Reader Naomi’s new-to-her house came fully equipped with a retro pink and maroon bathroom — which she loves. However, there are a few problems — the toilet is broken and must be replaced, and there is also a non-repairable crack in the sink. Naomi is okay with replacing the broken maroon fixtures with white, but she doesn’t want to replace the still-perfect maroon tub. Her dilemma — she’s not sure how it will look to have two white fixtures and one maroon tub.
Naomi writes:
I just bought a house with a classic pink bathroom. As soon as I saw the main second floor bathroom in this house, I thought of the “Save the Pink Bathrooms!” site — it was so emphatically a classic vintage 1950s pink bathroom. It has Mamie pink tile on the lower half of the walls and on most of the floor, with maroon accents: TP holder, soap dish, edges of the tile…….and all the fixtures. The toilet, sink, and tub are all that same maroon.
I am planning to paint the upper part of the room something other than gray — probably a very light pink. My issue is the toilet and sink. The toilet HAS to be replaced, because the tank leaks and a plumber was unable to fix it. The faucet in the vintage sink also leaks, and was also not repairable. Fixtures in these colors are no longer made — I’m probably going to need to replace them with white fixtures. Since I don’t want to replace the tub, and the tub is that same deep burgundy, what are some ways to tie the room together?
Can you give me any suggestions on how to deal with this? Are there any pictures in your Flickr group from people who had colorful fixtures but who had to replace a toilet?
Thanks!
This issue hits home for me — since my minty green hall bathroom has a mint green tub, white toilet and white sink — that all work together in the room. Fear not Naomi — I have some ideas to help your bath.
Check with deabath.com first, regarding your fixtures
First up, though: Are you really sure the old toilet and sink are goners? Pam says the sink looks to be a Crane — and deabath.com is the expert in vintage Crane — so you might want to consult with them before ripping these lovely vintage fixtures out. If your old fixtures must go, yes, it seems white is the answer. You may also want to stay in touch with deabath.com, though — because over time, true replacement fixtures in your vintage maroon color may well come up. For example, was this your color in this photo of Crane Marcia sinks from our deabath past?
Pull together your bathroom colors with the shower curtain
If your maroon sink and toilet really must go — yes, replacing them with white makes sense. To pull the whole room together: Find a shower curtain that had all three colors — pink, maroon and white. I managed to find this Hometrends Ashdown shower curtain at Walmart.com (link now gone) that is not only pink, maroon and white. Assuming the maroon color worked in person with the tub, the walls could be painted to pick up the fourth color in the shower curtain, light beige. Use maroon rugs, and mix and match your towels to any or all of the colors in the shower curtain.
If the first shower curtain didn’t work out, a simple white shower curtain would repeat a large area of white over by the tub, helping to evenly distribute more white around the room. Painting the walls a light pink — as Naomi suggested she might do — would brighten up the walls and make the whole room look cohesive.
Since there are a lot of maroon accents — the soap, towel and toilet paper holder, the border tiles, the small mosaic floor tiles and the decorative bird tiles — that even though the bathtub is the only maroon fixture, it will still make sense in the room. The key here is repetition of color. All of the colors are already repeated around the room — which is good design. Changing out the sink and toilet for white fixtures will not ruin this good design, but simply change the distribution of color in the room. Instead of pink and maroon being the dominant colors, white and pink will be the main colors and maroon will be more of an accent. The key to getting this color balance right is just choosing the right shower curtain and wall color to blend with the existing elements.
Good luck with your new pink bathroom, Naomi!
Oh and — come back and noon today, we asked Bungalow Bill, and — with no hesitation — he identified your gorgeous accent tiles!
Sandra says
1. If the tank leaks, get a new tank and cover it. Keep the toilet. Tank covers should be available or easy to make out of a towel. I believe that matching the tank to the existing toilet by size/connection should be easy.
2. Anything white in the room will look pink with that much color, so I’d consider going pink or white, but not both. Chrome or grey or some other color might work better.
3. Search craigslist nationwide.
I love the way they modified the mosaic in the floor.
ellen says
Kohler sells period fixtures in grey. looking at the photos, i think that would be much softer than white if you can’t get them glazed in maroon, which would be perfect. and please don’t paint the walls pink! or white, or grey! this bathroom is screaming for period wallpaper! and period lighting! please post pics of the final. good luck!
Gracie Manasco says
NOOOoooooo! Don’t go with white if you can at all help it! You have to find a plumber that will work for that fix, it can be done! Heck, I’ve fixed things that professionals told me couldn’t be fixed with the “miracle substance” called JB Weld. There is also some stuff called Paper Clay that works wonders too. Both can be painted.
New toilets are ugly to me, because of how they make the backs… all tube looking and snakey… I really don’t need to see the trek that my flush is taking. I like how the lower backs of old toilets were just a solid column.
Diane in CO says
Totally agree!! Have replaced 4 old toilets with new ones – 3 in the past 5 months. Three Toto and one Kohler — and yes, what is up with those elongated “tubey” ones? But look around. The two Toto’s I bought for our 1930’s house have a definite ’30’s vibe and are period appropriate for this house. Not snakey in the back. I will try to find a model number (but I got them at half price at a warehouse closeout).
Have also glazed THREE tubs at two houses since April. Two get low use, one daily use. We couldn’t be more pleased, really! They look gorgeous and I got to keep my house-original cast iron tubs. The two we did here in CO were done by Miracle Method. They also “fixed” several cracked and chipped tiles in those bathrooms so they aren’t so noticeable, which was well worth the extra bit of money. I do believe each of my tubs were around $500.
cari says
Naomi, you have the most perfect bathroom! I had the same issue with pink fixtures. I had two white sinks reglazed to match the pink tub but left the toilet white. The floor and countertops in the bath are white as well so there’s a lot of white in the room so the toilet blends in. I could not be happier with the way the sinks turned out. You can’t tell that they were reglazed and the color is a perfect match to the tub. Go with the reglazing to match the tub.
BungalowBILL says
Some times a worker will say they can’t when they really mean they don’t want to. Old fixtures didn’t have many moving parts and in back the day they were made to be repaired, not thrown away. I’d get a second opinion. If you replace, try to keep the old in storage and the parts to repair them will eventually turn up.
brad says
rather than recoat two new fixtures in burgundy, why not re-do the tub in white? many craftsmen out there do that job in just a few hours…..it’s a spray enamel process and leaves the tub like new…..the only caveat is the tub must be carefully maintained with a non-abrasive cleanser….
however, better to have to baby the tub, than the re-finished toilet and sink, which get much more use…
Sarah g says
Yeah in fact that is what I did in my bathroom. The sink and toilet where white (non original) and the tub was peach (original) so I just did the tub white because I’m not the biggest fan of peach and the bathroom was already kinda busy with the terrazzo on the floor and in the shower. Now it looks fresh and clean!
jennifer says
I think the white/maroon is fine. They are on different walls and there is maroon-pink-white color scheme already.
Scott Spear says
As Sarah G says, you can have any fixture painted to match. I had this done to my turquoise sinks because of heavy rust issues, and you cannot tell them apart. It is an epoxy coating and they will custom mix the colors. But only replace the existing stuff as a last resort, making double and triple sure they cannot be fixed.
Jill says
I agree with Sarah G’s suggestion to see about having the new white sink/toilet re-coated in burgundy to match through a company that does reglazing, etc. its shouldn’t cost too much….also, check Craigslist and Habitat for Humanity, etc for possible old/vintage toilets and sinks – either in burgundy or maybe pink…they do turn up! good luck, gorgeous bathroom and I definitely would not get rid of that tub!!
TappanTrailerTami says
Naomi, you have a GREAT bathroom, lucky you! I vote: second opinion first (just in case)….you’d be surprised how many people will say “can’t” when it really can be repaired. Then, I’d check in with DEA bath as suggested. If you are set on having matching maroon, I’d just put in something cheap white until you find the proper replacements.
Or, if you are going to go to white on a permanent basis – I found this way cute cabinet (storage!) and white sink on Period Bath, who seems to have some pretty outstanding prices. You could then rehab/paint the cabinet maroon to match the tub, have the sink white and get a good Art Deco white toilet to to go along with. Just another idea…….
sink & cabinet are Column B, second one down – each picture will expand if you click on it.
http://www.periodbath.com/antique_bathroom_sinks.html
Best of luck, and the tiles in your bath are amazing!