Retro Renovation

I met Midcentury Keith when he pledged to help Save the Pink Bathrooms and posted photos of his own incredible pink jewel box bathroom on the STPB Flickr page. Oh my, it is a beauty!

Here’s Keith’s story… and hey, everybody, remember to make your pledge (a comment) to Save The Pink Bathrooms.

Hi Pam,
Thanks for the [...]

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My dad lives in an apartment building in Brooklyn that opened on April 1, 1951. I assume the bathroom is original. The bathroom floor tile is a (true) gray and white in a simple checkerboard pattern. The wall tile is a funky purplish-gray field with a black bullnose border. It doesn’t [...]

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These terrazzo shower bases from Crane look like the real deal. The website says that they truly are marble chips embedded in concrete, then polished to a high gloss. I have shower bases in two of my three bathrooms, and when I renovated about 5 years ago, I went with simple white Swanstone solid surface. [...]

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I heard from Rafael in Puerto Rico — sounds like he’s a great boyfriend in that he helped his girlfriend with her bathroom renovation. But oops, he’s in the doghouse because the asymmetrical 1960s sink got damaged in the process. Isn’t it cool? He’s looking for a new one:
Hi Pam:
I found your page through a [...]

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It seems that many readers are trying to find just one or two matching pieces to bring their original bathrooms back to their full glory. Sinks seem to be big contenders in this search - they get dinged or otherwise worn out, or they were replaced at some point with plain white.
I was amazed when [...]

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I’m having kitchen and bathroom withdrawal, so for Friday how about this most excellent bathroom lav - courtesy Formica, 1952. Seems to me this is something we could absolutely replicate today. Also, a great solution for a small bathroom - if you need the storage space but want the ‘lightness’ of a vanity that does [...]

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Reader Thrilled Pink Emily sends us this great recommendation on vintage style bathroom towels:
I was reading about how you were trying to find the right bathroom towels. Go to anthropologie.com — they have the exact style made in the 50s chenille look….the Sculpture Garden sculpted bath towels. They are so much fun. I would like [...]

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An excellent pair of sconces from our favorite ebay source. The glass shade-on-chrome base look is usually perfect for the retro bathroom!

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Since we’ve been on a bathroom roll, I thought that spotlighting these 1959 Kohler sinks - “lavatory sinks” with chrome legs and towel bars — would be fun. Aren’t the colors and designs just beautiful?

Here’s an entire suite (below). For those of you trepidatious about going too colorful with the fixtures and tile, this [...]

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I’m away all week on business, and it’s turning out to be very full days, so my ability to watch ebay looks like it will be stressed. So — I’m very thankful for reader Superstar Sara for sending this item from the Victoria, British Columbia, classified. A beautiful, classic green wallmount sink with chrome legs, [...]

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