Garden delights

Encouraging children to shower and clean their teeth can sometimes be a chore, as every parent knows. Creating a fun space that children actually look forward to using is surely a bath time winner.

"You really need to motivate kids to shower," says Jolie Korek, who designed this children's bathroom for parents of three children under eight.

For these three, motivation now comes in the form of a garden. Walking into this cool and green space, a child is tempted to follow the winding path from the first room, with its bathtub and vanity, into the second room with shower and toilet. Ceramic frogs, lizards and turtles are a further invitation to step through the clear glass doors of the double shower. Even the taps in the double vanity, with their single lever, look and feel like a well pump.

Korek says she wanted to create a whimsical fun space that wouldn't be kitsch or unsophisticated.

"I never design for children, I design for fun," she says. "I wanted to create a bathroom that an adult would be happy to use."

Korek opted for a sophisticated green-and-beige colour scheme rather than primary colours, and materials were also chosen with care. With their glazed crackle finish, the bath, shower and wall tiles are reminiscent of a 1930s subway, and are an appropriate choice for the 1920s stone house. Korek says they wouldn't be out of place in a master bathroom.

The refurbishment has also brightened the formerly dark bathroom. Lighting, reflective surfaces, a double mirror over the vanity and half-height tiles all create a light and airy feel.

With up to three children using this bathroom at any one time, Korek needed to make the space functional as well as fun. The answer was to separate the bath and shower areas, effectively creating two rooms. The double shower and vanity unit also allow two children to wash alongside each other if they wish.

Story by: Trendsideas