Jodi owns a 1949 ranch style home — and has just finished restoring her stunning vintage maroon and peachy-pink bathroom. She cleaned up and uncovered the gorgeous vintage tiles in her bathroom… found a much needed new toilet that coordinated well with the space… and then pieced together scraps of the bathroom’s original vintage wallpaper to create an accent wall. Such beautiful vintage tile! Such a wonderful bathroom! Is anyone else drooling a little?
Jodi writes:
Another pink bathroom saved! I live in a 1949 ranch style home. Most of it is a time capsule. I wish I had before photos of this bathroom when it had h***** shag carpet over the original tile floor and wallpaper for every decade.
We had to replace the toilet. But my “pride in joy” in this small renovation is the wallpaper. I found scraps if the original vinyl paper in a storage closet & puzzle pieced it. With just enough to do one wall. Thank you for all your resources and inspiration!
Jodi, give yourself a huge pat on the back for a job well done. Making an accent wall with the scraps of the original wallpaper and painting the remaining walls the same color as the wallpaper’s background was a brilliant decision that ties the whole room together. Also, can I add a YOWZA for those vintage maroon wall tiles — I’m pretty sure I am spying molded raised line-patterns in some of the maroon tiles near the tub, and on the liner tiles, too. Amazing! Congratulations on a job well done and another pink bathroom saved, and thanks so much for sharing your success with all of us.
Really inspiring! Amazing tile in there. Great job!
The wallpaper is great and made me think of this. At spoonflower.com, you can create your own custom wallpaper along with fabric and gift wrap. I don’t know what copyrights there might still be on 1949 wallpaper, but if you have a piece of original wallpaper, you can scan the originals and have a duplicate printed in the quantity you need. This MIGHT be a great way to get some of those original wallpaper patterns back for our retro rooms.
I don’t believe it’s the cheapest way to go, but it’s not completely over the top expensive AND it’s printed right here in the USA. If I ever actually try this, I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out.
I am guessing that Spoonflower has guidelines about copyright on their site.
Lots of true-vintage wallpaper out there — I tend to think that digital printing simply cannot replicate the richness of the inks and rotogravure process (?) used on true vintage wallpapers — or on such wallpapers printed this way, today.
I’m glad I found this site! My home was part of a tract built in 1951 and a couple of the original neighbors still live on my street. However, our home was a foreclosure in serious disrepair and we had to gut the bathroom. I couldn’t believe how expensive “retro looking” products are! We went with a more “modern” look – did likewise for kitchen. I wish our home had been taken care of – all the tiles were cracked and parts of the wood floor were so damaged that we had to “start from scratch” in some rooms. But, we are the third owners, so finally our home has a family that loves it. I’m glad Jodi was able to preserve the look of the time period with her bathroom!
Thank you for being such a a wonderful caretaker of your house, Maureen. I am not sure what you mean by retro products are expensive. We recommend 4″ wall tiles, plain white tubs and toilets, hudee-rimmed sinks, laminate countertops, vintage lighting and medicine cabinets — you can do a remodel pretty darn affordably, in our experience. I would be curious to understand your comment better…
I live in Los Angeles area, and every retro or vintage product was expensive. Maybe I was just naive about how expensive homeownership is in general, or maybe I was going to the wrong stores, but I found that subway tiles were a little pricey because they had become popular. The “atomic ranch” look has caught on, and a lot of hipster purveyors here charge an arm and a leg for something that’s used material. As for the original wall paper in our house…we unknowingly painted over a painted wall – then discovered it was wallpapered underneath! Oh the horror when we had to strip the walls of that paper and patch up the damage – it was vintage paper and really stuck on. This house has been an ongoing project that I wish the previous owners had treated with more respect and less laziness.
Subway tiles are available at Home Depot and Lowes now — very inexpensive, I believe… As are 4″ tiles.
You did a terrific job on the bathroom. My bathroom is also burgundy and petal pink! May I ask what paint color you used for the bathroom walls? I was going to play safe and paint it white but love your color so much more!
Robert, The paint I used was a custom color mix that Sherwin Williams did for me from the vintage wallpaper. It is an oil base w/ gloss.. The base color is called vintage green 384-09 but added 43 white W1, 10 L1 blue, 8 magenta r3 & 17 deep gold y3…if that doesn’t help I can send you a picture of the side of the can. Good luck, Jodi
Jodi:
Thank you very much. A great job – well done.
It is always a good thing when someone decides to preserve the past – especially when the past looks so much better than what’s here today.
John
Mid-century mod isn’t my preferred style (unless it’s the middle of the 18th Century), but I think this bathroom is great. Feels familiar and comfy and yet very up to date. Nice job!
Please Help! I inherited my parents home that was built in 1957. Our plumbing made us knock down a portion of one bathroom wall. We had enough pink tile to replace the ones we tore out, but the 6 x 2 build maroon tile cannot be found. We need about 8 to 10. Where did you find yours? Again, HELP!
I tried to attach a picture of our bathroom but it isn’t working for me.
Also try World of Tile – use the search box to find our stories – note, you will need to send a sample, they will not deal with people who want to get quotes with only photos
I just got an accepted offer on a 1967 split level, this estate still has a lavender sink, toilet and tub intact w/amazing original tile surrounding the tub only.The dilemma? how to make it into a full tub/shower , the tile is short and will be hard to match, any ideas?