I got interviewed by The Times of London — about pink bathrooms, of course! The newspaper has some 400,000 readers a day, so that’s a lotta good publicity for the pink! Reporter Annabelle Wilson — who was super fun to talk to, and she did a top-notch job with the story — said she picked up the idea for the story at a design industry presentation, when “Nicky Haslam, the 77-year-old designer who creates interiors for A-list celebrities” said more folks were asking for pink bathrooms. Hey: “A-list celebrities”: asking for pink pottie paradises! Ms. Wilson then looked online for an expert to talk to, and howdy hudee hello Save The Pink Bathrooms. Jump over to the Times of London story to check it out — note, you must log in, but it doesn’t cost anything. Oh, the fun. It never stops. TGIF!
A knotty pine pink bathroom — channeling Marilyn Monroe 
Save the Pink Bathroom love letter 
Shambie’s 1964 pink tiled-in bathtub 
Video: Kate grouts her pink ceramic wall tiles 
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Glad to see pink’s resurgence. Isn’t it odd pink fell out of favor – the color of sunrise or sunset juxtaposed against blue skies. Flatters most skin tones. Happy color makes your eyes smile before your face.
Maybe it was the overuse of cotton candy, bubble gum, or Pepto-Bismol – a study indicated that if the walls of prison intake rooms were painted Pepto pink, it had a calming tendency – neon.
Perused an apt. bath makeover from boring beige to unrelieved white – can we say (beller) GOOD MORNING!!! Oh, you have a hangover/sick. just not awake yet? LET’S SHOUT it out in glaring white. Should have considered a little pink to tone it down.
Pam, I’ve looked at your career – whoda thunk you’d become the preeminent authority on MCM when you chose your original career plan?
Oops! the “neon” was supposed to be part of the list instead of tacking itself on willy-nilly. Me blushing would be appropriate.
My own (very classic Irish) complexion is not at all flattered by pink, but I truly don’t know how anyone can have an all-white anything without succumbing to depression, and am happy to see ANY color coming back into fashion. I am temporarily dealing with a blank white bathroom until I can get it fixed up in green and yellow (green in particular is a guaranteed compliment factory when I wear it, and yellow/gold is good for red hair), and it really just feels despairing and dismal to say the least. I seem to remember some studies being done in the ’60s or ’70s that showed that the traditional practice of making hospital rooms all white actually significantly impeded healing for patients compared with painting the rooms in bright colors, but apparently people tend to forget these lessons periodically.
Hi Heidi,
I understand how pink may not look good as a sweater or dress etc. color on you. Pink is not a great color for me, either. I am part Irish, very fair skinned, and only a few specific jewel-toned pinks looks good on me. That said: The photo taken of me in the Wilson House bathroom — without any additional lighting — is one of the best photos I’ve ever had taken. I use it for all my press inquiries now. You can see the photo here https://retrorenovation.com/2013/09/23/pink-bathroom-wilson-house-temple-texas/
Possible to get yourself into a Mamie pink bathroom and see how it really looks once in there? Even… have a friend take your photo once in, so you can look at the photo and be more objective about it?
Well, it’s actually white bathrooms I’m primarily dissing on above. Pink isn’t my preferred color, but I did say I’m glad to see that coming in instead of white! There used to be an Almond Roca pink bathroom( with a fainting couch, no less!) in the public library here that I was really sad they got rid of.
I purchased one of your “Save the Pink Bathrooms” shirts and, wherever I go, I always get asked to explain. I point them towards your site and expound the virtues of preservation. I also have to tell them that I did not actually save a pink bathroom, but a blue one (you didn’t have “Save the Blue Bathrooms” shirts, haha!). By the way, I need to send you pictures of our bathroom. We had to replace our sink (it cracked after nearly 50 years) so we went ahead and had the countertop done in your fabulous Aqua Ripple color. I LOVE it and find myself petting the bathroom counter on a regular basis. We also followed Kate’s lead and used the same sink/hudee ring that she used for her hall bathroom. It was a bit of an odyssey but completely worth it in the end.
Registered and still can’t read it, but the opening picture is nice! Congrats on the coverage!
This is so interesting. There is a different vibe to the pink English bathrooms that I really like. It really gets the imagination percolating.
Cool..love that Sanderson flamingo wallpaper. I hope it’s gaining popularity..maybe, we will get more choices and shades of pink tiles, sinks, toilets, etc…one hopes.
are people finally coming to their senses? i hope so. i’m tired of these
flat looking bathrooms when i go to look at new houses.
Oh, but it’s so “elegant and clean!”. Sadly, we are a resale society, not actually creating the homes WE want, but what we imagine will attract a buyer in future. Its the same with cars too. Sad.
That’s pretty awesome.
Yea for pink bathrooms! I would like to point out that our pink and gray bathroom looked pretty dingy and unflattering with the old lighting (or mostly lack thereof) in the original. So color as well as good lighting determine how well we look in our bathroom mirrors.
That is awesome! I just gutted my drab 12×12 tile and brought back the pink just like grandma…with flamingos!
There is pink and there is pink. I am happy to see the shades in the Mamie to flamingo coming back, but do admit to gleefully stripping the bathroom in my new home of all traces of [edited} dusty rose wallpaper, a la 1993. (accented with country blue of course!) Pink should have LIGHT and be happy! Just my opinion anyway.
Don’t dis the white! I like my all white bathroom because it sparkles because I can SEE it’s clean. It’s all the accouterments that make it happen. I have a 50’s atomic shower curtain in blue, orange, black, and green and plum colored rugs and some jet propulsion planets framed prints (with tons of colors) on the walls. I can do my towels and rugs whatever the winds may bring. Too many people try to make “picture perfect” looking rooms. Pam says to work with what you have. Make your own style. Be creative.
Two of the three pink bathrooms I have had were in Germany, so it was popular overseas too. One was circa 1961 (with a pull-chain toilet and separate water tank for the tub) and the other was 1958 with a really great black and white tiled floor. Both are long gone now. Unfortunately, I think Germans are even worse than Americans when it comes to tearing out old bathrooms. They don’t move as frequently, but when they do, the entire house usually gets gutted. I found a lot of German style mid-century stuff on the curb when we lived there. Too bad most of it was too heavy to ship back to the US.
The pink in the English bath reminds me of my guest cottage/office bath. I went for a 1930’s vibe and created from nothing. The color has a touch of lavender in it and it’s softer than later pinks. I used retro looking American Standard for the sink and toilet, a salvaged doctors cabinet and claw foot tub (that I lucked out on, it had already been re done) and strom fixtures for the sink and shower. Now I can “go” to my happy place.
http://www.houzz.com/photos/79891039/finished-house
http://www.houzz.com/photos/79891047/finished-house