Donna and Steve waited 18 months after moving into their 1957 ranch home before tackling the renovation of their main bathroom. The original soft blue-green Rheem-Richmond tub and toilet were in great shape and could be reused, but they would need a matching vintage sink, new wall and floor tile, and a new vanity. So a gut remodel — which ended up including a memorable adventure to the famous World of Tile liquidation sale — was in order. Of course, Adventures in Remodeling don’t usually come cheap — and we get Donna’s hilarious calculation: The cost of “unobtainium” — we love it!
Donna and Steve were able to source most all of the elements for the new bathroom using resources found here on Retro Renovation.
And most of them sound pretty affordable: The wall tile is plain white Daltile. The flooring, American Olean Chloe. The sink and even the laminate countertop are from craigslist. Steve designed the vanity and had it custom made. As with most of the stories we do here, we asked for a complete list of resources, and Donna generously sent them along — they are at the bottom of this story. Thank you, Donna.
The real stickler item, though: Donna and Steve wanted the bullnose trim tile to match the Richmond-Rheem fixtures. After comparing their original qblue-green fixtures to every known tile manufacturer under the sun — including our go-to B&W Tile — they had almost given up on finding a match — until they read about World of Tile. But wait! While waiting for Chippy to produce a tile match for their aqua green, the couple heard that World of Tile was closing its doors! But… Donna and Steve were planning a vacation to the East Coast. Could they divert a portion to attend the World of Tile liquidation sale (November 2014) — and possibly score some tile for their project? Yes! Adventure: On!
- Finding wall tiles to match the original features proved to be a challenge — one that Donna chronicled over on her blog Mid Century Make Under.
How much did their World of Tile treasure hunt cost?
Thankfully, the pair did manage to find the perfect tiles (and a few other things) at the WOT liquidation sale. Donna wrote all about it in her hilarious blog post The True Cost of Unobtanium.
We’re all familiar with unobtanium, right?
From the Wikipedia:
“…any fictional, extremely rare, costly, or impossible material … needed to fulfill a given design for a given application.”
Color-matching tile for the bathroom has been our most recent unobtanium quest. We long ago gave up on trying to find enough in a perfect color to do everything, and were just hoping to find some accent pieces to relieve the (planned) solid white. Which is why we found ourselves in a New Jersey hotel at 2am on Friday, hoping to get a couple hours of sleep before visiting the World Of Tile liquidation sale.
We frequently talked about needing to make the pilgrimage, but when faced with the store’s closing, the urgency ramped up considerably, and we decided to squeeze in a side-trip to already-planned vacation. However, this meant that while we only had a 3-hour drive (instead of 10) there were some other expenditures, adding to the “true cost” of our treasure.
Our favorite part of their story is the chart (shown above) that Donna made to illustrate the true cost of the great tile bargain that the couple managed to score at WOT.
After the Adventure and once all the treasures were in hand, the bathroom came together beautifully:
List of resources used in Donna and Steve’s bathroom remodel:
- Tub and toilet – vintage, original to the house
- Toilet seat — Bemis Classic Colors Ming Green
- Tub faucet — Union Brass 530 three handle tub and shower valve from Locke Plumbing
- Sink – Craigslist
- Sink faucet — Foundations 4 inch centerset single-handle bathroom faucet in chrome
- Countertop — Craigslist acquired for free, but then cut down and finished by the contractors
- Medicine cabinet mirror — ReStore Habitat for Humanity
- Shower door — Sterling ‘Starscape’
- Hall-Mack Aristochrome accessories — salvaged
- Hall-Mack Towel Ladder — salvaged
- Vintage cone lights over vanity — salvaged
- Vanity — Custom made from Steve’s design (based on Chris and Angela’s bathroom vanity)
- Cabinet knobs — dish cabinet knob and backplate from Rejuvenation
- Aqua trim tile — World of Tile Liquidation sale find
- Special accent tile in shower — World of Tile Liquidation sale find
- Ceramic bathroom accessories — World of Tile Liquidation sale find
- Wall tile — Daltile Semi-Gloss in White 0100
- Floor tile — American Olean’s CHO1 Chloe in Satin White
- Grout — CEG-Lite in Delorean Gray
- Recessed shower light — 6″ shower trim with fresnel lens
- Shower niche — Redi Niche Triple Recessed Shelf
- Paint — Sherwin-Williams Snowbound
With this epic bathroom renovation finally complete, what’s next for the dynamic duo?
Donna writes:
With that put to bed, we will sign contracts tomorrow for our kitchen makeover, featuring salvaged custom-color St. Charles cabinets (ETA mid-2016).
Never a dull moment in Retro Renovation land!
Never a dull moment indeed, Donna and Steve! Thanks so much for sharing your renovation — another stellar example of how doing things The Hard Way can pay off! — with us. It looks fantastic.
Link love:
- Follow Donna’s blog, Mid Century Make Under
Scott says
Dying over unobtainium. Like atoms, invisible, yet nearly everything is made of it.
The bathroom came out great. Like Kate’s green gem, I love how some of the original elements became part of the dream room. The jaunty shape of that vanity is not only fun to look at but even more amazing because having the bottom edge be recessed back away from your knees is super practical. Well done!
Amy A Griswold says
OMG – this bathroom makes my heart SING !!!
and the comments about Unobtainium are hilarious but soooooo true.
Thank God for die hards and purists…folks after my own heart (as the owner of a largely intact 1957 atomic bomblette of an abode in SW Florida)
Congratulations on a job SPECTACULARLY done !!
Allison says
I absolutely adore the slant-front vanity, but… I’m having trouble imagining how the doors open. do they open *down* as it appears they do?
Of course now I realize now that what I really really REALLY want is birch slant-front kitchen cabinets- I’m just enthralled with the look. but how? Maybe all drawers in the base cabs?
db says
Hi Allison,
You’re right, the doors don’t open perfectly perpendicular to the floor.
However, the toekick height allows them to swing completely on the side hinges.
Just need to ensure the doors aren’t so large they hit the floor in the ‘open’ position (lots of planning and math!)
Good luck with your kitchen!
tom says
Looks great! Nice details!
tammyCA says
The soft blue-green fixtures & tiles are so pretty..I wish b&w (or anybody!) made that glorious old shade because that’s the one I really wanted. Also, great vanity design & the warm shellac color goes so well with the cool blue-green.
ineffablespace says
Daltile Mist and Aspen bracket this color in intensity, and Daltile Willow and Spa are also similar **IF** you don’t have actual vintage fixtures to match. But on their own they give you a similar feel
Mag says
Ineffable, I can’t seem to find these on their site. *brainfart* Can you give more info, please? Thanks!
Jenifer B says
Breathtaking!! You found a way to have blue fixtures and still maintain a cool and clean-to-the-eye look. I’m wondering, did you also do the tile on the ceiling above the tub? I’m trying to zoom on the “before” and I think you did. Wow. That angle turn was such a tasteful extra touch that really helped make the space.
db says
Hi Jenifer,
Yes, the “ceiling” of the shower is now also white tile, rotated 45 degrees from the orientation on the walls.
Here’s a good shot of it, looking straight up from the bathtub:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jn_UYrwkIIM/Vlxk1oUrKtI/AAAAAAAAEH8/RAl2LCTuO4Y/s1600/t5.jpg
It was originally not tiled, just painted, and boy did that get gross.
We are super happy with how it turned out.
Karin says
Beautiful! Every detail is stunning. I love it all. Thanks for all the help with resources.
Kathy says
Very nice!
I have spent days over the past year combing plumbing supply pages and asked plumbers for advice. I have found several options to retrofit an old 8-inch on center two-handle shower without tearing out all the tile. Wayfair was the easiest site to search and to find complete product information, but I have checked many sites, looking at both residential and commercial options. I haven’t decided yet, but perhaps my research will help others in a similar bind.
BTW, if you like your shower head and tub filler, you can just install the valve and handles from the set. It is often difficult to find just the valve and handles, and you have to be careful to make sure it has a connection to the tub spout, especially for commercial grade fixtures.
OPTIONS
1) Buy an escrutcheon plate and retrofit with new one-handle thermostatic valve. The Symmons ones are quite MCM retro looking and are easy to find. The plates come in a couple of different styles and materials and run around $60. The cheaper ones are plastic. Most plumbers advise you to go this route, and it can look OK, especially if the tile around the old handles is damaged.
2) Buy a pressure-balance valve to install between the existing (or a new standard) valve and the shower head–costs about $100 from Locke Plumbing or from your local plumbing supply. You should be able to do the same thing with a three-handled shower.
I considered this option with Central Brass shower sets 0897 or 0997 from Chicago Faucet Shoppe for about $130. Has a nice MCM look, there is a coordinating widespread sink faucet, and there is also a 3-handle shower option. The Kohler Triton is also an option, but is pricey.
3) Install new fixtures with built-in pressure balance or scald guard valve:
a) Kingston Brass KF112 (MCM type knobs) or KB241AX (cross handles) plus some other options $50-$95 at Wayfair for polished chrome tub and shower set with valve. The budget pick.
b) Chicago Faucets 449-950CP Commercial grade, nice MCM look plus swivel shower head $240 for chrome tub and shower set.
4) Install new fixtures with a built-in thermostatic valve:
a) Elements of Design Heritage series and Kingston Brass Vintage series have nearly identical two-handle shower sets with a thermostatic valve on one side and a volume control on the other side. Comes with two types of levers or cross handles in a variety of finishes–worth checking other lines for additional style options. Not strictly vintage or midcentury, but has that sort of feel with oversized escrutcheons. Polished chrome runs about $175 – $225 for a shower and tub set including replacement valves.
b) Millbridge Thermostatic Tub and Shower Faucet by Design House found at Wayfair for about $90 in polished chrome, clear acrylic handles. Budget option worth checking out.
The difference between pressure balance and thermostatic valves in depth discussion: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2328303/thermostatic-valve-or-pressure-balance-valve.
Mary Elizabeth says
Excellent research, Kathy! We have discussed these options with Pam, Kate and readers on this site before, but your analysis is the most complete I’ve seen.
Kathy says
Thanks. The help desk at Locke Plumbing was especially helpful and diagnosed a problem with inconsistent water temperature, which I thought was a shower valve problem. Turned out my fancy high efficiency boiler/hot water system was installed without a thermostatic valve in the water pump. So after 2 fruitless years of complaints, I cornered the service technician to check the pump and got the pump replaced for free because it should have never been installed that way. Fear of shower scalding has been less of problem since, so we put off the plumbing replacement for a while.
pam kueber says
WOW!
Kathy says
In retrospect, The German-made boiler we installed is great, but expensive and hard to fix in a small town. Sort of like the difference between a Ford and a BMW!
kara says
I absolutely love it, it’s perfect. I love all your choices, right down to the tabby cat.
Bob Connor says
Did you consider adding in-floor heat for a cleaner look when tiling the floor? Because the electric baseboards can collect a lot of debris. I Do like your bathroom!
db says
Hello Bob,
Yes, we considered radiant floors, but obviously elected to not do it in the end.
We have lots of reasons that make sense to us, but obviously “your mileage may vary” on that decision 🙂
Haven’t found our hot-water radiators get particularly dirty, but I do vacuum them regularly with a small attachment.
Mary Elizabeth says
Great bath, folks. Congratulations on your persistence. It does indeed look like a time-capsule bath in a house where they had maids to keep it perfect! 🙂
Regarding the baseboard radiators, I use a Swiffer-type cleaning wand on them every week. This picks up the dust and cat hairs better than our vacuum does. And a couple of times a year I wipe them down with mild soapy water. Ours are about five years old now, and they look perfectly clean.