I had tin tiles in a bathroom in my old house. They were ugly and rusted, but I painted them anyway. Made a HUGE difference and lasted several years! I think we used epoxy paint, but it was a long time ago. I'm sure a paint dealer would sell you the right stuff. It was not hard at all...just like ordinary painting, looked flawless and there were no brushmarks at all...had a high gloss, mirror finish! Easy to keep clean, too. As for wallpaper, I love the stuff. I have it everywhere! I have vinyl type in my kitchen, where I do a LOT of cooking, and it washes easily and well. I have it in my main bathroom, too, and despite all the steam four of us could put it through every day for the past 9 years, it still looks terrific. And those walls were (still are) awful underneath the paper. I think paintable wallpaper is a good suggestion, but why not just use wallpaper and eliminate one process? You will always see the seams on wallpaper, paintable or not, but done correctly, printed wallpaper seams are almost invisible - IMO, they are far less visible on printed than they are on paintable wallpaper. If you didn't notice the bad walls under the old paper, you probably won't be able to see the bad walls under new paper, either. I also think 5 years is not long enough for such an expensive investment as good wallpaper. But, then, I'm not much for change in my house. And whatever paper you use, be sure you size it first!

I tend to change as the mood strikes, usually once or twice a year. I have on that I like to use at Christmastime and other times, whatever I like to see. Ships, weather, nature are usually popular topics for me. Currently, I'm using the Arthur Anderson. One of the Great Lakes freighters and was the ship accompanying the Edmund Fitzgerald when the big Fitz went down. The Anderson was a matter of miles behind the Fitz so the history is interesting to me. I enjoy going to Duluth and watching the ships. Physics fascinates me. That tons of steel can float or fly is interesting to me.

Florida (and I'm sure many other states) state park system has a photo contest / photo gallery with lots of fabulous shots. The Florida site below has a special link to "view/download desktop wallpaper" (after you click a picture you want) so there are no copyright issues. Here is a link that might be useful: Florida State Park Photo Contest Gallery

You're welcome to use any of my pics (most are from my work with wildlife rehab), and you can search the entire flickr site for the specific requirements you have, by category and by copyright permissions. You can also choose the size you wish to download: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lavandarfields/