• Bathrooms with PersonalityToy boat in the bathroom sink image by Samu from Fotolia.com
  
  Spend a lot or a little to turn your bathroom into a delightful retreat. Replace fixtures with period reproductions to renovate a standard, boring bath. Or get clever with some paint and fabric to create a theatrical adventure that reminds you of a favorite vacation--or one you'd like to take. Let the kids help with painting or finding just the right towel colors for a room that will make bathtime fun.
  
  

Rainforest

• Transform your pedestrian bathroom into an exotic corner of the rainforest with color and fixtures. Paint the walls a pale, glossy green to serve as a background for all the color you are going to add. Make a double shower curtain. The outside panel is a medium-weight cotton print of tropical parrots, ferns or fish. Buy inexpensive fabric and make this easily if you can't find one pre-made. Use a simple grommet setter to add the holes to hang the curtain from a regular shower curtain bar. You can cut the fabric with pinking shears or stitch up straight seams on a machine in very little time. The inside shower curtain is a clear, waterproof plastic liner. Replace old towels with vivid, tropical-colored ones. Swap a boring shower head for a rain shower head that disburses water in a wide circle to feel like a tropical downpour. Hang a fern plant in the window.
  
  

Shabby Chic

• Transform an old clawfoot tub and a second-hand armoire into a shabby chic bathroom that's functional and pretty. Paint the walls a pastel shade--use eggshell to maximize a flat, powdery look while preserving the possibility of wiping down walls to clean them. Paint all the trim in the room a glossy or creamy white. Find a small armoire in a flea market or thrift shop and paint the inside with leftover pastel wall paint. Paint the exterior of the armoire white and, for a more authentic aged appearance, use crackle glaze to make the paint look old. Replace knobs with old-fashioned ceramic or fancy clear knobs and stack bath towels and supplies in the armoire. Refinish a clawfoot tub if the enamel is worn, chipped or scratched. Replace the tub and sink faucets with reproduction porcelain fixtures, add a milk glass soap dish and some flower-shaped scented hand soaps. If the window is frosted glass, make a curtain out of an old lace tablecloth. If the window is clear glass, back the lace curtain with a roll-up shade for privacy. Consider hanging an old mirror, maybe one with an elaborate frame, in place of a utilitarian modern one.
  
  

Underwater

• Dive into a coral sea and bob up in your own ocean-themed bathroom. It's easier than you think to paint a wall mural of fish and sea corals. Copy, trace or free sketch tropical fish, some coral fans, a few shells and maybe a mermaid on a wall you have painted a light blue or turquoise to mimic water. Use a clown fish or shark bath mat and match towels to your mural or keep them ocean blue. Look for a shower curtain with a sea theme. Turn an empty clam shell into a soap dish and don't forget the rubber ducky for the tub.