It’s been a while since there’s been an update on my retro modern master bath remodel — for good reason — much vintage hunting, thinking and planning has been going on. The more I thought — the more the realization that I was leaning towards a retro pink bathroom with a touch of modern instead of a 50/50 split sunk in. While the clean lines of a modern styled bathroom are pleasing, nothing has been making me happier than all the finds sent my way via the Retro Decorating Gods. It was becoming apparent that my house was sending messages via Ebay and the ReStore — and wanted me to be true to 1962. I’ve finalized the list of products I’m planning to use, what do you think of my design? –>
1. Vintage mirror/medicine cabinet combo. This is the real deal — heavy and well constructed. I actually have two identical mirrors like this now. The first was bought on Ebay — cost was $100 delivered. A few weeks later — another in slightly worse shape showed up at my local Restore — and was mine for $25 (just call me a vintage mirror hoarder). I’ll probably have to get new mirrored doors cut at my local glass shop, but still — two old mirrors are much less than the cost of the same size new Commodore style mirror from Nutone — which will run you $275 (now discontinued but check out this Cosmetic box (affiliate link) — pair it with a mirror and you’re good to go. Of course I’ll only use one of them for this bathroom, but it is nice to have a backup or another to use when I finish the basement bath.
2. Bath bar light. I’ve decided that a bar style light will work best in my master bath — especially with the mirror. Currently the 24 inch Nuvo Lighting U channel light with diamond pattern (discontinued but there are proxies out there) is the fixture of choice.
3. Vintage Pink American Standard Sink — recently found on Craigslist for $25. Incredibly it is an exact match with the wall tile.
4. Boomerang Laminate countertops. Our recent story — 24 colors of boomerang laminate available today — made me consider this as a countertop option. A sample of “Retro Pop” and “Glacier” are on their way from Heffrons.com.
5. Oak wood vanity. Since all of the wood in my 1962 ranch is oak with a pecan stain — including the current original vanity — why shouldn’t it retain this original style feature? At first I considered using a dresser as a vanity — a candidate was found — but ultimately, the dresser in question was a few inches too long for the space. Since then — after much research — I’ve decided to built my own vanity. Wish me luck!
6. Vintage Amerock chrome starburst backplate and knobs. Let the drooling begin — I won five of these on Ebay (they weren’t cheap, but are so cool) and with the help of my new favorite cleaning product (story to come, we’re trying to get the MSDS), I got them shiny like new — on left is what they originally looked like after being salvaged from a gutted house — on right is what they look like now.
7. Kohler Taboret low arch bath faucet. Since my vintage mirror has a protruding medicine cabinet, and the vintage sink is a four inch spread — this low arch bath faucet from Kohler will work wonderfully. The design is modern with a vintage feel — I dig it. It is a little more costly that I was hoping for — but I am not 100% committed to this faucet — something similar would also be great for my bathroom remodel.
8. Pink 70W tile from B&W tile.
9. Rejuvenation Starburst towel racks (now discontinued) From day one, these have been the towel bars for me.
10. University Pink floor tile from Merola/Somer Tile.
Are you wondering how all of this will come together? Above is a little mock up of the type of bath cabinet that I’m planning to construct. It will be situated between the outer wall and wall separating it from the shower instead of free standing as shown in the picture. This retro modern bathroom vanity has the look of a dresser, but will be constructed in place — as a custom built in. The legs will be coming from TableLegs.com. To save myself — a novice carpenter — too much stress, interior drawer boxes will be purchased pre-made.
I plan to tile all the walls — instead of just the inside of the shower as originally planned — and am on the fence about using all pink wall tiles (as shown above) or “trimming” the pink tiles on the top with white (as show below). What do you like best?
If all of the above awesome vintage finds weren’t enough — looky what else I have — a perfectly matched set of NOS Cannon bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths.
They couldn’t be a closer match to the tiles. The idea to track down vintage towels came to me after reading Pam’s story about vintage towels — and yes, they are a little smaller than I am used to — but they are perfect for the bathroom. Larger supplementary towels can also be found later.
So there you have it — with the key decisions made — my retro modern master bathroom remodel has become retro with a dash of modern. All of the current selections are making me very happy — which signals to me that it is time to start getting quotes, looking into permits, psyching myself up for another big project and ordering massive amounts of tile. Pam has also reminded me to take care when planning any demolition to ensure I consult with a properly licensed professional about what’s in the vintage layers of my “old” bathroom, so I’ll be doing that, too.
Jane / MulchMaid says
I love this! I’m usually not a fan of mixing patterns, but I adore your combination of the boomerang laminate and the University floor tile: just enough to make it zing, but not too chaotic. Although I personally like the white bullnose tile detail, I endorse you doing what the house tells you to do and it sounds like that’s using pink bullnose.
We are seriously considering the University Light Grey tile for our main bath makeover (retaining bright yellow original laminate counters.) So happy to see this!
Pamela H. says
It’s going to be a beautiful bathroom.
Carole says
My in-laws had that exact light and mirror/medicine cabinet until a few years ago when they tore it out for something more modern. I would like to think that they gave it to a Restore or thrift, but highly doubt it.
Love how the bath is all coming together. That tile is great, and that sink, incredible condition!
Janice says
Kate, I love all your selections and wish I had a countertop to use in my pink bathroom just so I could install that Retro Pop. The sink in my pink bathroom is a wall hung sink so that wasn’t an option for me. I only skimmed throught the comments so forgive me if this was already mentioned, but have you considered cutting your floor tile in 2 or 3 inch strips and adding that as a decorative border in your tile work. We did that in our pink, black and white bathroom and it really ties the floor in nicely. Regardless, my personal preference is top off the wall tile with a pink bullnose. I have boxes of 70W pink tile leftover from my pink bahtroom project. Wish I could get these to you as I would love to see them used in your fabulous bathroom.
wendy in st louis says
I love the idea of cutting the floor tile to use as a liner on the wall!
Vic says
I left a comment about the entire project below, as I’m trying to work on my 1960 peach pink bathroom. The fixtures happen to be the exact shade as Kate’s, as well as the original tile is a match to the one she’s picked. Anyway, one scheme we’ve thought about that relates to your idea was to tile the walls with standard white tile (cheap!) and add a 6″ or so stripe of the Merola floor tile to bring the pink of the tub/toilet sink into the tile scheme. We’re still deciding (these things take years for us) but I think it’s an interesting idea as well.
pam kueber says
Vic — get ye some of that liner tile in the post from the other day — stat!
Kelly Wittenauer says
Never been a pink fan – but I like this. I’d skip the legs and make the vanity floating. More period looking & easier to clean under. It would have plenty of support with walls on three sides to not need the legs.
Waiting impatiently for the story on that cleaning product! I have a collection of old boat cleats to clean up for making a coat rack.
Lissie says
Looks good! I’ll be paying attention to the mirrors. My two salvaged mirrors like yours have plastic sliders in good shape on one and not so good shape on the other. I am considering installing both in our bathroom even though it is a single sink. But I’ll have to replace the plastic on both so they match. Or, like you suggest, have some mirrors cut.
wendy in st louis says
Don’t limit yourself to mirrors! Find a glass place in your area and look at their samples. They have so many great patterns of glass that look retro! Bubble glass, “water” glass, reeded glass, and more. In the past I have used a local shower door place and also a “mom ‘n pop” store that catered to stained glass artists to make me custom sizes for various applications. They were not expensive, and because they were small/local operations, had fabulous customer service.
Sandra says
I had to read references to “white trim” three times, without being able to see it, before I went looking for it. The white does not show up in the mock-up on my screen, and, I suspect, won’t in reality, either. White will look pink. Sometimes I think it helps to look at a black & white (and gray) photo, just to consider contrasts. At any rate, not being able to see it as it really looks, I can’t really say which I prefer.
I assume the knobs are chrome, though they look like brass in the photo (also reflecting colors).
If you go with that laminate, there’s also the blue to work with, though I’m not sure about it, either (would like to see that color in a towel or trim, just to test it).
Tracie@MiddleClassModern says
I can’t wait to see this come together!
I vote for the whitebullnose. My bathroom is all pink tile, and I’d really like something else as the trim.
TappanTrailerTami says
Just a minute for a quickie comment – Kate, I would be SO snatching up the swizzle tile – the 8th one down on the right hand side of tiles (pink/white) and running it under the top row of tile – it looks to be a perfect match, gets a tad bit of white in there, and even better, it picks up the diamond pattern of your light fixture!
Love the whole look, and especially LOVE your vanity design – it will be gorgeously retro! And score on the sink. And – do we *really* care about the MSDS sheet when the end result is outstanding (said in jest)? Those results are worth donning a full on hazmat suit if necessary!!
pam kueber says
don’ you be messing with precautionary pam! read your msds sheets, peeples! 🙂
Robin, NV says
Looks awesome Kate and so glad to hear you’re “listening” to what your house wants. My house says “I’m a granny ranch, so don’t try to get too high end with me you little whippersnapper!” Actually, I think my house is enjoying all the attention it’s getting.
If I could just chime in on the bullnose debate with a suggestion. My blue bathroom has regency blue tile in the shower enclosure. The main 4 x 4 tiles are flat blue but the trim tiles are salt and pepper blue (well, speckled anyway). It provides a nice border without being too contrastry. Kate, I’m sure you’ve searched and agonized over finding the right tile, so finding the right bullnose might be asking too much but just wanted to throw my two cents in. You have a great eye, so do what seems right to you. I’m sure it will look great.
As an aside, I plan to use the same Merola floor tile in my blue bathroom – but in blue of course. Can’t wait to see what your floors look like installed.
Kate says
Thanks for telling me about your salt and pepper bullnose tile, I hadn’t even considered that option! (my hall bath is all salt and pepper tile with green tiles here and there). Another possibility to consider!
Robin, NV says
Kate – my house was also built in ’62 and if the blue tiles in my bathroom aren’t original, I’ll eat my hat. I could be wrong but I always think of strongly contrasting bullnose as more of a 40s-50s look than a 60s look. Same goes for sizzle strips. I think you’re dead on with matching the bullnose. As for my sugggestion – I would only go with speckled pink bullnose if B&W has your same pink in a speckled option.
I seem to be the minority but I wouldn’t use white bullnose with pink tiles. Modern white tile is just too white.
tammyCA says
Our original ’54 baths have high contrast bullnose & tiles of teal with gray and the other bathroom was a reddish/brown next to pale yellow.
I also don’t think the white bullnose would work in Kate’s early ’60s bathroom. Check out ’60s home magazines to see what they had..my mags are mostly ’40s.