8×10 Bathroom Layout: Floor Plans That Use Every Inch

An 80 square foot bathroom sits in the sweet spot for residential remodels. It’s big enough for a separate tub and shower, double sinks, and a private water closet, but small enough that bad layout choices waste real square footage. The right 8×10 bathroom layout sets up the plumbing wall to minimize copper or PEX runs, places the toilet for code-compliant clearance, and gives the door space to swing without hitting the vanity. Five layout patterns repeat in nearly every remodel, and picking the right one early saves thousands in change orders.

Code Clearances You Have to Honor

Before drawing any layout, the International Residential Code (IRC) sets minimum clearances:

• Toilet: 15 inches from centerline to any side wall or fixture, 21 inches of clear floor space in front (24 in many states for 2024 and newer codes)
• Vanity: 21 inches of clear floor space in front, 30 inches between sink centers for double vanities
• Shower: 30×30 inches minimum interior, with 24 inches of clear space in front of the entry
• Bathtub: 21 inches of clear floor space along the long entry side

Older homes have layouts that wouldn’t pass current code. Renovations are usually allowed to keep existing fixture spacing, but new fixture relocations have to meet current minimums.

Layout 1: Long Wall Plumbing Run

The most common 8×10 layout puts all three fixtures (tub or shower, vanity, toilet) along the 10-foot wall, with the door on the opposite 8-foot wall. Plumbing concentrates in one wet wall, which simplifies the rough-in and cuts material costs.

Typical placement: 5-foot tub or 36-inch tub-shower combo at one end, 36-inch single vanity in the middle, toilet at the far end. The opposite wall holds a linen closet or a built-in bench. This layout suits hall bathrooms shared by family or guests.

Layout 2: Three-Wall Wet Spread

For master bathrooms wanting a separate tub and shower, the three-wall layout works better. The tub takes one 8-foot wall, the shower takes the opposite 8-foot wall, and the vanity plus toilet share the 10-foot wall opposite the door. This creates a clear walking path down the middle of the room.

Plumbing costs increase because three walls have supply and drain runs. Budget an extra $1,500 to $3,000 over the long-wall layout for the additional plumbing labor and materials.

Layout 3: Wet Zone Plus Vanity Zone

This 8×10 split puts a 5×6 wet zone (tub-shower combo plus toilet) at one end, separated by a half-wall or pony wall from a 5×4 vanity zone with a 60-inch double vanity. The wet zone has its own door, the vanity zone has the main door.

Two children sharing a bathroom love this layout because one can use the vanity while another showers. Plumbing concentrates in the wet zone wall, keeping costs reasonable. The trade-off is that the dual zones eat into single-fixture sizing — the vanity is the centerpiece, not the tub.

Layout 4: Double Vanity Across the Long Wall

Master bathrooms with limited 10×8 footprints often skip the tub entirely in favor of a 60-inch double vanity, a 60-inch curbless shower, and a toilet in a small alcove. The vanity takes one 10-foot wall, the shower takes one 8-foot wall opposite the door, and the toilet hides in a 30×60 alcove.

Skipping the tub is increasingly popular for primary suites. Resale data from the National Association of Realtors shows that homes with at least one tub elsewhere lose nothing by going tubless in the primary, while homes with no tub anywhere lose buyers with young children.

Layout 5: Compartmented Toilet Room

A water closet (compartmented toilet) within an 8×10 takes a 30×60 inch enclosed space at one end of the room, leaving a 75×80 inch main bathroom area with vanity, tub, and shower. The water closet has its own door (pocket or barn-style to save floor sweep).

This layout pushes the limits of 80 square feet. The toilet alcove eats 12 to 15 square feet, leaving 65 to 68 for the rest. Single vanity only. Tub or shower, not both, unless you go to a small 36-inch shower.

Door Placement Tradeoffs

Doors swinging into bathrooms must clear the toilet by at least 4 inches and avoid hitting the vanity drawer fronts. In tight 8×10 layouts, swap a hinged door for a 32-inch pocket door or a 36-inch barn door. Pocket doors require 36 inches of wall pocket but save 9 to 12 square feet of door swing space.

Barn doors don’t seal sound or smell as well as a hinged door, which matters for full bathrooms. Pocket doors are the better choice if framing allows.

Plumbing Wall Layout Strategy

Concentrating supply and drain lines on one or two walls cuts material costs and reduces wall thickness. The “wet wall” should be at least 6 inches thick (2×6 framing) to hold the 4-inch toilet drain and 1.5-inch tub trap without notching the studs excessively.

If your existing 8×10 has 2×4 walls and you want to relocate fixtures, plan to fur out the new wet wall by 2 inches, sacrificing 16 inches of floor length to gain wall depth. Most plumbers prefer this to notching studs and weakening the structure.

Lighting and Ventilation in 80 Square Feet

Code requires a bathroom fan rated for the room’s volume with 8 air changes per hour. An 8x10x8 ceiling room is 640 cubic feet, needing 85 cfm minimum. Most builders install 110 cfm fans (Panasonic WhisperCeiling or Broan-Nutone QTX) for quieter operation and margin.

Lighting needs at least one ceiling fixture or recessed cans plus task lighting at the vanity. Two sconces flanking the mirror at 60 to 65 inches above the floor light faces evenly. A single fixture above the mirror creates shadows under the chin.

Storage Options

An 8×10 has wall space for built-ins. Common storage adds:

• Recessed medicine cabinets (no protrusion into the room)
• Tall linen tower at the end of a vanity run
• Niche shelves in shower walls
• Floating shelves above the toilet (12 inches above the tank, 18 inches deep maximum)
• Vanity drawers with electrical outlets for daily appliances

Built-ins tend to add real value to a remodel. Buyers in the National Kitchen and Bath Association surveys consistently rate built-in storage among the top three bathroom remodel preferences.