Welcome to Bathroom Wall
Remodeling your bathroom can be tough enough with all the floors showers, cabinetry, and baths from which to choose. In addition, you also have to consider wall coverings and colors.
When you choose a bathroom wall surface there are two other factors you have to think about: Moisture and size. This is not normally the case when remodeling bedrooms, family rooms, or living rooms. Bathrooms are usually very cramped and even bathrooms that are well vented can have moisture problems.
Wallpaper
Unlike paint, you can actually try out large expanses of wallpaper prior to applying it. Buy a sample or a roll and hold it up in the room. Remember, the larger the pattern the more it will reduce the size of your bathroom visually. While horizontal patterns will seem to widen the bathroom, vertical patterns will make the room feel taller.
As for moisture, the vinyl coated, thicker wallpaper made especially for bathrooms are especially suitable for high moisture bathrooms since all variations made from paper will rapidly degrade with the amount of moisture in the typical bathroom.
Ceramic Tile
The next most obvious choice for a bathroom wall is ceramic tile. There will not be nearly as many problems with moisture. However, design issues should be the primary consideration. All tiles have grout, and grout means lines and grout lines create patterns which can either detract or enhance from the bathroom’s appearance in the same way as wallpaper.
In baths or showers, the other thing to consider is that you probably don’t want to use tile from ceiling to floor. Ceramic tile normally stops at 36” to 38” from the ceiling. If it stops any higher your bathroom will begin to resemble a public restroom!
Bead Board
Bead board, like tile, only provides partial covering for the wall. However, bead board can be painted with full gloss or semi gloss paint, which will thoroughly protect the lower parts of the walls from moisture. You can buy panels of bead board that are four feet wide and eight feet long. Bead board will give your bathroom a more traditional look.
Tile Board
Tile board looks very much like ceramic tile. It comes in eight foot by four foot panels, so you can install 32 ft2 of tile board in a few minutes. The really good grades of tile board look amazingly real and since the surface is a coated surface, it will also repel moisture. Tile board is easy and cheap to install and is maybe best utilized in a basement or guest bathroom. The older tile board becomes, however, the more apparent it becomes that it is fake.
Paint
While paint remains a very popular choice in most bathrooms, it is best to avoid using a matt or flat surface paint. These will be difficult to keep clean and tend to mark easily. The best choices are satin or eggshell. These will work just fine for keeping small quantities of moisture at bay. You may even want to consider priming the walls with a primer that is mildew resistant.
