We pause from our regularly scheduled program — to bask in some glowy pink bathroom happiness to brighten our days! Jenna is fully on board the Pink Potty Procession, Pledging to Protect and Proclaim the Pretty Provenance of her own Puny Piece o’ Paradise.
Pam,I hope you enjoy these photos of my very tiny, very pink bathroom. I have always wanted an older home with character and charm, though I was not quite thrilled when I first saw the pink bathroom.
To my dismay, I saw how the tile, tub, toilet, light fixtures (all original to the house!) were in perfect condition.
Since I had no budget for renovations and an appreciation for the craftsmanship that obviously went into building this house, I turned to your website for inspiration.
All it took was looking at it from a different lens to see it for the gem that it really is. I would love to replace the vanity with something more correct to the time period (1948). If you or your readers have any suggestion, I’d love to hear!
Your site helped me to not only embrace my pink bathroom, but want to show it off! I hope that more people take the “pledge” to save the pink bathrooms.Enjoy!
Goodness, Jenna, what a lovely bathroom you have. That liner tile! It’s priceless! I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I will, and say, that you look… on the young side. It’s so nice for ole lady blogger me to see members of younger generations taking up the preserve-and-restore ethos. Hooray for our priceless little dream houses! Way to go, Jenna!
Bathroom vanities for a midcentury house
Regarding that vanity: I will guess that originally, the bathroom had a wall-hung sink on chrome legs with attached towel holders. To be authentic, you can go back to that. That said, if the previous renovators pulled out pink wall tiles behind the new vanity, or any of the flooring underneath the new vanity, you will have a *project” on your hands. With lots of searching sure to drive you krazee, you are likely to be able to find wall tile to match. But that floor tile: That will be super difficult, I think.
Honestly, the vanity you have doesn’t bother me all that much. It’s pretty neutral. If you want to switch it up for aesthetics — and don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of looking for replacement tiles to go the wall-hung route — you can go with a spiffier vanity design made new for you by a custom cabinet-maker or you can start stalking craigslist and salvage places for a vintage vanity.
Above are just a sliver of the vanities we’ve shown over the years. - For all our vanity stories, see our Bathroom Help / Sinks & Vanities category here.
- Another good place to hunt: our stories about Readers and their Bathrooms here.
- And, the Search box works pretty darned well, too: Search bathroom vanity here.
Thanks for sharing, Jenna!
norma wolford says
I love it! What is the name of the wall tile color? I have the same tile and I need to replace a towel rack. I was going to gut my pink and blue bathroom but this site is making me change my mind. I’m having trouble figuring out what color pink my tile is though. Can you direct me to a link with names of the colors? I’m still exploring this site. Thanks!
Pam Kueber says
see https://retrorenovation.com/2011/08/19/95-colors-of-vintage-pink-tile-limited-quantities-for-replacements-and-repairs/
and
https://retrorenovation.com/2019/01/22/12-places-to-find-4-x-4-ceramic-bathroom-tile-in-vintage-colors/
Hary says
A great design, I love love your design
Suzanne says
Love the pink tiles! What a great bathroom!
Leslie Massa says
congrats Jenna !!!!!
Angie says
Absolutely love her pink bathroom so happy to see it well kept
Kristin says
Oh Miss Jenna, I LOVE you!! Thank you for preserving our history, that bathroom was installed by real American craftsmen, who took pride in their work. Your preserving it is preserving a piece of America.
Just think- that tile has lasted for more than 70 YEARS. Would a bathroom interior made from modern material today, last that long? I do very much like the tile from that era, it is thicker than tile made now, and has a bull-nose edging to it- were they made from different materials or manufactured a different way than they are today? Anyone know? I am interested in this topic.
Mr Kim says
I collect pottery and porcelain so I might try to give you a reduced overview.
Indeed, they were indeed manufactured differently and with a different material. Of course, details may differ from country to country. I’m in Europe, but, well, I guess everywhere it’s the same.
Back in the day: mostly red clay. Enamel at the top. Double fired (once for the body, once more for the enamel). They were formed with a template (that gives the rounded borders). It had to be thick and small or it would crack with the double firing. technology at the time didn’t allow for big pieces.
Today: expensive tiles are stoneware -different feel altogether- and cannot be enamelled, but polished. It’s pressed and baked at the same time, so no round borders, they look like slabs. As for red clays still produced today, they can be baked and enamelled at once, so that means just one firing (less durability). Technology now allows very big and thin pieces (cheaper to produce).
I hope that proves useful 🙂
Pam Kueber says
Very interesting! I did not know this. Makes sense to me!
Elizabeth says
Love this! My house was built around 1950 and I have the original peach and burgundy tiles in my bathroom. Hated it at first. Took me 7 years to find a shower curtain and rugs to match the peach. Now I love it!
Jennie says
Great little story and good luck. Yes, try contractors or how about asking a plumbing contractor to be on the look out for old bathroom fixtures? My dad was a plumber who couldn’t let perfectly good toilets go to “waste”, so he brought them home to our farm. At one time we had an old corn crib filled with old toilets!