Wallpaper in bathrooms

I MUST be getting old, because you know what I have a sudden and quite strong hankering for? Some WALLPAPER. I know! You would think I would still be scarred from the flocked red velvet wallpaper we had in our house as a little girl (before Mum went mad and ripped the whole thing off). There’s something about patterns, and textures that just seem to let your mind drift away don’t you think?

Now before you think I’ve gone completely bonkers, I’m not talking about doing our main living room, I was thinking, OK obsessing, about the bathroom. Wallpaper in the bathroom? Can you even DO that? Pinterest tells me I can! Have a look:

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I thought that wallpaper in a bathroom would just get soggy, and end up hanging down, but apparently not. It’s a thing! THANK GOODNESS. Maybe it’s because of the smaller size of the room, or the fact that the wallpaper is broken up with tiles and different patterns and textures, but I think I’m going to go there. I do!

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Look at even this teeny strip of it in a kitchen. Just in a small section…makes such an impact!

d7895a7bdd9edbc26c019e3c5d441429 ee58a8d479ed9f7d8a5b3ecf5434dda7 ff059b623ad0d6da9c33792f7117aa11 f7ea054721b8d738d7e3737ad9bf7063 f62c9ba55be4e3949c62dc70c449375b So guys, tell me. CAN WE DO IT?
Have you ever done it?
HOW do you do it?
Where do I get the good stuff from?
TELL ME ALL OF THE THINGS. Go!

Comments

  1. Why not? I LOVE most of these–all but two (the black and white above the marble tub, and then farther down, the pink one after the green one.. We’ve had wallpaper in three bathrooms in the past, and no problems. And that was a long time ago–a couple of decades. With modern formulas, I’m sure the wallpapers are even more watertight.

    With all the decorating blogs I’m reading, it seems wallpaper is making a comeback.

  2. Have you seen this?

    http://www.gohausgo.com/2014/03/ostrich-bathroom-chapter-five-final-reveal/

    Great crazy wallpaper in the bathroom. Love it! Don’t think I could do it myself, but in love it!

    http://llibbyslifestyle.blogspot.com.au

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Thanks so much for the link Elizabeth…LOVE it. So perfect and exactly the kind of thing I am after!

  3. I’ve been browsing Down that Little Lane and Hard to Find. We have a HUGE wall in the entry way/lounge I’m thinking of doing. Husband is trying to talk me down off the wallpapering ledge. But I’m doing it. I am.

  4. Do it! And you better get over to Lazybones website because they just released new wallpaper and it’s stunning. (Also check their winter knitwear Beth because I think you’ll love their oversized jumpers in your neck of the woods).
    My mother decorated our 1890 farmhouse….ahem homestead…. in Laura Ashley in the 1980’s. It was very floral and my room was green climbing roses with the matching reverse white on green bedspread and curtains. I remember staring at the patterns in the curtains and wallpaper for what seemed like hours and quite often it would sooth me to sleep as a little girl.
    Funny how we end up doing as our mothers did. I’m just considering a wallpaper wall in the kitchen where the breakfast table is.

  5. I say GO FOR IT!!!
    I think you’re right … it gets broken up by the tiles … so it’s not overpowering.
    I’ve never done it … but I HAVE thought about it … A LOT.
    So you go first …
    xx

  6. Wallpaper is very underrated and often gets a bad rap. A few years ago I remember reading an article in Vogue Living where the editor had wallpapered his whole house, very brave. Do it, what’s the worst thing that can happen? xT

  7. Alli @ ducks on the dam says

    My girlfriend has papered the back of her built in shelving unit. Looks magnificent

  8. I LOVE WALLPAPER. Especially when it’s textured. I’ve tried to convince Dave for years to just paper ONE wall somewhere. I’ll show him this post.

  9. Nashuagirl says

    Been wanting to do our loo for ages… just haven’t found the perfect print as yet. Or maybe I have but I can’t stop searching through all the gorgeous stuff that is around these days. My folks had a wall of orange & brown geo print in the kitchen which killed my appetite until i hit my 40s. I forgive them.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      It’s a really good excuse to just pour over SO many sites and images isn’t it? I needed a new distraction…not.

  10. Jonathon Adler has (had?) an AMAZING collection of wallpaper that was like $99 a metre. I want my WHOLE HOUSE COVERED IN IT!!!! Also Marimekko. I’d have Marimekko everywhere.

  11. I am totally planning to do our bathroom too, well the kids.. I think it is a perfect spot as not too over powering which means you can go to town and of course I will be shopping DTLL as we have a couple of exclusive stores 🙂

  12. Love wallpaper. Remember the chinese restaurant wallpapers. I used to pick away at all the velvet. x

  13. We just decided to wall paper a wall in our entrance, it will hit you as soon as you walk in the door! I think we have the same rug as you (black and white one from IKEA) which is visible from the entrance so we are doing THICK black and white horizontal stripes on the wall. It’s not a large wall so won’t be too over bearing. So exciting!

    I too thought about doing the bathroom but assumed the steam and moisture (ugh horrible word) would ruin it. But I believe you when you say it can be done! DO IT! Looking forward to reading about this adventure on your blog Beth 🙂

  14. Emma Steendam says

    I’ve only ever wallpapered the doors of an old vintage wardrobe I did up, and even then my white interiors heart could only manage a textured faux-pressed tin type design – which I love. I made my own wallpaper paste too! Just flour and water, make a gluey paste, bobs your uncle. I love the idea of wallpaper in a bathroom, you’ve got me thinking about our little bathroom now, which is tiled to a high picture rail, but above that I can definitely see bold wallpaper. Love, love, love that blue and white classic (I think Mel from Georgica Pond has been pinning similar?) and that last minty/horsey one I was eyeing for our baby’s nursery to begin with. Good luck!

  15. Lisa Mckenzie says

    Looks good Beth do it and let us know how it went!

  16. You will pay tooth and nail for good wallpaper over here. There are exceptional wallpapers stores in the UK who will ship you the wallpaper at a fraction of the cost. A lot of the homeware design magazines even do this. They even ship you a sample so you can think about it before you purchase. I’m originally from the UK, wallpapers are all the rage over there have been for years. Good Luck, I look forward to the update.

  17. I love the last photo with the horses and dogs, that is a very cool space!

  18. coalvalleyview says

    Definitely! We had naked ladies wallpaper in the living room growing up and my friend had the same but in green in the bathroom. I wouldn’t do it in our bathroom because of all the splashing from the kids but I’d definitely do it in the little separate toilet room. I’d actually use the green one above with the horses and dogs, super cute – where is that from? Anna Spiro wallpaper is lovely, easily attainable from Porters Paint shops if you’re into geometrics…..Mel x

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      That was from Anthropologie (the horse one). I had forgotten about Anna Spiro…thanks for the reminder!

  19. I’m right there with you Beth – a huge fan of wallpaper and why not in the bathroom??
    The only thing to keep in mind is that vinyl coated wallpaper will have greater longevity in a wet area.
    Here are links to my first stops for wallpaper. Some are international but all ship to Australia.
    http://www.emilyziz.com/walls/walls.html
    http://www.wallanddeco.com/
    http://www.safariliving.com/homewares-accessories/home-decor/wallpaper
    http://www.revivalwallpaper.com.au/
    http://www.spoonflower.com/shop?shop=wallpaper
    http://www.nlxl.com/collections/

    Happy Hunting!!!
    x Luci

  20. Bronte L. says

    beth, just enjoy the photos of wallpapers! We had wallpaper in our old bathroom which we put up, it was a vinyl coated one, and looked good, and didnt peel from the dampness or steamy bathroom. But when it came to taking it down, it was a disaster and took ages. The vinyl coating came away from the backing and so instead of it coming down in one sheet it took double the time. I say, enjoy the lovely photos, but dont do it! or if you do, do a small wall or a feature wall! JMHO!

  21. Miss Chardy says

    O Baby Mac, you most certainly CAN do it…. I grew up with it in our bathroom… Mum and Dad have finally only just removed it and renovated both bathrooms….wallpaper…GONE, tiles to the roof, it is so lovely… but I am sure If you put wallpaper in your bathroom it most certainly will not be the velvet type we grew up with…. I should send my Dad down, he is an expert in the field, ha ha ha. Good luck. Can’t wait to see photos. Me …. I am still scarred from all of the wallpaper……I just read some comments and it appears I may well be the only person scarred from wallpaper, and now that it is coming back in fashion my parents are getting rid of it, too funny…. go for it.

  22. Husband is English. I have spent the last almost 15 years telling him that we will NEVER have wallpaper ANYWHERE in ANY of our homes. I stand by this. Done right, it CAN look good but when you decide to redecorate and you will, I promise, at some point, it’s a complete bastard to take down and scrap off.

    Being English, he also has a “thing” for patterned carpet.

    No. Just no.

  23. Margaret Elvis says

    Yes Beth, we had wallpaper in our bathroom for years before it was renovated and now we have tiles. It is very neat and tidy but tiles don’t have the warmth that wallpaper does. We still have wallpaper in our kitchen, living room and 2 of the bedrooms. It probably needs replacing but our wallpapering days are long gone and we can’t afford a professional to do it so it must remain as is. We must have done a good job ‘cos none of the paper has peeled at all.

  24. How about neither of us is old but instead VERY sophisticated in our tastes? I’ve the same hankering.

  25. sema4dogz says

    No, I can’t come at it – it makes ( usually) a small room look even smaller and I would get so sick of all that pattern in my face . I can maybe see it for a tiny space behind some shelves or something, but all over the walls , can’t do it . I think it may be that I have lived in Australia so long now where rooms are so much bigger and lighter as a rule and wallpaper is not at all common , except in very grand houses and then it would be rich and subdued, not these massive roses and stripes and patterns etc

  26. Jean Mastroni says

    I like two or three of the bathrooms I like the green one with the horses. How do I get that wallpaper?

Trackbacks

  1. […] still working on my wallpaper obsession. Looking for the perfect one and getting it sorted with the help of a clever friend who happens to […]

  2. […] got done, rather than just talking about it (like I would, hello remember when I was going to wallpaper the bathroom?) And now it’s all […]

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