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Shower curtains

The humble shower curtain is often viewed as a kitschy artefact and considering its tendency to be adorned with cartoon-like fish or lime-green frogs, that's hardly surprising. But some creative designers produce curtains that provide an arresting visual focus for bathrooms or as part of a co-ordinated suite of decorator items.

B. McLane (www.showercurtainart.com), for instance, creates vivid and original designs (US$89 to US$115). The Atlanta, Georgia-based artist hand-paints her bright and often humorous designs on unstretched washable canvas. Themes, many of which can be customised, include mermaids interpreted as Valley Girls (below left), scuba-diving dogs and cats, and frazzled working women.

The striking designs at Izola (www.

izolashower.com) mainly use black-and-white photographs printed on vinyl. One series has shots of famous locations throughout the world, such as the pyramids of Giza, the Brooklyn Bridge (below right) and a view of Paris. Another series features an overall patterned approach, with one showing a photo of stacked sake barrels and another the repeated image of a Buddha statue. There is also an artist series, which includes a 1984 photograph from Studio 54 by Patrick McMullan and a comic-book-style drawing filled with tattooed mermaids, surfing centaurs and laundry detergent adverts by New York street artist Faile (McMullan and Faile designs, US$40; others, US$35).

For those interested in a total decorating solution, bedrooms and adjoining bathrooms can have matching patterns from Garnet Hill (www.garnethill.com).

The Travel Journal shower curtain (US$48) is printed with text from the travel diary of

an employee's Polynesian trip, translated into French and printed on cotton percale. The same pattern is available on sheets, comforter cover and pillow sham. Other shower curtains that have matching linens include Koi Pond (blue, yellow and gold carp; US$58) and Chateau Rose (outsized pink roses; US$62).

Then there's the children's bathroom. Amy Chan, a businesswoman with art training, developed the educationally themed curtains at SMART (Simple Memory Art; www.simplememoryart.com) to illustrate scientific concepts to children in a simple but entertaining way. The selection includes one demonstrating the basics of the weather cycle and another featuring dinosaurs and their respective eras. All sell for US$32 and are made of environmentally friendly EVA plastic.
For Victorian or other vintage styles, consider a lace shower curtain. Decorating With Lace (www.decoratingwithlace.com) offers them in polyester or poly/cotton lace, including Rebecca (US$23.75; matching window curtains are available), a floral motif in ivory or white, and Botanica (US$43.95), a leafy vine pattern in ivory. Also try the Battenburg Lace Store (www.

battenburglace.com).

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