The bathroom may be one of the smallest rooms in your house but it doesn’t mean that you need not spend time planning for its construction and design. Like with any other room in the house, the walls of the bathroom must be planned. Unlike with the other rooms, however, you will have to consider moisture and size.
If you do not intend to cover the walls with tiles from floor to ceiling, you can use paint instead. Before painting them, however, it is recommended that you coat them first with mildew-inhibiting primer. Gloss paints are fine, although not necessary. Eggshell or satin finish paints work just as well. Avoid flat and matte paints, though.
Ceramic, glass, and even some stone tiles are an obvious choice because of their resistance to water, durability, almost unlimited designs and colors, as well as the minimum maintenance they require. There are, however, some people who think of the grouts between the tiles as crisscrossing lines creating a grid that mars the bathroom wall design. Others compromise by covering the lower end of the wall with tiles while the upper part is of a different material. Called wainscoting, the upper portion can be covered with paint, wallpaper, or vinyl stickers.
Another option is beadboards. Beadboards are types of panels that feature distinctive grooves, and which are used as partial wall covering. The typically come in 4 x 8 feet boards and are installed lengthwise. They can be painted to protect them from moisture with semi-gloss or gloss paints.
Wallpapers are also popular, but stick with the vinyl-coated kind as plain paper easily degrades in the bathroom. Use the wallpaper design to create either the illusion of height, width, or space. Vertical designs make the room look taller. Horizontals, on the other hand, make it look wider. Small patterns make it look bigger.