On Tuesday morning last week, I stepped into my bathroom at 6:47am bleary-eyed, coffee in hand. As I walked past the medicine cabinet, I noticed how the natural light hit the wall. For the first time in months, I smiled before coffee #1.
I kid you not when I say that I knew wallpaper wins at that moment. I was scared shitless to put wallpaper in my bathroom. People had told me it was a bad idea, that the moisture would cause it to warp and peel and grow mold behind it.
But after two years of oh-so-glorious builder beige paint (you know what I’m talking about – the Charlie-Brown-coloured beige that makes every room feel like a clinic?) I decided I’d had enough. It all came to a head one grey January morning as I was shaving before work.
The flourescent lightbulb over my sink casts an eerie green hue on everything in my flat when it comes on in the morning.
I looked in the mirror that day and thought to myself, “Wow, this room is really trying to make me hate waking up.” Later that afternoon, I began my hunt for waterproof wallpaper. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t easy. Most blogs and wallpaper sites I stumbled upon advertised “prepasted” waterproof wallpaper.
Which means – it comes with adhesive already applied? What kind of magical unicorn paper is this? Also, it wasn’t very affordable.
My first roll came from Paper Source. It was this gorgeous deep blue-and-green speckled paper with a classic William Morris feel. Antique_shop_vibes, if you will.
It was perfect. Too perfect. Because once I saw it hanging on my wall, I hated it.
It overwhelmed my tiny bathroom (six feet by eight feet, in case you were wondering). It got there on a Thursday, I hung it on Friday night, and by Saturday morning I had ordered the peel-off solution. Don’t be afraid to cry uncle.
Live and learn. The paper that eventually won me over was understated: a geometric pattern that reminded me of sand swirls or ocean waves. Muted sage and cream – simple and lovely.
Asahi gathered the pattern from their partnership with boutique wallpaper company, Chasing Paper. This paper is textured – it has a slightly raised quality that reflects light at different angles throughout the day. That means your walls will look dynamic instead of flat.
If you’re considering wallpaper in your own bathroom, know this: it depends on where you place it. I wallpapered only one wall – the main wall behind my sink. The other three walls remained a soft white paint colour that matched the paper.
Doing this gave the room some pop without feeling cluttered. I won’t lie to you. There were some things I did to try and combat the high humidity of a bathroom.
Obviously, my wallpaper doesn’t come within inches of my shower. But I did make sure that all sides of my paper were at least 18 inches away from any water source. Also: my bathroom ventilates very well.
I have an actual working exhaust fan (my old flat called their vent an “exhaust fan” but it probably wasn’t even venting to the outside) so steam wasn’t a huge concern for me. I did make sure to seal the edges of the paper along the top, bottom, and where the two walls meet with clear, paintable caulk. Trust me.
It sucks. But six months later and my wallpaper has not peeled! Wallpaper is not as simple as a DIY blog makes it out to be.
Maybe YouTube hacks are convincing, but in real life it takes some finesse to get that perfect placement. I measured and remeasured each strip before cutting. But I still had some walls that weren’t quite flush against the corner.
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If you’re using a pattern with hard lines (like mine), that slap you in the face once you hang it. I actually took a razor blade to some of my corners one Sunday and adjusted small sections at a time. It wasn’t pretty, but it was worth it.
The second I finished my bathroom wallpaper I loved waking up again. Taking a shower stopped feeling like a routine and started to feel refreshing. My girlfriend and family members started to notice something had changed in my flat.
Bonus: they loved the bathroom as well! Even during different times of day, this paper keeps my bathroom feeling interesting. In the morning, when natural light pours in, it bright and energizing.
At night, I installed warm white LED light bulbs so when that kicks on, it feels cozy and like a real spa. Who knew something as simple as changing the background of your bathroom could make that much of a difference? The stuff wasn’t cheap – I ended up spending about £85 on the wallpaper itself.
Then I spent another £30 on adhesive, a smoothing tool, razor blade, and caulk. But that’s nothing compared to the thousands of dollars it would’ve cost to re-tile my bathroom. Or even buying high-quality paint and primer.
This gave me so much more texture and interest than paint ever could. Here’s the thing about hanging wallpaper: learn from my mistakes. Buy yourself a smoothing tool.
Do NOT try to use a folded up sock with a credit card like I did. You’ll want a tool with some padding to really stick it to those bubbles. Also: hang your wallpaper when you can see properly.
I started my project at night and didn’t realise how crooked some areas were until the next morning. Trust me, it’s irritating as hell to see but you can’t correct it until you can see straight. Plan, plan, plan how you will cut the paper around your outlets and pipes.
Spend the extra five minutes on your installation and you’ll thank yourself later. Washable? You betcha.
Peel-and-stick wallpaper is basically paint that you can rearrange whenever you want. I give my bathroom walls a good wipe-down with a damp microfiber cloth about once every two weeks. Easy peasy.
And since the adhesive is reusable, I can actually switch it out if I want down the road. But for now? I’m still in love with it.
If I’m being honest, hanging wallpaper in my bathroom encouraged me to tackle the rest of the room. Once I replaced the builder-basic mirror with a round mirror I loved, I wanted to upgrade my towels. Now I notice the plain junk drawer that collects random bathroom supplies.
Before, I ignored it. One small step can lead to big changes around your home. Hell yes, I would recommend wallpapering your bathroom.
But maybe start small.
Get a sample and try it out on a single wall. Or – if you’re feeling really crazy – your powder bathroom!
You don’t want to ruin an entire bathroom you use everyday if it doesn’t work out. Again: know your limits. Those daily compliments bloggers rave about in bathroom transformation posts?
I get it now. When you do something to your home that truly makes you enjoy spending time there, other people take notice. They might not know what changed, but they’ll recognise that your home just feels more “you.” And there’s nothing better than that.
Every day is I Heart My Home Day when you live in a space that you love. For less than the cost of a weekend trip, I changed a room I use everyday. That’s priceless.
