Reclaiming The Bathroom

Pre-motherhood, the family bathroom used to be my sanctuary. A space to retreat to after a long day at work for a well-earned soak or a quick pamper pick-me-up. I say ‘used to be’ as since having children, a long soak in the tub has become a thing of the past. I’ve grown accustomed to sharing the bath with some rubber duckies and having an audience of toys watching attentively as i attempt to relax. I recognise that ‘sinking feeling’ when i go to wash my hair and realise the contents of my shampoo bottle have been replaced with dirty bath water. I’ve accepted that i cannot visit the bathroom, or any other room for that matter without being escorted or interrupted by my children.

In fact, a report earlier this year claimed that mother’s get just 17 minutes of me-time each day. 17? I’m lucky to get a 5 minute shower or a quick toilet break in peace these days without little fingers poking underneath the door or trying to desperately bang it down. Don’t get me wrong, it is certainly a place my boys like to play and have a splash about in and i fully respect that, but i really feel like i deserve (and am entitled to) some relaxing time in that space too. ALONE. That bathroom was my space long before they arrived and somewhere……SOMEWHERE……buried deep beneath a sea of plastic toys, sits a serene bathtub, some spa products, a couple of candles and memories of my life before children.

I wrote back in the Summer about my dream bathroom, and really a dream is all it is, but my mission in the new year is to reclaim the bathroom and create an area that both the boys and i can enjoy. Mr B works away abroad and is rarely home so it’s only really the boys and i that use it.

The first thing to address is the toys, seriously, i have that many that my bath tub currently resembles the bottom of a sale bin in Toys R Us. I’d like to get a couple of those nets that fix to the wall with suckers, preferably one at each end so that the boys can keep their toys separately. I’d also like to add a little corner shelf above the bath with some wicker baskets to keep the boys’ shampoo, body wash and bubble bath accessible, but out of the way. At the moment their toiletries are kept on a window ledge directly behind the bath which makes the space look cluttered and they are forever knocking them all in to the water anyway.

Failing that, i think a suitable alternative would be one of those nice tall cabinets with plenty of shelving. Space for my lotions and towels at the top and space for their things down lower at their height. A mirror cabinet would also be handy for storing all of the things used at the sink, which at the moment is overcrowded with toothbrushes, tooth paste, soap, flannels etc and looks very messy.

I’m also in the process of potty training Riley so the sink area has the addition of a potty, toilet training seat, steps, pants and other necessary bits and bobs out on display. I’m not OCD by any means (although some might beg to differ) but i don’t like clutter, it makes me feel rather anxious and uneasy. So, as the sink is currently mounted on the wall and has adequate open space underneath, i’d like to either purchase or build some kind of storage unit here so that all of these items can be put out of sight once the boys are in bed.

My bathroom is long and narrow so i am very limited in what i can do, both in terms of design and space. However, my mum lives in the house next door which 100% mirrors mine and she recently had the main bathroom renovated to feature a wetroom (basically a very large shower that is not enclosed in a cubicle), as well as a bathtub. Surprisingly it has really opened up the space and would be far more practical for me than our current layout so i’ve been looking at some wet room kits from My Bathrooms with a view to installing one of our own.

I think the secret to making my plan a success is finding the right balance so that we can all share the space well. Hopefully, with some of the changes mentioned above i’ll be able to reclaim the bathroom and finally have a little ‘me-time’. Alone and uninterrupted. Who am i kidding?

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