Retro Renovation» green

Christine’s salt-n-pepper pink bathroom

pam kueber — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:00:44 +0000

It is actually quite amazing to see the diversity of pink bathrooms. Case in point today: Christine’s pink bathroom — which features light pink on the wall tile, carnation pink for the bullnose and tub/shower surround, and look close (after the jump), the field tile has little salt ‘n pepper flecks. I love those. The granny smith apple green paint that Christine chose to set off her pink is wonderful. Why — this bathroom is so Lilly Pulitzer (Fall ’09 dress, left) — so TODAY. One more thing happy thing, her comment: “When we first looked at the house I told my husband that we’d only have to live with it for a couple years. Well, after finding your websites and hearing stories of other who love their pink bathrooms, I’ve come to love it.”

Christine writes:

Hi,

Last fall, actually 4 o’clock the day before Thanksgiving, my husband and I bought our first home, a 1925 bungalow-style house in Worcester, Mass. Well, the people who owned this house in the 1950s did a major renovation… turning it into a true 1950s style home.

The room that still has most of its 50′s charm is the pink bathroom. When we first looked at the house I told my husband that we’d only have to live with it for a couple years. Well, after finding your websites and hearing stories of other who love their pink bathrooms, I’ve come to love it.

The bathroom has all of the 50s features, minus a cheap faucet that we will replace at some point. As you can see in the pictures, there is no wallpaper on the walls. There was a really large, floral pattern that looked like it was out of the Golden Girls house! So I peeled it and painted the walls green, since I absolutely love pink and green anything!

I made the shower curtain and window curtains from a tablecloth from William Sonoma, and used a pink bath rug over the linoleum sheet flooring (which will need to be replaced, as it’s starting to come up in some corners.)

Even though I’d love a 1920s style bathroom in my 1920s home, I love my pink bathroom even more!

Christine

Christine, your use of a tablecloth – very ingenious. Your color balance – terrific. The bathroom – delightful. Thank you so much for sharing!

One thing I will say, though, is that while I think the pink tile is from the postwar era — I think that your sink, tub, toilet and mirror could well be original.

Yourr style of sink was very common earlier in the century. It is classic Deco, and it is still made (in porcelain) – I featured it here.

I also love this 4″ lavatory faucet for you (in chrome). I recently learned that the faucet is made by Sign of the Crab – the full catalog can be found here – if you decide what you want, you can shop for the best value.

So, Christine, I think you may well have your 1925 bathroom – married to 1950s tile.

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Vintage style drinking glasses

pam kueber — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:00:02 +0000

We all love our vintage glassware, I know that. But for everyday family use, especially tall drinking glasses, I use glassware that is less precious. Next time around, I think I am goint to buy this Anchor Hocking “Central Park” glassware in this ivy color – almost an avocado. It has a nice retro feel, and Anchor Hocking is pretty affordable, as I recall. Link here.

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Samantha and Dave paint their mid-century house jadeite green

pam kueber — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:00:01 +0000

Here’s an inspiring story from readers – Samantha and Dave – who told beige to bite the dust and instead painted their Colorado bungalow / ranch a fabulous shade of Burma Jade — jadeite green — from the Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern palette. A note on the brick detailing on this house. By the early 50s architects and builders were looking to create a “long and low” ranch house feel on designs of every ilk. Adding a half-wall trim like the brick that runs along the front of this house — and in some cases beyond, as in this house — accentuates the horizontal, even though this house appears to be pretty much a square box. A classic classic mid-century house design trick. Click thru for Samantha’s explanation of their journey.

She writes:

Hi, Pam,

Love, love, love your web site! I am writing to tell you our experience with using the Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern palette for our home’s exterior. Our house is a 1300 square foot ranch built in 1959 There are many classic midcentury modern houses in our neighborhood–some “cooler” than others; that is, some have bolder color choices and seem to stand out.

Our house before painting was yellow with maroon trim. It has a brick facade that was originally pinkish-beige. We chose Burma Jade for the body of the house, and white for the trim. This was a classic combination according to the Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern palette. We also painted the brick facade white. When we finished, we received nice compliments from the neighbors. One woman who raised here family in the neighborhood said that it reminded her of when the neighborhood was first built. That was a big compliment, in our opinion! Some didn’t “get it.” One friend said it was an “old” color. Most people said that it went with the style of the neighborhood, so we chalked that one disparaging comment up to a matter of taste. The house looks amazing. We love the color and the fact that we don’t fit in with most of the brown and beige houses on our street.

As for taking a courageous step…..it really was. We went through many color combinations before deciding to “go bold.” Initially, we wanted to use the beige color on the Suburban Modern palette, but when we tested it on the house, it looked pinkish. Not good. So after much discussion about colors, our “final” decision was white with the trim in Burma Jade. But then….we noticed that the house kitty corner from us was white with teal trim….a little too close to what we had in mind. So, at the last minute, we switched, deciding to go bold with Burma Jade as the body color and white as the trim. We love the way it turned out, even if some don’t get it.

Thanks again for your wonderful website. I am addicted!

Samantha and Dave

Thank you, Samantha and Dave, for sharing your story. It will give courage to all of us who struggle with taking a bold step when it comes to color.

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