Typical sizes by type are on our standard bathroom size page.
How do I design my own bathroom layout?
Measure the room and the door, then enter them in the layout planner with the fixtures you want. It tries every wall and position and shows the layouts that pass, drawn to scale.
Can I use these plans for my bathroom?
As a starting point. Open one in the planner, change the room and the door to yours, and check the spec sheets of the fixtures you buy. Plumbing and electrical changes are work for licensed pros.
Sources
- 2021 International Residential Code, chapter 3 (R307.1 fixture clearances, R305.1 ceiling height) and chapter 27 (P2705.1 fixture spacing, P2708.1 showers), read in Colorado’s adoption without amendments on UpCodes
- NKBA’s free bath planning guidelines: the roomier spacing (18 in beside a toilet, 20 in beside a sink, 36 in between two sinks, 30 in in front of each fixture, a 36 × 36 in shower, a 32 in door opening, a 36 × 66 in toilet compartment). Its newer, paid editions change some numbers.
- U.S. Access Board: 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design
Checked October 19, 2026. All plans were drawn and checked with the BathDraft layout planner.