If you have plenty of storage space. . . . .
- Give everyone their own designated space in this adult and kid bathroom to put their personal items. Hooks on the wall at different heights work great for towels and a couple hooks on the bathroom door for temporary robe hanging. (Nobody's allowed to leave their robe in the bathroom when they are finished.
- If you have a small fry, provide a step stool so he may reach the sink. This step stool might be able to do double duty as a seat for the older children, or for the ladies to use for personal grooming.
- Color code everything possible; towels, washcloths, toothbrush, storage basket, brush and comb . . . You get the idea. And make everyone responsible for their own items. When someone gets busted with the wrong color towel in their hand, there will be some explaining to do!
- For those children old enough to help out, they can have cleaning duties in the bathroom. Even the young ones can take out the waste basket and put the dirty towels in the laundry.
If you don't have plenty of space. . . . .
- This means you'll only be able to store the basics in there. Maybe toothbrushes and toothpaste and other general items.
- Everyone can have a basket or bin (all color coded like before ) to take back to their rooms with their personal items in it. When it's shower or bath time or time to get ready for bed, each child gets his or her turn and brings in their basket.
- Towels
and washcloths take up a lot of room so they may need to be stored in the bedroom closets as well, or in a hall linen closet, which is also color coded. Another option for an adult and kid bathroom would be to roll them up and put them up on a shelf that extends the length of one wall about a foot down from the ceiling in the kid bathroom. This is a decorative touch as well, however the little ones will need help retrieving theirs.
Their very own Kid Bathroom . . . .
This is the day you know you've arrived! The kids probably won't think so, but you'll bask in the privacy of your own bathroom. . . . .What am I thinking? You have kids . . . .You don't have privacy!
You can still follow some of the basic guidelines mentioned above. Color coding is still a good thing, because it will eliminate SOME of the fighting over his, hers, theirs.
Got Teens?
If you have a teen boy and a teen girl sharing a bathroom, you are probably moonlighting as a referree! There is hope however.
First of all, being teenagers there's a lot more primping and shaving going on. And his needs and her wants are like oil and water. Using a lot of the same color coding techniques above will help. But you will need to take it to the next level.
They will each need a "primping station" in their own bedrooms, near an electrical outlet. Otherwise, neither of them will ever get any quality time in the bathroom.
Primping station:
- Wall hung mirror with a shelf below at minimum. You could also get them each one of those inexpensive wall hung mirrors, or over the door full length mirrors so they can make a last minute check before they go out the door
- Wall lighting either on both sides or above the mirror. An easy way to provide the lighting is with track lights
- A side table or small storage unit below the shelf that has at least one drawer and a cupboard with a door on it to hide all the paraphenalia
- Lots of mini bins, baskets and drawer dividers
- Put a couple hooks on the wall near the mirror to hang a robe or wet towel. If you're not into using tools to find a wall stud and drill holes for a hook, get some of the command hooks. I love 'em, they work great and don't wreck you wall finish. Use a whole bunch of them!
- Get them each their own hair products, spray bottle of water and hair dryer etc.
Are you getting the picture? They only need to be in the bathroom for personal purposes and things involving water, including brushing their teeth and shaving etc. The hair styling and primping can go on in the bedrooms.
Search Google for more Kid Bathroom Ideas
Kid Bathroom Theme Decorating. . . . .
If you have all of one gender, you can theme the room to that gender. But if you have both, you'll need to choose a theme that is appropriate for both. Let them help with the decision, but let them know that you have the final say (only because you probably want to practice some constraint here).
They might come up with two or three ideas, and you can all brainstorm together and finalize the kid bathroom theme. You'll likely get less complaining after the fact if they had their say in the design. It is their bathroom, so let them help decorate it. You can always hope that they will take pride in their work and keep it a little cleaner.
The Walls :
Pick a fairly basic color for the walls, cabinets and flooring. I don't mean white or beige. Try something like a soft yellow or green, or pale blue. Any of those paint colors will blend with almost any kids theme. . . . .I said almost!
Do something fun like paint big spots on the walls using different size plates as your templates to make the circles, or use some of the decorator stamps to make a design. You have a license to have fun in there, it's a kid bathroom!
Kid Bathroom Accessories:
Replace the boring knobs and handles with something fun that will coordinate. Have you checked out my kid's knobs page? Get creative. You could use flat knobs and handles and glue things to them. How about small cars, rocks, precious stones, or other small findings like the sports balls off of key chains or troll dolls and mini flashlights.
If your cabinet drawers and doors have the uglies and you don't want to do a complete paint job, find some nice paper that you and the kids like and decoupage it onto the fronts.
Then perk up your kid bathroom with theme fabric or vinyl shower curtains ( read how to do shower curtains for the kid bathroom the designer way - think BIG )
, rugs
, wallpaper border and wall hangings. You could even have two or three complete sets that include the shower curtain and bath accessories that will go with the wall color, so you can interchange them while one is "in the laundry". (That way they can each choose a theme!)