Thanks "The Hut Interior Design". Do you mean that I should work with the current width of about 2.5-2.6m wide (which is width of current bathroom and cupboards combined? When you say that I should split the space in 2, do you mean that the dividing line should split the current depth of 3.080m into 2 spaces of equal space. This would mean that I would have a front space of 1.54m deep and 2.6m wide in which to put the main shower and vanity, linen storage and B/I for bedroom and then the back of the current bathroom would be the ensuite also of 1.54m deep and 2.6m wide. Is there any chance you could scribble a diagram of what you mean. The diagram wouldn't need to be to scale but it would be great if you could suggest the overall space to be allowed for the main bathroom as compared to the ensuite and b/i wardrobe. Somewhere I would have to have a bit of linen storage too. I had thought about using the back of the bathroom where the window was for the ensuite and the front of the current bathroom for the main bathroom (once area is gutted). However, I could figure out how to do the ensuite and B/I wardrobe without wasting space and still be workable. Do you think in reality, I would have to put in 2 skylights. One for each bathroom. Unfortunately, I can't take space at the moment from any other room connected to the W/C as the front bedroom is quite small and I would like to keep the house as a 3 bedroom house at the moment. By keeping the current toilet where it is, it means that the main bathroom would not need a toilet in it. I have ripped out the bath and it is just sitting in the bathroom waiting for someone to help me move it out of the house (luckily I live alone here at present). There was no asbestos around the bath but the sheeting on the shower side (on which the shower tiles sit) plus the ceiling are both asbestos. That is the only asbestos in the area. From what you have said, do you recommend just working with the current bathroom and cupboard space and not taking another 0.4m x 2.1m from the bedroom (The bedroom is 3.080m deep, so I allowed 980mm for the door to swing back on current wall - If I were to eat into some space in the current bedroom).. I really appreciate your advice - it is along the lines of what I had been thinking but the 2 dilemmas I had were 1. how to make the ensuite/built in design work and 2. since main bathroom wouldn't need a toilet, how to keep make it not look way too small and cheap, knowing that it won't require a big space (square meterage) in order to work in a practical sense. ie. It may work in a practical sense, but due to its small size, it may look cheap and nasty. Many thanks for the time that you have taken to respond and your advice.

For storage, I used a mirrored lift up cupboard door above the sink area in my very small ensuite with some success. We put power points inside the cupboard too - it was a very good place to have them as the door lifts up & is out of the way. I also used some of the wall space to allow slightly deeper shelves, without the cupboard jutting so far into the room. The cistern was recessed into the wall cavity, (in our case below the window) & it worked well to save a little space in the room. Photos are not very good, but I hope you can get the idea.. It worked very well. The ensuite was 1mx2m. We use vertical towel rails. They're really good & very compact, but do make sure the electrician installs them up the right way. They work on the heat rising principal & do not work well upside down as ours were installed!Hope this is helpful. Good luck.

Hi Paul, I hear your collective frustration! my comment about light bouncing into your eyes was in response to your question about bouncing light onto your faces from a light placed behind the vanity (from memory). Have you seen Dr Renos comment here - still the most logical response to me. https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/5148857/where-to-place-power-points-and-lights#n=5 So I'm going to go for side lights next to the vanity cabinet. Trouble is, my vanity is off-centre to the cabinet mirror, so I still have to sort that one out. Time spent really considering this is well worth it. I think LED downlights may very well cast shadows, sorry to say :-) and the next consideration is what colour temperature - warm white or daylight? For relaxing ambience (75% bathroom function) it will def be 3000 warm white for me, however for the vanity functions it will be 4000K (daylight) so I will probably get the vanity lights switched separately to the main room light, maybe put that on a dimmer... I know there are some LED bulbs available that enable the colour temp to be changed within the same bulb...

We too live in a cold winter climate with our bathrooms all on the southern side and faced similar issues as you do. One smaller bathroom does not have a window so we put in a Velux skylight which provides amazing natural light through the day. This may not be to your liking, especially if you have a period home. We also use heated towel rails and under tile heating (just enough to take the chill off and stop mould) in winter. Although we have a light in the shower recess, a bonus is the large fixed shower head with inbuilt LED, which at night gives the feeling of showering under moonlight. We chose light colours and mirrored recessed cabinets to reflect as much natural light as possible.