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!
Richard Douglass says
Phew, Pam.
Perfect P’s.
MBJ says
Your bathroom really is nice, and I think one thing that makes it work is the mix of retro and new. The shower curtain is elegant and the stock vanity works. It’s functional and looks fine. I know it’s not, but if it were me, I’d live with it until it needed replacement and put the funds into a cool light fixture elsewhere or something. Your bath looks great!
Heart says
Oh… the Marble transition between the wood floor & the bathroom tile, LOVE that! Nothing speaks to me more than those vintage details.
Awesome Jenna, thank you for sharing & preserving another pink bathroom! Score!
j. hall says
Jenna! Your pinkie bathroom and mine are twin sisters!! The wall tile, floor, tub and toilet ALL the same! Ours in the same mint condition as yours, we were/are elated! We did the same, just put in a plain white vanity until we found something more period appropriate. Well, that white vanity has been there for a few years now and it seems to fit right in now. We’re still on the lookout, but not quite as vigorously as before. I love all of your pretty accents, towels and shower curtain, you have a gorgeous bathroom!
Jenna says
Thank you all for all the suggestions, compliments and kind words! I am happy to report that the bottom interior board of vanity is not secured down, so I was able to lift it up and see that the tile underneath seems to be intact! However some of the tiles on the wall are missing around the pipes. You can see grey cement-like material where the tile is missing. I do like the idea of a wall hung vanity with chrome legs as Pam mentioned, since the loss of storage isn’t much of an issue for me. I have closet built-ins in the hallway where I keep towels and extra bathroom supplies and have converted a spare bedroom into a dressing room, so that’s where I do my morning “getting ready” routine. I can definitely live with the current vanity for awhile. My biggest complaint is that it feels bulky and cramped for the space. Sorry for rambling on, I just love sharing all the ideas!
Pam Kueber says
hmmm, it’s possible that the place on the wall that’s filled in was where the brackets holding up a wall-hung sink were secured.
If you are clever, which I think you are!, you could possibly work around it. Another idea, if possible, although it might be difficult: “Steal” a tile or two from behind the sink, lower down, and fill in the missing one(s). That could be difficult if the wall tiles are mud set, which it appears they are, which likely means those puppies ain’t coming out easy. In that case: start stalking vintage!
Ellen B. says
Jenna did a great job in that beautiful pink bathroom. I’d keep the vanity, paint it gray or the EXACT same color as the pink tile; change up the hardware and that’s it! Perfection!
Catherine says
So cute! My house is also from 1948 and has a really similar bathroom, but in yellow. (I think it’s the identical bathtub.) Ours has the original sink, which is indeed wall-hung. It doesn’t have legs and doesn’t look like it ever did, but when I took a close at the underneath of the sink, it does look like legs could have been an option. The faucet is a Chicago Faucet with a sort of hex-shape theme.
Allen says
I agree with you about the legs. Legs and towel bars definitely were accessories especially for the simpler bathrooms and houses. The modest 1960 ranch I grew up in had a full and a half bath with identical fixtures and gray field and floor tile all original to the house. No legs or towel bars attached to the sink were ever present.
Carolyn says
What about that guy who re-did/conjured up his Grandma’s bathroom last year-ish? Eric? With the basement that looks Colonial? I think he was nominated for a Hard Way of the year – ? Or that couple whose bathroom was falling off the house?
Anyways, I’m partial to the birch/fir wood vanities with the lines cut out for ventilation.
Maybe Jenna will have lucked out that the owners were too lazy to tear things out and just put that vanity against the wall. Looks like they really agonized on the decision for this one!
I’d say wait for something to come to you while you’re looking at CL, ebay, thrifts. If you’re on social media, get the word out you’re looking for something better than this. Good luck and show us when you’re done!
RAnderson says
What a gorgeous original gem of a bathroom! The pink & warm gray are a such a sophisticated combination. Maybe just the right retro laminate top on that vanity would be just the right touch if tile removal makes using the type of old style sink with chrome legs
that would have likely been original impossible. Fabulous save!!
Roger A.
Tom says
I have the same bathroom floor tile, a few of which are in need of replacement. Anyone know if it’s still manufactured and where?
Melanie says
Looks like Daltile…much of that is still available. Check their site!