Ideas by Room
Best Powder Room Wallpaper: 7 Designs With Big Character
A powder room is the one room where you can go as bold as you like, because nobody stays long enough to tire of it. Here are seven murals we would hang in one, two other routes, and which paper to choose.
The short version
- Our pick overall: Mortimer, Jade, climbing roses in deep emerald and forest green.
- Go darker than you dare elsewhere. In a small room a dark ground feels intimate, not cramped.
- Choose the paper by the room. A powder room has no shower: Non-Pasted suits a dry one, Pre-Pasted or Peel and Stick a more humid one.
- Small walls, exact fit. Each mural is printed to your wall's width and height, so there are no part rolls left over.
- Try it in the room. A 30 x 20 in sample on the real paper costs $34 in Non-Pasted, credited back on your mural within 90 days.
The best powder room wallpaper is a bold, dark or richly patterned design that turns a small room into a deliberate moment. Our pick is Mortimer, Jade, a panoramic climbing rose mural in deep emerald and forest green, printed to the size of your walls.
A powder room is small, used briefly and seen by every guest, so it rewards the designs that would be too much in a living room. All seven below are suggested for powder rooms; the ranking is about how each one changes the room.
The best powder room wallpapers at a glance
| Design | Best for | What sets it apart |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mortimer, Jade | A moody, romantic powder room | Climbing roses in emerald and forest green |
| 2. Kinmont, Midnight | Classic and traditional homes | Navy chinoiserie, ivory, powder blue and gold |
| 3. Kip, Gilt | A glamorous statement | Gold leopards on charcoal black |
| 4. Plumage, Lapis | A playful but rich room | Gold parrots on deep navy |
| 5. Scriptorium, Jade | A surprise for guests | Emerald library shelves, no visible repeat |
| 6. Rivoli, Loch | A powder room with little light | Teal art deco on a warm off-white ground |
| 7. Firmament, Onyx | Walls and ceiling together | Black galaxy, calm and modern |
The ranking: 7 powder room wallpapers worth the splash
All seven are made to measure, printed as straight-match panels 76 cm (30 in) wide with pre-trimmed edges, and shipped free to 107 countries with import duties included. The photos show each design in a bathroom setting.
1. Mortimer, Jade: best powder room wallpaper overall
Best for: a powder room that should feel moody, romantic and a little gothic.
Mortimer, Jade is a panoramic mural of climbing roses, their blooms and trailing stems rising from the bottom edge in deep emerald and forest green. The colours are muted and slightly faded, which softens the painterly illustration.
It ranks first because it has drama and calm at once: the roses cover the lower wall while generous quiet areas higher up stop a small room from feeling busy.
- Bold, dark and refined in mood
- A soft blush watercolour version exists: Rosamaine, Rosehip
- Velvet in deep blue or green, antique brass, dark timber
2. Kinmont, Midnight: best classic choice
Best for: a powder room in a traditional home, off a dining or drawing room.
Kinmont, Midnight evokes eighteenth-century silk wallpapers: delicate birds among trailing blossoms and foliage in ivory, powder blue and soft gold, painterly in style, on a deep navy ground. The medium repeat is rich in detail.
Chinoiserie is a long-standing choice for small, formal rooms. Under lamplight the navy absorbs light gently and the motifs stand out softly.
- Softly vintage, with muted colours
- A charcoal version exists: Cathay, Ink
- Cream upholstery or dark wood, antique brass, natural linen
3. Kip, Gilt: best glamorous statement
Best for: a powder room meant to be the talking point of the house.
Kip, Gilt is a classic leopard pattern in warm gold-ochre on a deep charcoal black ground, painterly with a soft vintage feel. Dozens of medium-scale motifs repeat evenly, so there are no large empty spaces.
It is the most glamorous design here, and a small room is where that much glamour is easiest to live with.
- Dark, moody and refined
- Lighter versions exist: Leopold, Stone and Junglecat, Etching
- Velvet in forest green or deep ruby, dark wood, brass
4. Plumage, Lapis: best playful pick
Best for: a powder room that should make guests smile without losing its polish.
Plumage, Lapis is a finely detailed pattern of exotic parrots in muted gold-ochre with a soft vintage print texture, on a deep navy ground. A dozen or more birds spread evenly in a medium repeat, leaving no large empty areas of navy.
Parrots bring wit; the navy and gold keep it antique rather than tropical.
- Fun and timeless at once
- A charcoal chinoiserie version exists: Aviary, Gilt
- Forest green velvet, burnished brass and dark timber
5. Scriptorium, Jade: best surprise
Best for: a powder room under the stairs or off a study, where a library feels unexpected.
Scriptorium, Jade is a floor-to-ceiling library of antique books in deep emerald and forest green, shown with photographic realism. The spines have no lettering and there is no visible repeat.
A wall of books in a powder room is a small joke that guests notice, and the deep green keeps it calm.
- Dark, moody and timeless
- A navy version exists: Athenaeum, Midnight
- Forest green or teal velvet, dark wood, brass
6. Rivoli, Loch: best for a room with little light
Best for: a windowless or dim powder room where a dark ground would feel heavy.
Rivoli, Loch is a classic art deco pattern outlined in fine gold-toned lines, with deep teal and sea green blending softly on a warm off-white ground. At least a dozen evenly spread motifs leave no sparse areas.
It is the light-ground pick in this list: all the glamour of art deco, with the brightness a windowless room needs.
- Bold in its lines, calm in its colour
- Darker art deco versions exist: Normandie, Midnight and Deauville, Onyx
- Jewel tone velvet, polished brass, dark timber
7. Firmament, Onyx: best for walls and ceiling
Best for: a modern powder room where the ceiling can be papered too.
Firmament, Onyx is a modern galaxy design in black tones, calm, dark and moody. The ceiling is one of its suggested placements, so the whole room can become a night sky.
It ranks last only because it is the most particular in style: perfect in a contemporary home, out of place in a period one.
- Contemporary, modern and luxe
- A bright teal galaxy exists: Orrery, Loch
- Brass or gold-tone accents and pale towels
8. Alternative: paint in a deep colour with a statement mirror
A dark painted wall and a large framed mirror is the quickest powder room update. It gives depth without pattern.
9. Alternative: wallpaper by the roll
Rolls from home stores and wallpaper makers suit a small repeating pattern. On small walls you match the pattern from roll to roll and usually have part of a roll left over.
Shop powder room wallpaper
Dark florals, chinoiserie, animal prints and art deco, each printed to the exact size of your walls.
How we chose
Every design here is suggested for powder rooms. From those, we picked one for each common brief: dark floral, classic chinoiserie, glamorous animal print, playful animal print, library, light art deco and modern celestial. We favoured medium repeats or no visible repeat, which read well on the short, narrow walls of a powder room.
We did not rank on price: every design costs the same per square foot on the same paper.
Buying guide: which paper for a powder room
A powder room is a toilet and a basin, with no bath or shower. That usually makes it drier than a bathroom, but a small room with a basin can still see some humidity. Choose the paper by how damp your room actually gets.
| Your powder room | Paper | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Dry, with a window or fan | Non-Pasted, $7.95 per sq ft | Non-woven 190 gsm, smooth matte, for dry rooms |
| Some humidity, little ventilation | Pre-Pasted, $8.95 per sq ft | Non-woven 300 gsm, suited to most rooms including bathrooms |
| Rented, or you want to change it later | Peel and Stick, $10.95 per sq ft | Self-adhesive, repositionable for 24 hours, for moderate humidity |
All three wipe clean with a damp cloth, which matters next to a basin. None of our papers should go where water hits the wall directly: protect the area behind the tap with a splashback.
Dark walls and dark paper. Our papers are semi-opaque. If your powder room is already painted a very dark colour, paint a light base first so the design keeps its true colours. Hang on smooth or lightly textured walls only, not brick, stone or stucco.
Small rooms have many corners and cut-outs, so measure carefully with our measuring guide, prepare the walls with this checklist, and see how to hang a wall mural. For full bathrooms, see our bathroom wallpaper. For rich designs in larger rooms, see our ranking of the best luxury wallpaper.
More powder room designs
Arles, TerracottaPrinted to your wall size
Gloriana, GiltPrinted to your wall size
Lucca, InkPrinted to your wall size
Common questions
Should powder room wallpaper be dark or light?
Dark is the classic choice: in a small room it feels intimate and deliberate rather than cramped. If the room has no window and weak lighting, a bold pattern on a light ground, such as Rivoli, Loch, gives the same impact without the heaviness. For more flower designs, see our ranking of the best floral wallpaper.
Is regular wallpaper OK in a powder room?
Usually, yes, because a powder room has no shower. Non-Pasted paper suits a dry, ventilated powder room. If the room gets humid, choose Pre-Pasted or Peel and Stick, and keep any paper away from direct splashes.
Should I wallpaper all four walls of a powder room?
Most people do, because the room is small and the effect comes from being surrounded by the pattern. Order every wall at once, since colours can vary slightly between print runs.
Can I wallpaper the ceiling of a powder room too?
Yes, and some designs are made for it. Firmament, Onyx lists the ceiling as a suggested placement. Measure the ceiling as a separate surface and order it with the walls.
How much wallpaper does a powder room need?
Add up the width of each wall and multiply by the height, then subtract nothing for the door: it is safer to keep a margin. A room with walls of 5, 4, 5 and 4 ft at 8 ft high is 144 sq ft, about $1,145 on Non-Pasted paper. Use the wallpaper calculator for your exact walls.
Is busy wallpaper too much for a tiny powder room?
Rarely. A busy pattern can overwhelm a large room you sit in for hours, but a powder room is used for minutes, so a rich pattern reads as a pleasant surprise. An even medium repeat looks calmer than a scattered one.
Made to your measure
Powder Room Wallpaper
Before you order