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Take a Bath in Your Very Own "GARDEN TUB"
A Whole New Meaning for “Garden Tub”
By Komee Carpenter
This technique gives a whole new meaning to the term Garden Tub. Add a little mystique and a nice view for your soak in the tub with a simple project.
Materials:
- 1 - sheet ( 4' x 8') of the white plastic lattice. They can be found at most home improvement stores in the lumber section.
- 2 - 3 strands of white mini Christmas type lights that will allow you to plug the strands into each other. (I don’t recommend the light treatment if you have a tub/shower combo for safety reasons.)
- 3 - 4 9’ garlands of greenery of your choice.
- 4 or more hanging hooks for the ceiling (you’ll need to determine ahead of time if you’ll need regular hooks to screw into ceiling joists, or molly type hooks that will go into sheetrock.) And you’ll need to be sure you have enough hooks so the lattice doesn’t sag.
- 4 or more eye bolts & nuts with eyes large enough to fit over ceiling hooks. (If you’re not much of a perfectionist, you can even use short pieces of chain to hook from the lattice to the hooks in the ceiling. This way is a little more forgiving!)
Instructions:
Measure the area where your tub sits. Cut the plastic lattice sheet about 6 inches smaller than these measurements. Example: your tub area is 26 x 62, cut the trellis 20 x 56. This gives you about 3 inches clearance all the way around.
Determine where to place your ceiling hooks, having the hooks facing front. I recommend not spacing them much farther than 2 feet apart. So in the above example, you would have two rows with 3 hooks. More is better.
The plastic lattice sheets tend to sag and you want to keep them as rigid as possible. (The hooks don’t have to be place right next to the edges. In fact it is better to inset them at least three inches because you need the support in the center, not at the edge.)
When you have your hooks installed, measure the placement on your lattice, and install the eye bolts with nuts to line up with the ceiling hooks, making sure the ‘eye’ faces from back to front. You’ll need to pre-drill holes for the eye bolts.
Wrap your garland in and out of the lattice around the outside edge first, and then work your way in. If your garland is too bulky to go through the holes in the trellis, you could just use matching twist ties or even ribbon to attach it on the bottom of the lattice. Just be sure you attach it securely.
If you have a ceiling light in the tub area, you can add the Christmas lights to the lattice as well. Simply take the cover off of the light, and replace the bulb with an adapter that will allow you to plug in the cord from the lights.
Use twist ties to attach on the top of the lattice rather than on the bottom like the garland, poking the lights through the garland so they will shine downwards. (You want to be positive these are NOT going to fall into a tub of water!)
To hang the lattice, tilt the unit up in the back and carefully hook the eye bolts over the hooks one at a time, and once they are secure, one by one do the front row of hooks.
If you would like to see the completed project, you may see a photo on the Decorating Kids Rooms website.
TIPS:
- If you're a little scared at the thought of a project like this, go to your local Home Depot or Lowes type store and ask for help. If you are buying stuff from them, they are more than happy to give you helpful advice.
- Don’t know what to do with the left over lattice, or would like to use this idea elsewhere in the bath? Cut a piece to go above the window and/or the mirror if there’s room, and mount to the wall, rather than the ceiling, giving it the same treatment as above, with or without the lights.
- Jazz these up as much as you’d like with strings of plastic Christmas tree decoration type stringed beads, silk flowers or colored and twinkle lights instead of white.
- During the holidays, you can even add some Christmas ornaments.
(This project provides basic instructions and is meant for a person with some crafting and tool skills. It is the user’s responsibility to take necessary safety precautions during and after installation, as well as using common sense if user feels they are not fully capable of completing the project.)