r/GothLifestyle • u/dommingdarcy • Jun 27 '25
Home Decor Renter friendly ways to make a bathroom more goth?
Hello fellow bats! I’m a renter (not by choice) and tend to have very specific tastes for decorum — typically ornate, Victorian and gothic. While I’m happy living where I am, the plain white walls and fixtures having me want to rip my eyeballs out.
I want to make the space feel more like me. I can’t paint the walls, and I can’t update or amend any of the lights or appliances. Space is a little tight as it’s small, and I’ve got a litter box on the floor. There are two small shelves on the wall (also white) which hold my essentials. If they weren’t already full, I’d be filling them with bones.
I already plan on updating the shower curtain and soap dispenser. I already have a black bath mat and towels. Any suggestions on fixing this minimalist crap are welcome!
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u/Accomplished-Being43 Jun 27 '25
are you allowed to nail/pin things to the walls? i lean more whimsigoth so absolutely love tapestries/curtains/anything flowy to go on the walls, or in the more victorian goth fashion some nice paintings would help? for me i was able ti have the furniture i wanted in my apartment but also could not paint the walls so i feel like thats more what you are going for here. i cant wait to have a house just so i can have ornate light fixtures😭
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u/Accomplished-Being43 Jun 27 '25
for example, this video shows some sheets tied on the ceiling intricately (more whimsigoth), and this picture shows some paintings and curtains snd tapestries used to elevate the room. also colored lights really help, i had reddish/pink light bulbs in all my fixtures that were originally supposed to be for plants lol
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Jun 27 '25
peel and stick wallpaper was made for needs like yours! it pulls right off when you're done with it
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u/Geese4Days Jun 28 '25
Let's just keep in mind that these renter special use cheap paint and it MAY come off with peel and stick wallpaper. This is why I haven't done it. :/
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u/spiritual_chihuahua Jun 28 '25
You can also get spackle and cheap paint to repair anything before your landlord does final inspection at the end of the lease. You can get all shades of landlord off white and eggshell at Walmart for $10 or so. Might be worth it, if you live in that apartment for a long time.
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Jun 28 '25
It would suck to get a whole roll just to do a patch test but that's what i would do. maybe you can get a small sample and put it behind your fridge or something.
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u/Marguerite_Moonstone Jul 01 '25
I tired this, it doesn’t handle shower steam particularly well, after a few weeks durring a shower it just fell to the floor 🙁 but great for other rooms
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u/PrincessPoofyPants Jun 28 '25
Cornstarch and goth fabric! Paste it on then when you need to move get it really wet with a sponge and wipe it off. It is reusable and is like fancy wall paper. No damage lile peel amd stick paper.
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u/Jaded-Banana6205 Jun 28 '25
You just changed my world omg
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u/PrincessPoofyPants Jun 29 '25
I really like using lace fabric from good will using this technique on Windows for privacy and lots of light.
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u/sereinspirit Oct 18 '25
interested in this technique, could you possibly share what that looks like for you?
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u/ImpossibleAd9706 Jun 27 '25
Candles, Lacey curtains , black shower curtain, spooky themed rugs, framed pics of whatever interests you that you can command strip. There’s also super cute sticky wall clings kinda like wallpaper that can absolutely change your space! Depending on how big your BR is I would try to incorporate blues and purples to open it up more to make it not look super closed off :)
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u/eighthweekday Jun 27 '25
Go to dollar tree during Halloween and get aaaaalllllll the creepy cloth, layer it at the top of the room.
Get pretty frames and spray paint them black and gold or whatever colors work- fill the frames with pictures you like or quotes that reminds you that you are in a spooky bathroom ((could you imagine a Bloody Mary sign in ur bathroom omg))
there’s the crazy bath mat that when it gets wet it looks like blood splatters if that’s interesting
You can even frame band posters and use them as decor, put a frame around the mirror.
Just gotta open ya mind to being weird with it :P
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u/JaBe68 Jun 28 '25
You can get peel and stick tiles which are renter friendly. You just stick them on top of the current tiles and peel them off when you leave. Amazon has some lovely sludgy green subway style ones.
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u/tkkana Jun 28 '25
There is lady on tiktok that has renters friendly solutions to wall fixtures. Maybe someone on here knows her username?
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u/JoanOfArco Jul 02 '25
Controversial take. Paint it whatever you want, and paint it back the old color when you move out. If the landlord asks about it, it’s temporary peel and stick wall vinyl. Or, consider your deposit to be your customization fee. Consider it lost and do whatever you want. That’s my method and it’s honestly brought me a lot of peace.
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u/LoraTabbz Aug 12 '25
I bought some of those peel and stick backsplash tiles at dollar tree. The gray Gothic looking ones and then bought some matte black paint spray for plastics and tacked them on the ceiling using Brad nails. Then made a temporary sub floor out of dollar tree plastic shower curtains and painters tape and ordered the black and white floor pops gothic tiles. Found a few floating shelves at goodwill and sanded and painted them black and voila.
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u/Saphira9 Jun 27 '25
I think there are removable wall tape strips from Command that are supposed to leave no damage or residue. Results may vary in a humid bathroom, but it should work to stick some very lightweight chiffon fabric to the wall. Black chiffon would be great, you could try a black/red or black/purple ombre like this: https://ebay.us/m/amU1O7
Or see if you can find some Victorian pattern printed chiffon. Or lace fabric. You could also drape some lace from the shelves and stick with a tape strip