Your master bathroom is one of the most personal spaces in your home. It's where you start every morning and end every evening - and most people spend a surprising amount of time there. When it works well, you barely notice it. When it doesn't - when the shower is cramped, the storage is inadequate, the lighting makes you look terrible, and the tile reminds you of 2004 - you notice it every single day.
A master bathroom renovation is one of the highest-impact improvements you can make to your home's quality of life and resale value. I've renovated master baths throughout Shakopee, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Edina, Prior Lake, and the surrounding Twin Cities suburbs, and I want to walk you through everything you need to think about to do this project right.
Clarifying Your Goals Before You Start
Before any design conversation, spend a few minutes thinking about what you actually want from your renovated bathroom. This sounds obvious, but it's remarkable how many homeowners start with "we want to renovate the master bath" without a clear picture of what's driving that desire.
Is it:
- A shower that actually feels luxurious instead of a standard 36x36 with a sliding door?
- Better storage for two people's worth of products, toiletries, and medications?
- A freestanding tub for the aesthetic, the experience, or both?
- Better lighting - both for getting ready and for winding down in the evening?
- More usable space through a smarter layout?
- Updated finishes because everything looks dated?
- Accessibility features because your needs have changed or may change?
The more specific you can be, the better the final design will serve you.
Layout: Work With What You Have or Change It?
Most master bathroom renovations stay within the existing footprint - moving walls is expensive and adds significant complexity. But it's worth at least asking whether there are adjacent spaces (a linen closet, a walk-in closet that's oversized, or an adjacent bedroom that could give up a few feet) that could contribute square footage to the bathroom.
Even small expansions - adding 2–3 feet in one direction - can dramatically change what's possible in a bathroom layout.
The Double Vanity Question
Two sinks is one of the features most commonly requested in master bath renovations. It's also one of the most consistently valued at resale. If you can fit a double vanity in your layout - even if it means a smaller shower or eliminating a tub - it's usually worth prioritizing.
Standard single-sink vanities run 24–36 inches wide; a double vanity typically starts at 60 inches. If your bathroom is currently a single-vanity situation, measure carefully whether a 60-inch double vanity is genuinely feasible or whether it would feel crammed.
The Shower Configuration
The shower is typically the focal point of a master bathroom renovation, and the decisions here matter most.
Curbless vs. curbed: A curbless (zero-threshold) shower is safer, easier to clean, and more visually open. It requires proper sloping of the shower floor and appropriate waterproofing. It's worth doing in almost every master bath renovation.
Frameless glass: Frameless shower enclosures look substantially better than framed or semi-framed alternatives. The difference in cost is meaningful but the difference in result is significant. If you're investing in a tile shower, budget for frameless glass.
Shower size: The minimum code-compliant shower is 36x36 inches, but this is genuinely too small for comfortable use. Aim for at least 36x48, with 48x48 or larger being significantly more comfortable. If space allows, a large walk-in shower (60x36 or larger) without a door - an open wet room style - is a beautiful design statement and the easiest shower to keep clean.
Multi-function shower: A rain showerhead plus a hand shower on a slide bar is the baseline for a luxury shower experience. Body spray jets, a steam unit, and bench seating are the higher-end additions that make a shower truly spa-like.
Tub or No Tub
This is a perennial debate in master bath planning. Here's my honest take:
Arguments for keeping a tub:
- Resale: conventional wisdom says a home needs at least one tub; in family homes, this matters to buyers with young children
- Soaking baths for recovery, relaxation, or health-related needs
- If a freestanding tub will be a beautiful focal point in your design
Arguments for removing the tub:
- If you genuinely never use it, it's wasted space and ongoing cleaning burden
- The shower you could have in that space is far more luxurious than the tub you have now
- In homes with other bathrooms that retain tubs, losing the master tub matters less to resale
If you're keeping a tub, a freestanding soaking tub is the current standard in master bath design - infinitely more attractive than an alcove tub, and it creates a clear visual focal point. Position it near a window if possible.
If your master is your only bathroom with a tub, think carefully before removing it, particularly if you're planning to sell within 5–7 years.
Storage Planning
Storage is the master bathroom element that gets thought about least and causes the most frustration after renovation. Two adults' worth of hair care products, skincare, makeup, medications, razors, and personal items represents a significant storage demand.
Vanity Storage
A vanity with full-depth drawers is dramatically more functional than one with doors and a shelf inside. Drawers are accessible, organizable, and make daily routines easier. Prioritize drawers for all but the under-sink cabinet sections.
Consider adding:
- A charging drawer with a built-in outlet for electric toothbrushes, razors, and hair tools
- Soft-close drawer hardware - it makes the whole space feel more quality
- A pull-out tray for easy access to items stored under the sink
Medicine Cabinets
Recessed medicine cabinets are storage you gain without adding square footage - the cavity is inside the wall. A double medicine cabinet flanking a center mirror, or a large single medicine cabinet above the vanity, provides significant storage in a space-efficient way.
Modern medicine cabinets with integrated LED lighting and mirror fronts are far more attractive than the basic units most people imagine.
Linen Storage
A tower cabinet beside the vanity or a linen closet accessible from the bathroom is valuable and often overlooked in planning. Towels, backup toiletries, and over-the-counter medications need a home.
Lighting: The Element That Changes Everything
Master bathroom lighting is one of the most under-thought elements in most renovations, and one of the biggest differentiators between a bathroom that's just nice and one that's genuinely wonderful.
Three Zones to Think About
Task lighting at the vanity: The most important lighting in the bathroom - this is where you assess your appearance every day. The best configuration is light at face level on both sides of the mirror, not just above. Wall sconces flanking the mirror, or a backlit mirror with edge lighting, both work well. Overhead-only lighting creates shadows under your nose and eyes that make everyone look worse.
Ambient lighting: Recessed lights on a dimmer switch provide general room illumination. In a master bathroom, being able to dim these lights dramatically changes the atmosphere in the evening - from bright functional to soft and relaxing.
Shower lighting: The shower should have its own waterproof recessed fixture on a separate switch. A well-lit shower is safer and more pleasant to use.
Optional but wonderful: A small sconce or low-wattage accent light on a very low dimmer for middle-of-the-night visits. This is a small detail that homeowners who have it never want to give up.
Finishes and Materials
Tile
Tile is the primary material investment in most master bath renovations. Make sure your tile selections work together: floor tile, shower tile, and any accent surfaces should share a cohesive palette without being identical.
See our dedicated post on bathroom tile trends for more guidance on current options worth considering.
Fixtures
A single finish throughout the bathroom reads as more intentional and higher-quality than mixed metals. Pick one - brushed nickel, matte black, brushed gold, or polished chrome - and use it consistently on faucets, showerhead, towel bars, toilet paper holder, and door hardware.
Vanity
A floating vanity makes a master bath feel more open and modern. Solid wood or high-quality painted MDF for painted finishes; real wood veneer for stained wood looks. Avoid thermofoil (plastic-wrap) cabinet finishes - they tend to peel at edges in humid bathroom environments.
What Does a Master Bathroom Renovation Cost?
For a quality master bathroom renovation in the Twin Cities market:
| Scope | Estimated Cost Range | |---|---| | Mid-range renovation (same footprint, quality finishes) | $20,000–$40,000 | | Upscale renovation with layout changes | $35,000–$65,000 | | High-end full renovation with custom everything | $60,000–$100,000+ |
These ranges are honest and account for the full cost of the project: demo, plumbing, electrical, tile, vanity, fixtures, glass, and labor.
The biggest variables are tile selection (zellige and large-format stone tile cost more than standard porcelain), vanity quality (custom built-in vs. stock), shower size and features, and any structural/layout changes.
Timeline
A master bathroom renovation typically takes 4–8 weeks of construction, with 4–8 weeks of planning and material selection before that. Total time from initial conversation to finished bathroom: approximately 10–16 weeks.
Ready to Renovate Your Master Bathroom?
We've helped countless homeowners in Shakopee, Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Prior Lake, Burnsville, Edina, and Minnetonka transform master bathrooms into the restful, beautiful spaces they deserve to be.
Start with our bathroom remodeling page to learn about our process and see completed project examples. Then contact us for a free in-home consultation. We'll walk through your bathroom together, talk through your goals, and give you a clear picture of what's possible and what it will cost.