Until you have kids, your bathroom is just a bathroom.  It's a place you go when you need to carry out any of the functions that you do in a bathroom.  That all changes when you become a mom, because your bathroom is probably the only place in your home where you won't have a little shadow following you!

Of course this isn't for the first couple of years, and by that time you really understand the need to have somewhere to disappear to that no-one else goes.  As much as you love your children, and as much as you want to spend as much time as you can with them, the urge to have somewhere to go alone becomes overwhelming when you suddenly realize that there's nowhere private anymore!  This is where your bathroom becomes your sanctuary and so whilst your little ones are too young to be left outside a closed door, take the time to plan how you'd like your sanctuary to be, and start to make the changes for that glorious day when you can walk in there, close the door and know that for the short amount of time you can be in the bathroom, you are alone! 

Turning your bathroom into a sanctuary doesn't have to be an expensive exercise.  Take a look at what you already have.  Replacing the fixtures and fittings can cost a lot of money so unless you were thinking of doing that anyway, work with what you have.  What color scheme do you find the most relaxing?  Think of something that will complement the things that you aren't going to change.  Once you know what colors you'd like to use, buy some paint and freshen up the walls with a color you love.
 

Once the walls are done, take a look at cabinets.  Could they do with some paint, or a coat of varnish?  That's your next little task.  Now turn your attention to soft furnishings.  Buy these to co-ordinate with both your wall color and the fixtures and fittings.  If you have no shelf above the washbasin, and you have room for one, buy something that will match with the basin color below and the cabinet (if any) above - and fix it to the wall half way between the two.  This is a place to put some pretty bottles or soaps.  The last thing you need to buy are some special bath products that will make you feel pampered when you relax in the bath - make sure you hide these from the rest of household (don't feel guilty, moms are special people too!), and some candles so that you can get the spa treatment feeling in the comfort of your bathroom.

Now when the children are able to be left for a few minutes, you have a place to escape to, where no-one will follow, and where you can allow your brain to regroup before going back out and taking care of all the mommy things you need to do in a day.