Can You Use Wallpaper in the Bathroom?

A bathroom is THE ideal space to use wallpaper in your house. In a tiny room like the loo you can go very bold with color and pattern in a way you normally wouldn't in a much larger room. In other words, let your imagination wander and have fun!

We get tons of questions every week about using our luxury peel and stick wallpaper in bathrooms, so we thought it was time to write a comprehensive article explaining all the ins and outs of wallpapering a bathroom. 

Before your eyes glaze over, don't worry. 😉We'll sprinkle in some wallpaper eye candy from actual customers, while keeping it fun and funky and 100% legit  — just like our wallpaper. #yesthatscorny #sorrynotsorry

Can I Use Wallpaper in the Bathroom?

Yes, with a caveat. If your bathroom is crazy humid and never fully dries, you might be out of luck. But for the majority of bathrooms, the answer is a big fat YES. You can use our peel and stick wallpaper in your bathroom, whether it's a full bathroom, powder bath, or even a rental bathroom. 

You might be scratching your head wondering, "How do I know if my bathroom is crazy humid?! I do like the occasional long shower...." Never fear, squeaky clean friends. It's not too hard to figure out. These are the hallmarks of a too-humid bathroom:

• Has a regularly used shower
• No functioning window
• Iffy ventilation 
• On the smaller side (less than 40 square feet)
• Walls feel slightly moist hours after you shower

If you answer YES to most or all of those points, then you might want to avoid any kind of wallpaper in your bathroom, even traditional paste wallpaper. (Yes, traditional paste wallpaper peels in humid bathrooms, and no, you do not want to deal with removing that mess.) 

Our #1 tip is to order a sample and test it out! Easy as that. Slap a sample or two on the wall and try it out for a week. If the sample sticks and doesn't bubble, you're well on your way to a wallpapered bathroom. Get excited!

Can the Wallpaper Get Wet?

Yep! Our peel and stick wallpaper can handle occasional splashes with ease. Just make sure it's not getting soaking wet on the regular. For example, applying wallpaper INSIDE your shower stall where it will get wet during every shower is a big no-no. (Wallpapering on the wall above the shower stall is A-OK.)

Similarly, you can apply our wallpaper as a sink backsplash. Keep in mind it's nice to have a two to four inch slab backsplash under the wallpaper backsplash to give the wallpaper a longer shelf life. Pooling water behind the faucet + the bottom edge of wallpaper = 😢. 

Do I Have to Do Anything Special When Applying Wallpaper in My Bathroom?

Yes! It's critical that your walls are bone dry when you apply the wallpaper. If they're not completely dry, doom and gloom will fill your house! You'll suffer the plague of continuous air bubbles, which has been known to cause agitation and hives (just kidding about the hives, probably). 

Our rule of thumb is to refrain from running the shower for several days before applying to ensure the walls are super dry when you put up the wallpaper. This is especially important for those smaller, windowless bathrooms. We're venturing to guess that most of our customers who love and adore their bathroom wallpaper didn't wait a full three or four days to let the bathroom air out 😉but that's our conservative recommendation. 

Can I Apply Wallpaper Over Tile? 

You can...but you'll see some grout lines. Our wallpaper sticks well to super smooth surfaces like tile and glass, but be prepared to see some texture of the underlying wall show through. To really test it out, order our smallest size roll (27" wide x 32" high) and see what it looks like over your tile. 

How Much Wallpaper Should I Get for My Bathroom? 

Bathrooms can be tricky rooms to measure for wallpaper because windows, tile, cabinets, and doors all occupy a small space. You might not have a single full wall in the entire bathroom, and that's ok.

Just remember that every wallpaper panel is 27 inches wide. Measure your wall from left to right (or right to left, if you prefer) and figure out the maximum HEIGHT for each 27 inch wide section. We can make custom height panels, so just let us know what you need. Here are a couple of diagramed examples prepared for actual customers:

In this example, going from left to right, you'd need six full length panels (27 inches wide x 110 inches high in this case).

Here's another example:

We measured this wall from right to left. Here you'd need two full longer panels (27 inches wide x 94 inches high) and three shorter panels (27 inches wide x 24 inches high).

If you keep in mind the 27 inch width, it's not too hard to figure out. And we're here to help if you're having trouble. 

The same concept applies if you're wallpapering all the walls of your bathroom. Choose your starting point (it's best to start in the corner behind the door) and measure the maximum wall height around all the walls every 27 inches. 

Do you have another question about wallpaper in the bathroom? We're always available to answer your wallpaper queries. You can ask us here. 

Happy wallpapering! ♥︎