Children have different colour perceptions from those of adults so we should bear that in mind when decorating their rooms. If one of your bathrooms is used mainly by your children you could decorate it to suit their tastes, rather than adult tastes.

Colours Affect Children More than We Think

Colours can either calm children down or raise their mental state. Some research has shown that pink colours can have a positive impact on children’s thinking and moods, while blue can have the opposite effect. As parents we want to help our children to succeed and decorating a bathroom to their taste is a small price to pay.

Your Options for the Wall

There are many options available to you besides painting the room in primary colours; though that can work well as the photos below show. For the walls tiles and wallpaper are both options to consider. Tiling is an expensive option though and one that is disruptive in the extreme. You will need to plan on your décor lasting for at least ten years; when your children’s tastes change re-tiling will not be a realistic option. Waterproof wallpaper is widely available and this is much simpler to replace. You could use a mural on one or two walls, which could be replaced fairly easily.

Your Options for the Suite

White may be more adult in taste, but there needs to be some element of practicality built into a long-term project.

Coloured bathroom suites are an option, but again this is a long-term decision that needs to be made with great care.

A coloured toilet seat would be a great compromise. It is easily replaced and still provides a large splash of colour.

Your Options for the Floor

Tiling the floor is, again, a very long-term solution, so it is better to use neutral colour tiles and add brightly coloured mats rather than to tile the whole floor in green or orange.

Carpet is another option, but even specially-made bathroom carpet is difficult to keep clean. Vinyl floor covering is a low-cost option that is waterproof and easily changed. It also comes in rolls 2m wide so wastage is minimal in a small room. If you lay it underneath the toilet and sink then damage caused by water penetrating to the floor beneath will be reduced.

Your Options for the Ceiling

Think outside the box. Why do ceilings have to be white? Pale blue would be a far more natural colour, but you can paint your child’s bathroom ceiling any colour they choose and redo it next year in next to no time.

Your Options for Lighting

Lighting is a great way to give your bathroom child-appeal. Use multi-lamp spotlight fittings either mounted on the walls or on the ceiling. Buy LED GU10 bulbs which have plummeted in price since 2012. These will cut your electricity bills because children will leave the lights on. LED GU10 bulbs are available in blue, red and even with a remote controlled colour-changing effect. Multiple fittings with some bulbs in white and some in red or blue should keep everyone happy.

Recessed light fittings look great in any bathroom ceiling, but you will probably need to pay a plasterer to install a new plasterboard panel when the wiring is in place.

Your Options for Doors and Cupboards

This is another area where you can use your child’s choice of paint colour. It doesn’t matter too much if it clashes with the rest of the colour scheme to adult eyes; your children have to be able to experiment with colour and acknowledging any mistakes is the only way they will learn.

You can buy mirrors with frames in any colour or in a wooden frame that you can paint yourself.

Your options for Soft Furnishings

Coloured towels, facecloths, bathmats and curtains can all provide the colour that you are searching for. You can buy coloured blinds for the window in almost any colour, including a mirror effect that children find fascinating.

The Overall Effect

You can achieve a brightly coloured bathroom that will please your children and that will not offend adult sensibility if you go for the overall effect. Bright colours need neutral ones to set them off and this is not something that a child understands. It is up to you as the parents to decide which elements of your children’s bathroom décor will be the coloured highlights and which will be the essential neutral background.

Tauseef Hussain is a full time blogger and writes for QS Supplies and AQVA Bathrooms, the on-line store for designer bathroom accessories. You can follow Tauseef on twitter @usef4u