Visit BJ Mullen for Child Friendly Bathrooms.  The smartest and most desirable bathrooms can still be child-friendly

It’s very tempting to be rather selfish and adult-orientated when planning a new bathroom. But … even if you don’t have children, or maybe having kids is still a vague future plan, it’s still possible to future-proof your main bathroom so it can still be suitable and practical to use when kids arrive (or come to visit.)

This cleverly-planned bathroom is Symmetry in Teal and Midnight-Grey Gloss by Utopia

One of the vital components of a children’s bathroom is floor space … it won’t just be one person in there, it will be little ones plus at least one or two supervising adults, so elbow room is essential! A bath really should be included, don’t think you can get away with a shower alone, having an easy-access bath is a great way of ensuring at least half an hour a day of contained playtime for little ones.

This gorgeous grown-up bathroom, Geo furniture in Parchment Gloss and Aragon Flint, adapts seamlessly to the practical needs of a child-friendly household

Storage, storage, storage … cupboard or drawer space is vital, not just for the children’s bubble bath, but for all the other bits and bobs. It’s nice to be able to tidy away the bath toys and pop them in a drawer or cupboard.  A net bag is useful, put everything in the bag in the bath to drain and transfer to the drawer later – line the drawer or cupboard with a guest towel to soak up drips. We’re also keen on a double basin layout for the kids … great for teaching proper teeth-brushing and face-washing techniques!

Halo modular furniture in Eton Oak is teamed up here with the new Miro sit-on basin for a cosy and practical family bathroom

If children have the run of the bathroom it’s quite likely that you’ll be thinking about re-painting every couple of years or so … choosing a neutral colour or finish for your cabinetry allows you to keep the options open regarding paint colours. If you’re fed up with this rather tasteful blue-grey in a couple of years, go for a deeper, indigo blue or perhaps a rusty shade of ginger-brown to co-ordinate with the tiles. Just be sure to choose an emulsion that’s suitable for bathroom (or kitchen) use; it will be more hardwearing than standard emulsions and also have more resistance to mould, which can be a potential problem if the walls get splashed a lot. However, a properly ventilated bathroom with an extractor and regularly opened windows shouldn’t suffer from condensation and associated problems.

From the latest furniture range, Roseberry … this is Utopia’s modular freestanding bathroom in London Grey

A double-ended bath (this is the Sensuelle freestanding bath) is a good choice for a family bathroom – it means a two-for-the-price-of-one bathtime with no moaning as to who gets the tap end, plus a central position makes it easier to attend to little ones. We love the extra-wide basin – it means that there’s plenty of room for mum or dad to supervise, and the idea of using plain door panels on the wall is rather special too. As far as colour schemes go, London Grey is another flexible choice, it could work just as well with a selection of brighter shades in the future.

A cloakroom is an essential addition to your home, if space and budget allows. This is Roseberry from Utopia in London Grey.

Creating a gorgeous family bathroom is very enjoyable and satisfying … but realistically, you don’t want everyone trooping up and down the stairs whenever there’s a play date for the kids. A cloakroom avoids other children’s sticky hands trailing up and down the bannisters. The ground floor cloakroom is also the perfect space for a cupboard that can be used for first aid kit and cleaning stuff.

For the full range of Utopia Bathroom Furniture, call in to our showroom where our staff will be happy to help.