I Can’t Believe This Fabulous “Marble” Bathroom Makeover Isn’t Actually Marble

ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER

HOME TYPE: House

PROJECT TYPE: Bathroom

STYLE: Glam, Organic Modern, Parisian

SKILL LEVEL: DIY

RENTAL FRIENDLY: No

There are lots of DIY dupes for marble out there that look so good it’s uncanny, like this contact paper cabinet topper from Nomita Vaish-Taylor (@yourdiyfamily), this epoxy kitchen countertop by Megan Isenor (@makeitlikemegs), and recently, this bathroom makeover by Leah Hodson (@thestanleydiary) that uses wallpaper — really! — to fake the look of fabulous stone walls.

“The ‘before’ was a very boring, plain powder room that had beige walls,” Leah says, adding that it was “lacking character.” She says she got the idea to go for a marble look from her old house, actually.

“I was really sad to leave behind our perfect bathroom, which had huge half-wall marble tiles (full-wall for the shower unit),” Leah describes. Already wanting to liven up the bathroom, as Leah describes it, she decided to go for an easy DIY look.

The top half of the walls got a limewash treatment.

“I started off doing a faux limewash with beige and white paint to give the top half of the walls more texture,” Leah says. She used Dulux’s Pure Brilliant White paint and Little Greene’s Travertine to create the textured, brighter-than-before look.

Wallpaper worked when tile wasn’t an option — and it’s the star of the show.

On the lower half of the walls — and extending all the way up the back wall — Leah used faux Calacatta marble wallpaper from Balarte Studio in the burgundy colorway. Leah says she loves wallpapering, but this was her toughest wallpaper job yet because of the continuous, large-format pattern.

“The tricky part came when lining the prints up between the full wall and the half wall,” she says. “I’m glad I started on the wall with the toilet because there were so many internal and external corners to navigate, which was very time consuming!”

She used a laser level to ensure that the pattern was level and straight, and she also installed wood molding to separate the beige limewash treatment and wallpaper. “I did source the wood molding locally from a timber merchant which meant I paid £2 [about $2.55] a length instead of £8 from a nationwide provider,” Leah says.

The acrylic backsplash helps protect from water damage.

Leah removed the old mosaic backsplash from before “because it didn’t fit in with the vibe [she] was creating,” but she still needed to be mindful of water splashing onto the walls during hand washing — especially with two toddlers who use the restroom regularly — so she added an acrylic sheet backsplash. “With a few finishing touches, I transformed the ‘blank canvas’ into the moody room that I wanted!” Leah adds.

“It’s bold and beautiful now!” she says of the whole bathroom. “I do believe that powder rooms should be full of character and bold because of how small they normally are!” Her favorite part, is, of course, the wallpaper.

“Everyone who sees our powder room in real life and online assumes it’s tiles, but it’s actually doable as a DIY!”  Leah says.

Inspired? Submit your own project here.