Thoughts on Kid-Friendly Bathrooms {that grown-ups will like too}

One of my favorite rooms in our home is the guest bathroom.  The previous owner did some basic renovations to the house including updating the vanity in the guest bathroom.  When we moved in the bathroom was painted the color of sand {to match all the other rooms} and the vanity had been updated with a furniture style vanity.  It's a pretty fussy vanity.  And, if I'm completely honest, it's a little too fussy for me.  And too tall for petite {read: child-sized} me.  But since it's not in the budget at this time to update the vanity, I'll have to live with her for now.

We added a cabinet above the sink for extra storage for baby toys, baby shampoo, baby washcloths....you get the picture.

And my loving hubby graciously painted the walls a rich, moody grey {Valspar Cathedral Stone} last fall when my hormones were screaming "Nest! Nest! Nest!" but my swollen body could barely walk.

That freshly painted blank canvas above the towel rack was just screaming for something.  Something.  And for a long time I've thought "maybe botanical prints".  Then it occurred to me "the rest of the house feels like a beach cottage...what about beach prints?"

So, I consulted Mother Google and learned that the study of mollusc shells is called "conchology" and I could buy a reproduction book from Amazon on the study of shells with some lovely pictures in it.  I tucked that thought in the back of my mind...I didn't really want to buy the whole book because I knew if I did it would end up on my coffee table and not on my walls {I can't pull apart a book...seriously...I love books...I don't disassemble them}.  Then one morning as I was perusing Etsy I found these lovelies...

Someone else had already pulled apart a book from 1923.  I would have loved to have the whole book, but I never would have pulled it apart.

So I bought them quick.  Then with some Hobby Lobby finds and leftover paint from the breakfast nook {Valspar Gossamer Sky}...

... I gave them the royal treatment.

I used some scrap curling ribbon and scotch tape to make "scrapbook corners" to mount the pages to the mats.  I didn't want to just use tape because I wanted to try to preserve the pages {and I've seen what tape can do to receipt paper}.

I was super careful to get as close to the edge as possible without letting the tape touch the pages.


 

Then I put them in inexpensive frames {made even less expensive thanks to Hobby Lobby's fabulous frame sale}.

And now they work their magic to make my guest bathroom so cheerful.

Now that I've done this, I'm not as happy with our towel rack.  Seriously, what is it about home-improvement type projects that just make you want to do more?  I find myself excited about how fresh things look, but I rarely have that sense of peace that comes when a project is "done" because I always start in on something else.  Anyway, I love what Paul and Bethany did in their bathroom, and I may do something similar.

Maybe with these? {From Anthropologie.}

I guess it's not so bad always having projects in progress...there's always something to look forward to!

Do you have any suggestions for making a kid-friendly bathroom {or any other space} that adults will use also?  I'd love your help!