Great ideas for remodeling a child’s bathroom.
If you’re in the market for a makeover in the kids’ bathroom, there are some great themes that you can adopt to bring some fun into bath time. No longer do you need to be satisfied with a simple paint job and coordinating linens. With a bit of ima gination, you can create a whole new world beyond the bathroom door.
THE JUNGLE
A jungle theme is the perfect scenario for a bathroom that’s used for children. Indoor/Outdoor carpeting that resembles turf will set the tone from the first step, with a backdrop of buttercream colored walls.
Linens should be chosen that contain a mixture of varied shades of green and bright jungle colors. If designer linens can be obtained that capture jungle scenes or animals on some of them, these would also work very well with the general scheme.
Turn your bathtub into a work of art by painting jungle grass and flowers on the outside, with an occasional bug or jungle bird peeking through. This can be done professionally, or you can do it yourself if you have a lot of artistic talent. Just be sure to use paint that will work on the tub surface, whether it’s porcelain or plastic. You might also check with a paint consultant for advice on the proper paint sealer.
The bath mat should be an extension of the tub – greens with jungle flowers and creatures. Try to get a slightly different shade of green from the carpet, so that they’ll blend and serve as a complement to each other.
If the size of the bathroom isn’t too restrictive, consider tucking a palm tree into one of the corners. Hanging plants also make a nice presentation, as do plants that sit upon ledges in the upper portion of the room. These can be real or artificial, but green plants – especially tropicals – do well in bathrooms as a result of the warm moisture that the room often contains after hot baths or showers.
The wastebasket, soap dish and other decorator items should be of a lighter color – perhaps with a buttercream background to match the walls – and depict various jungle creatures, such as lizards, leopards or monkeys.
Bamboo shelving for the linens would be a great addition to the room’s theme.
UNDERSEA ADVENTURE
The Bathroom is ideal for creating an undersea motif, since the room itself is based upon a central water theme. Since there are many shades of sea water, ranging from bright aquamarine to brilliant blue, the color scheme can be adjusted to reflect your personal preference.
The carpeting should be of an indoor/outdoor variety, since this is much more durable and can handle moisture better than other styles. Choose a nice sand color – representing the ocean shore – complemented by a deep blue bath mat with starfish, coral, sea grass or any other oceanic depictions that are available. A sand color background (to match the carpeting) would also work well, provided that the edging is done in blue so that the bath mat is well defined.
Sky blue walls with a sun border at the top provide the perfect background for your water world. If you’ve chosen to work with aquamarine shades, you’ll do better using an eggshell color for the walls with a sky border (there are many variations on this particular border theme).
The outside of the tub can be decorated with an underwater scene, such as bright blue water with dolphins, whales, sea grass, crabs, colorful coral and so on. Tropical fish would be a great addition to this kind of scene, since many of them are brightly colored. Be sure to cover the entire outer surface of the tub, unless you choose to show a glimpse of the ocean life as well as dolphins or whales jumping in and out of the water above it. For that scenario, you’ll need to leave plenty of room at the top for these underwater acrobats.
The trashcan, soap dish and other decorator items – including toothbrushes – should depict specific scenes, such as dolphins or whales, as an extension of the bathtub scene. Dishes of seashells, along with natural sponges, will add to this type of décor.
Coral tinted linens will round this out quite nicely. These can be blended with sand colored linens to match the carpeting and join with the decorator items to serve as an extension of the bathtub area.
AT THE ZOO
Rich brown carpeting will create a beautiful foundation for the zoo theme, because of its warm earthy tone. Again, carpeting of an indoor/outdoor variety is best for the bathroom, due to its ability to withstand moisture and humidity better than other carpeting styles.
The bathtub scene should depict a cage with playful monkeys or chimps, with a similarly themed bath mat. Try to avoid a dark colored bath mat, which wouldn’t blend well with the dark carpeting. Lighter colors should be used – even a yellow bath mat with pictures of bananas.
Walls should be done in tan, which will blend better with the earthy carpet than a typical eggshell color. A top border containing zebras, giraffes or lions would be a nice complement to the monkeys on the tub.
Decorator items can best express the zoo theme by choosing a variety of animals – such as giraffes, elephants, seals or ostriches. You can even order a bathroom plunger that’s decorated as a zoo animal. Keep in mind that the decorator items in a room serve to tie all of the other items into the central theme.
A combination of zebra striped linens and white linens can be used to round out the general motif. If those aren’t available, you can also use a mixture of dark brown and tan linens as an extension of the floor and walls.
Of course, each of these themes (and others) can be adjusted to families who have children that are all of one gender. Otherwise, generic motifs – such as those listed – are best for mixed groups.