So the bathroom looks like an outhouse now? It's customary to place brick at the bottom and wood on top, not vice versa.

Pictures please- although I'm almost afraid to look.

If she had it her way it would look like an outhouse. Now on the left she had a walkin shower built and below the window a black and white clawfoot tub. She wanted the wood on bottom. That's how she liked .it

Wood doesn’t belong in a shower, so rest assured that fakeouthouse look won’t last very long before the rot will force a change. In the meantime, the unfinished bit goes right along with the outhouse vibe. Leave it unfinished. By the time she’s ready for the next trulyterrible themepark fad, everything will have the authentic mold and rot of an unprotected exterior surface, and it’ll be time to do something else. 12th century chamber pot and rush floors? The single bathroom at the Palace of Versailles? A futuristic Star Trekian hidden everything?

Did she really use wood inside a shower?

Any rough wood in a bathroom will soon have deposits of dead skin, powder, or whatever else the occupants might use. I see it on the stepped edges of vanity doors with dark paint or stain all the time. The fancy profile of a traditional style door gets white dust all over the edges and needs to be dusted often. I can see that driftwood looking pretty messy in 6 months to a year, so I would coat it with something with a flat finish, just so when you have to vacuum the walls, it will at least come off easily. Toweling off, doffing and donning our pants, brushing hair, all these activities slough off a lot of dead skin cells and create a lot of dust.

No there is no wood inside the shower. Just the bathroom walls. Were going to ppoly the wood when done. I'm just trying to figure out what to put on rest walls.

Greendesigns there is no wood inside the shower! And this isnt a fad theme for her. Her whole house was all wood rustic with the primitive farmhouse look my whole life. Way before the farmhouse "look" became a thing. Thank you though.

Hi, I’d carry the wood all the way up the wall behind the toilet. Just paint the other walls.

Based on my experiences on vacation in the country, it seems that either tarpaper or newspaper on the walls. Accented with garden tools like rakes and shovels for decor should be just about right.

There is wallpaper designed to look like news paper, and tarpaper.............well you can purchase that at any hardware store.

" Were going to ppoly the wood when done"

10 coats of polyurethane would not be sufficient to make that a sanitary installation behind a toilet.

How fun? I'd just keep going with the wood behind the toilet.

Branson, what would u suggest then? No one is peeing on the walls.

Continue the theme with Great Abandoned and Mobile Homes photo series. Suitably framed in Rusty metal frames.

Beverly thank you for your help. Think shes wanting a more modern industrial farm look.

I agree with Beverly about the old newspaper idea.

Just paint the rest of the walls. You said there is now a claw foot tub under the window, so maybe subway tile around the tub? Not sure how that would look - you could put up a sample and see. Finish the wood with something used for exterior wood (wooden houses have withstood rain and storms all these years) - surely it will withstand the moisture in a bathroom.

I think the "old newspaper" idea sounds cute.

Well, Mom has been pretty opinionated about everything else, so let Mom decide what might be 'modern' in her mind.

Skim coat walls smooth no texture bright light matte paint. The contrast of light and dark as well as rustic and smooth is nice

Or wall paper, it’s coming back.

I like the old newspaper idea. In fact when I was little my mom wallpapered her small sewing room with real newspapers, and some kind of clear topcoat. Over time it slowly turned yellow but you could still read the dates and articles. There was one photo that was right above our toy box that showed a head shot of 2 astronaughts one was upright and his partner was upside down next to him. The headline read "Unusual Pose for Space Buddies" That was over 30 years ago and I still remember that news photo!

Thank you barncatz. I was thinking the same thing!!! I'm trying to stay positive and be nice back but man I've gotten some negative feedback. :(

Please rethink your barnwood paneling for health and cleanliness reasons. Go with porcelain tiles that look like barnwood, they are more appropriate for a wet environment. Especially near a toilet. Use your barn wood to build accessory shelves or like items for decor purposes.

D.J. Doss, I want to commend your forbearance with the rude, sarcastic comments you have received. It is unfortunate and it’s one reason I will never post an issue and/or dilemma, although I will offer comments if I feel I can help. Do your best to please your mother. I have many happy memories of my mom gluing newspaper on the walls of the old shack we lived in using flour paste. And we did have an actual outhouse at the time. Good luck with your project.

DJ, this is along the lines that I was thinking of. I like the large, white rectangular tiles as a complement.

( PS I just realized we put corrugated meral on our screen porch ceiling and it's adorable.)

Reminds me of a bathroom I had right out of college. The landlord was a do-it-yourselfer who believed in using up bits and pieces from leftover projects. The shower, which was not large, had cedar shingle walls! I had to be careful every time I showered not to get splinters in my skin. Also, roaches had never heard that they were not supposed to like cedar. They made their homes in those shingles. But as far as matching, I painted the walls a clay color and it looked good, in spite of the shingles.