Janice is one busy woman, who Gets Things Done. A year ago, she sent in a fabulous, detailed story about remodeling her kitchen with retro style. Now, along with her husband Greg, she has completed an entire bathoom remodel. And boo to the hoo to all those TV decorating and house hunting shows that still don’t get it: Janice sought to embrace – rather and erase – her midcentury home’s aesthetic roots and added a Mamie Eisenhower pink bathroom, replacing a nondescript one that included painted-over plastic tiles. Read on for all her experiences — and resources –>
Janice writes:
My love affair with pink bathrooms is a new one. I never once thought about wanting or needing a pink bathroom when my husband and I first started searching for a mid-century ranch three years ago. Had I known then what I know now, I might have held out until I found the perfect time capsule bathroom. But, I didn’t know better and we bought a house with two bathrooms – neither of which are pink.
After reading all about the Save the Pink Bathrooms crusade and drooling over the RR Blog’s readers’ own pink beauties, I decided I might not have inherited a pink bathroom, but by golly, I could build my own. First order of business was convincing my husband of the idea. My husband is a Harley ridin’ guy’s guy and I thought I would have to whine, pout, nag, threaten, and blackmail to get my way. However, when I gingerly approached him with the idea, I was dumfounded to hear him say, “That’s fine – I don’t care.” That’s all it took. With a green light in my pocket and the RR Blog’s inspirational ideas in my head, I started designing.
The first step was deciding on a coordinating color. I noodled around with pink and brown and pink and burgundy, before settling on pink and black. I was initially concerned that black would look very harsh up against all the pink, but after studying pictures on the RR Blog and internet, I decided it made the quintessential 50’s bathroom and I owned it all the way from that point on. It didn’t hurt that the black tile I needed was a stock item at Lowe’s and could be purchased at a much lower cost than a special order tile.
I learned from the RR Blog that one could still buy mid-century colors in ceramic 4 x 4 field tile at B&W Tile in California. I have to say that was one of the best leads ever! B&W are nothing short of fabulous to work with. Example: After receiving my order, I discovered that I ordered the wrong size of pink bullnose. When I contacted B&W, they said I could send it back for a full refund. I carefully re-packed the pieces in the box they came in. When it arrived in California (I’m in Kansas), they called to tell me that every piece in the box was shattered. Since I was the packer, I took full responsibility and told them I understood they wouldn’t be able to refund my money. To my total surprise, they wanted me to know they blamed the shipping company and not me for the damage, so a full refund was still coming my way. Are you kidding?? That prompted me to write a letter to the general manager of B&W Tile to compliment all of them for customer service that seems to be as forgotten as pink tile. I fully recommend B&W Tile for your unique color tile needs. By the way, the color I selected from the B&W Tile color catalog is 70W (after asking Pam what she recommended.)
I found the black and white mosaic tile used on our floor at Lowe’s [American Olean Chloe pinwheel tile with black dot], and while I would have given my right arm to have some of the wonderful vintage mosaic tile floors I’ve seen on the RR Blog, I decided that this was a very close second. I want to give a shameless plug to my husband who came up with the idea to add a strip of the same mosaic on the wall for an accent row. Yep, same ole Harley ridin’, guy’s guy came up with that all on his own. Brilliant!
I agonized over what to do with the top half of the walls and even considered wallpapering, but DH hates wallpaper and I didn’t think he would go for it. He didn’t. After considering all sorts of color options, I thought the only real viable complimentary color to pink and black was a slightly lighter shade of pink than the tile. When selecting the color, I uncustomarily nailed it on the first try. It’s Valspar “Sugar Pink” purchased at Lowe’s. We did use a very high dollar primer on the walls that we purchased from a specialty paint store that is specifically designed for bathrooms since it’s such a wet environment. However, this is a 2nd bathroom, so other than the toilet, it gets very little water use, but better safe than sorry! Seriously. It’s rare that I get the right color on the first try. My husband and I even had to re-paint our family room three times before I was happy.
As you can see from the before pictures, we had a chrome toilet paper holder, towel bars, etc. I really, really wanted ceramic so I went on an Ebay hunt. I found some that looked the same shade of pink, but holy cow, there are like a million shades of pink (as I discovered when looking at paint samples), so it was a crapshoot when I hit “Buy It Now” on Ebay. I was half afraid to open the box with the tile sample in my hand, but the Renovation Gods blessed me with a toilet paper holder, soap dish and towel bar brackets that were the…exact…same…shade…of…pink. I guarded them like the Hope Diamond until installation day for fear that one would get damaged. I knew I would never be that lucky again.
With all the supplies on hand, we started demolition right after the vintage aluminum Christmas tree came down in January.
We discovered that the tile we had (which we could tell had been painted) wasn’t ceramic at all, but rather plastic. There behind where the toilet once stood, was the original chartreuse plastic tile. Had it not been painted in the 80’s, I would have embraced it and been happy to have this original unique color. But as you can tell from the pictures, chartreuse had been converted to bland off-white, so hundreds of vintage plastic squares of tile met their demise.
Of course, there’s no saving sheetrock when you remove tile so we took everything down to the studs. As is often the case when you demo a room where water is the main feature, we discovered the subfloor was mildewed and rotten so it also had to be removed. You know how we talk about how everything was built to last back in the 50’s, well, the builder hammered a nail in that subfloor at about every 2 inch intervals. The floor came up more in splinters than sections. We also took up the original ceramic shower floor which we discovered was on top of 4” of solid concrete which had to be sledge hammered apart.
And yes, my husband really did break up all that cement in flip flops! DH gets 100% of the credit for all the demo. Every tile, every bit of sheetrock, every splinter of wet subfloor and every chunk of cement was removed by his hands. Thank you DH!
My husband and I fancy ourselves as pretty decent DIYers, but nothing we’ve done has been as frustrating as installing and grouting tile – at least for me. Admittedly, this process was made more difficult by my slant toward perfectionism, but wow, it’s nowhere near as easy as they make it look on HGTV! Are there mistakes in our work? You bet. Did I fret/obsess over it? You bet. But in the end, I know none of my friends or family will be sitting on the toilet critiquing each grout line so I’m over it.
We had a hard surface shower pan custom made for us. This shower isn’t a standard size, so nothing on the market worked. We have a plumber friend who suggested we go this route. You can get a better look at it in one of the pictures I sent of me standing in the shower. It’s secured by sitting on a bed of mortar. Our plumber friend did help DH install this as it was definitely a two man job – very, very heavy!
The Sexton metal cats were an Ebay purchase, as was the vintage wastebasket, the wall shelf unit (cleaned up and repainted) and the obligatory poodle. The lime green towels were a Christmas gift last year from my sister-in-law and at the time, I had no idea where I would use them. I love the splash of lime green in the room. I found a vendor on Ebay who monograms towels and she did the His and Her towels for me (I have her card if anyone needs monogrammed towels.) I went to Target immediately after your post about your Mom’s bathroom to find the pink towel hanging on the shower door (thank you for that tip!)
The shower doors were a special order from Menards – they are not stock so don’t expect to see them on the show room floor, but they can order unique designs and we found they have a better selection at a lower cost than Lowe’s or Home Depot. The chalkware fish are a combination of Ebay and local antique store finds.
So, that’s my story of how I created a pink and black 1950’s bathroom. Pam, you saw me through my kitchen renovation last year, and you were with me every step of the way in the bathroom renovation this year. I can’t wait to see what room you and I work on next.
Janice, I think you are serious serious contention for the Retro Renovator of the Year. You and DH are amazing. Might I also point out: Can everyone see how all that pink tile — bouncing its pastel perfection onto Janice’s already glowy face – just lights her up even more? Pink bathrooms = Retro Botox, yet another reason to love them.
Well done, Janice and DH. And, thank you, too, for the fantastic write up, including that Menard’s shower door,which I love, and a great tip on a paint color we can all just snarf right up, no fuss no muss. As we discussed via email, I still don’t understand how you got your shower pan made. Possible to get more info on that??? xoxo, you rock!
Janice,
You and DH are AMAZING! Your new Mamie Pink bathroom is absolutely GORGEOUS! Your design and attention to detail is wonderful! You get my vote for RR of the Year. You have provided me with soooooo much inspiration and great ideas. The shower doors are a perfect complement with the pink tile. ( I only wish we had a Menard’s where I live- I really do like them better than Lowes and Home Depot). Thanks for sharing (and I look forward to hearing about your next project). I agree with Pam — You rock!
Well, Janice, my forties hat is fully off to you. Oh. My. Gosh.
And you did it from scratch! I love so many of the preservers on this site, but I’ve got nothing of the kind, nor is there much in this geographic area, so I love to see people like Pam’s mom and you doing it from new stuff and making it look TERRIFIC.
Thank you!
I like the pink – but I really love the floor. That vs. hex tiles are going to be my big decision. And I’ve loved hex tiles since I was at the most maybe 16. The black bullnose is also one of my favourite things – I love how it goes deco as well as midcentury.
Thanks from Australia – you and Pam are gonna be my condo’s fairy godmothers!
Lol!
It’s just lovely! The attention to detail is amazing. It really looks like a vintage bathroom that has been well preserved, rather than a new room!
(I especially love the fish, but I will have to show my daughter the cats and poodle when she wakes up…she will swoon over those!)
Congrats on another job well done…
Janice, not only are you a dedicated, inspiring retro-renovator, you are a great writer. Thank you for sharing!
OMG! Beautiful. My home has the orginal black bullnose. Yours looks authentic and just shines. Love, love, love the little sink in the corner and the shower door. Do you rent your husband out to work on other homes?
This is just gorgeous all over! I love the shower doors, too. What a great detail. It all came together so beautifully. Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations on a fabulous project! You must be so proud of yourself and DH because you created a pink palace (complete with throne!) that I KNOW is the envy of all the DIYs that read your story and see your pictures.
Thank you for sharing with us and reminding us why we Save Pink Bathrooms!!! ljb
Janice, it sounds like you did most of the work on this yourself — how long did it take? And other than the plumbing help, was there anything else you would recommend hiring someone else with experience to do? (maybe not, since your DH is so handy).
Also, I’m interested in color combinations — what color originally were the portions of the bath that were powder blue/gray? Was the color scheme gray/blue and lime green with a white floor?
Hi Kate, sorry this is such a tardy response but as Pam indicated, I wasn’t able to post anything until today. We started the renovation in January and put on finishing touches just this month. That said, there were plenty of weekends that we just closed the door and chose to ignore the mess. Had we worked on it more consistently, we could have probably knocked it out in half the time. As far as would we/should we pay a professional, as I mentioned the tile work was extremely frustrating for me because I was looking for perfection, which I’m sure a professional tiler could have achieved. But in the end, we saved ourselves a lot of money and it really does look very good for a couple of first-time tile installers. DH did an excellent job on everything he did, so no, I wouldn’t say we should have brought in the pros.
Wherever you see the pink now was originally the lime green painted off-white. Where you see black now was a dark hunter green – again in plastic tile that had been painted powder blue. I don’t know what the original floor was as by the time we inherited this bathroom, it had a solid sheet vinyl that was probably done in the 80′s. Hope that helps!
Yes, thanks!
Lime and hunter green. Don’t think I would have thought of those colors together. I really like the pink, it looks great — very cheerful. I don’t think it would be possible to be sad in this bathroom, it is so perky and perfect.
Janice, you are totally my home inspiration. First with the avocado kitchen, and now the bathroom! We’re JUST ABOUT DONE with the kitchen, and just scored 500 vintage pink tiles — so restoring the pink bathroom is our next move. GOOD JOB — it’s gorgeous, and absolutely, perfectly “of the era!”
Janice, you are my new hero! Your bathroom is spot-on perfect – from the shower doors, the wastebasket, the chalkware fish, the pink paint, to the beautiful marriage of the tiles. It really does look like a perfectly preserved 50′s bathroom and not a reproduction!
I had always wanted to do this in my old house but was worried it wouldn’t look right. I can see now it can be done beautifully!
Janice, congradulations to you and DH. That is one beautiful bathroom, I think, and from scratch, you have the eye for mid-century Miss Janice.
Fabulous! I have a vintage 1956 yellow and black tiled bath that I love and I have been trying to decide- now that some repairs have been done to drywall and new window in there – what color to paint.
I thought lighter yellow than the tile was probably the best choice and seeing your bathroom confirms it! Thank you so much! Did you go with pink on the ceiling too? I have done white ceilings throughout the house, but I wasn’ sure in there if I should do white or carry the wall color up to the ceiling. Any suggestions anyone?
The accent of the white and black tile from the floor ties the two together beautifully!
It is perfect!
Jason, in smaller spaces like bathrooms I think it’s a great look to continue the color on the ceiling (especially in cases where there’s a lot of white already, like white field tile or wainscoting, which is not the case with your bathroom). It also has the advantage of being so much easier to paint, since you don’t have to cut in and be as careful where the walls and ceiling meet.
Do send pix when yours is done!
There are no ceiling police — paint it whatever color you wish.
I just painted our bathroom pink and used the color on the ceiling as well. It looks great and now I wish I’d done it sooner. Worst case scenario, you paint the ceiling, don’t like it and change it back to white.
Thank you Jason! Yes, we did paint the ceiling Sugar Pink. Like you, we have white ceilings in every room of our house, but my DH always says, Go bold or go home, so we wrapped that whole room in pink!
LOVE IT!! We need to re-do 2 of our 3 1948 bathrooms…I want them to look like the house. You’re a great inspiration. We currently have a blue bathroom with accent tile that looks like a wave and a double tiled (ie: your painted tile) in green/light yellow tiled bath, no idea what is beneath the green! Both were beautifully done, but the sinks are rusted, the stack pipes are 60 years old and I’m sure that the floor boards are not in the best of shape.
We’re going to do both bathrooms in black & white. One has a HUGE shower and the other has a “mini-tub”. We’re going to heat the floor and demo part of a hall closet so that we can get a standard sized tub in the green bathroom.
Thank you for confirming my need to keep my bathrooms in the correct era!!!
Terri
Wow, Janice, what an amazing job! Kudos to you and your husband, you guys absolutely rock. Your bathroom is perfect and without all the demo pictures it would be nearly impossible to believe was not an original bathroom. And I love, love, love your little corner sink. Adorable! Let’s hear it for inspiring people like you!
I LOVE your kitchen and think it’s amazing, but you out-did yourself with this bathroom! It’s so pretty and spot-on. Your talent and vision are truly inspirational. Thanks for sharing!!
Oh, wow – GORGEOUS!!
Love it! Great job! The black and pink go well together!
Glorious! You are such an inspiration!
how much did the pink tile cost ?
I have the price list for B&W; 70W is $4.50/sq. ft. for the 4×4 tile.
I don’t have the exact cost, but it was sort of expensive, but worth it! That said, we way over-ordered so the cost could have been a lot less. That was our mistake. We have boxes of tile left.
Spectacular! What an amazing job. All the choices you made were perfect. Now, if only I could convince my husband to transform into a handy hubby like yours!
Terrific work, Janice! I especially love the shower, shower door and those crazy cats. I used the same mosaic tile on the floor of my last house, and if I had one word of advice to give you it would be SEAL SEAL SEAL that grout before it collects any dirt (if you haven’t already done so, that is). I learned the hard way…
BTW: Is it just the photo, or do you bear a bit of a resemblance to Pat Benatar?!
THAT’S IT Michael…..I thought she looked familiar and couldn’t figure out, who !!
LOL
Re Pat Benatar: Excellent call Michael!
Thank you for your kind remarks. We bought a special grout (very pricey!) from a specialty tile store and they claim that with this grout, sealing is unnecessary. So far we haven’t had any problems, but I’m keeping a very close eye on it. Regarding the Pat Benatar reference, I hear that a lot! In my younger days, I used to be compared to Ali McGraw but when the face got older and the hair got shorter, Pat Benatar became my celebrity twin!
LOVE IT! Excellent job! Absolutely perfect! A+++++
Wow wow wow wow wow! I love the pink and the black, those cats are fantastic, and that shower door is to die for! Well done!
Great job! You made the right choice in going with black as the accent color. Love all of your accessories. My favorite is that waste basket.
Ok, I have to fess up: I love the Sexton cats so much I found some on Etsy and bought them for my bathroom.
O! M! G!
I have been obsessing for the past year regarding what to do with my probably-was-expensive faux-wood many-tiered-molding totally-wrong-era medicine cabinet in my front bathroom — cheery yellow and black midcentury — and Janice’s bathroom solved my problem! I’m going to set in a simple, plain mirrored cabinet and add some lovely black tile around it! BAM!
Unfortunately, this weekend while cleaning I yanked on the plastic surround covering the walls around the tub — I think someone actually stuck sheets of plastic OVER my gorgeous tile, for pete’s sake — and heard a SLOSHING noise. Uh-oh. So I was hoping to yank off the plastic entirely and clean / regrout the yellow tile, now I’m worried. How do we see the colors of the B&W tile? I tried the link above and didn’t see.
YAY JANICE!
This will give you an idea of the colors: http://www.premierbathrooms.net/b&W.html
If you give them a call, though, they will work with you and send you a sample board of potential color matches. We’re doing an aqua bathroom and they’ve been great to work with.
Wow! wow! wow! Awesome bathroom. I love that corner sink!
You’ve done an incredible job!
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Janice and Greg – you did a fabulous thing to your bathroom! I love that you paired your pink with black. Makes it easier for the next owner to work with. Ours is accented with brown, and it’s not the brown that’s available now. For me, you ensured that the pink bathroom will live on gloriously! Love your corner sink, too!
Absolutely beautiful! I too love the cats, and would love to have several of those fish to swim across the soffit above my sink/toilet area (in a pink and gray bathroom!). Thanks so much.
Love, Love, Love your style.
Oh, Janice! You did it again! I give you huge credit for tearing out to the studs! WOW! That’s some impressive drive. I’m additionally impressed (and somewhat shamed) by your “oh yeah” attitude regarding the pink tiles. I did not have the same perseverance to GO PINK (though I wanted to) and cowered in effort to make our bathroom more acceptable if, for some reason, we sell someday (my dream house is around the block.) We went with blue, and although I am completely happy with how everything turned out, my love for the pink bathroom is still heavy and strong. (Note: in order to achieve complete happiness, we accessorize with pink.) I look up to you as a mentor! Our kitchen is next on the docket – with the 1959 metal base and wood door St. Charles cabinets yearning to come out from the storage in the garage! Cheers! LOVE the bathroom, and LOVE a supportive DH!
Hey everyone, some folks are having difficulties submitting comments — there have been difficulties since Thursday, and the tech team continues trying to solve it. One of the people who cannot get through is Janice. She has responses for many folks and has sent them to me to post. I have been on a little blog roadtrip, though,
, and am strapped for time. I will try to get them up tomorrow.
Very nice. The pink + black combo is very striking.
Love it, Janice! Great job. It looks like the bathroom in the house I grew up in. And the best part is it is all new! I like my grey and black bathroom, but having some leaking issues around the corners of the tub where the tile meets it. I hope I don’t have to rip it up someday. I only have one bathroom and I’d have to go stay someone else if I had to do any major redos. To have a spare bathroom while refinishing is a plus!
This is EXACTLY what I want to do with my hall bathroom. Although I don’t have proof, I have a gut feeling that it was a pink bathroom since there are so many in my neighborhood of 1956-1958 ranches. Now it is icky 1980′s mottled gray title with periwinkle blue flowers. The house I grew up in had a pink bathroom and I loved it.
My nine year old son came in while I was reading this, I showed him the photos of Janice’s bathroom and told him my plans. He said, “No way, Mom!” But I assured him that will all the remodeling projects I have to do, he will most likely be in college when it becomes pink.
At this point I think everything that can be said, has been said. Gosh, your remodel is great. I grew up with a pink bathroom which I hated but yours is to die for.
Thanks for the great story and pictures. RR people are such an inspiration.
Love love love it! Love the chalkware fish & kitties. I have chalkware fishes w/bubbles in my bathroom. Took me quite awhile to find my blue fishes but they were well worth the wait. Chalkware just addes the finishing touch! (I have it in my ktichen too!)
WOW – this is one BEEEEEUTIFUL bathroom! I’m going to copy you … seriously … I am. I made this decision after realizing I have a vintage black metal bathroom shelf in my basement that I picked up years ago at an estate sale & just can’t get rid of. I haven’t found a good place for the shelf but I love it! So your beautiful bathroom reno, combined with the picture & comment of that black shelf, is what did it for me. Yay! You and DH did a wonderful job. Thanks so much for sharing.
I’m so sorry I couldn’t respond to everyone’s comments earlier in the week, but Pam expalined that I wasn’t able to post until today. Thank you for all of your incredibly flattering comments! I’m quite sure I’m blushing Sugar Pink right now! Actually, it’s Pam and all of you who deserve the credit for the final outcome of all of my rooms. Believe me when I say that every single decision I make when designing a room is run through the Retro Renovation filter first. If it doesn’t fit within what I’ve seen or read on the blog, then it doesn’t make the cut. So, thank you for all the inspiration and support! I have to publicly thank my husband who persevered through some real ugliness in that room (and yes, some of that ugliness might have come from me!) to give me a room that makes me smile every time I walk in. My 6 year old granddaughter thanked me the other day for making her a princess bathroom. Nuff said!
After reading this, I gave B&W tile a call, hoping they could help me match the floor tile in my kitchen. We removed a large built in pantry unit that had been added at some point in the 70′s and they had tiled up to the cabinet. They sent me a sample board and lo and behold, one of their colors matched perfectly. They were very friendly and helpful, and I look forward to ordering from them.
YAY Katie! I’m glad this worked out for you! I wouldn’t have known about B&W tile if not for this Retro Renovation and I’m glad that you’re benefiting from all the wonderful resources RR has to offer, as well. Good luck with your tile project!
Oh, my that is fabulous! And, they did it themselves! The mosaic strip is a great idea. I’m drooling over those stylized Siamese cats…so perfect in there. I’ve been wanting one of those metal shelves for years…I even won one on eBay once and it never arrived…lost in shipping. One of these days.
Janice, you and your husband are HEROES! Your bathroom is *beautiful*, and to think you did it all yourselves…wow! I am so impressed and really, so happy. It can be done! It *should* be done! *throws confetti*
Your chalkware and metal kitties are such a great touch, too. Perfect. And This Old House mentioned that Lowe’s floor tile a few months ago in a “vintage bathroom” feature—it’s nice to see them in action instead of just a square foot of tile!
Wow. I just love your bathroom. A friend might be moving and would love a retro bathroom like ours…will have to pass this one on!
Wow! What an amazing renovation
I’m sensing a pink bathroom in my future. Thanks for the inspiration!
Janice, if you don’t mind… I am going to copy your pink bathroom if I can afford it. I have a long list for my new home… and no DH to help… so I have to hire it all out. What did you use for the shower pan/floor? Is it slippery? I need a shower but it has to have a non-slip surface. I am also going to find a pink sink to replace the nasty cheap pedestal one there now. I love the floors and the colors. And pink and black are a great combination….I cannot wait until the hideous Mediterranean beige tile is taken away.. and replaced with all that wonderful PINK!
Wow, wow, wow!!! Our neighborhood has lots of pink bathrooms, but somehow our house was missed, or a PO redid it. Maybe someday when we do a reno, we can bring it back to it’s pink glory.
I’ve seen those tiles at Lowe’s, and I love them!
Congrats on a job well done! I didn’t think it would be possible to top your kitchen, but you did!
I HAVE GOT TO HAVE THE CAT PLAQUES HANGING ON JANICE’S BATHROOM WALL! Pam, if you are able to find out where she got them, could you PLEASE let us know? Thanks.
Joe, I believe these are vintage Syroco. Start the ebay search, and check etsy regularly too…
Nope: They are Sexton. Found these right away, “vintage cat plaque”: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Sexton-Metal-Retro-Modern-Siamese-Cat-Plaques-/160617308562?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256589a192
Sorry, I’ve been MIA for awhile, but I’m back now! Thanks Pam for finding the cats for Joe. Yep, mine are vintage Sexton cats. Love the ones you found on Ebay, too!
GREAT JOB! I love it. As I recall, all bathrooms back then were trimmed with black casement & cove tile, regardless of field color, so I’m glad you went that route. You’re right that an original bathroom would have had wallpaper above, but painting the wall a lighter, but coordinating, shade of pink works great.
Janice,
My wife and I are beginning the 1st of 3 bathroom renovations and have run into a small snag. How did you tackle the corners of your bathroom with the baseboard tile? The fix for us is looking to be pricey, so your advice would be much appreciated!
Blue Jay, I have the same style of base wall tile as Janice – the inside corners were mitered. Outside corners (around a shower) required a special piece, though.
Pam, you just saved me some money! We were thinking of mitering the inside corners, but I have the special corner pieces for the interior. However, it will cause a LOT of headache if we use them and I really don’t want to have to find different wall tile to accommodate the specialty baseboard pieces. Thank you!!!
Hi BlueJay: We did the same thing as Pam, my husband mitred the inside corners and as it turned out, we didn’t have any outside corners so we didn’t have to order any speciality pieces. Good luck with your bathroom renovations!
WOW – this is beautiful, Janice. I am inspired! Getting ready to start a bathroom project this fall in our 1952 Cape Cod, and seriously considering pink. I’ve been talking with and have samples from B&W Tile. Really want ceramic soap dish, towel, and tissue holders, but alas with all the pieces B&W makes — they don’t do these. B&W tells me that they can get these accessories from HCP Industries http://www.hcpindustries.com/colors.html — and that it’s almost an exact match (not sure which color it is, but guessing 62 or 68). It’s the “almost” that worries me, though. Has anybody purchased pink ceramic accessories through B&W, and if so — how is the color?
Jeff – be sure to try World of Tile, too. Lots of accessories there.
Love the retro pink bathrooms and love to see this one, in particular, with the classic black trim! My grandmother’s bathroom in their Borough Park, Brooklyn home had a wonderful pink bathroom that I remember with the deepest fondest nostalgia. The last time I saw it must have been 40 years ago, but I remember the gleaming, shiny, rich, deep pink of the tiles and the strong black bordering tiles, the matching mosaic on the floor, the shower stall – tiled in pink and black 360 degrees up and down! – the wonderful pepto bismal pink sink and the vast expanse of the pink tub. The little cubbies inset into the tile wall for soap and toilet paper holders, the porcelain tile towel rack holders and the toothbrush holder … And all of it wrapped in the aroma of a fresh mini-bar of, Maja soap in its flamenco dancer black and red wrapper on the porcelain tile soap dish. Miss you Gramma!
Wow! What an astonishing bathroom. I love retro bathrooms and have always wanted to rebuild my own midcentury bathroom to reflect that look. But I could never find a supplier for that tile and especially the trick tile covings. Thanks for your story and tips..you have fired me up to do it like you.
Hi: LOVE what you’ve done with your bathroom!!!! Wanted you to know it was mainly you who inspired me to keep our “fixer upper” house 50s pink and black bathroom we were “blessed” with..lol…Seriously, we bought this house that had “linoleum” on the bathroom floor and some kind of weird “paneling” with poka dots above the pink (with a few black) originals tiles. So, the first thing we did was to take off that “paneling stuff” and painted the wall “sugar pink” and BOY OH BOY..you were SOOOOO RIGHT..it was PURRRFECT..lol..at first thought not pink enough but now…I see the light it just enough “tones down” the pink yet holds the “glow”..we are redoing the original pink multi tile (with like creams) floor with the black and white one you did (would be too hard to keep it in tact as we have to remove the subfloor which smells of dog pee..long story..lol..but the pink (and black) tiles we have are in pretty good shape..the cast iron white tub is in good shape as well and we have the original towel bars, built in soap dish and tooth brush holder..and thanks to you I am feeling LUCKY B/C OF THIS now..lol..so we replaced the ugly 80s vanity sink with a $20,99 vintage cast iron or porcelain wall mount sink we got from a doctors office..and will one day maybe do the glass door…we are now looking for a cool retro medicine cabinet and have found several for sale under $100 with shipping and we plan to do painted on or clip art in 50s style..maybe black and white (touch of pink too??) of like James Dean, Marilynn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn…and or Looney tunes..and / or batman and catwoman ..cannot decide..yet…but wanted you to know your design was SOO nice it inspired me not to be wasteful I(either financially or green footprintwise) and to use what we have..even my husband surprisingly is kind of on board and psyched..(like yours I think you said gave you the go ahead) I think it was the spending less money (only about $60 for the floor, $20 for the sink (still want new fixtures as these look too doctors office commerciallish) and the cost of pain under $20,00 and the fact we could so something cool for him too like batman or marilynn monroe (he wanted Petty Paige pin up…a few.but idk..still may through one in if I can have a clip of Mr. James Dean..and maybe pepe and penelope or bugsbunny and daffy..lol ty again..will try to post pics when done..contact me to remind me if you want..
OMG, Thank goodness I read your story! Your bathroom is GORGEOUS. EXACTLY what I want! Pink and black! Thank you so much for your tips, because I was having a hard time with finding a supplier for Pink tiles.Will be calling B & W tile company tomorrow to get that exact pink tile!
I cannot wait to re-do my bathroom!