How to Choose Bathroom Wallpaper for a Fun and Unique Touch

Add texture and color to your space with wallpaper.

black and white bathroom

Today's various easy-to-wipe-down wallpapers come equipped with heat- and water-resistant options ideal for steamy bathrooms. Find your perfect bathroom wallpaper with these innovative new ways to add patterns to your space.

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Use Big Prints

floral wallpaper in half bath with gold accents

A small powder room can actually seem smaller with tiny, repetitive patterns on the walls. Stick to large, random designs in small spaces to make the tight squeeze look and feel as large as the florals on these walls.

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Bring the Blush

bathroom

Snowy textiles and fittings spotlight a focal wall covered in pink-and-white wallpaper. If you're papering a single wall in your bath, choose the wall farthest from the shower, which produces steam that could potentially damage the wallpaper adhesive. This sweet hue warms up the otherwise neutral primary bathroom that stays light and airy thanks to a glass-paneled walk-in shower and three oversize mirrors.

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Punch Up Personality

bathroom

Employ graphic wallpaper with a quirky theme in your powder room for a hit of eccentric style. This fun ostrich print matches the small bathroom's navy-painted vanity and creates one-of-a-kind character. If your bathroom sink doesn't have a backsplash, be sure to use water-resistant wallpaper.

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Make a Statement

bathroom

Wallpaper in a bathroom acts like artwork and gives the space another dimension. This chic Greek-key-inspired wallpaper creates dramatic contrast against ebony-stained wood floors and a traditional freestanding bathtub. Be sure to stick to tranquil wallpaper designs in your spa-like bath spaces.

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Feature Florals

bathroom

Don't be afraid to flirt with color and pattern; a small space like a powder room is a great place to go bold with wallpaper. These bright blooms honor the classic look of traditional white fixtures while contributing a touch of modernity with the pattern's oversize scale. Before putting up this pretty bathroom wallpaper, be sure to sufficiently prep and prime the walls for optimal application.

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Learn How to Wallpaper

Watch as we show you how to wallpaper with ease and bring pattern into your bathroom.

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Look to the Sky

blue and green traditional print wallpaper in bathroom

Make a large bathroom feel more welcoming by carrying wallpaper up onto the ceiling. The innovative wallpaper placement contains the space and delivers a sense of grandeur thanks to an Art Deco pattern that creates an overhead canopy. As ceilings tend to collect condensation from hot showers, be sure that any wallpapered bathroom has a vent in or near the ceiling.

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Borrow from Nature

bathroom

Wallpaper with a graphic nature-inspired print gives a sense of depth in this new-meets-old powder room. Placed above tall wainscoting, the wall treatment evokes vintage style when paired with a branch-framed mirror, brass faucet, and antique-style washbasin. The wainscoting also helps protect the wallpaper from damage such as splashes from the sink or condensation from pipes.

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Top It Off

Bathroom Lighting

Balance a bright, busy wallpaper pattern with a clean white subway tile backsplash. The tropical print in this guest bathroom takes the space from boring to breathtaking while still honoring the home's traditional touches. Be sure to do the math on your wallpapering measurements.

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Incorporate Texture

Toilet in brown bathroom

While grass cloth offers subtle color and texture to a bathroom with small square footage, the woven layers are prime for collecting water that could harbor dangerous mold and mildew. In spaces prone to splashes and steam, faux variations (like this Better Homes & Gardens Peel and Stick Wallpaper, Faux Textured Grasscloth, $40, Walmart) offer the same look but are easier to maintain.

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Continue a Color Scheme

lime green vanity with floral wallpaper

If there's one thing this kiwi-and-purple color scheme proves, it's that opposites attract attention. Stylized floral wallpaper with subtly different shades of greens and purples inspires the vibrant green used on this bathroom's vanity and mirror frame. To make your paper last longer, allow your vanity's countertop to curve into a backsplash.

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Encourage Serenity

white bathroom with large white tub and neutral floral wallpaper

Cherry-blossom-inspired wallpaper climbs the wall above crisp white paneling in this sophisticated space. The soft gray detail adds interest to a white-on-white palette and sparkles in the light of a glass chandelier. For pretty patterned wallpaper like this, be sure to use flat, non-embossed designs for walls that will last.

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Evoke an Era

white cabinet bathroom with gold and pink floral & bird wallpaper

Love vintage style? Express it in your bathroom wallpaper. This leafy pattern picks up on the patina of antique sconces, and it adds feminine flair to the neutral room. Keeping wallpaper above the splash limits of the sink and tub is ideal for families with children.

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Make It Metallic

pink and silver damask print wallpaper bathroom with black accents

If you think modest dimensions demand quiet colors and diminutive designs, this fashion-forward powder room will make you reconsider. Metallic damask wallpaper pops against a black-and-white checked floor. Minimalist white fixtures with black hardware ground the look. This metallic design is especially good for its cleanability—spills and splashes wipe right off.

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Consider Neutrals

blue damask pattern wallpaper

Subtly patterned wallpaper in a neutral shade (similar to this Better Homes & Gardens Blue Adaline Floral, $45, Walmart) adds warmth, character, and depth to this petite powder room. A shapely vintage-style faucet and vanity pick up the curvaceous shape of the elegant wallpaper pattern. A vinyl wall covering like this isn't susceptible to water damage and won't stain.

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Go Wild

zebra print wallpaper bathroom with gold accents

Limited wall space makes expensive designer wallpaper or a custom wall treatment affordable. For a guest bath, try a daring animal print, like this fun zebra wall covering, or an unexpected color that excites as well as invites. Many animal-print wallpapers incorporate embellishments; avoid flocking and highly textured wallpapers that won't lend themselves to humid rooms.

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Partner Patterns

black and white bathroom

Continue the style of your wallpaper's pattern throughout the room for a cohesive look. Here, the wall's swirling design echoes in the shape of a shimmering chandelier and the slipcover of a Parsons chair. For pattern-heavy prints like this one, be sure to carefully line up your wallpaper and match seams.

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