Renovating, changing, and experimenting with your home’s walls has always been the best interior design approach for a stylish and trendy home. In recent years, wallpaper has made a comeback, both in magazines and in many homes.
Many interior design and architecture magazines feature a variety of evocative images featuring wallpaper as the star feature. It can be seen in sumptuous living rooms, spacious kitchens, and bedrooms, but above all, it is increasingly being seen in modern bathrooms, as an alternative to the more common and simple tiles.
How to choose wallpaper for the bathroom?
To understand which wallpaper is best for your home, you must first understand that there are many types of wallpaper, not only based on color and texture, but also with different characteristics and textures depending on the space in which they are used.
This means that wallpaper for a living room or bedroom will have a different composition than that used for the kitchen and bathroom. In the former case, vinyl or non-woven wallpapers, i.e., wallpapers with a blend of vinyl and fabric, are most suitable; in the latter case, more moisture-resistant wallpapers, such as PVC or fiberglass, will be needed.
Bathroom wallpaper: which one to choose?
The first thing to decide when considering wallpaper in your bathroom is where to hang it. This also determines the choice of wallpaper.
If you choose to wallpaper inside the shower, on the tub wall, or behind sinks, you should use fiberglass wallpaper.
Fiberglass wallpaper is 100% waterproof thanks to a resin treatment that makes it resistant to water and steam.
Some of the properties of this type of wallpaper include:
waterproof;
fireproof;
tensile strength;
good resistance to chemicals, wear, and UV rays.
If you don’t want to apply wallpaper to walls free of fixtures, showers, and sinks, you can also opt for wallpaper with a non-woven backing, which is resistant to humidity but not water.
A second factor to decide is the theme of the wallpaper. There are three most popular and suitable styles for bathroom wallpaper: floral, jungle, and 3D.
The first recalls and echoes themes from the past, so much so that companies continue to offer them in a variety of colors and variations.
The second evokes the nature of the jungle, with depictions of forests, palm trees, and animals.
The third, however, is a more modern and contemporary style, accentuating the perspective effect of space, ideal for smaller and/or windowless bathrooms.
Wallpaper in the bathroom: pros and cons
Using wallpaper in the bathroom certainly has its advantages and disadvantages.
Among the advantages are:
Decorative potential: the final result of a wallpapered wall is certainly explosive and visually striking. It allows you to restore vitality and liveliness to rooms that might otherwise be a bit drab;
Longer paint life: contrary to what you might think, wallpaper is more durable than traditional paint, which requires periodic repainting;
Easy to clean and hides imperfections in the wall;
Wide selection of textures and designs to suit all tastes;
It can have sound-absorbing properties, such as fiberglass.
As for the disadvantages to consider, these include:
First and foremost, the cost: wallpapering is certainly more expensive than simply painting, but the cost can be amortized over time, given its longer life;
In the rare event that it tears or gets damaged, the entire wall will need to be replaced, not just the strip.
If you choose unusual or rich textures or patterns, it can become tired or go out of style, and removing it is a time-consuming and expensive process.
In any case, when choosing wallpaper for the bathroom, it’s always best to rely on experts. Their expertise can not only help you choose the texture or design best suited to your style, but also advise you on the right material to install, ensuring optimal, long-lasting results.