Is tongue and groove behind basin ok? Or something else?

[riverrune]

I wonder if any wise MNers could help me? I’m planning a bathroom revamp and have settled on MDF tongue and groove panels for the walls, with the exception of the bath/shower area, which will be tiled instead (see attached pics of the kind of thing I’m thinking of). A lot of images I’m finding online have the tongue and groove behind the basin too. I love how this looks but wondered if water damage might be a problem and if I might end up regretting this? I was wondering if anyone could advise how T&G panels had held up in their bathroom, or if they had a clever workaround? I know some people tile the bit immediately around the sink, but I’m not sure that will work with the style of tile I’ve picked out. I was then hoping to find a small, curved basin with a upstand as the room is very small and I didn’t want any sharp corners but no joy with that either! I’m wracking my brains for another solution- I’d be very grateful for any clever MNers ideas! TIA!

We have it in our bathroom. It isn't out main sink (weirdly there isn't a loo in our main bathroom). But it looks great.

We have it in the bathroom behind the sink. It was there when we moved in 12 years ago and we haven't had any problems with it, it still looks good. I think we painted it with bathroom paint.

I'd be wary of using MDF in a damp environment. Seek advice from your carpenter - you might consider alternative material (real wood, painted?).
My bathroom is full of t&g (painted wood) and the only thing I would say is it needs a lot of fiddly cleaning with a cotton bud in the grooves to remove splashes and grime. It never looks sparking, compared to eg. white tiles.

Actually ours is real wood. I missed the bit about doing it with MDF

I did this in a previous house and loved it. I had a sink with a raised bit behind the taps so the panel wasn’t too close to them, so didn’t really get splashed, never had a problem. Different house now, and have just put panelling behind the kitchen sink 😊

Thank you all for your comments, with a few caveats it sounds like this might be encouraging! The MDF tongue and groove I’m looking at is the green MDF that is meant to be water resistant- I’m not sure if that makes much difference? Does it make much difference if you paint it with bathroom paint or something like eggshell?