It’s been a while since there’s been an update on my retro modern master bath remodel — for good reason — much vintage hunting, thinking and planning has been going on. The more I thought — the more the realization that I was leaning towards a retro pink bathroom with a touch of modern instead of a 50/50 split sunk in. While the clean lines of a modern styled bathroom are pleasing, nothing has been making me happier than all the finds sent my way via the Retro Decorating Gods. It was becoming apparent that my house was sending messages via Ebay and the ReStore — and wanted me to be true to 1962. I’ve finalized the list of products I’m planning to use, what do you think of my design? –>
1. Vintage mirror/medicine cabinet combo. This is the real deal — heavy and well constructed. I actually have two identical mirrors like this now. The first was bought on Ebay — cost was $100 delivered. A few weeks later — another in slightly worse shape showed up at my local Restore — and was mine for $25 (just call me a vintage mirror hoarder). I’ll probably have to get new mirrored doors cut at my local glass shop, but still — two old mirrors are much less than the cost of the same size new Commodore style mirror from Nutone — which will run you $275 (now discontinued but check out this Cosmetic box (affiliate link) — pair it with a mirror and you’re good to go. Of course I’ll only use one of them for this bathroom, but it is nice to have a backup or another to use when I finish the basement bath.
2. Bath bar light. I’ve decided that a bar style light will work best in my master bath — especially with the mirror. Currently the 24 inch Nuvo Lighting U channel light with diamond pattern (discontinued but there are proxies out there) is the fixture of choice.
3. Vintage Pink American Standard Sink — recently found on Craigslist for $25. Incredibly it is an exact match with the wall tile.
4. Boomerang Laminate countertops. Our recent story — 24 colors of boomerang laminate available today — made me consider this as a countertop option. A sample of “Retro Pop” and “Glacier” are on their way from Heffrons.com.
5. Oak wood vanity. Since all of the wood in my 1962 ranch is oak with a pecan stain — including the current original vanity — why shouldn’t it retain this original style feature? At first I considered using a dresser as a vanity — a candidate was found — but ultimately, the dresser in question was a few inches too long for the space. Since then — after much research — I’ve decided to built my own vanity. Wish me luck!
6. Vintage Amerock chrome starburst backplate and knobs. Let the drooling begin — I won five of these on Ebay (they weren’t cheap, but are so cool) and with the help of my new favorite cleaning product (story to come, we’re trying to get the MSDS), I got them shiny like new — on left is what they originally looked like after being salvaged from a gutted house — on right is what they look like now.
7. Kohler Taboret low arch bath faucet. Since my vintage mirror has a protruding medicine cabinet, and the vintage sink is a four inch spread — this low arch bath faucet from Kohler will work wonderfully. The design is modern with a vintage feel — I dig it. It is a little more costly that I was hoping for — but I am not 100% committed to this faucet — something similar would also be great for my bathroom remodel.
8. Pink 70W tile from B&W tile.
9. Rejuvenation Starburst towel racks (now discontinued) From day one, these have been the towel bars for me.
10. University Pink floor tile from Merola/Somer Tile.
Are you wondering how all of this will come together? Above is a little mock up of the type of bath cabinet that I’m planning to construct. It will be situated between the outer wall and wall separating it from the shower instead of free standing as shown in the picture. This retro modern bathroom vanity has the look of a dresser, but will be constructed in place — as a custom built in. The legs will be coming from TableLegs.com. To save myself — a novice carpenter — too much stress, interior drawer boxes will be purchased pre-made.
I plan to tile all the walls — instead of just the inside of the shower as originally planned — and am on the fence about using all pink wall tiles (as shown above) or “trimming” the pink tiles on the top with white (as show below). What do you like best?
If all of the above awesome vintage finds weren’t enough — looky what else I have — a perfectly matched set of NOS Cannon bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths.
They couldn’t be a closer match to the tiles. The idea to track down vintage towels came to me after reading Pam’s story about vintage towels — and yes, they are a little smaller than I am used to — but they are perfect for the bathroom. Larger supplementary towels can also be found later.
So there you have it — with the key decisions made — my retro modern master bathroom remodel has become retro with a dash of modern. All of the current selections are making me very happy — which signals to me that it is time to start getting quotes, looking into permits, psyching myself up for another big project and ordering massive amounts of tile. Pam has also reminded me to take care when planning any demolition to ensure I consult with a properly licensed professional about what’s in the vintage layers of my “old” bathroom, so I’ll be doing that, too.
Annie B. says
Congrats on your spectacular design ideas, kate. I am green with envy of this perfectly pink bath. Those door pulls are works of art. I love your idea of True to ’62.
A pink bathroom is my heart’s desire, but, alas, ours is white sheetrock with only light bars, sink, and shower door which are vintage (and white). I’m thinking pink with accessories and it seems to be working as the bath has taken on a rosy glow.
Nancy B says
Kate- Your project looks great!! Can’t wait to see it completed! My vote is to continue all the way up with the pink. For my eye, if you were going to do another color at the top I would choose grey to match the grey in the counter top & grout of the floor? But, as everyone says, it is going to look great with any of your choices.
Good luck!! Lots of work ahead!!
angie says
Hi Kate- We bought the Kohler Taboret lav sets (and shower set) for our recent bathroom remodels and love them. You will not be disappointed in either the style nor the quality. They are pricey but worth it. (Side note: your medicine cabinet/mirror combination were the ones in my parents’ 1963 home. Theirs had a built in bar light than ran across the entire top.)
Your design looks lovely.
Kate says
Thanks for adding your two cents about the Taboret faucet Angie — I’ll keep your comments in mind too!
Glad to know that the mirror/light bar combo is authentic 1960s! My house is a 1962.
CT says
Yes! Please share the details on the mysterious cleaning product! I was just about to reluctantly replace some hardware – I would be ever so happy to keep it 🙂
Jody says
Wonderful! And I love that you can put the sink in the bigger countertop. I’m beginning to scout for a sink to replace the Home Depot special currently in there, but I don’t want to lose counter space! A great way to go.
And those doorknobs are GORGEOUS!
Kate says
Thanks Jody — those cabinet knobs are (so far) my favorite thing for the bathroom! I love chrome starbursts!!!!
Vic says
We had a lovely, simple star knob on all our kitchen cabinets when we refinished them. However, it was gold, and we were doing chrome everything. The actual handle was very inexpensive to replace in chrome — but what to do about the back plates? Well, thank you Denver Bumper company. They chromed the backplates for $2 a pop. Auto shops are an incredible resource, they can do all kinds of things.
pam kueber says
Thanks for that tip, Vic!
miya says
I vote for the white bullnose tile, or just using different color towels with the pink ones to bring in some color. I have 2 NOS mirrored medicine cabinets (like the ones below the wall mirror) that open down and have a little shelf inside. I think I paid $5 each at an estate sale years ago and they have been in my basement ever since. I live in a 2-story with wrap-around porch but still have dreams of buying a 60’s ranch and using all the “stuff” I have collected over the years.
Best of luck!
JohnnyBerry says
We re-did (restored) the bathroom in our 1951 ranch in 2009. It had been renovated sometime in the 1980’s and only the cabinets were original.
We opted for black & white tile with white fixtures only because of a time crunch and we couldn’t find the pink we liked – Kohler had salmon but not pink. We found awesome pink wall & floor tiles but the fixtures were more “Golden Girls” mauve.
There’s not a day that goes by that I wish we had bit the bullet and stayed in our apartment one more month in order to have a pink bathroom.
Now we are considering adding a master suite to the house so I can have a pink bathroom.
Based on the selections above we do have the Kohler Taboret low arch bath faucet. I love the look but don’t like the low arch – when washing my hands, my knuckles rub on the side of the sink.
Kate says
I’ll take that into consideration — thanks! Like I mentioned, I’m not 100% set on the faucet — it was just something I was considering. A faucet is something I could wait until closer to the end of the project to decide on. I’ve been looking at higher arched faucets, but I have to figure out it they would interfere with the mirrored cabinet.
Heidi's Cottage (@HeidisCottage) says
leaning towards the pink bullnose. You could have a white 1×8 trim one in between the two styles or add a strip of the floor tiles.
Mark says
We will be doing a very similar restoration in our hall bath (& master bath later) in Coral & Gray. We found 2 of the Nutone cabinets NOS in our Re-store for $40 ea (they will go in the master bath as this one has an inset wall cabinet). I restored the original (painted) vanity cabinet, found a square coral sink for $15 (Re-store), and an original Thermador toilet in the same color. We just need to get our original tub (now yellow) re-glazed in the coral. We’ll be using the starburst hardware (also have a double horizontal wall light w/ a starburst pattern (again, re-store) & will do a starburst stenciling on one wall. Gray Ann Sacks starburst tiles will accent the tub/shower surround, and charcoal boomerang on the countertop. The final touch will be Johnsonite VCT tiles on the floor. The master bath will be done similarly in aqua & yellow (along w/ the kitchen)… 😉
Kate says
That sounds awesome! Coral is one of my favorite colors — besides orange and pink. 🙂
tammyCA says
It all sounds wonderful! And, I love, love, love aqua and yellow together! I can’t wait to see it all when it is completed. 🙂
Diane in CO says
I vote for the white bullnose tile. Your husband probably won’t fight you for the pink towels and you’ll have white towels as well. Love your concept. I didn’t see it mentioned, but do you have a pink lav, I assume….?
Kate says
The toilet we currently have is a peachy pink — It is a newer (meaning probably installed in the late 90s) Kohler toilet. Our plan is to keep this toilet — if when we get all the tile in it doesn’t look right (too peachy or something of that nature) we will likely replace with a white toilet. I had the opportunity to buy a matching pink toilet with the sink, but I prefer the newer water saving units myself. If only they made new ones in that same pink!
Jamie D says
Kate, have you checked the Gerber Viper toilets? They make new toilets in several retro colors – Bahama Pink looks like it might be a match for you.
Kate says
I hadn’t looked at that…I’ll have to visit a showroom in my area to see if the pink matches, assuming I don’t keep my existing pinky peach potty. 🙂