apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

that's all flocked up. :) Removal!

Gee-ross! Get rid of that shizz and fast!

It looks like wallpaper from the mid 70's.
My condo was full of it when I purchased it.
Having been there, I have only one answer for you....

Pull it all down.

OH NO! Wallpaper in a bathroom! That's the stuff nightmares are made of...I say get rid of it altogether.

Burn it with fire.

Get rid of it.

If you really like it, save a piece and put it in the back of the medicine cabinet or even frame it.

PS) If you do try to clean it, start with something really gentle..like a damp, hot cloth and baking soda.

That wallpaper has got to go!

For your sake, I hope what appears to be rust or oxidation is not in fact nicotine buildup... I once lived in a apartment previously occupied by a heavy smoker. Apparently the bathroom was her favorite place to smoke. The smell was mostly gone, but the nicotine came right through the new paint -- it looked like rust stains.

When we moved into our 1920s bungalow, we inherited flocked wallpaper throughout the stairwell. To make matters worse, someone had painted over it about 10 times. Another hot mess...!

God, when I think of all the crappy living situations I've encountered over the last 27 years of living on my own... it is pretty hilarious.

Listen, I'm all for salvaging retro charm. I cry when I see someone removing cheap wood paneling from the 70's. However, this proves that "retro" and "ugly" are not mutually exclusive.

I would get rid of it. Though I admit, if the tiles matched and were original, I might have second thoughts. Or, split-second thoughts. Or just get rid of it.

I have an aunt who had flocked wallpaper for years...one day she decided to paint it and surprisingly it worked!! Uou'd need a good primer that would stick to the metallic surface but the walls in a solid color with the textured decoration could be beautiful and a bit more subtle then how it is now ( without losing all of the retro charm!!
a nice neutral would be to take the color of the darkest fleck of your tiles and go one shade darker ( still pretty light) and then paint the dark wood trim in a clean off-white.
A lovely shower curtain in a hit of color stripe ( I like a teal or powder blue, some great blue towels and and few pieces of cool art!!) change the switchplates as well ...
if you like the dark wood trim throw in a brown and blue stripe curtain to balance it out a bit and blue accesories!!

http://cdni.llbean.com/is/image/wim/248685_10_41?wid=330&hei=295

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/07/31/61/96/0007316196876_500X500.jpg

I hope its not nicotine as well. On a service project once, I had to clean and repaint a bathroom that had been occupied by heavy smokers for a fair long time (decades) and the walls, which were originally white, were now a dark deep yellow. Hopefully it doesn't sink through.

take it all down. yeesh.

I actually think it's a kind neat-ugly, but unfortunately keeping it and making the rest of the decor "cohesive", as you are thinking you might want to do, would require different tile so I'd say the wallpaper has got to go! Unfortunately, since it is old, stripping it won't be easy. At least it's in a small room and only covers the top half of the wall.

You could design a really pretty room around that neutral flecked tile.

Yeah bathrooms are not a good place for textured wallpaper. I had charmingly retro wallpaper in my bathroom. It was textured shiny white vinyl. Texture holds dirt and dust really well somewhere that gets steamy. That wallpaper was one of the first things to go when I moved in and I am not sad about it at all.

You will not miss it, I promise.

Ewww. If it were in a room other than the bathroom, I might try to salvage it. But in there...you just never know.

Take it down. It'll come off fast and you will immediately be struck by the decorating possibilities for that space!

If you're feeling creative, you could make a stencil based on that same design, remove the wallpaper, and then paint the walls with your stenciled design. That way you could choose whatever color scheme you wanted and wouldn't be stuck with the gold and rust (unless that's what you want).

But yeah, the wallpaper has to go.

If it is nicotine, definitely take it down. Otherwise, every single damn time the bathroom steams up after a shower your walls will drip pee-yellow like something out of a horror movie.

Blech. Sorry but ugly. Plug ugly verging on nasty ugly. Only retro in a really trashy way. Would only be funny in a film by John Waters.

I can definitely see the retro cool in it, but let's face it - it is in a too bad condition and has to go.

Try to save a piece or two and frame it if you like the pattern.

It's hideous. Deep six it.

I actually think it might look awesome black - you'd get a nice tone-on-tone effect. Here's the idea:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/4095643302_721413d6b0_o.jpg

Not all retro/vintage is cool.

This is not cool. If you like the idea of wallpaper, check out secondhandrose.com or ebay.

But with the tile on the walls and ceilings, I'd think a solid wall would look better.

i know, i know, not all retro/vintage is cool. i happen to think (as a general design -- but not in this particular context) this is cool. that's my own taste.

however, given its condition, and the bathroom placement, i think it will be removed. (unless it can be properly cleaned and painted black -- i love that idea, kiddo katsu!)

and yep -- the existing tiles are nice and neutral, and in good shape, so i could start over with a new, fresh design scheme.

thanks for all the great feedback! i appreciate the suggestions (didn't know about secondhandrose.com -- wow!), amusing descriptions, and personal-experience anecdotes.

While removing it (and u must) wear a mask and have the room well ventilated. The particles used in flocking are tiny and when airborn can become trapped in lungs. Sometimes the dust used to make that fuzziness is petroleum based not cloth.