You know that feeling when you walk into someone’s loo and immediately feel a bit claustrophobic? That’s exactly what happened when I visited my mate Emma’s new place last summer. She’d gone absolutely mad with this William Morris-style wallpaper – gorgeous stuff, honestly, all deep blues and greens with these intricate leaf patterns. Must’ve cost a fortune. But crammed into her tiny downstairs toilet? I genuinely felt dizzy trying to focus on anything. It was like being inside a kaleidoscope while someone spun it around your head.
Standing there, trying to work out why such beautiful wallpaper looked so awful, I had this lightbulb moment. It’s not about finding the prettiest pattern when you’re dealing with a small bathroom. It’s about understanding what actually works in a space where you can practically touch all four walls at once.
I should know – I’ve made every possible mistake with bathroom wallpaper over the years. My first disaster was in our old rental in Armley. Thought I’d be clever and wallpaper the entire downstairs loo with this geometric pattern that looked quite subtle in the sample book. Triangles, mainly, in what the shop assistant called “muted tones.” What she didn’t mention was that when you’re trapped in a space the size of a broom cupboard, surrounded by hundreds of repeating triangles, muted becomes migraine-inducing pretty bloody quickly.
Phil’s mum actually asked if I was feeling alright after she’d used that bathroom. “Are you going through something, love?” she said, which was her polite way of saying the wallpaper was giving her a headache. Had to strip the whole lot off after three months. What a waste of money.
But here’s what I’ve worked out through years of trial and error, and way too much money spent on sample rolls: small bathrooms can absolutely handle wallpaper. They just need the right approach, and you need to forget half of what you think you know about decorating.
Scale is everything, and I mean everything. Those delicate little florals that look so sweet and cottage-like when you’re flicking through a pattern book? They turn into visual noise when you’re surrounded by them. Found this out the hard way with some rose-printed paper I used in our guest bathroom. Each flower was about the size of a 10p coin, and the overall effect was like trying to read a book while someone threw confetti in your face. My sister stayed for a weekend and said it made her feel seasick.
These days, I look for patterns where the individual elements are at least a couple of inches across. Big enough that your brain can actually process what it’s looking at, small enough that they don’t dominate the entire space. There’s this grasscloth-effect paper I ended up using behind our current vanity – it’s got texture and visual interest but no actual pattern to compete with your reflection or the toothbrush holder or whatever else you’re trying to focus on.
Light backgrounds have honestly saved my sanity. I used to think dark, dramatic wallpapers would make small spaces feel cozy and intimate, like those posh hotel bathrooms you see in magazines. What they actually did was make my powder room feel like a cave where I couldn’t see properly and once – I’m not proud of this – accidentally used Phil’s shaving cream instead of toothpaste because I couldn’t read the bloody labels.
Cream, soft whites, pale greys… I know they sound boring, but they’re actually genius. The pattern gets to do its thing without the background color eating up all the visual space you’ve got. I found this amazing paper with these delicate green line drawings on an ivory background – little birds sitting on branches, quite detailed actually – but because the background is so light, the whole effect feels airy instead of cramped.
And here’s something that took me ages to figure out: you don’t have to paper every single wall like you’re recreating a Victorian parlour. Sometimes one accent wall is perfect. Sometimes it’s just the bit behind the loo, or above some wainscoting if you’re feeling fancy.
In our current place, I only did the wall behind the basin. The other walls are painted in this soft grey that picks up one of the colors from the wallpaper. Creates a proper focal point without making you feel like you’re trapped inside a pattern book. Plus, and this might sound vain, but it photographs really well when I’m trying to show people that wallpaper in small spaces can work.
My friend Kate did something brilliant – she wallpapered just her bathroom ceiling. Sounds mental, I know, but most people don’t naturally look up when they’re in the loo, so it becomes this lovely surprise. And it draws your eye upward, which makes the whole space feel taller. She kept the pattern simple though – just some soft stripes, nothing too busy.
The mirror situation is crucial, and I wish someone had told me this earlier. If you’re papering behind your vanity, your mirror becomes part of the design. A big mirror can break up even quite a busy pattern, giving your eyes somewhere to rest. But here’s the weird bit – some patterns actually look better when they’re reflected. That grasscloth texture I mentioned? In the mirror, it creates this gorgeous layered effect that makes the space feel twice as deep.
Now, let’s talk about the thing nobody mentions enough: moisture. Small bathrooms are basically humidity traps, especially if you’re like me and enjoy a proper hot shower that steams up every surface. I learned this lesson when some lovely paper I’d splurged on started peeling at the corners after about six months. Heartbreaking, honestly.
Vinyl-coated papers might not sound as posh as “hand-printed artisanal” whatever, but they’ll still be stuck to your wall when the fancy stuff is curling up like little scrolls. I’ve had good results with some of the newer non-woven options too – they handle steam better than traditional paper backing, and if you change your mind later, they’re much easier to get off the wall.
Speaking of changing your mind… I know wallpaper feels terrifyingly permanent, especially compared to slapping on a coat of paint. But think about it – small spaces mean small investment. If you absolutely hate it, you’re not looking at stripping paper from an entire living room. You’re talking about maybe fifty square feet, maximum.
I keep photos on my phone of wallpapers I love but haven’t tried yet. Sometimes I’ll order a sample and stick it up with blu-tack for a week or two. Do I still like it when I’m brushing my teeth half-asleep at six in the morning? Does it work with the lighting at different times of day? These little tests have saved me from some properly expensive mistakes.
The thing is, small doesn’t have to mean invisible or boring. Some of my favorite spaces are tiny powder rooms that pack a real style punch because someone had the courage to make a statement. You just need to make sure it’s the right statement – one that welcomes people in rather than making them want to escape as quickly as possible. Get that balance right, and your small bathroom becomes one of those spaces people actually remember for all the right reasons.
