Make your rustic, lodge-inspired bathroom the antithesis of an outhouse.
In a perfect world, you could hire a craftsman to custom make a bathtub shaped like a canoe, but absent the funds to take your decorating scheme to the extreme, you can still create a dramatic lodge-look bathroom exciting enough to encourage family and guests to marvel at your new loo. Contemporary designers, decorators, furniture makers and accessory manufacturers produce all sorts of lodge- and rustic-themed products, so you won't have to beat the bushes to turn your bathroom into a fun place to visit.
Hang a Moose Head
Seriously --- a trophy head is the ideal focal point for your lodge bathroom. Carved wood animal heads found at craft fairs, in woodcraft d cor catalogs and shops are easy to find. Substitute a "humane trophy" -- an animal head fashioned of felt and mounted on a wood plaque. These whimsical decorations mimic those found in grand hunting lodges, but without the shooting requirement. If you like metal, check out the 21- x 19-inch moose head made of solid steel and sold by Moose-R-Us.com. It's only around 30 bucks.
Light Up Your Lodge Bathroom
Install sconces if you love the idea of having decorative light in your lodge bathroom to complement overhead and medicine cabinet lights required for tasks. Lodge-look sconces abound, but you may not find one as irresistible as Rocky Mountain Bear Sconces from The Cabin Shop. Made of recycled steel, they match faucets in six finishes and take 100-watt bulbs. Five glass globe colors pick up your bathroom color scheme.
Your Shower Deserves a Curtain Call
A fancifully decorated shower curtain can make or break a lodge bathroom, so if you pick a curtain embellished with a vivid, woodsy scenario, your decorating job is half done. Hang a Black Bear Lodge shower curtain depicting a mom bear and three cubs frolicking in a clearing near a cozy cabin. Like an over-sized painting, this style of shower curtain will dominate the room, so if you plan to hang lots of wall art, you may not want this much visual clutter in your bathroom.
Go Wild When Choosing Accessories
Myriad styles of brown twig or wood tissue box covers, wastebaskets, light switch plates and both practical and beautiful touches abound in decorating catalogs and shops. Primitive barrels, baskets and crates do double duty as bath towel organizers so fresh linens are always within easy reach. You don't have to hang your wet towels on boring metal towel racks, either. Mount canoe paddles on the wall and attach decorative, rustic hooks to add a fun, useful element to the room.
Reflections of Quirkiness
There are many fanciful mirrors on the market guaranteed to turn a sterile, "above the sink" reflection into art. Whether it's a large mirror framed with distressed wood on a sale rack at T. J. Maxx or you happen upon artist Tim Tanner's rustic scenes on canvas embedded with mirrors and framed with twigs, replace ho-hum glass for the consummate lodge bathroom look. And don't forget quirky extras. A "Bear Bottoms Welcome Here" plaque for $10 and the $20 outhouse toilet paper storage unit from Terry's Village won't go unnoticed.
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