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…

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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: 

Hi Pam,

After months of agonizing, second-guessing, and hard labor, the retro renovation of our master bathroom floor is now complete. See attached pics for the before-and-after comparison. I must have looked at hundreds of different tile designs, and ordered a dozen or more samples, before my wife and I settled on a vanilla-colored penny round, which is not period accurate but feels of the period, if you know what I mean. We couldn’t be happier with the results. This tiny bathroom, which only a few weeks ago was practically unusable because of a foul-smelling carpet and other plumbing issues, has been transformed into a thing of beauty. The transformation took quite a lot of work. The subfloor had to be removed, and one of the joists that runs like a spine through the middle of the floor essentially had to be rebuilt because The Plumber came in after the builders were done and cut right through the joist in order to get the toilet drain in. (Bad, bad, bad plumber. The floor sagged for more than 50 years because of this. Now it’s much stronger and on the level.) My only caveat about penny rounds are that they are challenging to install, and best left to the professional. (I had a guy here in Lawrence named Brad Howard do it, and he did a fantastic job.) I spent a week painstakingly sealing the grout myself. What a pain. But I think it was worth all the effort. We’ll see how the floor holds up.

Thanks for all your input, advice, patience and inspiration.

“Lawrence Bill“

Where did you get the tile? Modwalls?

YES. This after trying samples from other vendors, Modwalls had the color my wife liked best.

What color is the grout? Fawn beige like the tile?

The grout is a modified latex that exactly matches the wall tile color, which is called “Sahara Tan”. How I do I know the color name? An old-timer at a local tile store recognized the color and remembered what it was called.

Sanded grout?

YES.

And, what about the green bathroom?

I thoroughy scrubbed and re-grouted all the bad tiles, etc. and the bathroom looks much, much better. We decided that the tile wasn’t that bad after all and not worth the time, hassle, and expense to re-do it. We can live with it fine. For now. Who knows, a couple of years from now we might decide to renovate it.

Sounds like a good decision, Bill. If it’s in good shape – always best to live with it a while. Thanks for sharing, Bill! Hmmm. Did I get those kitchen pics yet? What else do you have hidden in that jewel of a house of yours?

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2. Lawrence Bill’s 1955 pecky cypress living room Last week, reader Magnarama clued us all in about Pecky...
3. 50s flooring: Help Bill find new tile for his 1955 olive green bathroom We have another 50′s bathroom to help spiff up this...

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!

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