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  • Home » Bathroom Help Category -- Also note those subcategories in the orange navigation, above! » Dawn creates a classic black and white tile bathroom

    Dawn creates a classic black and white tile bathroom

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    Posted by: Kate • October 13, 2014

    vintage-black-and-white-tile-bathroom
    Reader Dawn has just finished remodeling the only bathroom in her 1950s home — using readily available black and white tiles to create a crisp and classic bathroom that looks like it’s always been there. 

    bathroom-before
    Prior to the remodel, the space was in sad shape — cheap, big box store ‘upgrades’ and cracked floor tiles dominated.

    Dawn writes:

    Hi!!! Just wanted to share my awesome bathroom remodel with you. Your site was a great resource and I learned many things along the way from you site. It made it so much easier in the long run having so many questions I had already answered on your pages. Thanks a bunch. Hope you like it.

    Yes Dawn, we do like it, nay — we love it! Golly, that original vanity is cute, and we love the vintage sink too.

    This bathroom remodel is a great example of how you can use very affordable (relatively) tile in a midcentury bathroom to great effect. The white 4″ x 4″ wall tiles and 4″ black liner tiles are from Home Depot… the black and white 2″ hex tile on the floor and the other trim are from B&W Tile. And oh my goodness, we love the Marimekko Unikko shower curtain — it makes a great mashup of 1960s mod and 1940s/1950s modest, with brilliant use of scale and color. Nicely done, Dawn — you have the eye, for sure!

    See the complete transformation and Dawn’s resource list:

    • You can see all of the photos of Dawn’s retro bathroom remodel and read more about her story over on her blog digadig home.

    Thanks so much for sharing your space with us, Dawn!

    • We now have 80+ reader bathroom remodels in our archive – great ideas and inspiration here!

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    3. aqua-tile-shower Nanette and Jim’s vintage blue bathroom — built new from scratch
    4. marmoleum-floor-inlaid A Mamie pink bathroom built from scratch — sneak peek of Nanette and Jim’s latest project
    Comments 42
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    Comments

    1. Jackie says

      October 16, 2014 at 3:39 am

      Your remodel is fantastic. It’s so difficult to find the great colored tiles so using the black and white is a wonderful solution. This is exactly what I want in my bathroom remodel.

      Interesting that you kept the cabinet. Mine is very similar, it’s just missing the vent. I struggle with keeping mine because it just doesn’t provide the storage I want.

      Reply
    2. cathie says

      October 16, 2014 at 11:08 am

      I just live those two little windows on either side of the Mirror>
      I once stayed in a Bed & Breakfast that had a window over the sink and loved it but missed the mirror. This one has it all

      Reply
    3. Mary Elizabeth says

      October 16, 2014 at 2:44 pm

      Someone wrote in questioning the choice of black and white as a midcentury color option. (Maybe the comment got deleted?) I have to say that I’ve seen plenty of original 1930s to 1970s baths done in black and white. There was a black and white half bath in my first house, built 1937. The full bath was a green tile trimmed in black. Other homes in the neighborhood, some built at the same time and some up to the 1950s, also had black and white baths. Not everyone had Mamie pink! Great that the homeowners had so many more choices than mass-built homes today. As the French say, “Vive la difference!”

      Reply
      • pam kueber says

        October 16, 2014 at 3:22 pm

        yes, I deleted it.

        Reply
    4. Heart says

      October 17, 2014 at 9:34 pm

      I Love it! Especially fond of the interplay between the vintage touches & MOD. My favorites are the ceramic cat by the loo & the Madonna nightlight 😉 You Go Girl!

      Reply
      • Dawn says

        October 18, 2014 at 12:26 am

        The ceramic cat holds the toilet brush. Isn’t that awesome. lol

        Reply
    5. ChristaB says

      April 5, 2017 at 7:03 pm

      What is the paint brand/color you used? It is beautiful.

      Reply
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