One thing I have really enjoyed over the years is creating colorful and inviting living spaces for my kids. Bright colors have always been welcomed. I love to see how colors and decorations can really bring a room to life.
When we moved into our current house, the walls of the bathroom were a dull tan color. Not too exciting for two active little boys. After I had finished painting and decorating their bedrooms, their bathroom was the next room on my list.
With various shades of tan and brown spots and swirls, the countertop in their bathroom kind of reminded me of a cheetah. One thought led to another and with very little hesitation, I forged ahead with my plan – a jungle themed bathroom.
Here are DIY steps to create a jungle themed kids’ bathroom.
Fine some cute jungle décor.
I first started by finding a shower curtain because I knew that would be a focal point when anyone entered the bathroom. I found a fun and colorful shower curtain on Amazon and based the rest of the décor around that.
Then I was able to find a monkey clock, a hippo bath rug and a giraffe soap dispenser all online. None of these were included as a set together, but they actually ended up coordinating really well with each other and the shower curtain.
I didn’t end up buying any jungle themed towels (I’m sure you could find some!), but I did end up finding some lime green hand towels. They ended up being a fun addition to the green paint I ended up using.
Decide on paint colors and play around with different designs.
I knew I didn’t want to paint the walls just all one color. So I got creative with painters tape. I painted 3 colors of green on the bottom half of two of the walls—a wide swath at the bottom and then 2 smaller stripes on top. Then I chose to paint a light blue on the upper half for the “sky”.
I definitely recommend using painters’ tape if you plan to do any straight lines. It makes it so much easier to achieve a nice clean line. I would recommend buying tape specifically made for painting because it sticks well to the wall without tearing off any existing paint when it is removed.
Painting tip: If you are doing several different colors, only buy samples sizes of the paint you need for small sections. You can save a lot of money that way instead of buying quart or gallon sizes. Just make sure all your paints end up being the same sheen.
Add a mural.
In my opinion, having a painted mural on a wall brings that wall to life and adds an extra layer of fun. For my jungle themed kids’ bathroom, I chose to replicate one of the palm trees from the shower curtain.
Having practiced a lot of drawing in high school and college, I was able to draw the palm tree onto the wall freehanded. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough! Then I tried to match the colors up as well as I could so the palm tree would look very similar to the one on the shower curtain.
Because the palm tree was another large focal point, I chose to keep the wall it was on simpler by painting it mostly all blue with a small green stripe at the bottom to represent jungle grass. I thought about painting jungle grass at the bottom, but in the end, I just chose to keep the stripe simple. But jungle grass could also be a fun addition!
If drawing something freehand feels a bit intimidating, you can always find wall clings instead that easily peel off when you would like to remove them.
Create other artwork for the walls.
Even if you don’t feel artistic, this is something you can absolutely tackle! All you need is a canvas and some acrylic paint which you can find at the Dollar store or any craft store. You will want to use the type of canvas that is stretched over a wooden frame.
You can find free simple images online or you can use an image from your shower curtain as inspiration. In my case, I chose to do a picture of an elephant. It was a simple design that I knew I could easily recreate.
Print your image and then use a copy machine to blow it up until it is the size of the canvas you are using. Place the piece of paper with your image behind the canvas and tape it down. Then hold the canvas up to a window or another light source and retrace the image onto the canvas. Easy-peasy!
Once you are done painting, you can use a black permanent marker to outline it. This makes a lot cleaner line than a paintbrush. There are various ways you can hang up your artwork. I chose to attach a ribbon by gluing it to the back of the canvas with a hot glue gun. Then I glued a nail inside of a wooden ball, painted the ball and hung the ribbon over it.
The big reveal!
If you can, it’s super fun to surprise your kids with the final result. Easier said than done, I know. If it’s possible, work on this project when they are away from the house or when someone else is available to watch them and don’t let them peek! It is so fun to see their reaction when they haven’t seen any of the steps along the way.
When I created this jungle themed kids’ bathroom, my youngest was 2 years old and he saw the palm tree and started to try to climb it. We all had a good laugh about that! My kids are now 7 and 10, but they still have yet to ask to change this bathroom’s style. And I’m perfectly okay with that!
Don’t be afraid to get creative, use bright colors, and really bring your bathroom to life. Your kids will love it!