From what your describing we had the same thing going on,I didn't like the ensuite( too small) and the bathroom needed to be bigger,so we got rid of the ensuite and put a door between our bedroom and bathroom like a jack and Jill.After a while I felt it just didn't work so we closed up the wall and we now have one big bathroom.im glad we did it now. I too wondered if it would devalue the house and I'm sure if a larger family moved in it could be a bit of a problem,maybe someone from the real estate world will pop in and give you some advice. Good luck with whatever way you choose to go.

I wouldn't change much regarding the layout/placement of white goods either. But it'd be possible to get some extra. For example, an L- or P-shaped shower bath would get a nicer shower space. You'd end up with the wider part by the window though so may then also consider opaque glazing or a screen there. A concealed cistern in the back wall would bring that forward by around 10cm. If you don't want to loose all that space, a boxed-in cistern and shelves above may give you a little storage back. On the washing machine: you triggered my inner geek :-) This may be possible. You need to research a few things for this: A) a slim depth washing machine (usually 425mm) B) availability of a height reduction kit for it (if these are avail gets height down from 850mm to 800mm) C) use an extra-flat bottle trap for the basin D) partly embed that into a thin washtable (to make the surface then a total of ~100mm above the machine) If all these go together it should just be possible to fit washtable, drains, basin trap and the machine underneath into a box about 910x600x500mm (HxWxD) which is kitchen unit height. The countertop sink would sit above that. Maybe a little bit of extra space could be gained still if you'd construct a basin from a flat shower tray with an integrated trap (a Wedi fundo plano is 60mm high) but I'm not sure how to put the washing machine drain on then. Good luck!

i have just finished our ensuite bathroom -still waiting for shutters and bits to finish off so looking a bit bare still - but photo attached as we used Laura Ashley patterned tiles on the floor and one of the shower walls, which are quite victorian but modern and reasonably priced (also available in a darker grey). We then used plain white tiles for the rest of the room which were only £10 sq m. The little wall shelf unit is from Graham & Green. our sink is Duravit 65cm so quite big - they do smaller sizes. sorry can't figure out how to get these photos the correct way up!!

If you shop for a space saving toilet there should be plenty of room for a full sized basin on the same wall. A p shaped bath would also give you a little more room at the shower end.