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A 1957 pink-and-blue bathroom — and time capsule message to grandpa

Posted by: • September 18, 2008

Longtime reader Femme1 – aka Deb – has sent in photos from her Mom’s house. The house includes a time capsule message hidden behind the medicine cabinet – the best!

Yummy bathroom – note the floor and how it combines 2×2′s and 1x1s [Deb notes that this picture was taken as she was removing gray paint that had dripped on the floor years ago ]. When you get to the Gallery of photos, take a look at the bathroom and how it combines pink and blue — they look great together. These 50s pastels were so versatile.  And yes, how about that front door – swoon! Erwins – what do you think?

Thank you, Deb!

Pam,

Here are the long promised photos of my Mom’s bathroom from her 1957 ranch house. It’s not completely original, and the sink and cabinet were replaced a long time ago. I also threw in pics of the front door and trim. If she ever sells the house, I’m taking the door with me! I’ve never seen such an intricate window in an M-C house.

There’s also a pic of a message my husband found when he was replacing the bathroom medicine cabinet. The house was built by an Italian man, and it has all sort of ceramic tile details (see the pink and blue tile with marble strips on the front porch) and lots of pebble planters. The message says “Dear Nono” (Italian for “grandfather”) “Don’t close this. Love, the Voloppis.” I felt like we’d uncovered something archaeological! Apparently, either his grandchildren or someone else close enough to call him Grandpa helped with building the house.

Cheers!

Deb

Click on through… 10 photos in all… Heck yeah there is more →

Good things come to those who do their homework – Lawrence Bill finishes his retro flooring project using penny rounds from Modwalls

Posted by: • September 12, 2008

It’s coming up on the one-year anniversary of RetroRenovation.com — and what’s especially exciting, is that reader projects are coming together — you are sending in “after” photos! Yes, we all know it takes that long for the decorating gods to deliver us their solutions. Here’s an update from Lawrence Bill and his floor-tiling projects:  Heck yeah there is more →

I’m looking for green 1950s tile. Do you have a contact for Olympia Tile?

Posted by: • July 10, 2008

I’m looking for green 1950′s tile. Do you have a contact for Olympia Tile? — Karen

Bad news, friends, but the Maple Leaf tile sold by Olympia Tile has been discontinued. As you will recall, I really liked some of their colors. I am told, that we may still be able to get the tile until all inventories are depleted. Meanwhile – I definitely recommend you try B&W Tile, and if you are in the U.K, this British Tile. I don’t know if they export to the U.S. but I sure do love their colors right down to the PINK and the MINT, which is perfect vintage 50s 60s! Hey Fiona and Clare – you have better sources for tile than we do!

Finally, there are some good retro colors now available from Dal-Tile and American Olean, and possibly U.S. Ceramic (I do not have their latest board.) Read the Tile Category for all updates on this most critical subject!

50s bathroom tile from Stephan’s Palm Springs groove pad — up for grabs!

Posted by: • February 5, 2008

Vintage 50s tile

Proving that RetroRenovators are not so uptight that we have to keep EVERYTHING that was original to the house, Palm Springs Stephan has begun his bathroom gut job, and offers up these treasures – free to anyone who wants to pay the shipping, or come ‘n get ‘em:

I have 185 of the 4×4 mottled green tiles, which should cover 23 square feet. Enough for a large backsplash, I suppose.

I also have 17 of the 6″ plain green large bullnose edge tiles, enough to create a 102 inch run.

They are free to whoever wants them. Just pay shipping. UPS would probably be cheapest, since they are heavy, 35-50 lbs.

Malm fireplaceThank you, Stephan, and good luck now that you’re in your Tony Curtis condo! I’m sorry you didn’t win the Useless but Wonderful contest for the Kurl Katchers. Are you over the disappointment yet?

Some other ideas on how to use the tiles: How about a groovy surround or base for a retro Malm fireplace? Or…use the mottled green 4x4s as a line of trim tile in a white bathroom… Or, a tabletop.

A 50s bathroom trimmed in two-tone blue

Posted by: • January 31, 2008

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retro dark bright wedgewood tile by aoretro bathroom 50s blueWhat a lovely 1953 bathroom. If you prefer to go with white fixtures – tub, toilet and sink – but still want some classic retro flair, choose a 50s colored field tile for the shower surround and/or walls.

Blue tiles are fresh and timeless – I used the Olympia Tile Heron Blue in a bathroom, trimmed with white 2x6s. White floor, white fixtures and a wallpaper with additional soft green and 50s tile retro color olympia tile heron bluefaded cherry red that pulls it all together. Interestingly, I think it’s the retro styled wallpaper that takes the bathroom truly back to the 50s and in fact, it would be easy to change to wallpaper to dial the era up or down — with all the expensive basics like tile and fixtures not having to change.

So for anyone concerned about going too over-the-top retro (like, you’re concerned about resale) — such is the benefit of accessories, carefully executed. Another way to think about it: The more expensive the feature, the more conservative you may want to be.

In this Kohler bathroom, they’ve chosen just to tile the tub, so they added more design ooomph with a two color treatment. In the rest of the bathroom, I love the yellow punch, the great built-in storage to the right of the sink, and the dark gleaming floor.

Tile for your 50s style kitchen or bath

Posted by: • February 13, 2006

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It was very difficult to find tile in the correct 50s shades. My best source: A Canadian-based company, Olympia Tile, had a selection of 4.25 x 4.25 “Maple Leaf” tiles in appropriate shades. Good news, their distribution network in the U.S. is growing. Go to olympiatile.com to see where you can buy this tile. No photos online – watch this site and I’ll post my bathroom pics at some point.

Colors I used in my bathrooms: Heron Blue and Fawn Beige. I used the 4x4s for field tile and for edging, trimmed them with a basic United Ceramic white 2×6 from Home Depot. I used Olympia’s matching 2×6 cove base to meet the walls with the floor. Note, we installed the cove pieces flush with the floor tile (rather than ‘sitting on top of it’ — but struggled because the room was not perfectly square (by a long shot.) This is a trade-off decision.

Other colors I like in the Olympia line: Primrose (yellow), Teal Blue and Lake Blue, Salmon (would be great with black or grey trim) Terra Cotta, Bone and four shades of Grey – Thunder, Platinum, Silver and Tender (my favorite.)

This tile was all very inexpensive. Note, I bet you can go much higher-end — to a Waterworks or Ann Sachs — and probably get a better selection of colors. However, this will be at a much much higher price.

Finally: For my floors, I used American Olean Chloe, a “pinwheel” pattern evocative of the 50s, with the gloss black dots in one room, and with plain satin white in the other two. To be honest, I prefer the all-white. Use warm grey sanded grout — it’s a nice look. You must seal the grout, though – an arduous (but worthwhile) task.