A cheerful kid-centric bathroom can't help but get the day started right. And its welcoming look will have even the most water-resistant rugrats clamouring for tubtime.

A roomy space, coupled with a floor plan and fixtures that keep traffic moving – toothbrushing à deux or even à trois, for example – make it ideal for larger families.

Ironically, coordinating a stylishly “uncoordinated” look can sometimes be tricky. Here’s how to pull this one together. Use beadboard panelling for a coastal influence, and shop for a vintage-style tub and sink. Add cute enamelware buckets and cups for a cottage inflection, and go rummaging for très-flea-market chic mismatched stools. Unify the room with a low-key palette of white and pretty robin’s-egg blue. Smaller hits of colour add visual appeal, but can be changed as kids’ tastes evolve.

5 FAMILY-BATH ESSENTIALS

• Room to play, dawdle, get clean.
• Tub toys galore!
• Easy-clean surfaces, rounded corners.
• Good light.
• Fussy, no, fun, yes!