Beadboard Bathroom Ideas: How To Use This In Your Home

If you’re looking for some ideas and inspiration on how to add beadboard to a bathroom, today’s blog post is for you.

In case you’re not already familiar, beadboard is a type of wainscoting or decorative panel look.

I’ve got a whole post dedicated to stunning wainscoting ideas, but today we’re just going to focus on more traditional bead board design.

In fact, we’re going to narrow it down even further to only the use of beadboard in bathroom designs and the visual appeal this particular design decision can offer.

wallpaper in bathroom from Serena and Lily site for designer looks
White beadboard wainscoting bathroom wall featuring this decorative element behind the tub.

Beadboard Bathroom Ideas

An interior design world favorite, beadboard panels are traditionally made up of wood paneling with vertical lines known as tongue and groove slats.

These days, you can buy durable beadboards at most home ware stores.

They even come in array of different cost saving, yet durable materials such as medium-density fiberboard (mdf) and vinyl beadboard.

Any enthusiastic DIY-er will find a diy beadboard bathroom pretty easy to install. 

Today I’ll be showing you a few examples from my own home.

Powder Room and Bathroom Wainscoting Ideas

Bathroom beadboard paneling can be a great wall treatment to add to your interior design, no matter your taste.

Typically this look goes up to a chair rail height, but you can always get creative and go up even higher.

I also think bead board on the ceiling is almost always a great idea!

It’s such an easy way to add a lot of personality to a room.

In fact, you can even get really bold and do an entire room.

This is an inexpensive yet sophisticated way to add some visual interest to your empty bathroom walls. 

So here are a few great ideas to consider if you’re thinking of adding some beadboards to your bathroom: 

Classic beadboard style: Lower Half of the Walls

Adding beadboard paneling is a great way to achieve a classic look.

Our guest bathroom in Rhode Island came with traditional beadboard panels which we kept when we recently renovated this space.

As you can see from the first image above, beadboard not only allows for a visual break when using large pattern wallpaper (as I love in even the tiniest powder rooms.) but it also adds a nice contrast.

I happen to love combining wallpaper and beadboard in general, as you’ll see.

And, it’s also a great way to enhance the coastal look of a space.

beadboard bathroom ceiling
Bathroom wainscoting using beadboard surrounding the large window in our previous home’s master bathroom. This was one of my favorite projects.

Beadboard on the Bathroom Ceiling

In our prior home in New York, we not only had beadboard on the lower half of the walls, but we also went with it on the ceiling.

It’s a little hard to tell from this image, but adding the beadboard to this ceiling really tied everything in the room together so nicely.

The perfect finishing touch.

I’m a big fan of using beadboard as the perfect backdrop in a bathroom with with traditional elements – I think it adds such an interesting look.

beadboard in a powder room
Cottage style kid’s bathroom with beadboard on the lower portion of the wall.

Play Around With Varying Heights Of Bathroom Beadboard In Your Design

Above is another former bathroom where we added beadboard to the walls.

The height of your beadboard can make a huge difference in your bathroom space.

Tall beadboard in a large space or larger bathrooms can add a bit more movement and look more visually pleasing.

On the other hand, with shorter beadboard, you can make your walls look taller and more spacious in a smaller space with low ceilings. 

In this particular bathroom above, we wanted the top of the  beadboard to also serve as the backsplash behind the pedestal sink.

This is a popular choice as this way the wallpaper would be protected from water damage.

So we chose a custom height to allow for this small touch of elegance.

I think this is a unique look which looks so beautiful in almost any bathroom design.

It also provides a beautiful focal point for the whole space.

Remember you’re not just limited to the lower portion of the wall.

bathroom with beadboard all the way up the walls
A white bathroom featuring vintage bathroom paneling.

Use Beadboard Everywhere in Your Bathroom Design

We’ve covered half way up the walls and the ceiling, but you can also go full on beadboard with your bathroom design.

Go all the way up the walls for a cohesive, coastal look – yes the entire wall, and then some!

This can be a really great bathroom feature.

Especially if you’re dealing with a small space, beadboard wainscoting makes a room feel so put together and cozy.

Don’t be intimidated to use it in the entire room!

The vertical lines will make your bathroom walls look taller, and yet it’s also a very cozy, chic vibe.

Hopefully you loved these beadboard ideas on decorating with beadboards and wooden panels.

If you decide to use one of these ideas on your own bathroom, let me know.

Even better, send me a photo, I’d love to see it!

For even more wall and classic bathroom decor inspiration, don’t miss these posts:

How to decorate a large blank wall.

What to hang on the blank wall behind the sofa.

How to decorate a staircase wall.

Bathroom Ceiling Lighting Ideas For Your Home.

The best paint sprayers for all of your painting diy projects.

Paint review of Benjamin Moore White Dove.

The best paint colors for white walls.

Bathroom Remodeling Ideas and Inspiration.

The Best Wallpaper Trends and Mural Sources.

How to make a small bathroom appear larger.

Paint Review: Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray

Our laundry room remodel.

SHOP THE POST:

Just a few more things…

Design lovers! Have you joined our fun and VERY helpful design Facebook group?

In this group – members share photos with their design questions and dilemmas from their own home.

Then we all chime in with our best advice!

cheat sheet

Lastly, to help you even further with your home projects, download my FREE DESIGN CHEAT SHEET!

Why not take your home’s interior design style to the next level…

SIGN UP FOR MY  EMAILS  AND RECEIVE MY FREE, SUPER HELPFUL DESIGN CHEAT SHEET and even more great tips and inspiration in your inbox!

Thanks!

*This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click a link and purchase something from my blog posts, I may get a small commission from it at no cost to you. For more info, please read my disclaimer. I only refer things that I truly love and hope you will too!

Leave a Comment

2 Comments

  1. jill wrote:

    Gorgeous pictures. Thanks for sharing and giving me inspiration for my bathroom.

    Published on 6.30.23 · Reply
  2. Beadboard can oftentimes look tacky in my opinion. These on the other hand are great examples of how to use them to elevate your bathrooms.

    Published on 9.7.22 · Reply