Our Haunted Mansion Bathroom Makeover

I’ll admit it: My dream is to live in a house that looks like Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion on the outside and has rooms that look like different lands and attractions on the inside. Not just a bedroom full of Disney tchotchkes that say “Pirates of the Caribbean” on them, but an actual replica of a scene from the ride (though I don’t think Patrick’s gonna go for sleeping in a canopied bed with a skeleton and a pile of jewels)!

We have this tiny three-quarters bath at our place that I just couldn’t make look good (it had serious gas station-restroom vibes when we moved in), so I finally decided the only thing to do was to turn it into a replica of the foyer in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. Or at least what the powder room off that foyer would look like if there were one! For those of you more familiar with Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion, here’s a photo of Disneyland’s version, albeit one taken during Haunted Mansion Holiday, but you get the idea….

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And here’s a view looking the other way by the comprehensive site DavelandWeb.com. This was an invaluable photographic resource for me as I tried to match elements of the mansion, and I highly recommend it if you’re also trying to re-create Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion!

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© Dave DeCaro

I’m pretty embarrassed to show you this “before” photo, but dang if the Roots didn’t make the room look the best it possibly could! I never really had a complete vision for this bathroom, and without my trusty interior designer Leslie to reign me in, it ended up looking like the inside of a tween’s locker….

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© Root Photography

Now it looks like the inside of a granny’s locker! Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Bathroom…

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© Max Gough

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© Max Gough

It turns out to be really fun to replicate a heavily themed style that’s not at all your taste. I totally geeked out about re-creating even the tiniest details of the Haunted Mansion’s foyer, especially when I was able to track down the same materials Disney used (the wallpaper and the sheers are identical!). For those features that had no precedent, like, you know, the toilet paper holder, I sought out the creepiest, wackiest version I could find. Here’s a complete breakdown for anyone who’d like to replicate the foyer too…

Wallpaper

This is the easiest and fastest way to make your house look like the Haunted Mansion. Unlike the purple demon-eye wallpaper in the Corridor of Doors, for which there are only fan-made replicas, the Victorian wallpaper used in the foyer of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion is still in production by a real wallpaper company, Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers. You’ll want to get it in the appropriately named “Ashes of Rose” colorway for an exact match.

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© Max Gough

Ceiling

At the other end of the spectrum, this is the most difficult and time-consuming way to make your house look like the Haunted Mansion! The bathroom is long and narrow, so I had to create a simplified version of the ceiling molding design that still reads like that in the Haunted Mansion’s foyer. Originally I investigated actual molding, but it was going to cost thousands of dollars to install, so Patrick volunteered to paint a trompe l’oeil version. I augmented it with custom 3-D rosettes like those in the corners of the ceiling at Disneyland.

Original

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Ours

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© Max Gough

Curtains & Sink Skirt

I looked at sooooooooo many photos of the Haunted Mansion foyer’s draperies trying to figure out which shade of mustard brown they were and what all was going on with the trim. This was the most out-of-my-comfort-zone project because I normally cannot stand fussy swagging window treatments, let alone mustard brown! Fortunately, there are a lot of people in LA who do like this look, and I was easily able to track down a place to have them made.

Original

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Ours

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© Max Gough

Leslie turned up an appropriately hideous brown velvet in LA’s Fashion District. I searched for weeks but could not find black tassel trim with the same criss-cross design to layer over the gold bullion fringe. I finally went for a black ball-fringe trim with an identical criss-cross, since the ball doesn’t read that differently from a tassel unless you get really close. Because it is shorter than the trim in the Haunted Mansion, I found some shorter bullion fringe on Amazon and scaled the whole thing down slightly.

However, the sheers were a stroke of luck. I was idly searching for sheer lace on eBay when I came across the EXACT fabric used by Disney! They’ve probably had to replace those sheers frequently over the years, and the latest upgrade used fabric the seller referred to as “Medallion Curtain Lace,” if you want to try to find it (search with “white” and with “ivory”).

Original
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Ours

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© Max Gough

For the sink skirt, Patrick helped me sketch out a more swagalicious version of the damask one I’d made originally to cover the gas station sink, and I had a local seamstress make it with the same fabric and trim as the draperies. It’s totally ridiculous (she thought it was supposed to be an actual skirt at first!) but at least it hides the ugly plumbing and seems to fit the theme.

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Chandelier

This was another stroke of luck. I hadn’t been watching Craigslist very long when a 1920s vintage chandelier turned up that appears to have been made by the same manufacturer as the one in the Haunted Mansion! It has the same acanthus leaves sprouting from the top and a very similar etched base, all on a smaller scale that works great in our tiny bathroom. All I had to do was replace the teardrop-shaped crystals on the lower tier with rectangular ones like those in the Haunted Mansion!

Original
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Ours

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© Max Gough

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© Max Gough

Gargoyle

OK, so, technically this guy is in the Stretching Room, not the foyer, but when I found an amazingly well-made scale replica on eBay—complete with light-up drip candles!—I snatched it up. And then… tragedy! He tumbled off his perch and smashed into a bazillion pieces on the tile floor. But then… a miracle! The same eBay seller emailed out of the blue to see if I wanted an identical mate to the one I’d already bought from him. Yes, please! (And if you happen to be a fan of the Haunted Mansion and puzzles, let me know if you’d be interested in the “disassembled” gargoyle!)

I have this idea that I should paint the shower walls to resemble the wallpaper in the Stretching Room. Sure, it’ll be dark as the tomb in there at bathtime, but at least the gargoyle will fit right in!

Original

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© Matthew Hansen

Ours

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© Max Gough

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© Max Gough

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© Max Gough

Changing Portraits & Concept Art

I made another inauthenticity allowance when I put my Haunted Mansion 30th Anniversary lenticular changing portraits in our “foyer.” The small ones represent Disneyland’s selection of changing portraits at the time of the event—the “April December” girl was unfortunately removed from the ride in 2004 and replaced with “Master Gracey” from Walt Disney World. They also changed “Panther Lady” to a tiger! The set includes two never-created lenticulars, one a vase of withered roses and the other a farm hit by a dust storm.

The ship in the center was my holy grail Disney collector’s item for about 15 years. They made a very small number of them for the 30th anniversary, and in the rare event that one appeared on eBay, it was always a thousand bucks or more. Finally, some other fan started selling replicas on eBay at a more reasonable price (allegedly they are leftovers from an Imagineering test run, but he seems to have an endless supply, so… I dunno about that) and “Ghost Ship” was mine at last!

 

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© Max Gough

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© Max Gough

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© Max Gough

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© Max Gough

On the opposite wall (and nearly impossible to photograph) is my all-time favorite piece of Disneyland concept art and the first one I ever bought: Sam McKim’s concept for the Haunted Mansion exterior. This is the piece that spurred Walt Disney to request a neat and tidy appearance for the attraction’s exterior, saying, “We’ll take care of the outside and let the ghosts take care of the inside.” But I love how wild and spooky the Mansion looks in this piece.

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© Max Gough

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© Disney

Everything Else

Propping out the rest of the bathroom was a fun treasure hunt for stuff that looked older and creepier than what was there. One of the wackiest things I found was this over-the-top “swan” faucet on Amazon (it looks more like a ticked-off sea serpent to me).

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The soap bottle and poison label both came from Etsy. In fact, I found most of the creepy stuff I needed on Etsy!

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The tombstone lightswitch cover was made by a generous Etsy seller who let me try out covers in all the different finishes he offered before picking the one that went best with the wallpaper.

 

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© Max Gough

These hooks‘ll give ya nightmares!

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Another Etsy hook I loved. Head-on, it looks almost like a face. And it has this 3-D thing going on where you can hang something big over the top and something small from the bottom.

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This towel stolen from the Hollywood Tower Hotel…

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© Max Gough

Ok, no, I just ordered some hand towels from Horchow on a killer sale and had them monogrammed!

The tissue box is another “so cheesy, it just might work” item from Amazon. I kind of love it now…

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Originally I thought I could combine the fake books with these eBay replicas of the Haunted Mansion’s following busts, like bookends, but the scale was all wrong.

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Also, did you know you can buy decorative toilet flush handles? I didn’t!

I had a person more crafty than myself give the little chest of drawers an ornate Victorian makeover, and I found the new knobs on Etsy.

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© Max Gough

So if there were a toilet in the Haunted Mansion, what would the toilet paper holder look like? Why, this, of course!

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© Max Gough

Most guests who see the Haunted Bathroom just scratch their heads and/or get creeped out by the changing portraits while, um, powdering their noses. So that’s why I’m excited to show you guys, true Disney fans who can appreciate our near-maniacal level of commitment to re-creating the Haunted Mansion at home!

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63 Responses
  • James Hambly
    November 14, 2022

    Our friend Erica was on Zoom last night while a couple were watching a movie and gave us a tour of their house that was a replica of the haunted mansion + haunted holiday mansion, she didnt show us the bathroom. Los Angeles area… Im thinking you have to be the same people….

    • Carrie
      January 6, 2023

      Hi! Oh, we’re not that cool—only the bathroom of our place was Haunted Mansion themed. But that place sounds amazing!

  • KLA
    November 1, 2022

    So amazing and inspirational! Really love how spot on this turned out. I have the same Disney dream, so thank you for all the great details on your process!

    • Carrie
      November 8, 2022

      Thank you!

  • Avery Sara
    October 11, 2021

    This is incredible!
    If I may ask, do you have a link to/the name of the sheer curtains? The link on the page just takes me to the fabric section of eBay. Thank you so much!

    • Carrie
      October 12, 2021

      Hi! Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have linked to a specific eBay listing for long-term viability! Perhaps if you search using the terms the seller used for the listing, you’ll turn up something similar: White Medallion Curtain Lace. Best of luck!

  • Andi
    January 24, 2021

    Wow, this is very impressive. Excellent job!

    • Carrie
      January 25, 2021

      Thanks!

  • Linda
    June 4, 2019

    Come on! This is so spectacular I can hardly stand it. What talent and dedication it took….wish I could see it in person. Thank you for the inspiration and all your tips to help others of us try…….how helpful that you’ve shared your ideas with fellow Haunted Mansion fans. Thank you!

    • Carrie
      June 4, 2019

      Thanks for the kind words!

  • Julie Murray
    April 5, 2019

    I absolutely love your bathroom!!! Haunted Mansion is my obsession, and you did a magnificent job recreating it’s essence. I am in the process of putting things together to make my HM bathroom but I am not as creative as you. Good job!

    • Carrie
      April 5, 2019

      I’m so glad you like it! I hope you’ll post photos somewhere of yours when it’s done!

  • Mar-li Cathryn Pitcher
    January 1, 2019

    This is simply one of the greatest things i’ve ever seen!

    • Carrie
      January 2, 2019

      Thank you!

  • L
    September 28, 2018

    I love it so very much. There are no words.

    • Carrie
      September 29, 2018

      Hey, thanks!

  • Jamie Drake
    August 25, 2018

    This is amazing! I was wondering, did you hang the wallpaper yourself or did you hire someone?

    • Carrie
      August 26, 2018

      We hired a professional to hang it—no way could we have done as good a job!

    • Jamie Drake
      August 26, 2018

      Well, I love everything!

  • Tara
    July 8, 2018

    Amazing! I love your bathroom! Thanks for sharing.

    • Carrie
      July 8, 2018

      Thanks, Tara!

  • Kitt
    June 13, 2018

    This is literally the MOST perfect thing and somehow the right balance of cheesy and classy, like none of it looks like a prop, it looks like you live in THE haunted mansion

    So many props to you!!!

    • Carrie
      June 13, 2018

      Wow! Thanks! That’s definitely what we were going for…

  • Cathy
    May 2, 2018

    It is glorious! You should be so proud!

    • Carrie
      May 2, 2018

      Thank you!

  • John
    February 3, 2018

    This is incredible! Thanks for sharing your awesome room and advice on where to get stuff.

    • Carrie
      February 4, 2018

      I’m so glad you like it!

  • Cheryl
    August 28, 2017

    Love the painstaking effort you put into this bathroom! It is amazing!
    By any chance do you have any info on finding the wallpaper for the stretching room? I’m not having any luck

    • Carrie
      August 30, 2017

      eBay! Every once in a while a sample or even a full roll pops up on eBay. I’ve also considered just having Patrick or a pro paint stripes in the same pattern—I’ve been toying with the idea of doing this inside the shower to make it like the stretching room, and no way would wallpaper work there!

  • Kathi
    July 1, 2017

    How have I missed this before? I’m always admiring the Haunted Mansion living rooms some do, but I know that I could never go through with it. This instead is so perfect! Thanks so much for sharing, Carrie! This one blew my mind!!!

    • Carrie
      July 3, 2017

      I’m so glad you like it!

  • Shelly Bennett-Burns
    June 28, 2017

    Love it! Thank you for sharing the photos! Can you share the paint colors and brands used for doors, ceilings and trims?

    • Carrie
      July 17, 2017

      Hi Shelly! Well, I dug around in the garage this weekend, but we don’t appear to have any leftover paint, so I don’t have the colors names. Basically, we just took a sample of the wallpaper to Benjamin Moore and had them color match the purplish brown shade. You can get samples of the wallpaper from Bradbury & Bradbury—it’s the “Ashes of Rose” colorway.

  • Jennifer
    March 9, 2017

    Do you still have the gargoyle in a million pieces. I am certainly interested in the challenge! What can be arranged? I can certainly forward you my e-mail address for further communication.

    • Carrie
      March 9, 2017

      I do! And I emailed you! 😉

  • Deborah
    February 25, 2017

    Good evening,

    Hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

    Fantastic job!!

    We did something similar with our Haunted Mansion / “Gone Wirh The Wind” dining room. Both are fictitious Southern mansions in the same Victorian time period, so it made perfect sense to combine them.

    We also have a Disney inspired Tiki Room for our parrots, complete with a rainforest wall mural hand painted by artist Jeff Raum, and a lava floor.

    • Carrie
      February 27, 2017

      That sounds amazing! Dorothea Redmond, who did a lot of concept art for Disneyland’s interiors, did production design art for Gone With the Wind too! I’d love to see your place!

  • Pattie
    February 25, 2017

    This is AMAZING! My husband and I bought a place in North Carolina to open as a haunt themed B&B. Would you care to come decorate for us? 🙂

    • Carrie
      February 27, 2017

      Wow! That is such a great idea! I’d love to see how it turns out!

  • Jennifer
    October 27, 2016

    Wowzers!!! You guys are crazy. . . In a GOOD way! Thanks for all the inspiration!

    • Carrie
      October 27, 2016

      LOL! Glad you like it!

  • Jennifer
    October 27, 2016

    This is AH-MAZING! Wonderful job!

    • Carrie
      October 27, 2016

      Thank you!

  • Derek
    October 25, 2016

    WOW! Completely in awe of your bathroom renovation. I’m glad the switch cover worked out for you and thanks for the plug of my etsy shop!!

    • Carrie
      October 26, 2016

      Thanks for making such a cool product! 😉

  • Sara de Fountain
    October 25, 2016

    This is one of the most amazing bathrooms I’ve ever see! I love the paper, I love the ceilling, and I definitely love all the little details 🙂

    You have done an awesome job!!

    • Carrie
      October 25, 2016

      Hey, thanks!

  • Melanie
    October 21, 2016

    I ❤️ it so much there are no words!

    • Carrie
      October 21, 2016

      Aw… thanks!

  • Julia
    October 20, 2016

    I love this so much! Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride! I’ve also been reading your Tokyo Disney trip report. Thanks for all the advice and laughs! Really enjoy your site. 🙂

  • Heather
    October 19, 2016

    Oh my gosh, this is SO awesome!!! You did a really fantastic job with this. Can I live in that fantasy house you mentioned too?!!! I can’t decide which attraction I’d want for my bedroom!

    • Carrie
      October 20, 2016

      Yes, ma’am! I’ll need you to help finance the place—LOL! I know Patrick’s going to want a Swiss Family Treehouse bedroom for sure…

  • Allie
    October 19, 2016

    I LOVE everything about this!!!!!!

    • Carrie
      October 20, 2016

      Thanks!

  • ATG
    October 18, 2016

    Just stunning! Wow!

    • Carrie
      October 18, 2016

      Thanks, Anita!

  • Randy
    October 18, 2016

    My favorite place in your home!!!

    • Carrie
      October 18, 2016

      LOL! Thanks, Randy!

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