This Homeowner “Never Liked” His 1960s Bathroom Tile — Until a $218 Makeover
Bathrooms redos that keep the vintage tiles are often a fan favorite at Apartment Therapy, and there are several advantages to working with the tiles already on your walls (even if they are from the 1950s or ’60s).
First, there’s no demo work involved, and chipping off old tiles can be incredibly dusty. Second, new tiles are expensive. So in Jose Manalo’s bathroom, the 1960s tile that was original to the building stayed.
“I never liked the tile color, which is difficult to tell if it is peach or pink or beige,” Jose says, but he found some wallpaper to tone down the tile and, in fact, make it look charming in the bathroom.
The tile stayed — and there’s new wallpaper and paint.
“The choice of wallpaper design and color complements the tile perfectly,” Jose says. He picked a honey-toned brown (Behr’s Baked Sienna) for the walls, ceiling, and door, and trim, and then he chose a navy floral wallpaper that incorporates those lighter tones.
You can find it at Amazon or The Home Depot. “I am happy that it finally completes my space,” Jose adds.
The wallpaper was easier to install than expected.
Jose paid about $76 for the wallpaper, $55 for the paint and trim, $60 for samples before he picked his final choices, and $8 for a new light switch and accompanying hardware.
He says he used spray adhesive and a wallpaper application kit (this cost about $20 total) to help with the wallpaper installation process, especially because he didn’t want to trap any moisture in the bathroom — or have the wallpaper peel up from moisture. He says the process went well and he watched a lot of YouTube videos to help.
“I wanted to renovate my whole bathroom one day, but doing this definitely saved me a lot of money and makes the bathroom exactly how I wanted it,” Jose says. “I am happy that it finally completes my space.”
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