If you're going to have kids, keeping the tub through their younger childhood years is a good idea (you'll really be happy you did), and then switching to a shower-stall-only is more feasible. However you likely won't regain as much space as you'd think by eliminating the tub (I tried that sort of design and an architect advised me to think again).

I currently have only one small bathroom, it's tough to store things in there so I only keep what's really needed and make sure it's beautifully displayed (containers, the medicine cabinet is tricked out to every square inch of space, hooks for towels and robes instead of shelves), for guests I have a basket for each bedroom that includes everything you need - you take it with you to the bathroom when it's your turn to bathe - that basket of necessities goes back with you to the bedroom when you're done (it includes a spare toothbrush, toothpaste, towels, whatever they might need or could have forgotten at home). It's really been one of my only ways to keep a small bathroom tidy in a 1-bath house and if things go as planned - and I have foster children here - we'll be using the same method.

Keep the tub and store stuff elsewhere. If you're planning to have kids a tub is a must. And the fact that your toilet is so close to the tub is a plus! You'll have built-in seating for when you bathe the kids!

Can you rotate the tub 45 degrees and then put the sink along side and the toilet at the end of bath ( like where it is now but closer to the door.

Do you have any vertical space? Think about a box shelf above door way, shelves above sink or toilet or if you dont move tub put a towel shelf opposite end of shower - we have very small bathroom and found a rack at ikea that I put folded towels on and then use the ikea kitchen "s" hooks to hang towels on the rack after shower- super efficient use of space.

Happy to share if you want more details

I don't have any brilliant space saving ideas, but www.planyourroom.com has a free room planner, where you can make the room/fixtures to scale and play around with placement, that my boyfriend and I found incredibly helpful in laying out our furniture in our very small NYC apartment.

I wanted to suggest that perhaps you could consider a "half way" solution - ie. replace the "tub" with a "walk in" tub ... that way, you have the benefit of a "tub" should you start a family but also it is more comfortable and functional for adults to take showers by the walk in and out set up.

I just completed a small bathroom renovation where I removed the tub for a shower and used vertical space for storage to maximize the space. I know they say it is bad for resale value to remove the tub, but I am not planning on moving so who cares? I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I actually submitted before and after pictures to AT a few weeks ago but they haven't published it. :(

I have the same bathroom layout. We put a shelf over the door for towel storage and shelves above the toilet, with bins to keep things somewhat hidden. They key for me is paring down often. Also, we bought cute antique and vintage medicine cabinets to put on the long wall and hold small things.

I'd keep the tub, both for the planned children and for resale value.

Are you sure you can't fit a sink and vanity in that space? There are some small sinks out there--even corner sinks that can best utilize the space.

In one very small studio apartment I had once, someone had built a large shelf over the bathtub. This gave me a ton of storage space, both for bathroom things right up front, and seldom used things in the back. So think upwards for storage--there are tons of options for bathroom storage available--wall mounted shelves and cabinets, freestanding cabinets, bins. You can also store anything you don't use on a daily basis elsewhere. (I know, there's only one closet in the house, but doesn't that mean you will be building or adding more storage somehow?)

I have heard that having a tub is good for resale value BUT it depends on how long you're going to be in your house. I was torn between putting in a small tub or do the walk-in shower. We opted for the walk in shower since eventually all of us will be showering. I have a 4 year old and a 16 month old. For the baby all I do is place a baby tub in the shower. What was helpful was installing a double shower meaning one shower head fixed to the wall and another that is a hand held spray shower. I use the handheld shower head to fill the baby tub and rinse the baby down and it makes clean up very easy. Have to say I never regretted it. Another reason why we did it was because we felt like when we get old we might not be able to climb in and out of a tub. We've been living with our new bathroom for a little over a year and the baby tub in the shower method has worked for us. Good luck!

Hi Hannah!
Keep the tub ~ or bonus, make a really nice tiled in shower that has a deep enough lip where you can fill up the bottom and still let the kids splash around, perhaps you can also add a bench seat with storage - never seen this, but, the idea popped into my head. As for the no towel storage, does your place have a crawl space? I once saw a DIY show where the designer came in and re-did a little girls room. They ended up putting in a "hide-away" storage unit that pulled from the ceiling. I couldnt find the link but, here is a different link that gives you an idea (http://upandawaystorage.com/) - the website is a bit tacky but, you get the idea. Not sure how the moisture level of a bathroom would affect a project like this...best of luck!

After years of living with shower-over-the-bathtub bathrooms we started looking to buy our first house. I was adamant that I wanted a separate shower, as I was sick of falling over in or out of the bath in my pre-coffee morning showers. Our house has a great sized bathroom with no bath, i have a shower and lots of free space. We don't have kids so not a problem, although it is more difficult to get the dog in the shower than it would be into a bath ha ha

Ethanjack has the right idea, regarding how necessary it is to consider the plumbing issues and installation when you plan to have babies and put the baby bath into the shower. Vertical storage is a good idea, but have you looked behind the walls into the space between the wall studs? Depending on how much space is behind there, you might find enough to build a series of inset shelving into the walls to accommodate your things between the studs. And how many things are we talking about? You seem wedded to the idea of having an entire closet's worth of space for your towels. That's not going to happen here, unless you rip out the tub and put in a tiny shower *just* to build a linen closet. Not only is that kind of a mold-encouraging proposition, but it seems like a lot of $ wasted. Keep the towels somewhere else. You know that the house is tiny, maximizing space means letting go of some material possessions. It also means thinking outside the box in terms of utilizing the space you have, like built-ins and going vertical.

Hi! My bathroom has almost this exact same layout, except my bathroom may be slightly larger. I say think upwards. Use the wall space. Someone mentioned a bar with towel hooks, and shelf above door. Also, my house is 1200 sq. ft., and six of us live in this space, comfortably. The AC return was in the wall right outside this bathroom. My husband moved it to the attic, then tore down the wall. He was able to make a closet in our hallway, that we now use as a linen closet. Just look at every possible opportunity to make a niche, or use the wall space, instead of the floor space.

Have you seen the LILLÅNGEN sink from IKEA? It's really small at only 16" wide and has a cabinet underneath for a small amount of storage.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99894086/

It's available in White, Dark Brown, and Aluminum/Glass.

When I redo my tiny bathroom, I will be getting this to replace a useless pedestal sink (that's entirely curved on top so there's no storage available on the edge of the sink).

Maybe put a corner shower kit in if you really want to remove the tub & this will open up space on opposite wall for shelving or small cabinet. Saw some really low cost on CList Materials from different wholesale suppliers. Took my tub out but didn't have the space issue. Good Luck w/ the decision.

I feel your pain! My bathroom is almost identical to this! I am renovating my bathroom soon and will be putting in a stall shower. I know you need a tub but I figure that I can always install one in the master bath when I add an extension, so if you plan on adding more rooms this could be a good idea.

WELL, Thanks to all of you for the advice! Actually we will be needing the tub sooner than expected because we ARE expecting :) I think we will save up for a walk in tub, it just seems like the right idea for me! You guys have great ideas and I wish AT would add a LIKE button! Thanks ladies and gents! A walk in shower it is!

Congrats on the baby! Warning: People will have this bizarre need to give you cutesy animal towels and washcloths that fold oddly and take up a lot of space. I feel your pain, we have an equally small bathroom. We have high ceilings and considered putting cabinets up...decided it would look weird in the bathroom so we were actually going to put it above the door in the attached small hallway so it looked built in. It would have been odd but useful and removeable in the event of resale. I ended up just pairing down, (goodbye animal towels), we had a washer/dryer stack which needed replacement and opted for a combined washer/dryer (one box) unit and used the "new" space for shelving. If you have floor space elsewhere, you can also use storage furniture. We built a platform bed in the nursery with three sliding containers underneath, storage boxes under the crib, storage ottoman etc. Good luck!

POCKET DOOR! Do you have room in the wall to consider this? It would free up some space on the wall across from the toilet. We also have a super tiny bathroom with a similar layout and we are planning to do this.

Also, I've had to (on multiple occasions) bathe a toddler in a shower stall. It's not something you want to be doing on a regular basis.

Consider opening up the wall across from the toilet/sink and using the space in between the studs for shelving. It won't be very deep, but you could potentially stash a lot of things if you extended up high and wide. Ikea has some kitchen cabinet doors that you could install that would work well in a bathroom. I am in the process of doing this in my small bathroom. There is a ton of storage now.

Don't remove your tub! I rent a tiny apartment with a small shower (no tub) and I love my place but cannot wait to have a bath again someday. For one thing, it is incredibly annoying to do hand-washing without a bathtub, because it's annoying to fill up and dump out a basin in a shower and my sink is too small to do it in there. I really would advise against removing your tub. Maximize your bathroom's wall space like crazy, and get a free standing cabinet for your towels that you can keep in a different room. (I keep mine in a dresser in the entryway.)

Thought: You don't have to have towels stored in the bathroom itself. I've seen people with this setup work it such that each person has their own towels in their bedroom and just brings them while they're showering. And then each bedroom has an over-the-door towel rack on which the towels can hang to dry -- and, a bonus, the towels dry faster because they're not in a tiny, humid bathroom.

If you are not going to sell, consider expanding the bathroom. What is outside those 4 walls, can you steal 3' from anywhere? I had the same layout and stole 3' from the hall - huge difference. Also consider if the toilet can be located adjacent to the bathroom. 3 or more people trying to use that one bath could mean trouble.

You could look into going w/a 54" tub, Aquatic, MTI and various other manufactures make them...you'll just have to order from a wholesaler. When looking at them consider depth and usage. Kohler's Greek Bath is nice and deep for soaking, but that makes it much more challenging to bath a child or a pet. If you go too shallow, the only one taking a bath is a child or a pet...not an adult. Take the extra space that creates for a little storage at the end of the tub. No major construction or plumbing!

Don't remove the tub. It won't save you enough space and you'll need it to wash the little ones.

Consider changing out the pedestal sink with a vanity type with a cabinet underneath. It will give you some storage.

Then consider one of the shelving things that goes over the toilet. Store only what you have to in pretty baskets, and store the rest elsewhere.

Our house for 3 is 760 sq feet! One of us is 3 1/2 years old. We also have a tiny bathroom that sounds just like yours. If you have an opportunity to do over the bathroom DITCH the tub as soon as you can! Use a little baby tub with a hand held shower attatchment. My son is 3 1/2 and he likes to sit under the rain. I have to admit a piece of me is always a little afraid when he is in the tub... What if something happened to me while he was in there?! I know, I sound neurotic. But I am truthful. Aside from the neurosis the bathroom gets a lot of use during potty training and learning.., learning to brush teeth etc and so on. It can feel very crowded. I would love to have a more open easy to keep clean and dry space. Just my opinion based on what would work for our family..

I'd advise you against getting rid of your bath. You always have the option of putting a shower at one end of it. I got rid of my lovely old tub a couple of years ago to install a shower. Big mistake! So much did I miss the bath that I ripped out a big cupboard I had built (for towels and so on) and put the bath in its place. It fitted - JUST! I now store my towels in the bedroom but have corner cupboards over the bath. You mentioned a pedestal sink; you can buy wire racks to go round these to provide storage OR replace it with something with a vanity cupboard around it. Congratulations on the baby! (By the way, I used to bathe mine in the kitchen!)

KEEP THE TUB! In a one bath home, you will be so glad that you did. A tub can be an oft needed retreat. You can also put multiple storage units between the studs on the wall opposite the sink, floor to ceiling. 4" deep in the wall, 8" deep outside the wall. If you roll your towels after you fold them, you can pack a dozen or so in this small space. you can also make a huge medicine cabinet with wood, some hinges, a cool mirror, etc. you should also SERIOUSLY look into installing a pocket door. If this isn't an option (because of lack of wall space or whatever) you could simply have the bathroom door swing out instead of in. Its not exactly the norm, but it'll do a lot to maximize your bathroom space. You should also max out your shower storage space by adding those expandable shelves in the corners, or go for a more finished look and buy shelves to match your tile (some bath liners have these built in.) These solutions WILL work, can all be done by you and your husband, and will be relatively inexpensive. Small bathrooms can still be great bathrooms.

or, if you want to get REALLY creative (hey its AT right?) you could find an old dresser/cabinent/shallow armoir and build that into the wall. It would create a totally unique look and might even make your bathroom feel bigger.

1. Install a sliding door to bathroom and have storage shelve over door . 2A Move Bath to left of existing door with shower screen and shower build into wall on bottom left. 2B Use the space under bath tub for storage rather than screening it off entirely, you could have three doors to this under utilized area. 3. Move toilet to top left of room. 4. Move sink to right of bathroom, by doing this you will have a nicer view into bathroom, its always nicer to see a sink (no pedestal) than toilet or bath. Over sink have mirrored cabinet for more storage.

We redid a bathroom a few years ago (pre-kids, but they were in the plan). We opted for a 54" tub to save the 6" (standard is 60" tub, right?). We still couldn't fit a closet with this adjustment, so we mounted a train rack over the toilet to store towels and a bin with toiletries on the shelf and hang towels in use from the three hooks that hang down. We also hang towels from a shaker style peg rail mounted on the back of the bathroom door. (Two kids later and we use a lot of towels!) I must say, it has really helped me realize how little we actually need in the bathroom. We keep each person's personal items in their bedrooms and just what we actually need to use in that room in the bathroom. Oh, and extra towels are in a cabinet in the hall.

Good luck with your remodel!

Consider either changing the door to swing out, or pocket doors. You might find you have space along the wall if you aren't worried about opening the door into the space, every little bit helps.

Have renovated 38 small bathrooms in SF.... many with the same floor plan as yours. Your layout is about as good as it gets. The tub is in the best place for saving space. For resale and real life, don't take out the tub. I don't have kids, but use mine often to bath my dog, soak my feet and my guests love it.
You've already gotten some good tips from other AT folks but here are some more: install a vanity that hangs off the wall with drawers (Ikea or Vigo line) which will add space to tuck the waste can or a basket full of t.p. or towels. Across from your toilet, on the wall, add a train luggage rack from Restoration Hardware. They are worth every penny for the quality and how much they hold. The shelf will hold stacks of towels and the hooks are great for hanging towels in use, bathrobes, etc. A shelf over the doorway is good too.. keep it pretty shallow and paint it the same color as your walls so you don't feel like you're walking into a cave. Keep the color palette in the bathroom as monochromatic as you can with plenty of reflective surfaces: shiny chrome, mirrors, etc. Use a transparent or translucent shower curtain to keep the light flowing. Good use of natural light and light fixtures can really open up small spaces. Small is good, generally greener than larger rooms and easier to keep clean. Think of your bathroom as a jewel box!

P.S. learn to love the fact that a small bathroom means it can be cleaned much faster.

I have the same bathroom layout. We put a shelf over the door for towel storage and shelves above the toilet, with bins to keep things somewhat hidden. They key for me is paring down often. Also, we bought cute antique and vintage medicine cabinets to put on the long wall and hold small things.

free standing closet

Ike's has the sink u need. Our bathroom is the same as yours. Keep the tub ditch the pedestal sink...http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99894086/

I just ripped out the only tub in my apartment and so far have framed out a new shower. Being a Realtor I hesitated big time about doing it but once I stepped inside it to test it out, I knew it was the right thing to do for us. It's so roomy inside I can't wait for it to be done!

P.S. I also installed a storage closet about the new stall, for all those essentials you need but rarely use, like a heating pad, etc.