1) I didn't want it to include characters. The idea of life-sized people standing around the bathroom with me seemed, well, creepy. So FatHead wall stickers were mostly out. I did consider buying stickers that loked like castle windows.
2) I didn't want it to cost much. I decided that $200 would be my maximum which would include replacing towels, a mirror and her shower curtain.
3) I wanted it to be tasteful, not tacky. I wanted there to be nods to items in the books, not necessarily replicas of those items.
Having searched the internet I decided that there were a number of easily incorporated Harry Potter icons:
- keys (reminiscent of the flying keys from Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone)
- owls
- any familiar animals that you like - cats, toads, owls, rats...
- old bottles (potions)
- candles (all battery operated to eliminate fire hazards)
- fake stained glass like the Prefect's bathroom in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(which also provided a bit of privacy)
- ornate gilt or gold toned mirror as a nod to the MIrror of Erised
- fake stone for the walls
- anything parchment toned
- Mythological creatures that were mentioned including dragons, unicorns, gryphons and centaurs
- Braver kids than mine might enjoy tiny spiders heading toward the window or a snake painted and glued to the sink
Architecture is very important in Harry Potter sets. Ideally the bathroom would have an arched doorway and arched mirror with columns to either side. You can buy beautiful spiral columns and install them if you have the budget for them or you can use foam accent pieces.
There are also wall decals that will simulate the columns. Given the size of our bathroom and my budget I had to give up the architectural elements.
We only have ceiling lights in our bath. All of the candles shown in the movies are tapers, typically in brass fixtures. You can find reasonably priced brass hanging wall candle holders if you want to use real candles.
I wanted to add battery powered faux candle sconces but couldn't find the right space.
A chandelier and arched, mullioned windows are great additions if you have them. If you're modeling your bath after the Prefect's bathroom you can order a small chandelier and a window wall decal to mimic the effect.
There are loads of Harry Potter themed items that you can buy. I bought some of these, but my goal was to keep it looking more like a bathroom that would be inside Hogwarts than the bathroom of a Harry Potter fan. Therefore I limited blatant Harry Potter merchandise to house colors, crests and banners, travel posters and toys we owned.
You can see from my sketch that I planned to hang her broom, robes and wands in the bathroom just as if it was a real student bathroom.
We have a small, narrow window in this bathroom, otherwise I would have used pennants or banners for window treatments. As it is, I felt the stained glass window cling was sufficient. I even found a faux stained glass mermaid cling on Etsy. I decided to hang a Hufflepuff banner near the toilet. Of course, I didn't measure the space when I was planning and the banner was too wide for this area. I swapped it for a retro Hogwarts Express travel poster. I hung the Hufflepuff banner on the wall opposite the shower.
I looked at a number of fake castle window clings. I liked the pink ones best - except for the fact that they were PINK. If these had come in a realistic stone look I would have blown my budget and purchased them. If I decide to buy a fake window decal in the future, it will probably be one that has granite looking edges and features unicorns. After all, there were unicorns in the Forbidden Forest.
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