ByKelly Dawson,Photography Courtesy ofJenn Bliss Interiors
PublishedJun 14, 2025 1:00 AM EDT
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Bathrooms aren’t exactly where design risks go to party (hello, claustrophobic layouts and lurking plumbing disasters). But when interior designer Jenn Bliss and her husband, Ryley, moved into a farmhouse on 33 acres in Port Stephens, Australia, they had one gloriously bold idea: cover the bathroom in classic tongue-and-groove paneling.
There was just one tiny problem—real wood and wet zones are mortal enemies. Cue a little experimentation. “The inspiration for this project stemmed from a desire to reimagine the traditional approach to wet area design,” Jenn says. Translation: They figured out a way to get the look of wood without a single board of actual timber. And the result? A bathroom that feels both timeless and completely unexpected—like a magic trick for your walls.
Jenn knew that tile would make an appearance on the bathroom floor, but she wasn’t about to let it hog the spotlight. She and Ryley envisioned a partially enclosed wet room with a tub on one side, a shower on the other, and tongue-and-groove paneling wrapping the lower half of the walls like a cozy chair rail. A curved archway would separate the alcove from the rest of the space, with a window above the tub to let in that sweet natural light.
“We were dead set on achieving that classic, lining-board look in the bathroom, but we knew traditional timber wasn’t suitable or compliant for a wet zone,” Jenn says. “So we had to think outside the box—and outside the lumber aisle.”
After testing out some options, they landed on a material that could pull off faux timber against the bathroom’s elements: aluminum. Yes, the stuff cans are made of. “It gave us the exact profile and visual texture we were after, but with the added benefit of being completely moisture-resistant and low maintenance,” she says. Basically, it’s wood that can swim.
Jenn and Ryley partnered with a manufacturer to figure out the best way to mimic the look of wood boards. “It required a lot of research and testing,” Jenn says. (Read: many weekends of “is this working? No. How about this? Also no.”) Ryley suggested having a professional cut grooves into aluminum sheets to create the tongue-and-groove effect. The manufacturer produced a laser-cut sample with various groove depths and spacings, and together they landed on the Goldilocks combination. Once the wet room was fully waterproofed, they prepped the boards for installation.
Before installation, Ryley and the builder cut holes in the boards for plumbing and fixtures—because even beautiful aluminum can’t escape a pipe. The panels were then sanded, primed, and painted to match the rest of the space, and installed beneath a rail to really sell the real-wood illusion. Paired with brass fixtures, tiled floors, and a coordinating shower ledge, the bathroom is now coming together exactly as Jenn envisioned—aka stunningly.
“Don’t be afraid to challenge the norm,” she says. “But do your research and understand the functionality of what you’re selecting just as much as the aesthetic.” Solid advice: look amazing, but also, you know, work properly.
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