SFGate

michigammemom Wallpaper isn't altogether practical in moist rooms, so I would paint your bath walls white and choose some lively gray and yellow accents to update the yellow tile. Love this graphic shower curtain and sunny painted pieces.

Katie Lamb Love the gray graphic look. That would help. There's wallpaper above the tile currently, but you're right, that's impractical for the bathroom. Plus, it's pretty dated, too!

janishill I had the same issue a few years ago. The bathroom had 2 windows on the south and west sides so there was a lot of sun coming in. I painted the walls a deep blue similar to this: http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/symphonyblue Did I get compliments? It looked sooo good no one noticed the outdated fixtures.

So paint it a color that compliments the fixtures, add art work you love and redo when the money is there.

Katie Lamb Great! The other one is pink, anh thoughts on rescuing me from pink tile I might not be able to get rid of?

olldbobbi For the pink room, try accessorizing with black and white. And when you do get around to removing the tile, have it tested for lead content before you do the work, please?

Le Java Woodwork r u trying to go modern stlye? yellow with grey works. wallpaper works well in bath room, especially if it is a strong pattern. eg. Damask pattern. i love to use it since they draw your eyes into the wallapaper.

you can use the wallpaper on the wall with the mirror, add a nice side lamp.

if its an old place, scrape the sealant out and reseal, as they get moldy after years of use.

feeny I know it sounds like we are just repeating ourselves, but it really is the case that gray and white and black are fabulous in combination with either pink or yellow. So if you did a mix of grays and whites with black accents in the non-tile parts of each of those bathrooms I suspect they will look much more up to date. Here are two ideabooks on those combinations of colors:

Granite Transformations Hi Katie,

I too would say that wallpaper in the bathroom isn't the right fit. I love the grey on yellow though. Vintage grey by Benjamin Moore is a nice color, something a bit darker would probably work well too. Decorating with the grey and yellows should be pretty easy.

Good luck!

Simple Design Ideas Is the tile all around the perimeter of the bathroom and floor also? or just in the shower area? I say embrace the tile, specially if you don't have any money to renovated it ~ look at it as character and get creative with your accents - white towels, matts, and curtains, would be an easy way to make the impact of the tile more subtle (light grays would work too)....use glass or stainless steel accessories (soap dispensers, tissue holders, tooth brush holders, etc...)

janishill And don't forget ~ tile can be painted! So if the fixtures are white and the tile is the only thing that bothers you you can change it with a little elbow grease!

http://homerenovations.about.com/od/tiling/a/PaintingTile.htm