Decorating the Bathroom: Painting or Wallpaper?

When you’re redecorating a bathroom, deciding how to do the walls is one of the most important considerations. Lots of people end up trying to decide between wallpaper and paint. If you’re one of them, this guide should help you out.

The Pros and Cons of Wallpaper

Wallpaper generally provides you with more attractive stylistic options. Firstly, they bring texture into the equation, which gives the walls a more interesting, upscale appearance. While paint will usually restrict you to a certain set of colours – unless you’re particularly artistic – wallpaper offers many pre-printed designs, so it’s often the option of choice for more ambitious decorators. It’s also extremely durable, especially when you select a thicker roll, and you can find varieties which stand up well to moisture.

However, it does tend to be more expensive, as well as more time consuming to put up and take down. Additionally, since it is applied with an adhesive it will never be totally safe from peeling when used in a high-moisture environment.

The Pros and Cons of Paint

Paint is almost always cheaper and easier to apply than wallpaper. This should be a job which you can do yourself in just a day – even with no prior experience. Semi- gloss paints are very durable, meaning that frequent exposure to moisture won’t be a problem, and any damage can be easily painted over. However, you will usually be restricting yourself to a simpler design style. Combining colours is always an option, but complex designs will generally be quite tricky to get right. There’s also a greater danger of damaging the existing fixtures, since it’s all too easy to drip some paint over your new white freestanding bath.

A Combination?

Perhaps the best solution is to simply use both! It’s not an idea which springs immediately to mind, but wallpaper can be used to add texture, and then paint can be applied over it in order to create a durable outer layer. Of course, this means taking the effort to both paper and paint, but you could also consider using smaller squares of wallpaper and painting around them.

You’ll kick yourself if you make the wrong decision, especially since bathrooms are generally rather tricky to redo. Keep this information in mind when you’re deciding, and ensure you don’t regret your choice.