Your bathroom sees you at your best and worst -- when you're sick, when you're in a rush to get to work on time and when you're relaxing at the end of a long day. Choosing warm, cozy paint tones for your bathroom walls and cabinetry, and selecting calming, tasteful wallpaper can transform your bathroom into a welcome sanctuary overnight.

Wall Colors & Techniques

Avoid flat paint for the walls and cabinetry, as it is the hardest to clean and often visibly retains moisture. Instead, choose a satin or semi-gloss paint. Always paint ceilings with ceiling flat paints, which are specially designed to be the most splatter- amd stain-resistant.

If love the color of a particular set of bathroom towels or the color of a soap dispenser, choose a complementary color for the walls from a color wheel. If your bathroom has non-removable colored components, like blue floor tile, a color wheel also can help you select wall color that will match.

To create a soothing, serene environment, pick a pale shade of green or blue, like sea foam green or sky blue. Chocolate brown with bright white trim is also a warm choice, while gray adds a more modern, industrial feel (especially against silver faucets and towel rods). If you want your bathroom to say romance, try a deep burgundy. However, the darker the color, introduce more lighting into the room to keep it from feeling like a cave.

Avoid colors that you wouldn't use as the backdrop of a photograph. When you look at yourself in the bathroom mirror each morning, the color of your walls effectively is a photographic background. Bright yellow or lime green may highlight your complexion in a less-than-flattering way, according to HGTV. Don't be afraid to try a daring color, as you always can repaint.

As for painting techniques, if a single color isn't fulfilling enough, consider faux finishing, which warms up any space. DVDs and instructional books can teach you how to do it yourself, although an experienced professional is your best bet for ensuring a polished, uniform tone. Other painting styles include strie painting, which makes your walls look like fabric and crinkle paper painting, which adds texture to a level wall.

Cabinet Colors & Techniques

Select a high-gloss paint for doors, cabinetry and trim, which is the best kind of paint in an area prone to constant moisture and frequent use. Use white or ivory tones that will open up the space and match any other colors you incorporate into the room.

Unlike walls, cabinets can only be painted a few times before all the layers of paint add an unattractive extra depth, so only try a bold color or a fancy painting technique if you're confident you'll keep it for awhile.

If you want to paint your cabinets, paint the walls your chosen color first and then choose an analogous color for the cabinetry. If you realize you'd prefer another color for the walls, you'll also have to repaint everything else. Never paint the cabinets the same color as the walls, or you'll create a boring, flat space.

Feeling crafty? Peruse your local craft store for a tasteful stencil that you could use to paint a simple design around the side of a cabinet, or consider a decoupage project.

For a temporary and easy custom cabinet design, purchase a set of decorative vinyl wall clings -- anything from unicorns to modern dots. If you get tired of them, or constantly want to switch things up, it's just a matter of peeling them off and adhering new ones.

Wallpaper

Choose bathroom wallpaper with care, as wallpaper retains moisture. Bathrooms take awhile to dry out after a shower, and if the heater doesn't regularly and quickly dry out the walls, the wallpaper will start to peel. Selecting a vinyl wallpaper and applying it with a high-moisture paste will help extend its life.

Vertical stripes will make the ceilings in a small bathroom feel higher, while a rose-and-white pattern creates a feeling of sophistication. Light blues and greens are calming and spa-like, while a darker blue has more of a get-down-to-business feel. Consider patterns with light, natural designs, like single leaves, ferns or birds. The fewer the number of colors in the wallpaper pattern, the more calming.

Before purchasing wallpaper, consult with everyone who will be using that bathroom regularly. A wife may love the idea of walls covered in flowers, but her husband may prefer more subtle stripes or squares. A busy pattern may seem perfectly acceptable in a book of patterns but feel altogether overwhelming when it covers the room.

A wallpaper border, lined along the middle or top of the wall or around the mirror, is another alternative. The border will dry faster than an entire wall, and and if it does start to peel, it's much easier to remove and replace a wallpaper border than an entire room.

Accent Walls

If your bathroom is large enough, consider an accent wall, which is one wall painted with a slightly darker tone. A typical accent wall is mostly empty -- it wouldn't be the wall with your shower or sink against it, as appliances break up the color too much.

For a small bathroom, however, an accent wall may create more of a feeling of tension than one of balance, since there's not much area to cover with the second color of paint.

Fresh wallpaper can give your bathroom a whole new look and feel. Today's wall covering options offer a wide range of colors and designs to choose from. With the right tools, a good eye and a steady hand, you can hang new wallpaper in your bathroom in a weekend. It helps to have an assistant if you will be installing the wallpaper on the entire length of the wall.

Instructions :

Step 1 :
Choose your wallpaper, keeping in mind the moisture and humidity levels in the bathroom. Special wallpaper, manufactured just for bathrooms, offers a vinyl-base that resists warping, peeling and damage from moisture (see Resources below).
Step 2 :
Strip all old wallpaper and prepare the bare wall for papering. Avoid papering over old wallpaper as it will bubble and create an uneven surface. Scrape, sand and fill small holes with wall spackle. The wall should be smooth and free from any debris or old nails and screws. In addition, roll sizing on the walls in a thick layer, allowing it to dry before you begin. This ensures easy paper removal later.
Step 3 :
Begin in the middle of the longest wall. Using the plumb bob, make a mark at the top of the wall and one at the bottom. Pop a chalk line between the two marks. This gives you a perfectly vertical line. Measure the amount of wallpaper you need for the first piece and cut a section at least 4 inches longer.
Step 4 :
Spread wallpaper paste thickly on the back of your first piece if your wallpaper is not pre-pasted. If it is pre-pasted, you can skip this step and roll the piece loosely right side out and place it in the water tray. If you don't have a tray, the bathtub, filled with a few inches of lukewarm water, will suffice. Let the paper soak for 30 minutes and then carefully pull it out of the tray.
Step 5 :
Fold the wet paper so the glue-side sticks together. Set it aside. Allow the wet wallpaper to "book." This process allows the glue to soften, making manipulation of the paper easier when it's on the wall.
Step 6 :
Unfold the paper and hang it from the top edge, making sure the edge of the paper lines up with the chalk line on the wall. Use the wallpaper smoother to brush any bubbles out with long soft strokes, working from the middle of the paper outwards. Match any pattern lines at this time.
Step 7 :
Check the alignment of the paper again. Wet paper is movable for a few minutes, allowing you to adjust it. Try to work out most of the bubbles. If a few tiny ones remain, carefully stick a straight pin into the bubble and press the air out.
Step 8 :
Repeat this process, working your way around the room. When you come to a corner, cut the wallpaper strip so only 2 inches wrap around the corner. Apply this piece and then use the plumb bob again to hang the next piece right in the corner. The new piece will overlap the old piece. This gives the corner a finished look. Spread extra paste on top of the 2-inch strip.
Step 9 :
Leave the bottom and top excess on until you hang three or four pieces, then go back, hold the straight edge along the ceiling and the baseboard, and carefully cut the excess off with the utility knife. If the wallpaper buckles, wait a few more minutes.

The design of a room can be updated and changed with some inexpensive and simple upgrades. You don't need a new set of furniture or the help of a professional interior designer. Find a new color scheme, and go with it. Having a well-designed room that is functional is key.
Step 1 :
Recover your old or purchase some new pillows. Giving your sofa a new blast of color and shape will make it look like a different sofa. Layer pillows of different shapes and sizes. Top off your sofa with a soft throw that will complement the pillows.
Step 2:
Paint a new color on the walls. Paint is an inexpensive and easy fix for any room.
Step 3 :
Rework your lighting. Move existing lamps or purchase new ones that offer a lot of well-directed light.
Step 4 :
Place natural touches around the room. A green plant or vase of interesting flowers will liven the look of your room.
Step 5 :
Display your belongings in a manner that will showcase their beauty but decrease the appearance of clutter. Group like pieces to create collections.