Gus recently discovered Retro Renovation while searching for advice about the vintage pink bathroom in his newly purchased 1956 home. While he is a fan of mid century design, Gus isn’t sold on all of the pink in his master bathroom. In addition to his uncertainty about the color, Gus wishes his bathroom had a few more functional updates — such as more storage in the shower for toiletries. So, Gus has asked us for our ideas to help with his Retro Renovation Design Dilemma.
Gus writes:
I’m a 30-year-old male from Florida and I recently purchased a 1956 mid-century modern home with terrazzo floors and exposed beam ceilings. The house has a pink master bath (half of all walls tiled in pink, terrazzo floor, pink sunken shower, weird angled vanity, metal ring around pink double sinks… basically classic pink bath).
Some of the tiles have flamingos and fish picture tiles (I’m guessing original owners did it since it’s Florida).
To be honest… I h*** [edited] them. I want to re-tile with a “friendlier” color scheme for re-sale. Am I really ruining good potential? Is there any compromise I can easily do (wall color…take down some portion of the tile, etc)? Update faucets?
I’m trying to be opened minded (since I want to stay true to the mid-century vibe), so please don’t take my post the wrong way. It’s just difficult to envision me as a retro lover. Anyone have advice on how to incorporate “new” features with the retro?
I want to make the spaces more masculine and fit my personal style which is mid century modern, but I feel the amount of pink makes it a little too monochromatic for me. Since I need to remove some tiles to replace the shower fixtures, what should I replace them with? I also want to add a niche in the wall to hold shampoo bottles, but the only place would be by the flamingo tiles.
As a fun bonus I added some photos of my second bathroom too!
Ok readers — now it is your turn to pipe in with ideas:
How can Gus decorate his bathroom to achieve his style goals,
as well as add some storage to the shower area?
Kate’s ideas to make a pink bathroom more masculine:
Gus, I really like your pink bathroom. The vanity and sinks are my favorite part. It isn’t often that you find a vintage vanity like that with hairpin legs and an extra thick laminate countertop. The sinks are gorgeous and the whole bathroom looks to be in very good condition.
As someone who is still working on building a retro pink bathroom of my own (having demolished a bathroom with poor layout that was not in good shape) I would recommend leaving as much of this bathroom intact as possible. It is hard work to gut one of these (likely) cement set tile bathrooms and costs lots of money to rebuild the bathroom afterwards.
“Re-tile with a friendlier color for resale?” Wait! With the rise in popularity of mid century and retro design in the last few years, more and more house hunters are looking for original character and details like this. My advice would be to renovate this bathroom as minimally as possible. You can never know what the next owners of the house will want. They could dislike whatever you might want to do to this bathroom. We are advocates of “love the house your in” here, but we also recognize the homeowner’s need to make their house work for them. That being said, it is always best to live in your house for a while before making any expensive or extensive changes. That way you can see what you like and dislike about each room before doing anything drastic or irreversible.
Kate’s solution #1: The grey area between feathers and stone
Since the original vanity is black with a neutral patterned grey laminate top, I suggest you add more of these elements to the room. Painting the walls a dark grey will help make the room feel less pastel pink immediately. This look was inspired by our recent post on Robert’s pink and black bathroom makeover. Just as Robert played up the black trim tile in his bathroom, adding more dark grey and black to your bathroom will make it feel more masculine.
Once you have the walls painted, it is just a matter of adding some accessories to the space. This black and white abstract design shower curtain from Target mimics the design on the laminate counter top and has a modern feel. Black bath towels coordinate well with the room or, to give a nod to the vintage “His and Hers” towels that were common in the 1950s and 1960s — a “Mr.” hand towel from Bed, Bath & Beyond gives a nod to the vintage while also proclaiming “this is a man’s bathroom.” Also from BBB, Shiny black and chrome bath accessories add polish to the space. Finally, adding a framed vintage flamingo print or two framed in black — like these from Ebay seller yorkietoy — repeat the flamingo theme from the decorative shower tiles without going overboard.
Kate’s solution #2: A flock of feathered friends
For this mood board, we continue to play up the black and grey in the space. Instead of paint this time — this Cole & Son flamingo wallpaper pays homage to the vintage flamingo shower tiles and the house’s tropical location in Florida. Adding a third color — the teal green from the wallpaper — gives the room more visual interest. Repeating this teal green in the towels and vinyl bubbles shower curtain helps the room’s design feel more cohesive. Finally adding a shiny stainless steel bath set helps repeat the chrome from the fixtures and hardware. When it comes to finding space to store your shampoo in the shower — instead of taking out tile to add a recessed niche — consider installing a ceramic corner bath shelf, which can be applied to the existing tile without tearing anything out.
Pam’s ideas for this pink bathroom:
Gus, Gus, Gus. Your pink bathroom looks to be an absolute gem. You knew we would say that, though, didn’t you?
I think that Kate’s mood boards are fabulous — so I don’t even need to do one.
I will add a few additional thoughts, which underscore some of the things she said:
- Remodeling for resale is quite often, a fool’s paradise. Read my story “Remodel and watch your investment plunge.” You typically do NOT make your money back when you remodel.
- There are plenty of folks who are looking for vintage houses with original features. Make that your goal if you plan to sell… Find a real estate agent who specializes in listing and selling mid century properties and as a result, connect with the kinds of people most interested in these vintage/historic houses. Read this important story, with interviews with three such experts — How to sell a midcentury house full of original features.
- I am covering my ears at the mere thought your considering removing those vintage flamingo tiles — which our resident tile expert Bungalow Bill points out are worth hundreds of dollars today! Virtually everything in that bathroom is SUPER COOL. You just need to get your head around a style that you may not be accustomed to seeing. You can do it, we know you can!
- A super key rule for any serious Retro Renovator just getting into their house, which may have features that at first, seem “odd” or undesirable to them: WAIT AT LEAST ONE YEAR to do anything you could later regret (unless there are safety or environmental issues, of course.) Learn about what you have… see if your mindset changes once you fully understand its history.
- Be sure to read everything on our other little website, Save The Pink Bathrooms. You are now the lucky caretaker of one of the most famous and, increasingly, most desirable features in a mid century house. Go with the flow!
- If you need replacement pink tiles for the shower area, see this story about World of Tile, which carries 95 colors of replacement pink tile. As many readers have mentioned — all the tiles in your bathroom are likely “mud set” — that is, set into cement. These are hallacious to take out. You will have a ginormous mess on your hands if you try to take out just a few.
- Oh, and your other bathroom, equally fabulous.
- For more storage in the shower, try this Simplehuman Adjustable Tension Shower Caddy (affiliate link) — preferable if it will fit your floor-to-ceiling height. If your ceiling is too high, go for Simplehuman Adjustable Corner Shower Caddy (affiliate link). A reader recently recommended these Simplehuman shower caddies — and I bought them for my bathrooms (one each.) They are very nice. They fit a lot of bottles. You have a really long shower — you definitely have the space. Don’t mess with that tile! If there are plumbing issues — can you go in via the other side of the wall?
UPDATE: After this story aired, I heard from Gus who writes:
It was definitely surreal to see so many people comment – and especially knowing someone recognized the flamingo tiles. I will definitely take all the input into consideration and will hold off on doing anything drastic. I appreciate what your website has done for allowing uninformed home owners (like me) to embrace restoration.
My plan forward is to hold off for a while until I have a set idea of what works/doesn’t work functional-wise instead of going full force too soon. I had just always envisioned an updated bathroom and never a 50s bathroom, so it was difficult to overcome the desire to renovate. I think in time I will learn to embrace the style more. As a side note, rest assured that I have not had that same mind frame with the rest of my house. There are many mid-century elements (like my indoor planters) that I have painstakingly worked on preserving.
Gus, we’re glad you are taking the time to live with the space before doing anything drastic. It will be interesting to see what you end up deciding to do (or not do). Keep us in the loop.
Meghan says
I am not a fan of pink or flamingos myself. Really, really not my thing. But I actually like this bathroom. It seems to be well built and well designed. I agree with the previous posters who say that if your tile is in good shape and nothing is leaking, leave it alone. You will NEVER approximate the same quality and once you remove one tile… well.
To “tone down” a color, you can add a brighter or darker shade of the color. I had a (very bad- wasn’t good quality to start with, but we could not replace it) mustard tub in my old home. We painted the walls a bright tulip yellow, and suddenly our tub looked almond. It was like a miracle, and it changed the whole feel of the bathroom. Particularly, as mentioned above, with the shower curtain closed.
I also think the giant mirror over your sinks probably intensifies the PINK feeling by reflecting the back wall. Changing it out to smaller mirrors would probably help, as would changing the light fixture. I personally think it currently reads very 80s, which is not necessarily bad, but does not go with your bathroom IMO.
I also second the idea of picking up secondary colors from your vanity, floor, or decorative tiles for your paint and accessories. Don’t overlook the role of texture. The shiny pink tile reflects a lot of light, so if you only add other colors in matte textures that absorb light, you are still going to feel like the pink overwhelms the room, rather than being balanced by your other colors.
Nicole says
Just remember, what’s modern and updated today, will be outdated in a few years. Then you have a bathroom that is not only outdated for the time, it’s out of style with the house. Your house is almost an antique. Wouldn’t it be wrong to see a “today modern” bathroom in an old victorian house??
Janice says
Nicole, you make an excellent point. Gus, if you’re embracing the mid century feel of the remainder of the house, a modern day bathroom will look out of place and someday become outdated in all the wrong ways.
I know I’m not supposed to use the d…. word, but hopefully, I’m using in an acceptable way. 🙂
Roseann says
Just beautiful!
My friend had a similar bath and she painted the walls grey and used all grey accessories it changed the whole look of the room!
If you are going to take anything out please do so carefully and list it for sale there are lots of people looking for original bath items to re-do their homes which were 80’s-ized.
Mary says
PS – instead of a shower curtain, could you do one of those beautiful frameless glass shower wall/door to show off the tile?
Cullen says
Embrace the pink, pink is your friend.
DIane in CO says
Pink is the New Black…………………
Mary says
My mother painted our pink tile bathroom’s walls grey in its last incarnation (Dad sold the Houston rancher 10 years ago, and the house is now unrecognizable). She always worked with the pink tile. First with a wild 70’s floral wallpaper, then with a muted 80’s wallpaper, then finally paint. My belief is that as the mid-century homes grow in popularity, as they seem to be, the original features, such as the fantastic tile bathrooms, will add value.
Mid-Century Mick says
Wow! I love the vibe going on in that bathroom! I just recently (2 years ago) moved into a 1950 rowhome which has a pink bathroom, and i found that toning down the pink by painting the walls with a ‘mousey brown’ satin paint did the trick. It took on a masculine, sorta “Floridian” feeling too it, and looked more intentional and appealing than the plain white walls which were stark. Add in some chocolate brown or black accessories ( I used muted tones of brown and black in my towels, etc.) and the whole thing took on a different feeling to it. I think with that amazing floor and counter you have, these tones would all come together. (ps: I would cover up those tiles, somehow or replace them.. but that’s just my taste). I think you have a gem on your hands! Good luck!
Andy A says
If your main concern is giving the bathroom a more masculine look, perhaps you could combine the pink with another dominant, more masculine, color to tone it down. Perhaps a dark moss green, charcoal gray, or dark brown? I’ve seen all of those colors mixed with pink in a bathroom, and it can be very striking when accessories, towels, etc. are used to give the room a coordinated, finished look.
It seems to me that pink is viewed as a more feminine color today, but back when pink bathrooms were all the rage, it was considered more neutral. After all, cars used to be available in pink as a standard color, often mixed with charcoal gray, black, silver, white, or burgundy for contrast. To me, the pink of the fifties and sixties is like the almond of the eighties–it was everywhere.
I think you have a lot of options with your bathroom. It can only be original once, and to me that’s enough to retain as much as possible. Be creative and I’ll bet you find something that will work for you.
Theresa says
I agree with previous posts— don’t do anything until you have lived with it for a while and try to keep as much of the original as possible. It is a great room! I re-did my pink bath with grey walls (matched the countertop); Added new lighting, mirror, shower curtain. Added pink. grey & black accents. Transformed into my 2nd favorite room!
Shannon H. says
How about painting or papering the walls above the tile in burgundy?
gsciencechick says
I once dated a guy who used maroon/burgundy in his pink bathroom. It did help it look more masculine. Also, our alumni colors were this shade of maroon, so he incorporated some sports logos, too.