Kitchen & Bath
Fun and Fantastic Bathrooms
Instead of aiming for elegance, try appealing to the child within — or, better yet, fix up a bathroom that will appeal to your children or grandchildren — and their sense of personal hygiene too.
BY
Brooke Pearl
PHOTOGRAPHY
Paul Bonnichsen and James Maidhof

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Pretty in Pink

Eight-month-old Ava has living quarters fit for a princess. Her mom, Jennifer Allwood, owner of The Magic Brush Faux Finishing, couldn’t wait to decorate for a daughter after having two boys, Noah, 6, and Easton, 4.

The curtain fabric in the bedroom was the first piece of material she chose for Ava, so the bedroom and bathroom were designed around it in a pink, melon and light green color combination. “I wanted her bedroom walls to be subtle, but I didn’t mind if the bathroom had a little ‘bling’ in it,” Jennifer says. With the help of Deborah Way, friend and owner of Metropolitan Design, Ava’s bathroom (as well as her bedroom) is royally supreme.

The original bathroom contained a white vanity with a popcorn ceiling and dated shower doors. To glam up the space, an employee of The Magic Brush hand-painted the walls and ceiling, and while pregnant with Ava, Jennifer sat on the bathroom floor, embellishing the vanity with stencils of flowers and leaves, bubbles, cheetah print and argyle patterns. A touch of fringe on the bottom of the vanity rounds out its decoration. From there, Jennifer moved to the walls and ceiling, free-handing silver metallic swirls with a hint of green. In order for her to incorporate the design into the ceiling, her husband, Jason, had to scrape away the popcorn ceiling (which he did with a smile). Finishing touches include jewels all around the room, and door knobs and pulls that look like crystal, along with a black-and-white shower curtain that hides the shower doors and two dainty chandeliers with pink jewels hung above the mirror.

Other accessories within the bathroom also fit the fun and fabulous style but have sentimental value to Jennifer. The artwork of a little girl is at least 40 years old; it was given to her mother on her 16th birthday. The piano jewelry box was made by her grandmother 30 years ago in a ceramics class, and the pearls that delicately drape around the mannequin were worn by Jennifer on her wedding day. Other antique pieces include the mantel above the bathroom door and the metal ballerinas. “I love mixing the old with the new, so I love that I have some old things in here,” Jennifer says.

Ava’s bathroom also displays a picture of her as a newborn and of Jennifer when she was pregnant with Ava. Hanging on the towel rack is the tutu Ava will wear on her first birthday in November with hopes of growing into the glittery shoes as she gets older.