You can use any scale paper for a half bath. You'll need a wallpaper pro to tell you about matching the ceiling and sides, unless you have crown molding to break it up. But I wouldn't paint the bottom part of the wall white and use wallpaper above unless you have some sort of wainscoting or bead board below. Otherwise, you can get a top-heavy look. You could add the wood below if you want to stick with white, or paint the lower part of the wall a deeper color from the paper.

Ah I see your point about maybe being topheavy. I have no crown molding. You don’t think a large scale paper is a problem? I’m thinking that if I get a scale that’s too large then not enough of the pattern will show and it won’t look right. I just don’t know how large is too large.

It's only an eight foot ceiling. Drop the wainscoting to more more than 42 inches, paper above it, ( you'll have 54 inches, and millions of bold scale are a 27" repeat ) and SKIP the ceiling. Plain or bold scale matters not. Consider a mural!! Tint the ceiling to something in the paper........ Or use a metallic if that is appropriate to your paper. Masters metallic PAINT on the one below,

( papering ANY ceiling.......call a pro ) Crown molding FIRST . A much nicer look with paper. Any paper.

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That's about 42 inches : ) below

A large scale pattern will just be more dramatic, which is fine for a powder room. You might consider running the paper floor to ceiling, so it's less broken up, and then painting the ceiling white (or a light color) instead of adding molding. Or add the crown molding instead of the wall molding and paper the walls and ceiling or just the ceiling. The second photo shows how molding breaks up the wall, which maybe isn't the best in a very small room.

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I think the density of the pattern is what matters most for matching seams...big motif patterns with blank spaces between are the hardest to make work...in a small bath with out high ceilings it may be more effective to paper the walls and paint the ceiling a solid color.

My concern would be to do a paper with enough white in it so the fixtures don’t contrast too much with the paper

Jan you are saying that if I do a wall molding there should be 42” below it?

Sounds like there’s a consensus that I shouldn’t do the ceiling, which makes me a little sad but that’s ok :). I’m definitely open to adding some crown. I’m also open to painting the vanity, although I hadn’t been planning on it. It would need to be a shade of blue or green (probably navy, teal, or deep green) to work with the rest of the house.

I just have to think about whether I’m open to the paper being floor to ceiling. That’s what in there now, and I feel like it’s too much. Maybe because it’s a small scale pattern. I feel like I want a statement, but I don’t want it to overwhelm. I know that may seem contradictory. Of the photos posted, the paper that most appeals to me is the bright pink floral rose pattern that calidesign posted.

Thank you all for helping me sort through this - I appreciate it a lot.

Yes, that's what I am saying. $2 inch high wainscoting, allows pattern to show........and is proportional to the ceiling height.

If the paper you have feels "overwhelming" it is probably too small a scale/busy.

Also, while a powder room allows some WOW, it should also relate to the rest of your home. A color, a feeling, something.! It is never one element in a room that make a design effective, even a powder room is the sum of all its part.s Vanity, lighting, mirror, etc. None of the photos I posted were for a specific paper suggestion......it was for the wainscoting height, .......or the feel in the WHOLE of the half bath. : )

The pink rose paper above works just as well with a WHITE vanity..

Thank you Jan and Patricia. Jan, you are spot on about the scale of the current paper. It’s a small toile. I’ve lived with it for seven years since buying the house because it was the thing I least dislike in the previous homeowner’s decor. But it’s just a lot and I’m ready for a change. However, this is a change on a shoestring budget because I’m getting close to finishing a major remodel of other areas of the house.

The biggest issue with this room is the lighting. It only has one since recessed light, and there is no budget to change that. I have to work with what I have. That’s why I don’t want the walls to get too dark - I don’t have the lighting it takes to do anything moody. I agree with Patricia that I’d like something dramatic, but I don’t want anything dark. I’d like a botanical, large scale, with navy and pink in it, and if it’s got some green that’s a plus. The problem is that most of what I’m attracted to looks like it goes in a little girls’s room, or is not large scale enough. I like things that have the large cabbage rose or peony designs. Hi be thought about giving up on color and doing a large back and white floral, which I think looks less like a nursery. But I’d really prefer some color.

Here are some of the papers I like. The first two are a paper from spoonflower. I like it a lot up close but from further back I think the horizontal repeat is too small for me. However the site says they can produce things in different scales so that could help. The third photo I love but it’s crazy expensive - way outside my budget. I also love the last one but I definitely worry it has the nursery vibe.

Any suggestions you have for other papers or what specs I should look for in a paper (including whether the black and white is a better way to go) are most welcome.

Here are photos of current state. It’s rough looking right now bc construction is going on all around it and this is the bathroom the crew is using. There are currently two doors - one across from the toilet and one on the wall 90 degrees from the vanity (you can see it in the third photo). That last one is going away - the only one that will remain is the one across from the toilet.

I do prefer to have the bathroom relate in some way to the rest of the house, which is done in whites, navy, and blue/greens, with occasional blush accents. That’s why I want the colors I do.

That's a pretty wild swing to a bold/girly and sweet floral. Sure about that? Maybe less "sweet and blowsy" ??The second pic

WAIT! I just read..........." I don't have the budget for lighting" . Then you paint until you DO! For heavens sake, any design of anything, fails minus good lighting. PERIOD.

YOU HAVE THE BUDGET TO EVEN CONSIDER WAINSCOTING AND PAPER AND PAPER ON THE CEILING BUT YOU WONT GET AN ELECTRICIAN AND MORE RECESSED OR SOME SCONCES?

NO!! A thousand time...no.

there's nothing in that soffit. take it out before anything. Get a lovely wall mounted light. On a dimmer. then worry on a nice paint color and some art. good grief.

Put money where it counts Lights......faucet.

You buggy is out front of the horse.....and the result will fail.

Dark is different than blah, and under lit. Not doing surgery. in there, BUT. sixty watts of one recessed will not do the trick for any paint or paper.

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Lol you make me laugh Jan. I know you’re right. But I can DIY all the carpentry, painting, and papering (since the ceiling idea is out) myself. Doing the electrical, fixtures and removing/redrywalling the soffit will easily run more than 1,000. Normally that wouldn’t faze me but my remodel came with some surprises plus some decisions to upgrade some materials, and I’m over budget. AND I need a new roof this spring. I know it’s not much but it’s a lot right now. So I really wanted to just do a simple DIY.

However, you have convinced me to at least talk to the contractor about how much it would be to do a change order and get rid of the soffit and add some new lighting. I hate being THAT client - the one who wants to change the plan. But we’ll see what he says.

Even if you just added a second recessed light to the soffit it would be a big improvement. I agree that you should have lighting done first. I'd look for a wallpaper with a white background in the colors you like. Consider something geometric in addition to floral if you can't find exactly what you like.

Be " That" client. Go to a stone yard, find a nice quartz remnant, get a new 8" spread faucet and white under mount sink. Lose the cheap "hotel" top on the vanity. Buy a light, and a new mirror. Ditch the soffit, Throw some crown molding up there. Want wainscoting? FINE! Then paint a fabulous color, and add some art.

Every single one of these will be long term a better route to a jewel of a room, than slamming up wallpaper, which you can do at ANY time, up the road. End the blah

Well you all convinced me to suck it up and spend the money on the powder room. I talked to the contractor. They are going to take out the soffit, add a ceiling light, and add a fixture over the mirror. And Jan I’m going to try to find a remnant for the counter top. I’ll come back and ask for help once all that is done. Thanks everybody - you gave me the kick in the backside I needed 😊.

Why wallpaper the ceiling? You are just going to torture yourself lol (do you really want all that overhead work?) and I don’t think it looks any nicer. I just redid my bathroom. I picked a wallpaper I loved- scale is only one factor among so many, don’t narrow it down by that yet. Here are pics of my bathroom, I did it all myself- installed the beadboard, painted and wallpapered and added a floating vinyl plank floor.

I'M PRETTY FAMOUS FOR THE KICK I N THE REAR. !! Get what you love and want_ the first time.....: ) in the end it is cheaper, and you're happier

Hahaha Jan yes I am well aware of your skill in this area. It’s much appreciated 😊. I think I just didn’t want to consider it because the budget for the project was already BIIIIGGG and I swore to myself that I absolutely would not exceed it. My experience is that small amounts of extras add up to big overages fast. But as things continued to progress here I can really see that it would be stupid to plan to wait a few years to take out the soffit and change out the lighting - it will be cheaper in the long run to just bite the bullet and do it now.

Do you think I should do a vanity light fixture over the mirror (there’s not room on either side) and an actual fixture for the ceiling light, or should I stick to recessed lighting in the ceiling (not in a soffit)? One recessed light doesn’t seem like enough, more seems like a lot in that little room, and I’m not sure where to locate them. So I’m inclined to do a simple but nice ceiling fixture with two bulbs in it, and then a two or three bulb wall fixture over the mirror.

@Lila I love your wallpaper. I wasn’t planning to paper the ceiling - I would pay someone to do it. My neck and back couldn’t handle it 😜.