Sink or Swim: Cool DIY Bathroom Projects for You and your Kids

The rainbow colors of construction paper, the popsicle sticks and toilet paper rolls, the smell of the glue gun getting hot… You loved craft activities with your kids when they were little, that exciting time when you pulled out all the crayons in the house, distributed the safety scissors, tape, and glitter, and let the creativity fly! And you proudly displayed the results on your refrigerator door until… be honest, they’re still there, aren’t they?

And then your children got older, and abandoned the tactile thrill of cutting and pasting with the electronic equivalents, leaving you sighing sentimentally for the days when you all worked together on your crafty projects. You’d love to get them away from the computers and video games just long enough to tackle something less likely to make them say, “I’m too old for that!” The secret just may be to get them involved in a project that has a direct effect on more than your refrigerator: enlist their help for a bathroom DIY makeover!

Anyone who has ever had the dubious pleasure of going through a complete bathroom remodeling knows that, compared to any other room in the house, the length of the bathroom to-do list is usually in inverse proportion to the size of the bathroom. After the major installations are done, though, there are lots of smaller touches you can give your bathroom to make it not only more functional, but more reflective of your family’s style as well. And that’s where your kids come in.

Even without a major renovation, simple updates like a new curving shower curtain rod tend to make your old shower curtain look a bit drab. And the typical selection in stores can be less than inspiring. Why not have your children design one for you? At CafePress.com, you can upload your own artwork and have it custom-printed on a shower curtain for under $60.00! (Yes, you can buy a generic curtain for considerably less, but then it would be, well, generic.) Your kids can draw or paint their own masterpiece, and you’ll just need to scan it (after it dries, of course) and format the scanned artwork before uploading it to CafePress. Their fast turnaround time means you’ll be admiring your kids’ handiwork almost before you can say “glue stick”.

If your children are over the whole shower curtain idea, try thinking about revamping a bathroom vanity. If one of your not-so-little kid has outgrown not only her clothes, but her dresser too, have her help you give it a new life as a sink surround. Yes, this is a more complex undertaking, involving power tools and Liquid Nails (this tutorial is very thorough), but there are plenty of tasks that are child-appropriate; choosing a paint color is just one. And all your kids can help with the actual painting. (Bonus: you’ve just sneaked in a lesson in upcycling!)

There are plenty of other ways to get your children involved in DIY bathroom projects; there are several more super-fun ideas, including a shower mat made out of corks (wine, anyone?), at DotComsForMoms.

Or you could just take some of those pictures off your refrigerator, have your kids make frames out of popsicle sticks, and hang them on your bathroom walls.

Thanks to Becky W. for sharing these great tips!