Jamie is in the final stage of renovating her 1950 bathroom, which has an *unusual* combination of tile, trim and fixtures: Turquoise tile, burgundy trim, and pink sink, tub and toilet. You can see an unmasked photo of the colors on the jump, but I had to use this one for the lead because: Oh my goodness, haven’t we all been here, amidst CHAOS. Now that the walls are prepped and the vanity and window are stripped of their old layers of paint (I hope you tested for lead and used proper safety/enviro precautions, Jamie), Jamie wants some “okay-now-I-must-really-make-a-final-decision-so-let-me-torture-myself-some-more” advice on what to do with the walls and the vanity to tie everything together. Okay, I am only assume she’s torturing herself — because that’s what I do, no question. Jamie has asked our help. Read on for her complete explanation… see some more photos (great curved ceilings!) and then let’s hear what you have to say, retro renovators. Jamie writes:
The bathroom "before" the wood vanity and window were stripped of old paint, and "before" the walls were prepped. AWESOME gorgeous basics, wouldn't you agree? That turquoise is LUMINOUS.
I was hoping you and the other readers could possibly give me some ideas for my bathroom. I have included a before-picture and a picture of how it looks now. The window frame and cabinets have already been stripped of all paint. When prepping the walls we came to the conclusion that the original paint was a pink that was an almost exact match to the sink, tub, and toilet. We were thinking that the cabinets may have originally been pink too….seems like a lot of PINK! Toying with the idea of staining the window and cabinets, but…not sure. I honestly would just love a fresh opinion…I have poured over the site and books but I am just not having any luck on ideas… I think the problem for me is trying to figure out all the different colors….pink , turquoise, and burgundy. I look at other bathrooms and haven’t quite found the same color combination…
Thanks so much! Jamie
So, readers, what do you think? What should Jamie do with the walls… and the vanity and window frame… to tie everything together in one sparkly jewel box bathroom package? I am going to hold back and let you readers run today’s show. A few more photos are below — delicious!
A Mamie pink bathroom for Jamie 
Decorating a turquoise bathroom for Jamie 
Liz’s pretty in pink bathroom 
Become a fan
I grew up in a house with the turqoise and black bathroom. Our house was built in 1932. We painted the bath a light robin’s egg blue and it was beautiful. I think this would also work with the pink and burgundy. I love wallpaper but sometimes wallpaper is not a good choice for baths because of moisture. Whatever you choose, I’m sure it will be fab!
“cloud white” by benjarmin Moore paints. Let the colour in the tile be the star attraction. You don’t want fussy walls, keep it simple
1. Wall & Cabinet Faces: Brilliant White Eggshell
2. Face only of the wrap-around soffit: Stencil or geometric graphic utilizing the Turquoise, Burgundy and Pink (as highlights).
Keep the bathroom looking as large as possible!
BTW, I’ve been agonizing for months over four bathrooms in my California ranch, so my sympathies and congratulations.
Hi, again:
I noticed that your vanity wall is a terrific candidate for having a full-width mirror…the entire width…from the top of the vanity to the ceiling. Yes, expensive – but amazing.
Also, where the wooden towel bar used to be is screaming for one great piece of art.
Cheers
I have stained woodwork on very similar cabinets in my 1959 bath. I even have the same pulls. I am going to paint the cabinets and the window frame this summer. I’m hoping it brightens it up. The cabinets over the years have faded to different colors and doesn’t look good anymore. I would be afraid that maybe they wouldn’t stain evenly. I vote for paint. I kind of like the idea of pink to match the fixtures, I think. You did a beautiful job sanding them. Good luck! I hate choosing paint colors!
One thing you could do is utilize the one suggestion I saw on here about keeping the walls white, but doing a stencil pattern around the upper section. I found that there are some terrific rubber stamps with mid-century geometrics and graphics that can be used to “stamp” the pattern around your walls. You can utilize the three different colors of your room now, and mix and match the different stamps to get a layered effect or whatever you like. I think the company I got mine from is called Hot Potatos. I purchased starbursts in various sizes, some other geometric shapes and created an original 50′s style wallpaper pattern without having to depend on finding it as an actual paper. It really didn’t take a great deal of time since I didn’t want it to be too “busy” with too many graphics. I sort of spread them out a little. I have done the same thing with fabric paint to make curtains as well as patterns on clothing. You could perhaps do your border and make matching curtains???
I think you have to think about what your overall style is–no matter your age…are you a flamingo family (which would be wicked fun) or more soft and glamourish like Sumac Sue’s wallpaper suggestion (which is gorgeous) or something with that feeling. Personally I think this one may be a little too soft for the boldness of the turquoise — giving me the feeling of ‘not quite balanced’ in weight…
I do like the idea of painted cabinets and window trim, I’m a paint girl, but I also like the idea of a mahogany stain if you REALLY wanted to stain the cabinets.
I love the idea of a full mirror, making things even less choppy.
and Pam? a giveaway? I can speak first hand, whomever wins that will definitely be a happy retro-voyeur…the girl’s got good stuff!
The two bathrooms in our house (heathered blue tile with greenish blue fixtures & milk chocolate tile with pink fixtures) both have the wood vanities painted over in white. While I agree that this does brighten up the bathroom, I also think that a lightly stained wood grounds a room so nicely. And I think with the three colors you have going right now, you need some grounding. We are planning to strip all of the paint off the bathroom (and kitchen) cabinets to do just this. I think that if you look through the posts on here most of the major oohing and ahhing in comments comes from cabinets that are stained not painted.
With some beautifully stained wood cabinets, I would then take either the aqua or the pink and find a much less saturated version of that color for the walls. This would give a hint of that color, making the room seem cozy without losing the spacious feeling. I wouldn’t use white because it introduces another color in the main field of view. But I would recommend that you use a slightly off-white (I’m rather partial to Swiss Coffee by Behr, I think) for that nice soffit and the ceiling. There is a house in one of the previous issues of Atomic Ranch that used a light color toward the ceiling to emphasize the height of ceiling and give the room spaciousness and it worked well. I wouldn’t use white because I think it is too harsh and you want to soften the colors you have here, especially because you have three of them.
I agree with Peter that a full length mirror would be amazing. You might be able to find something that was miscut or such if you ask around. It might be nice, too, to paint the trim around the window in a less saturated version of one of the other colors. I’m partial to the burgundy because it is used to trim the tile elsewhere much like the wood around the window.
Wow. Didn’t mean to go on so long. This is what happens after getting all hopped up on coffee! Fabulous bathroom. Be sure to send pix along when you are done!
Thanks for this post Pam! I have enjoyed it so much! It even inspired some last minute design changes in my bathroom!
I still want to get my vote in for stained cabinets. I love the look of wood, and if you’ve gone to all the work to strip the cabinets to bare wood, a nice coat of stain would really breathe some life into them.
Colors I love with Turquoise are a combination of a rich dark red and mustard yellow. That might be a bit much for a bathroom, but this color combo works beautifully in small applications. Like dish towels or dishes.
It would depend on what color you wanted to emphasize, the turquoise or the red. With pink walls the blue would really pop.
Maybe find a wall paper that included the colors you have?
Hi, love your jewel box of a bath! The walls and cabinets should be painted a pale pink, 2 or 3 shades lighter than the tub and sink, the trim around the windows needs to pick up the burgundy shade. The hardware on the cabinets needs to match the fixtures in chrome.
Hi Jamie-
how about using vintage wallpaper? I found a few choices at Second Hand Rose that would work perfectly. Check these out:
http://secondhandrose.com/paperb/10b.htm
http://secondhandrose.com/paperb/4.htm
http://secondhandrose.com/paperb/30b.htm
These three selections have light grey as an accent. I would consider painting the cabinet and window trim in this neutral color, the wallpaper’s background color or in white (all high gloss). The ceiling pan would be great in pink (mabe a lighter version of the sink’s color). Pink makes every skin tone look better. What’s better in a bathroom?
READ THIS! Has no one said wallpaper? You probably think I am crazy but you need to find a fun vintage style wallpaper that combines all the colors (turquoise, pink, burgundy). I am thinking something inspired by a barkcloth fabric? Big banana leaves, retro Hawaii feel? that is your solution! do it! then post photos. –Julie
I like to look at vintage fabrics, like bark cloth and wall art, such as Turner tropical birds. These accents are usually found in those incredible wacky color combinations. Growing up in an atomic ranch in the 60′s, I thought my parents were color blind due to these color combinations. They were actually very much in touch with the trends when they built their dream house in 1955!!! Our master bath was fully mirrored on all three sides of the vanitiy. (Their kid is now addicted to MCM style!).
I have this same turquoise tile in my house (was my grandmother’s from the 50′s). Someone suggested going with a sea scape decor and it’s turned out pretty good. I painted the walls a glossy white and used seascape pictures with blues, green, sandy colors from the beach, and then used seashells and starfish for accents. I like the idea of stripping the cabinets and using a light stain. I wish I could redo mine in bamboo, but they are still a hideous green that matches the tile. I will probably paint them white and get new hardware.
Hi,
I would go with a vanilla-cream color sort of like this color I’m writing on but a shade lighter. ( By the way, I’ve designed wallpaper.) You can always find a wallcovering in a color combination to match what you have, just have to hunt for it.
Wow! Did not realize that others had the same colours in their bathroom that we got when we moved into our 1950′s home which we bought 15 years ago from the original owners. We had those green tiles with the pink tub etc. I have to admit that I thought it was just someones crazy, weird taste so we got rid of the green tiles and replaced them with white ones with pink grout to match the pink. We then painted the cabinets burgundy and added burgundy towels etc. People are always amazed at us keeping the pink. and just decorating to match but I am glad that we did. It keeps the feel of the house. I wish now that I been aware of whole style of the 50′s and kept more of the original features.
I have a pink bathroom, and intend to go with a pink that is almost white for the walls. I’d pick a color between the three, probably turquoise or pink and go with a very pale version of it for the walls.
I’m a stain girl, myself … I love that yellow birch color or the mahogany contrast color. I have both in areas of my house and am pleased as punch.
I haven’t sent in any info about it yet. Still moving in. But I will …
If the cabinets show signs of pink as an original color, it was probably a good choice then and will be now. Appleblossom from the Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern collection for the cabinet and window frame. Bradbury’s Atomic Doodle Turquois for the walls has a faint pink to tie everything together. And a pink toilet seat!
What’s really missing here is the floor. A mosaic tile floor with turquoise, burgandy and white (don’t gasp) would finish the bathroom. Or maybe burgandy, pink and white. Or maybe just burgandy and white. You can look up mosaic tile floor patterns at Dal tile. I think they let you pick the colors. You can also search this website since I think mosaic floor tiles have been featured here before.
With such a floor the cabinets would look good in either pink or white depending on your tolerance for pink. I’m leaning towards white. White cabinets, white toilet seat, white window trim. Shear white curtains with embroidered something. White or pale pink walls.
I’m absolutely sure that I’ve seen a 50′s pink and turquoise mosaic tile floor before. The pattern was based on a square turquoise dot surrounded by four rectangular pink tiles arranged into a square. I think it was a mass produced pattern and is probably what was supposed to be in this bathroom. They also had the reverse pattern with a pink square dot surrounded by four turquoise tiles. In the bathrooms of the 50′s the “busy” pattern was often the floor with the other elements of the bathroom taking their colors from it.
1. I agree…. paint the vanity cabinets the same pink as the fixtures.
2. Floor is tough… I like Jim’s idea of the pattern…. the room has tons of turquoise so I would go with burgundy dot and pink tiles surrounding….. if you can find the same pink….
3. Stripes always manage to tie things together…. maybe a pink and turquoise vertical stripe… or even pink, burgundy and black.