Like the kids’ bath, this bathroom was “done enough” but I always knew that I wanted to add wallpaper to the water closet (i.e. the toilet room). But life had other priorities and I didn’t feel like rushing any more decisions. The room didn’t need it and I have to be careful because I like “stuff” so sometimes it’s better for me to keep the foundations of a house simple so I can style with my fun things without it getting crazy busy or overdesigned. But after two years of living in this bathroom (which I LOVE) I’ve decided that a pattern in this room wouldn’t add much visual clutter (whereas I’ve thought about doing a pattern on the curtains and I think that might be too much and take away from the sereneness of this room).
As a reminder, this is what it looks like (when it’s clean) and the floor is really the star – one tone but so much pretty texture and that blue tile is PERFECT. Shout out to Pratt + Larson 🙂
But the water closet was kinda boring, yet fine! It’s just a water closet! But it’s also a missed opportunity. And I figured that the wallpaper installer could do both the kids’ and this room on the same day, so I got motivated all of a sudden.
Left: Coppice (Blue) | Right: Coppice (Sage)
I narrowed it down to this pattern – another tree motif (no one is surprised here – nature motifs have long been my go-to). I love that this pattern has a lot of organic movement without a lot of negative space – i.e. it’s busy but not high contrast since the branches run into each other. I also love the warmth of the “wood” that I knew would work with all our hits of wood and gold in the bathroom.
Tile | Stone | Shower Set | Shower Head | Drain (no longer available) | Marble Tray (similar)
Honestly, I love the blue colorway more, but I was genuinely fearful that I would have too much blue in this bathroom, what with the floors and the shower room being all blue. I was afraid that you’d walk in and it would be overwhelmingly blue. If I’m being honest, I also think I was influenced by people saying “woah, you have a lot of blue in your house” and maybe not wanting to just take my “comfort color” easy route.
Which Wallpaper Did I Choose?
Wallpaper | Sconce | Art (vintage) | Toilet | Toliet Lever | Wooden Tray (similar) | Toliet Paper Holder | Switchplate Cover | Basket (not available)
The green! And when I first walked in I was like, “woah”. As in it felt like a LOT. Now that I’ve gotten used to it, I really like it, but admittedly it is a lot. I think if I could snap my fingers I’d add paneling, our horizontal beadboard up to wainscot height, like in our powder bath, but I’ve got other fish to fry so likely won’t get to that for years if ever.
The artwork helps tie in the green with the blue on the floor – I think the undertones are working fine, but maybe not as ideal as they could. All in all, I’m happy, it’s cute/fun, etc, but I didn’t have the same reaction as I have in the kids’ bath (which I think I perfectly nailed the wallpaper color and pattern).
When you look at it altogether – with the shower room and pulling the green from the big tree it works together and I’m pleased 🙂
I suppose the narrowness of the room makes it feel a little more overwhelming than I had predicted – like if it were wider and/or we had paneling 40″ up the wall I think it would be better. But I swear I’m not unhappy and have zero inclination to do anything about it, I just think it’s funny how you can be 100% sure about something that once installed is only an 80% love. And that’s ok because it’s just our toilet room (thank goodness).
*Photos by Kaitlin Green
What about swapping out the two artworks for just one, large, light & calm piece? Maybe a graphic poster for an art show? That would calm down the room I think.
I would like to see Emily try this idea out (yay, more content)
Here are a few ideas with pieces she already has:
I agree. The artwork doesn’t work, too busy, too small. Yes, to a bigger piece, larger scale.
Definitely new art is needed. I would suggest something small but framed out with a large mat to give some area to breathe from all of the pattern. The current art feels very busy and doesn’t give a space to rest the eye at all.
wow, I think that’s amazing!! and I love a little contrast, a little grunge, a little complement in undertones. it’s possible for a room to look TOO considered, you know? too matchy. especially in an older house, this kind of joyful relaxation looks great.
I was just coming here to say something similar! Plus, trees are green. How can you go wrong with that!
Me, too! 🙂 I love it!
I think your wallpaper is absolutely divine, but I do think you should choose whatever you like and if blue’s your jam, blue’s your jam!!
Not that it makes any difference but your bathroom reads more like an aqua on my phone. I honestly thought it was green. I’m only mentioning to highlight that we all see something different anyway so you might as well choose things just for yourself.
The wallpaper is really pretty. I hope you do decide to add millwork when you’re ready – I think that would be beautiful and provide just enough visual relief. But it’s gorgeous suite as it is!
It’s absolutely delicious! Love it.
I like the green! But I wonder if you might prefer it with only one painting, or…none? Might be different in person, but in the photos, the art itself kind of blends in with the wallpaper, so the impression is just of frames disrupting the eye without the artwork itself adding a lot. I think a single bigger piece with more contrast to the wallpaper might actually be LESS busy because it would give the eye a real break from the pattern. Especially if it’s something that is a little more airy and spare, like a line drawing on a neutral background. Or no artwork at all would let the space just be uniform in a way that might also be nice.
Anyway, just a thought!
Yes, no painting is needed
I do like it. I think we need to be ok with 80% love because sometimes we get the 100% but not always, and otherwise there is decision paralysis. I am 100% about the kids’ bath wallpaper and I didn’t expect to like that – so you have to go for it to see.
Emily I so appreciate you share honestly about your reactions, especially when it’s not 100%. And that you acknowledge the realities of a budget and make it work. So refreshing! Btw I think it looks lovely 🙂
I love this pop of something unexpected and beautiful! It is better than safe and boring, and I appreciate that Emily can be honest about the process and her feelings about it, even though I’m 100% love about this. Also… paneling—are there proper heights? 40”? Would love to learn more about this!
Me too about learning more about paneling!
It’s beautiful! I love when you share not being 100% thrilled. It’s so validating! (I mean, I would rather you were 100% happy than you validate me. But since you’re not…I’m glad you shared.)
I love this wallpaper so much, and green is my favorite color! 💚 It does seem to me like the blue might have been a bit calmer, but I wonder if you could “calm” the visual busyness a bit by changing up the artwork? Maybe switching to one artwork (maybe longer/larger, or small with a thick white matte and frame) with simple lines that brings in more of the white and teal? Or maybe an antique mirror (that’s all silvered out so it just brings in light and you don’t have to look at yourself in the toilet room, haha)
gosh such a pretty bathroom in general, the tile really is such a cool color
I think if you reframed the art with a thicker matte you could add a visual break that might balance the action a bit. Just a thought. In all I really like the embrace of the forest pattern FWIW and adding millwork feels a little formal (overdone) for a farmhouse imho. Not yucking anyone’s yum, just trying to keep the solution to the problem in context of the whole house vide…
Love it! I would reframe the bottom artwork and add a cream or white mat to give your eye a bit of a rest.
I really love the wallpaper in there. It’s stunning. I can see the wainscoting being a good idea but not essential.
I love it! Ironically enough I am in the midst of choosing wallpaper for our guest bathroom. But there’s definitely a mix of information out there about what wallpaper to use in a bathroom! I have read to use only vinyl, but find that I am not loving the vinyl patterns out there I’m seeing. If anyone has names of places that carry wallpaper specifically for bathrooms, that would be so helpful. Thank you!
Hi Hannah! Fine and Dandy makes a perforated linen wallpaper for high humidity areas. They have some amazing landscape wall coverings that you can special order in perforated linen.
https://fineanddandycompany.com/collections/landscape-murals
If your guest bathroom isn’t high use and is well ventilated, you can probably get away with normal wallpaper though. British designers use wallpaper all the time in bathrooms and it seems to be fine.
I love the wallpaper! I also agree with others whoʻve already commented on this, but I would like to see a calm, intentionally attention-drawing piece of art, with a lot of “white space”. I believe it would calm the wallpaper down. The 2 pieces there now, to me, add to the busyness my eye is feeling. Just try it (and share the result, please)
I would add in some larger art that has a wide white matting and thin black frame. I think that would make it feel less overwhelming. Somewhere for your eye to rest in the top half of the room.
I think a wallpapered small space is so fun! We just did our tiny central “hallway” (6’x6’ with six doors) in House of Hackney’s Hollyhocks paper (Summer colorway), and we LOVE it. We did add paneling that comes about 34” high (one wall has a cute old plumbing access door so we did the paneling to the same height as that).
It’s pricey paper but we didn’t need too much and were able to use the shorter of the two heights it comes in. Apparently we would have needed even less, but this is a mural style wallpaper (doesn’t look like it to me but something to do with the repeat) and that caused extra wastage. So that’s something to consider when choosing wallpaper. In our case the paper cost more than the labor to hang.
But I’d been thinking about it for years and looked at SO many samples, and this was the one! It has totally transformed a dull pass-through with little natural light into a magical space. Plus we can see it from the front door and from all the rooms off the hallway, and it is just so happy.
That’s one of my top two favorite wallpaper patterns on the internet. I have tried so hard to find a small enough to not be insanely expensive place to put it in my house and just never have. I love that you went for it!
Oh this is so pretty!!! And I love it in combination with those two art pieces – chef’s kiss!! Also, Emily, I had a dream about you last night and it was so whacky that I just wanted to share: I dreamed that you were friendly with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and had done a colaboration with them on your rug line and were now helping them design their house (?!?!?) I distinctly remember the rug from that collaboration: it was a very small sisal runner in the shape of a seal (as in the animal) clearly meant for a kid’s room. The head of the seal rug was 3D and as a nod to Harry’s hair (?!?!) the seal also head a mop of curly sisal hair (?!?!). I gotta admit I thought it was a pretty weird, useless rug in my dream, but I was really happy for you about the collaboration and I thought the seal was cute – weird Harry-hair and all… I don’t remember much of the house design you were helping them with. The only bit I remember is that you were doing a DIY where you had added a big basket on… Read more »
Oh my gosh – we are on set today so I read this aloud to Emily and we are all CRACKING up. That’s so hilarious… she wants me to tell you that Meghan actually did reach out to do a collab a long long time ago (pre-Harry) so your dream was sort of prophetic! Missed opportunity for a 3D seal rug!
Thank you so much for sharing, Marlee – this made my day!!! After waking up I was immediately like this so weird, I just gotta share it with you guys XD How hilarious that Meghan an Emily have actually been in contact previously too!! If they ever reach out again after this let me know 😉 I’ll quit my job and open up a fortune telling place haha
No pooping in the woods jokes?
Couldn’t “You have a lot of blue in your house.” just be a statement of ‘what is’ and therefore be true without being negative? Color is simply the most visible and thus obvious element of design while the whole rest of the magic of a space remains a mystery to a non-design person. In my head I heard your cheerful/confident “Yes, yes I do!” in response to such comments. It took me y e a r s to come around to EHD’s deep love of blue but then it turned out it was THE color my interiors needed in order to exhale… Given that, I was surprised when I choose the blue colorway for the WC but more surprised you choose the green and even more surprised when my color-&-pattern loving soul had a similar reaction to yours… I think it might feel like ‘a lot’ precisely because there isn’t much negative space in the pattern..? For the blog could the blue colorway be photoshopped? Oh, and the green with beadboard/wainscoting etc.!?
It is a pretty wallpaper pattern but TBH I preferred the calmness of the white walls and letting the floor be the star. That whispered rather than screamed style!
Oh Emily! I just love it especially because it’s not matchy matchy. I really think it’s going to grow on you. But also, it’s a tiny WC. If you want to change it up in a couple years, you can change it up. You pushed yourself to try something different. I just think it looks tremendous.
I love it just the way it is! This small space is the perfect place for this wallpaper. The amount of pattern is what I like so much, so adding wainscoting would be a no for me. If I did anything, I would frame the large art piece the same as the small piece, or hang the small piece of art and remove the larger one. But honestly, there is no one right answer except the one that’s right for you!
I was rooting for the blue! Lol. I see what you mean about it not hitting 100% but it’s still very good if not great. I agree about adding paneling to the bottom half of the wall, it would tone the oattern down just enough to feel a little more serene, like the rest of the bath.
Love it! It’s eclectic and reminds me of New England farmhouses (like the one I grew up in) and also English houses.
Hi. Gorgeous! I love the herringbone tile in the WC. Who makes the toilet and paper toilet holder?
Everything is linked under various photos above.
It’s gorgeous! I love the floors, and the contrast of the blue and green. Who makes the toilet, and toilet paper holder?
Everything is linked under various photos above.
I’ve been sampling ‘tree’ wallcovering for my small white bathroom and feel drawn to a sketchy, monotone, toile to add pattern but keep the crisp, airy feel. Kept telling myself ‘that’s boring and so 2021’ and I should go bold. Your post has helped me make a final decision. Thank you for sharing your thought process and honest follow up!
Love the wallpaper!!! So refreshing and full of interest! Yes, maybe a piece of art with lots of white space would provide some space to breath a bit. Love it!!!
Busy, busy, busy. Not for me.
Maybe sort of neutral wood or textile piece as art instead of the paintings would help.
Just love the paper but I think the artwork is superfluous. That paper is the art!
I love your water closet! It’s perfect the way it is!
But…did you hear the but coming? If after awhile you still feel the need to change something – I’d add a mat to the lower picture. But then you’d also need a new frame.
I love this bathroom! What are the dimensions of the toilet room and shower? I would love to do something like this and am wondering if I have the space. Thanks!