Last week we looked at Cindy’s beautiful Holyoke, Mass., home – photos I took last summer. Today – we get to see the updates that she made to her bathroom vanity and tile floor and shower over the winter – she replaced the laminate on the bathroom vanity in a lighter ‘beigewood” shade, and also retiled her floor and shower stall. Cindy’s updates are incredibly well done – she has a great eye for detail and I know that she labored over each little decision…. Great inspiration and ideas, I am sure, to many retro renovators looking for a way to update their tired bathroom vanities, in particular.
Cindy writes:
Hi Pam,
Since you were here I redid the tiles and laminate cabinet in the bathroom…. Fiorella Cosgrove of Cortina Tile in West Springfield, MA was the only tile advisor who “got” my desire to be retro and I could not have done it without her and highly recommend them.(Corina Tile;1645 Riverdale St.; West Springfield MA 01089).
- The old laminate was stripped off and replaced with Wilsonart laminate-the color is beigewood #7850-60.
- The hardware was purchased at Re-Store for a super awesome $10.
- I also got a new soap dish to match the existing ones – that came from ebay and it is the Hall-Mack polished chrome …Coronado series. A local hardware store with 50 years of old inventory provided me some items from the same line and of course I have extras…even a towel rack I couldn’t resist and haven’t used yet.
- The bathroom pendants are original BUT the canopies were brass – I found a local guy to chrome them for me so they would match all other metal in the bathroom. the toilet, sinks, and tub are original.
- I’ll be looking to replace the Church toilet seat very soon if I can find the same color.
- The shower tiles are 6″x6″, made by Original Style in England, color is Ecru.
- The floor tiles are 2″x2″ Dal-Tile color is elemental tan with sporadic 1″ x1″ tiles color urban putty. (Size created by tile installer by cutting 2×2 tiles in quarters…this give extra texture and was recommended by Cortina Tile).
The project brightened up the bathroom and remained true to the 1960’s!!! PS, do you notice the cabinet hardware from Re-Store???? Hope to see you this summer for a Re-Store rerun~
Cindy
max hartshorne says
Boy all this attention to the bathroom makes me honored to be able to use it myself! I am proud of Cindy’s amazing details proud to be the ‘other half’ of such a clever young woman.
HBB
Pam Kueber says
Ooooooh, the famous Max! Hi, we love Cindy too! Come see me when you’re in Lenox next! Wanna try to come with us to see James Taylor in August?
Mer says
Cindy,
Are the countertops original? I want those! This looks fabulous. I’d love to see more pictures.
Pam Kueber says
Mer, yes, Cindy’s countertops are original. I think there are companies now that can replicate this look. I’ll add this to my long list to research and post about…
Doug says
Pam, did you ever find a company making countertops like this today?
pam kueber says
Doug, that’s tile. World of Tile has some like it, authentic vintage. See my Bathrooms/Tile category to see the stories about WOT, or use the Search box.
Doug says
Thanks, Pam. As it happens, I will be traveling through New Jersey in a couple of weeks, although I think it could be dangerous making a stop at World of Tile.
NorthsideCJ says
Looks great! That laminate came out good. No sharp edges on the quartered tiles to cut yourself on? Did your tile guy bevel the edges, or just sink the tiles?
sablemable says
Lovely, Cindy! Still looks retro. Aren’t those Re-Sell stores great! Thanks for the tile info, too.
Cindy says
Hi Jeanne,
That’s right…the tiles I used are not available in 1″x1″ so I ordered some extra beige tiles (urban putty) and had my tile installer cut them into four 1″x1″ tiles to give the floor a bit more texture. I can’t take credit for the idea…it was recommended by Cortina Tile…and I love it! The installer laid out the pattern for me and I OK’d it….
kw says
Wow, I really like how the cabinets turned out. The lighter wood color looks great. This website has inspired me to try and keep the 50s in my 50s era house.
Patd says
I guess I have the same question on the floor tiles. Is it possible to have a close-up pic and maybe more description?
Thanks for showing us this – it looks fabulous! It looks seamless and fresh and retro at the same time. Great job!
Elvis (aka) Jane says
Beautiful job, Cindy! That laminate is exactly right. I really like the way you chose and pulled together the different tiles into a cohesive color and texture palette.
Would love to see a shot of the pendant canopy. I know what you’re saying about re-chroming to match: Our kitchen pulls were bronze and the built-in appliances were stainless, so we finally decided that the original mix-and-match was OK. But I’d like it if they matched.
Glamorlux Nancy says
Wonderful! How on earth do you strip laminate without damaging the wood underneath? The lighter wood and chrome give it a whole new ‘vintage’ look. Love it!!!
jeanne says
That bathroom turned out gorgeous Cindy! I love the monochromatic look with the hint of peach (toilet). The vanity looks fantastic with the new laminate and the knobs. I love the floor color, as well. I’m confused on the 2″ vs 1″ tiles, as both the tan and putty tiles look the same size to me? Or is each “square” of urban putty actually four one-inch squares? How did you sporadically decide to place them? I just know I would end up with more of a pattern, haha.