[Voting now closed. I’ll announce the winners of both contests on Jan. 20. Meanwhile, continue to enjoy the stories!] Every year we look back at readers’ remodels and crowd-source a winner of two “The Hard Way Awards” — one for bathrooms, one for kitchens. For 2016, I went through the archive and selected five finalists. Now it’s time for YOU to vote! The voting poll is at the bottom of this story — click one to vote.
Which of this five remodels do you think should win? Voting is open through Friday morning, Jan. 13. I’ll announce the winner the next week.
What criteria would I use to select a winner? Hmmmm…. how about:
- Pursuit of detail — how challenging — how “doing things the hard way” — was this project?
- How many old house obstacles needed to be overcome?
- How difficult was it to obtain the products used?
- Creativity — props for pushing envelopes and as described above, for going the extra mile to achieve a creative vision.
- Suitability — to the house and its era.
- Overall vibe and story — there’s more than one way to retro, so as they say, everyone’s a winner!
That said: There are no rule-rules (and except for everlasting Retro Renovation, there are no prizes), so take a look and pick your favorite!
Our contestants:
#1 — Jim builds a pink and black bathroom — inspired by his grandmother’s bathroom
Taking inspiration from his grandmother’s vintage pink bathroom along with the help and resources he found on Retro Renovation, Jim used his mad DIY stills to tackle a complete gut remodel of the main bathroom in his 1961 midcentury modest home. The results are fabulous — a black and pink bathroom that looks like it has always been there — but brand new!
- Read the full story and see more photos of Jim’s bathroom by clicking here. (opens in a new window or tab)
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>#2 — Laura & Tim’s beautiful blue bathroom remodel
Laura and Tim purchased their 1924 California bungalow five years ago, because it retained a lot of the original charm that many homes in the area had lost after being flipped. While the home’s only bathroom still had its original vintage tub, the rest of the room was in sad shape. The couple had always dreamed of having a colorful vintage bathroom, so after spending five years collecting vintage goodies, saving for the remodel, and then — showering in their back yard for a month during the construction, Laura and Tim are thrilled to finally have created the retro blue bathroom of their dreams.
- Read the full story and see more photos of Laura and Tim’s bathroom by clicking here. (opens in a new window or tab)
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#3 — Adventures in Remodeling & the cost of “unobtainium” — Donna and Steve’s 1957 bathroom
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!
- Read the full story and see more photos of Donna and Steve’s bathroom by clicking here. (opens in a new window or tab)
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#4 — Lynne & Bob’s new blue bathroom for their 1955 house
Lynne and Bob loved the green bathroom original to their 1955 ranch house, but it was riddled with problems that necessitated a complete remodel. Wanting to keep as much midcentury charm as possible, the couple created a detailed plan to renovate the space. The new bathroom, shown above, is gorgeous — and suits the original architecture of the home beautifully. But… read on… and you will see that this lovely result came after more than a few *hiccups*. How about: Termites and squirrels and mold — Oh My!
- Read the full story and see more photos of Lynne and Bob’s bathroom by clicking here. (opens in a new window or tab)
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#5 — Kathy and Ralph’s new/old glam bathroom revival — featuring an Kohler Fresh Green receptor tub and World of Tile tile
All that was left of the original 1976 bathroom in Kathy and Ralph’s house was a Kohler Fresh Green receptor tub. There had once been matching orange sinks! What would daredevil decorator Kathy do to bring this bathroom back to the ’70s? Hint: Her ingenious solutions were found at the Re-Store, World of Tile, and a local old time wallpaper store. This bathroom project may shock minimalists’ eyes — but it makes mine very happy indeed.
Read the full story and see more photos of Kathy and Ralph’s bathroom by clicking here. (opens in a new window or tab)
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So now it’s time to vote! Voting closes Friday night, Jan. 13.
emma says
I love all of these, but Jim’s ability to take his inspiration photo, and turn into that awesome pink bathroom (and a 45sq foot one at that!) while doing most of the work himself got my vote! I love all the birch cabinet/vanity features in that bathroom, too.
Andi says
Five gorgeous options, how to decide? In the end, Kathy’s amazing wallpaper won my vote! I don’t have a minimalist bone in my body and love that glam space! Congratulations to all the contestants, many beautiful results of so much hard work.
terry says
And bravo to the lot of you. Good job everyone.
terry says
OMG on those orange sinks! Didn’t spend a fortune, have a unique decor thing going on, and everyone in the house likes it. What more could a renovator ask for?
judy h. says
Lynne and Bob! Superb! Please coe help us with our 1956 ranch bathroom!
SB says
It’s an Honor to be nominated! We couldn’t have done it with out this amazing fountain of knowledge that is Retro Reno !
Barb Tarvainen says
Jim. Pink + Grandma inspiration.
Kristin says
Lynne and Bob’s story is basically all of our worst fears, with the happiest of endings.
BUT
Pink is where my heart lies, and the fact that Jim did all the work himself is incredible. I’m sure grandma would be proud.
Dana says
Couldn’t have said it any better, those were my favorites too.
I love the mid century modernism of the unobtainium, but the pink is so warm and iconic vintage.
Kelly Wittenauer says
Love the “unobtainium” piece. But having to redo a good looking bathroom due to hidden issues – then finding even more problems, yet achieving such a gorgeous, useful & appropriate result got my vote for Lynne & Bob.
Lynne says
Thank you, Kelly! We learned a lot from that remodel. I’ve had time to “live” with it now, and some things we did right others, not so much. I have a few things I would do differently.
Our pink master bath is literally falling apart and will have to be redone-soon. We are considering the blue bath the guinea pig. We’ll apply what we learned and hopefully get an even better result in the master.
Carolyn says
All of the contestants are inspirational, especially when faced with obstacles. Some stories were “in for a penny, in for a pound” while others we could tell they just wanted to sit down and cry wondering what they’d done to deserve this punishment.
Thanks to all who had a vision and then the perseverance to see the job through to completion. You give the rest of us hope (or a cautionary tale! “There’s a road sign up ahead…”)