When Joe and his family bought their 1960 house in Ontario, there was one original feature remaining: The pink bathroom. They loved it, and for their bathroom design idea, they added surfer decor. It only took a few cues, and they were ready to make waves. My other takeaway from this example: So many midcentury bathrooms have such wonderful design features, you don’t need to do a heck of a lot to breathe happy new life into them. Joe writes:
My wife and I moved into our bungalow in Ontario, Canada back in 2006. Built in 1960, the home had suffered some sketchy renos and aesthetic choices in its life, and in our estimation, we had a collection of the worst of the 70s, 80s, and 90s had to offer.
That is except for our pink bathroom!Left virtually untouched, it was one of the primary selling points of our purchase.
Here’s what we loved:
*Starburst counter top*Glass rod light fixture*Laundry chute leading directly to the laundry room*Lockable medicine drawer*Rippled vanity glass*Original cabinetry, hardware, pink tile, pink sink, pink, toilet, pink bathtubAt present, it serves as our kids bathroom. At ages 7 & 9, she gets a daily work out from our kids. This bathroom has thoroughly earned its survivor status!
The only modifications we’ve done have been adding the checkered laminate flooring… surfboard bath mat…
… framed tour poster of one of our favourite musical acts [www.davidbazan.com] …and [clashing in my opinion and not my wife’s – some battles just aren’t worth fighting] a polka dotted shower curtain.
At 52 years, though showing her age in some spots, she’s a real looker and we plan to keep her just as she is.
Thanks again for the knockout blog!
Joe Thank YOU, Joe, for sharing your your knockout bathroom with us, and oh my goodness, your family could not be more gorgeous. Hey, as a woman of 53, my favorite line for sure is: “At 52 years, though showing her age in some spots, she’s a real looker and we plan to keep her just as she is. P.S. I think the polka-dot shower curtain looks great. It adds another geometric dimension — kind of balancing your checkerboard floor and the lines of the reeded glass — AND, the polka dots repeat the circles of your glass rod lighting fixture. Your wife done fine with that choice. Don’t mess with the wife!
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Great bathroom! I LOVE the countertops. You’ve done a really nice job of keeping the great vintage elements in the room and adding your own personal twist.
(I second Pam- your family is beautiful!)
That’s a great bathroom! I never would have thought to bring in the brown and blue like they did but it all goes so perfectly together. I love that laundry chute and the wavy glass especially. And that cute surfboard rug. Perfect.
What a cool bathroom. The colors work so well together, and the polka dots are a great choice — look how they turn into another geometric shape when viewed through the wavy glass panel. The surfer decor is so fun and different. I love the photo of the family — Joe seems very proud of his family, as well he should be, they are so sweet!
I like the polka-dotted shower curtain! You are so lucky that the bathroom was in such good shape. That was one of the selling points for us when we were looking at houses, too. I am super envious of the laundry shoot!! I’ve wanted one ever since I was a kid and discovered one at my friend’s house. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I asked my mom why we didn’t have one and she said it’s because we had a one story house with no basement, which didn’t make sense to me at the time. I just couldn’t understand why we couldn’t install one… So, throw something down the shoot for me!!
Sweet, sweet room, it’s got the feel of some of the ones I knew when I was growing up so the vibe is right on the money.
I’ve never seen a light fixture like yours before and as a person who has a bit of a problem….polite speak for lighting junkie….with lighting that’s saying something. I’ve bought houses for small details like that, love them!
You’ve done an amazing job! Thank you for sharing!
The house I grew up in had the pink sink, tub and toilet! It had green tile, though. So sad that when I went to see my childhood home it was abandoned and someone had brolen all the fixtures : ( So glad you are keeping it original!!!
what a cute family 🙂
They bathroom’s great, but the family pic is the cutest ever!
Ha! Just moved into a house with a pink bathroom – shower stall, sink, toilet and tub. Pink subway tiles on the walls, pink and grey floor
Gerber makes a pink toilet – we had to replace the old one but new one is pretty much exact color match.
What’s funny is we also did a surf theme and actually have the same exact surfboard rug – got ours at a place called bungalowbeachdesigns.com which has all sorts of cool surfer and Hawaiian decor
Love that starburst countertop…and, those cool ties! 52?! Wow, I thought she was in her 30s – she looks great.