Colourful Vintage Inspired Toilet Room Makeover With Wallpaper

Today I'm sharing my colourful vintage inspired toilet room makeover.

 Here is the before of our toilet room. White and more white. 

I've always disliked the tiled walls as the dust sticks to them. And I put the grey tiles down over our original orange ones a few years ago. But they show the dirt, especially around the walls on the caulk. The window sill is also a bit of a dust catcher.

Time for a change. 

I started by researching new floor tiles. I knew I had to lay them over the existing tiles as they had been glued down with Liquid Nails and would be extremely hard and messy to attempt to remove. 

I also knew I had to get the thinnest ones I could find so the door would still be able to open and close without catching. 

 I initially ordered some black and white ones from Temu but they just didn't suite the floor. 

I went to Bunnings and found these ones from Senso in Cherrybark.

I loved that they were a warmer wood colour. One box was going to be enough to cover my floor which was 1.52 x .89m = 1.3528m2. I did stuff up cutting a few boards so it was lucky I had more. And being 2mm thick was a bonus.

These darker tiles immediately darkened and warmed up the room. 

They were easy to cut and stuck well. I was really happy with the quality and feel of these tiles.

I did find the door was catching slightly on one side but hubby shaved a bit off the bottom of the door and it closed fine and you can't even notice. 

They turned out so much better than the other tiles. I went right up the edge of the walls and toilet, unlike the other ones which were a few mills off and those gaps really stood out. 

In hindsight I would stagger the lengths of the floorboards instead of laying them in a straight row. But this could always be fixed in the future if it becomes too annoying, but after a few weeks I haven't really noticed the layout. 

Next I started planning the walls. I knew I wanted wallpaper on the top half of the walls, and to cover the bottom tiles. 

I had some sheeting from the mdf I removed from the entry way which was a good height and I could fill the rest in with trim.  

So I did the calculations. The lower walls were 126cms high x 155 wide and 88 wide. 

My sheets were the right width, but they were only 115cms high. 

To fill the other 11cms, I used base boards that were 6.6cms high and top moulding that was 4.2cms high.

Next I tested out a colour from Porters paints called Timberline on my MDF wall sheeting.

However, when I was finished we all agreed it was a bit dark. Especially given it is a very small room.

 

(After putting these boards up I also drilled a hole where the toilet roll holder would have to go back.)

Next up I tried Porter's Olive Grove. I had originally looked at the 3 greens above. Bayleaf was too bright but the Olive Grove brought in a more muted green.

So I tested it on the small board at the back of the toilet. It is still dark but worked a lot better.

So I removed all my panels which were adhered with double sided tape and repainted them in Olive Green. I set up some blocks in the living room so I could work on them easily with a roller.

I wanted a new curtain for the window too. Something neutral but not white. I found this linen one with tassels on Temu. I wasn't 100% happy with it as it was rather thick though and was cutting out a lot of light. I decided to live with it a while and then make a decision.

Next up was wallpaper decisions. I found 2 on Temu that I liked so I ordered samples of both. This was the flower one. The tone was actually very pink instead of the green in the photo.

The other one incorporated lemons and blue birds. This was a really bold choice for me, but the white background sold it. I wanted statement wallpaper and I got it.

While I was waiting on the rest of the wallpaper to arrive, I decided to attach all the boards. I also decided to spray paint our silver toilet roll holder dark gold.

Next I cut, painted and adhered my upper moulding.

And caulked the bigger seams.

Then I measured, cut and painted the side strips for the wall. 

 

 

 

I spaced them approx 40 cms apart with 3 on each side wall and two on the back. 

 

From the very beginning I decided to put my back wall together in 3 parts. This allowed me to fit around the wall pipe. Adding the strips of moulding on the back wall covered the seams perfectly.  

 

 

I also used corner moulding in all the corners to hide the seams.

Originally I wasn't sure if I would paint the top and bottom moulding. I thought if I did the wall moulding I would need to also do the window frame. But I didn't like the glaring white on the base of the walls so I taped off the floor and painted it to match the walls.

 

Next I took down the curtain rod and brackets. I ordered brass curtain clips and spray painted the rod and brackets. 

I also cut my curtain in half and tied it to the sides to let more light in.

I still wasn't sure about the curtains so I ordered another more sheer one from Temu.

Around the same time I put up the rest of the wallpaper. I ordered 10meters and had plenty to spare. I may use some of it somewhere in the bathroom. I'd love to use some in the vanity drawers too.

I also found these cut swan curtain hooks on Temu so I added one of those so I could tie back the new curtain.

For the tie I used green velvet ribbon.

I found this little swan at the op shop and added some faux greenery. It could also be used to hold and hide an air fragrance.

The toilet roll holder fit back on the wall perfectly and looks great against the green walls.

To compliment the holder, I also spray painted the light switch holder, and added a new gold door knob and gold door plate.

The old door knob was black and was getting a bit too old to spray. Plus I've found if you spray door knobs they don't last very long.

This the view with the door closed. I did consider painting the door but I liked the contrast of the white and it matched the white window frame. 

I also purchased some new Rub n Buff in Antique Gold to use on the door hinges. I thought about purchasing new ones but they were ridiculously expensive and as I wouldn't be handling them, I thought they would hopefully last for a while. 

I am really happy with how our toilet room turned out. It still has a vintage vibe but is now less stark.

All the wall panels covered the white tiles perfectly. I used strong double sided tape in case I want to remove them in the future.

 The wallpaper is also removable, as are the floor tiles.   

Here is a breakdown of what I purchased and the costs.

 Materials

 Floor tiles Peel and Stick from Bunnings - $80

Lower moulding from Bunnings - $20

Upper moulding from Bunnings - $12

Corner moulding - $13

Side Moulding - $31

Clear varnish for floor and walls from Spotlight - $14

Paint - Porters Olive Grove - 4 x 6 = $24

Scotch Extremely Strong Mounting Tape 2.5cm x 10.1m 414 long, Black from Amazon - $27 

MDF sheeting - Repurposed from entryway Sharpie Shiplap

Wallpaper from Temu - $53 (13 metres x 40 cms)

Curtain from Temu - $18

Brass Curtain Rings from Amazon - ($18 for 40)  10 for $4.50

Gold and Bronze spray paint - Already had

Swan curtain holder from Temu - $3

Door Knob from Bunnings - $17

Total - $237

 It's been a few weeks now and I still love our new toilet room. 

I'm looking forward to starting on the bathroom. Unfortunately all the walls are tiled to the ceiling so I'm probably not going to be able to add wall paper to the walls unless I totally sheet them. Lots to think about and plan. 

 

Julie :)