Hi Roseanne, Need a bit more info like where the door is into the bathroom, specifically which direction does the window face if there is a window and if it's large or small???

A cavity sliding door will be the solution to the shelf problems. But in any situation it requires to be built into the wall. Brick wall is I presume a bit more work. A wall mounted sliding door will take up space on the wall. It's just about working out where is best. Need the wall shelves in the ensuite? Then it's outside, and pull the furniture out from the wall a little so it can run along the wall. Really need a bookcase or other wall unit right on that wall? Consider if you can move the bathroom shelves. :)

Well, here's a concrete example for him. Our bed is 2200. The wall at the end of the bed is 3200 from the wall at the head. I decided it was too tight to get my 500 dresser in at the end of the bed, so I put in a 300 bookcase. The space between bed and bookcase (ie 700) is fine - not ideal, maybe, but entirely workable. Don't sweat the small stuff. Your plan looks fine, and you've got room at the end of your bed for a nice sitting area.

ok, here's the new floor plan, I've taken your advice and did some adjustments. with the bathroom I'm very happy now, thanks oklouise, I've just done a few changes to better suit the way we live. moving the guest bath over gave me more room for the pantry, although on paper the entrance/pantry area looks a bit awkward now so I'm hoping for some more of your great ideas (ps siriuskey, I know the pantry corner in the kitchen is a bit of a space waster, I just fell in love with a picture or two, so if I just search enough I should be able to get my head - or rather heart - around a more practical solution ). I'm not sure about moving the kitchen door to the left as it's the main access also for the living and dining room and would direct traffic through the work zone. and oklouise, you asked for an overall vision of our house, so here it is: we live in a beautiful valley with no close neighbors and most of our lives happen outdoors. it will be only my husband and me living there with occasional overnight guest. while we build we'll be living in a granny flat so one spare bedroom will be enough. the living, dining and master bed windows will face north towards the view and the sun. as we spend so much time outside we want our house to be a cosy home with the occasional big entertaining happening outside. our plan is to build a strawbale house with open post and beam, I love the combination of warm grey and timber. just not too rustic and heavy, think scandinavian lightness (I'm from the north of Germany and spend most holidays in Scandinavia) and add some cheerful south American accents (where my husband comes from) we like to cook together, that's why we need a good sized kitchen. and it's my dream to come inside after work into a beautiful bathroom, where I can enjoy getting fresh and clean instead of trying to get out of there as quickly as possible ok, that was a lot, hope I haven't lost you half way through but I'm really grateful for your input and support