Reversing a bland big box remuddle, Dana builds a vintage pink bathroom

Reversing a blah big box bathroom remodel in her 1954 house, Dana sent the dreck to the dumpster and heck to the Mamie yeah, restored a pink bathroom in its place. It was a thrifty project, too: Dana found salvaged vintage fixtures and trim tiles, filled in the gaps with new B&W pink tiles, and then pulled everything together with DIY sweat equity. Now, her bathroom again suits her house — and, it is a good match for the other, original Ming green bathroom that, fortunately, escaped the dreaded previous-owner evil glee sledgehammer.  

Dana writes:

In 2014, I bought a beautiful 1954 home with an original Ming green with cream accents bathroom suite, dove grey and pink kitchen, and a bathroom that was gutted and replaced with generic white replacements. I absolutely HATE house flippers and remodels that rip out perfect vintage personality because they think there is no resale value in the original product.

It became a mission to retro fit the boring white bathroom with a pink suite.

I found the perfect 1939 lowboy toilet and sink in pink on Craigslist, and had tile created to match.

I bought burgundy tile accents, trims, toothbrush holder, soap shell, and toilet paper roll holder at B&W Tile in Riverside, California. The only thing that is untouched in this bathroom is the shower.

We got the the mirror cabinet, mauve tile, and edge tiles from Habitat for Humanity.

The cork flooring and lighting was installed by my boyfriend, and I collected the gold shelf cabinet and accessories.

I put wallpaper and picture frame trim on the front of plain wood cabinets.

The green bathroom’s cork flooring and lighting also was done by my boyfriend, the fresh coat of ceiling and cabinet paint, by my daughter and me. Otherwise, it is the same as the day I bought the house.

My Ming green bathroom is one of the things that made me happiest about the house, and the reason I wanted to recreate a colorful pink bathroom!  I absolutely love my house!

An appraiser came through today and said he had just walked into a time capsule. He said he never sees homes like this in our area anymore, and that is a shame. My whole neighborhood was built with the rainbow of colors.

We even have the original light fixtures, cabinets, honey oak floors, coved ceilings. I am proud of my home.

Viva Pink!!!

Wow, Dana — both of your bathrooms are fantastic — and it is seems impossible to tell that your newly created pink and maroon bathroom isn’t original to your home. You’ve done a great job —  thanks so much for sharing your story with us! Viva la Pink — and the Ming green, too!!!

See more of reader’s vintage bathrooms