FURNISHINGS : It’s Curtains for Those Boring Shower Drapes

Hang up a shower curtain and you can bathe with cats, movie stars or pink flamingos.

Vinyl shower curtains come printed with all kinds of fun characters and motifs. For movie lovers, there’s a black and white collage of Hollywood stars at Bed, Bath & Beyond in Huntington Beach.

“We’ve completely blown out of that one,” says Nora Campion, assistant manager of Bed, Bath & Beyond. “Today we even had to sell the one we had on display.”

Name your hobby, and chances are there’s a shower curtain to go with it.

Geography buffs can study in the buff with a map of the world--perhaps the more educational of the novelty curtains. Animal lovers can shower with elephants, giraffes and pandas. Both curtains are available for $22 at Strouds Linens in Laguna Niguel.

For anglers and nature lovers, there’s a shower curtain swimming with salmon, trout and bass. The fishy curtain sells for $30 at the Nature Co. in Brea Mall and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

Sports fans can shower behind a “locker room” filled with equipment and musicians can bathe behind a grand piano. Both curtains are $20 at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

For cat lovers, Strouds carries a curtain featuring rows of felines for $16.

“There are curtains with teddy bears, penguins, Mickey Mouse, whatever,” says Glenadine Boothe, owner of the Bath Place in El Toro. Customers can pick from hundreds of curtains in her catalogue.

To help make bath time more appealing to children, some shower curtains feature grime-fighting cartoon characters. Bathman, a sponge-wielding caped crusader, and his partner Ducky appear on a curtain offered at the Home Shops at MainPlace/Santa Ana. “Grime is the disease, and he’s the cure,” the curtain proclaims.

“Vinyl curtains are nice for children’s bathrooms. Instead of a boring curtain, they can have a big, bold curtain with Snoopy on it or fish,” Campion says. “The colors of the vinyl curtains also tend to be brighter” than the fabric ones.

Novelty curtains aren’t just for children.

“I have big fish all over mine,” Campion says. “It’s something different. It makes the bathroom fun rather than having everything match. The pink flamingos have been real popular with adults.”

Often the buyers are college students who find it easier and cheaper to decorate with a vinyl curtain.

“People buying these are not interested in making a bathroom statement. They don’t want to go into the big decorating with all of the draping fabric,” says Jayne Collins, product manager for Strouds in the City of Industry.

“Novelty curtains tend to be more for the juvenile and the second baths. For the master bathroom they want a fully decorated, finished look.”

One of Strouds’ most popular curtains has colorful tropical fish swimming against an aqua background, hand-painted on cotton cloth, for $60.

“Fish are hot right now,” Collins says.

Among the more functional of the novelty curtains: A sheet of clear vinyl with pockets for storing soap, sponges, rubber ducks and other bathing necessities, available at Strouds for $10.

Whereas the novelty curtains reflect a sense of humor, formal shower curtains are meant to reflect a sense of style. The trend in shower curtains is toward a coordinated look, Collins says. Customers want the curtain to match the wallpaper, the towels, the drinking cup and the tissue dispenser.

At Grandma’s Bath and Country Linen in Anaheim, shoppers order custom curtains to match their baths. The more elaborate styles reach from floor to ceiling and have billowy balloon valances across the top. Instead of attaching to a rod by rings, the curtains can be gathered along a wide rod much like formal window curtains.

Decorators choose lush fabrics for the curtains.

“We’ve had a few of our customers do them in moire satin,” says Doris Moeller, supervisor at Grandma’s.

Often customers want curtains that match the themes of their bathrooms. At the Cottage, a bed and bath shop in Tustin that also makes custom shower curtains, one bachelor wanted his bath to have a Western look, according to owner Doreen May. The urban cowboy now showers behind a cactus-adorned vinyl curtain that ties back with chamois.

Those who hate frills can find curtains with a contemporary geometric look. Stor in Tustin carries shower curtains with pin-stripes, solid colors or grid patterns.

There’s a slick vinyl in fire-engine red, solid black or a shiny yellow reminiscent of a child’s raincoat, for $10. The solids can be used alone or as a liner for a striped curtain.

Stor also has a curtain spattered in black and white paint, reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock painting, for $18, and one with a black grid against a clear vinyl for $15.