My Secret Weapon for Wallpapering Your Bathroom!

Thank you guys so much for your sweet words about our guest bathroom makeover! As promised, I’m doing a quick follow-up post to answer your questions about using wallpaper in bathrooms. I totally get your hesitation because I had the same concerns about whether a bathroom was a wisest spot for me to fulfill my wallpaper dreams when I first started thinking about doing it! But I did my research and ended up finding some great answers that led me to feel comfortable moving forward with my plan so I wanted to share what I learned (post includes some affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here}). We’ll kick the questions off with the one I got the most… 

Are You Sure It’s OK to Use Wallpaper in a Bathroom? Really sure?

In most cases, yes! The biggest factors to consider are whether it’s a bathroom where a lot of water is going to get splashed on the wallpaper and (if it’s a full bath) whether the bathroom has a good fan. If it’s in a kids’ bathroom and your kids are notorious for getting water from one end of their bathroom to the other, you might want to skip using wallpaper. And if it’s a bathroom with a frequently used shower but a poorly working fan or no fan, that would be another reason to say no to wallpaper. But otherwise, you should be in good shape and can totally make wallpaper work, especially with the secret weapon that I learned about (read on for more on that!). 

Is There A Way to Seal Wallpaper or Prevent Damage Due to Moisture?

Yes! There’s a secret weapon to use on wallpaper in areas of high moisture that my wallpaperer clued me into  – it’s called Decorators Varnish (available {here}) – he swears by it and after seeing it in action, now I do too! 

You brush a thin coat on the wallpaper after it’s hung and it protects and seals without adding shine like most varnishes do. I was pretty hesitant about using it because one thing that I love about the wallpaper I chose for our bathroom ({this one} c/o Serena & Lily) is that it’s cork-based and has a really cool texture with no sheen. But my wallpaperer is very experienced and has used this product for years so I trusted him and gave him the go-ahead. He was right! This stuff is truly dead flat and the finish on my wallpaper looks the same after applying it as it did before. It does come in other sheens so if you have wallpaper with a sheen or if you want to add sheen to your wallpaper, you could go with satin or gloss.

My wallpaperer also uses it on wallpapered light switches in rooms all over the house because it keeps them from getting dirty over time – smart! No matter what you use it on, just be sure to test it on a wallpaper sample before applying it to your wallpaper – it’s always good practice to play it safe and be 100% sure you’re happy with the product before applying it to a whole room.

What Kind of Wallpaper is Best to Use in a Bathroom?

If you’re worried about how wallpaper will fare in your bathroom and/or you don’t want to use Decorators Varnish, you might want to stick with vinyl wallpaper. It’s the most durable, washable type of wallpaper and a great choice for spaces with high humidity. But my wallpaperer has successfully hung all kinds of wallpapers that you might think would be no-no’s in a bathroom (like my cork wallpaper or grasscloth wallpapers) and said almost any wallpaper is fine to use as long as it’s coated with the varnish and isn’t in a room where it’s getting directly splashed with water or constantly exposed to high humidity. 

Just keep in mind that certain wallpapers like grasscloth are not very cleanable, regardless of what room they’re used in. So personally, I wouldn’t want to use grasscloth in a bathroom where it would be near the toilet (gross!) unless it was just on the upper half of the wall. 

Why Would You Want to Use Wallpaper in a Bathroom?

Because it makes such a HUGE impact! A small bathroom is the perfect spot to use a wallpaper that’s on the pricer side and would be outside of your budget if you were doing a larger room. It’s also a fun place to go a little bolder than you might in a larger space! I LOVE the wallpaper that I chose for our guest bathroom but think that if I hung it on every wall in a large room, it would be a little too much pattern for me. In a small bathroom, it’s perfect! These are a few of the other wallpapers I came across when I was wallpaper shopping that I love the looks of:

And how about this gorgeous wallpaper that CC + Mike used in their recent bathroom remodel?! All the heart eyes! You can find more pics of this beautiful bathroom remodel along with sources for the wallpaper and everything else in the room on CC + Mike’s blog {here}! 

Still not sure you want to wallpaper your bathroom? Consider stenciling! It’s a great alternative that mimics the look of wallpaper at a fraction of the price! Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I stenciled the walls in our powder room a few years back but if you’re someone who hasn’t seen that project you can check out “before” and “after” pics of my stenciled bathroom {here} and read my stenciling how-to tutorial {here}. 

That wraps up the questions that I got about using wallpaper in bathrooms but I did want to answer one last question that several of you had about the vanity I used in my guest bathroom:

The vanity I have is {this vanity} but several of you were confused when you clicked over to shop it because the color of the top looks different than mine. It’s actually available with two different top finishes – Galala Beige and White Carrera and the initial image shows the beige top – once you click to select the White Carrera top (which is the one I have), you’ll see the image change to look similar to mine! You can select a white cabinet color instead of the gray too! Also, some of you wondered why mine didn’t have the backsplash shown in the image. The backsplash comes separately so you can choose to attach it or not – since I have beadboard behind my sink, I chose to leave it off!

If you still have questions about my bathroom makeover that I didn’t answer, leave them in the comments and I’ll get back to you! And if you landed here from Pinterest or Google and missed my bathroom makeover post from last week, you can check it out {here}. 

Cassidy™ Chrome Two Handle Lavatory Faucet with Cross Handles (faucet available {here} | cross handles available {here}) | Chrome towel ring | Turkish towel on towel bar | Fluffy white towels under vanity | Chrome towel bar | Chrome toilet paper holder |Gray/marble bath vanity (25″) | Brass and pearl vanity knobs | wood “soap dish” – found in cutting board aisle at HomeGoods and coated with Waterlox to make water resistant | Black and white cork wallpaper | Black and white bath mat | White towels with black border | Brass flush mount light | Black marble toilet tray (also available {here}) | Candle in brass vessel with tassel | Toilet seat night light

I’ll see you guys back on the blog this weekend when I’m sharing a super special “before” and “after” reveal – the family room makeover of a Habitat for Humanity home for the cutest, most deserving family. Until then, hope you have a great week!