Jean designs a super groovy new bathroom — step #1 in her ‘basement bunker’ transformation
Pam Kueber - Updated: August 6, 2020
Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.
Perhaps the next best thing to a well-maintained time capsule bathroom is a … blank canvas? Setting that annoying issue of money aside, don’t we all dream about creating new retro bathrooms — from scratch? Jean had pretty much this opportunity — the old shower was made of cinder blocks — so she took the whole thing down and designed and installed a new “super groovy” bathroom into the “basement bunker” in her 1951 house. Let’s take a look inside the new, wee loo — and like all wonderful Retro Renovators, Jean shares her complete list of resources, too >>
Jean writes:
Hi Pam! I’m the owner a a sweet little Weyerhauser #4144 house from 1951, and we have been renovating it for a couple years now. Your site has been such an inspiration and resource I can’t begin to thank you. I am ready to share some photos of recently finished projects and before and afters.
Finally finished the “bunker’ basement bathroom. It started as a bad 70’s makeshift bathroom with questionable brown floor vinyl and cinderblock shower. There was no sink! It had to be gutted to replumb for new drains.
Pam says: Note our stories on Satin Glide vanities — very similar to what Jean created.
The vanity was designed by me, built by my better half.
The door is a salvaged five-panel that we sanded, cut out the panels and inserted some free scraps of a resin plexiglass from 3form that a local glass cutter had leftover from a big job. We had enough to do five doors in the basement, and what a difference it made in that dark space!
Many more pictures to come from [the other projects in] our little 1951 Weyerhauser #4144 atomic prize of a home.
Jean’s resource list for her basement bathroom remodel:
Vanity: Custom-design and DIY-built vanity covered with: Wilsonart “Field Daisy” laminate, trimmed with aluminum trim from M-D Building Products through Home Depot. Tapered feet from a flea market find finished with Heywood-Wakefield champagne stain
Bathroom sink: New hudee-rimmed Kohler Tahoe sink from Home Depot. Pam notes: You also can get this sink from Amazon (affiliate link). “We tried to use a vintage blue drop in sink with hudee ring found on eBay, but the rust and possible leaks scared us off,” Jean said.
New Rangaire mirrored cosmetic box from Faucet Warehouse. Also available on Amazon (affiliate link)
Flea market find etched mirror.
Pendant light from Kichler “Sabine”- Lowes
Field tile off the shelf from Lowes and Home Depot. The color tiles came from Daltile, and the black matte hexagon floor tiles from AmericanFastFloors.
Toilet — “The toilet is the original 1950’s American Standard that I fought to keep,” Jean said.
Shelf above the toilet — “The shelf is a piece of a salvaged cracked ice cabinet top, and we have been using these cracked ice tops in many custom pieces throughout the project.”
Shower enclosure — “The shower is a custom enclosure, just the perfect size for this small bathroom. I wanted to bring in as much light, glass, and reflecting surfaces to make it feel less tight.”
What a delightful little space, Jean. Thank you for so generously sharing it with us — and greedily, I look forward to seeing more of your basement (and other room) transformation soon!
Want more inspiration from real-life retro bathroom remodels:
The vanity and the flower-power laminate make a bit of mid-century happiness! Great job!
Jeansays
Mary Elizabeth, absolutely! How can you NOT feel cheery in there? Crisp, bright, shiny, happy! Sometimes I just hang out in there for the groovy vibes to invigorate me for the next project. Thanks for commenting!
Kathysays
Love it and the subway tile color inserts look great with the black grout and trim. I am too timid to try something like that on my own, but it totally works.
It is a real accomplishment to blend modern with retro and you did it beautifully. A great inspiration for others!
Jeansays
Kathy, I created a block by block plan of every tile and what color goes where. The hardest part was getting the randomness to look right. Picking your favorite colors and pairing them with the right neutrals always works. The possibilities are endless. I always start with what I love and worry about finding the materials later. Thank you so much for commenting!
Kathryn, thats the site I spent many hours searching and drooling! And then- there it was. MY HOUSE! Knowing the maker and # gave me such thrill! I printed and framed the advertisements as art for my studio.
CarolKsays
Jean,
Where did you find your laminate? The laminates I saw on Saturday at Lowe’s and Home Depot were all faux granite-looking. If I’m going to put something in that looks sorta like stone, I’d put in real stone. If I use laminate, I want something that looks like good old mid-century laminate, darnit!
Pam Kuebersays
CarolK, the laminate is linked — look for the blue text, it’s clickable.
One of the things I work particularly hard at, is to follow the availability of retro laminates — see all my research here
CarolKsays
Thanks, Pam! I’ll have to check out that link. It’s really disappointing that the only laminates that the big box home improvement stores had was faux stone or faux wood in appearance.
Pam Kuebersays
Home Depot can get you lots of laminates that aren’t necessarily in their brick & mortar stores — for example, our Retro Renovation by Wilsonart boomerang laminate designs https://retrorenovation.com/?s=wilsonart+retro+renovation
Jeansays
Right, Pam! Its all about searching for what you want on the web and THEN finding out how to order it. I rarely start at the big box stores but I often end up there, happily putting in a special order that gets delivered for free!
Jeff Hsays
Outstanding work on everything, but I particularly like that vanity.
Jeansays
Thanks, Jeff! It’s the BOMB! Lots of storage space inside and it fits the tiny space like a glove. There is something to be said for custom building to the perfect size. It can be scary and slow going but in the end you get what you want and it looks like it was born there!
Lynnesays
Very nicely done! I really like your choice of paint colors for the vanity doors. Will you share the names and brands?
Jeansays
Lynne- thanks! I should just go buy gallons and gallons of these colors and put them in a vault. The house, upstairs and down, is tied together with them. The lighter teal is Behr Marquee in “Cascade Green, and the green is the same brand in “Pistachio”.
Tesssays
I adore what you’ve created here! And in a *basement* bathroom, no less! I can fully imagine the original, having been forced to use similar in the past. Nothing like having a camel cricket leap into your drawers while you’re sitting on the throne. Gets your pulse right up there!
This one, I’d make a trip down the basement stairs solely to bask in its happiness. While I may have chosen 4×4 rather than subway tile (not a criticism, just a personal preference!), I do like the subway tile here, as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the original cinderblock shower– while looking and functioning only about a quadzillion percent better!
I especially like the vanity. You could absolutely start a profitable sideline selling plans for it somewhere like Etsy. I’d buy a set to tuck away for the someday when I can use them.
Speaking of plans, I googled Weyerhaeuser 4144, and was instantly charmed by it and all the others. I’ve never run across these homes before on paper, but I certainly recognize the style.
Which sparked another thought. These homes are so simple in their basic design, I wonder if it would be possible to take one of their exterior images and the floor plan to an architect and have a home drawn up to meet modern structural codes that would look and function much the same as these vintage little beauties?
Again, bravo on your brilliant basement bathroom, and YES, PLEASE share the rest of your lovely home when you’re ready!
Tess, Holy moly- the CAMEL CRICKETS!! We have a “dead zone” where we find a myriad of bugs who have come to call it quits.
I love coming down the basement now- we call it the Atomic Bunker and its our hideout on the weekends. Each section was plotted and schemed, took 2 years and many many weekends, but we love the problem solving and design give and take. The house upstairs was pretty much untouched, and not in a good way. I’m a firm believer in comfort and usability combined with a killer design. It should look like it has always been there BUT I have to have the infrastructure be solid and dependable. I love looking at MCM design and figuring out how to capture the look without living in a museum (I spill stuff). I do have a side by side of the Weyerhauser advertisement for my house and a current pic . I even found an original materials list for the house but sadly the blueprints are missing. You guys have me intrigued with the idea of vanity plans. Most people thought I was nuts when I explained what I wanted. Its nice to be amongst fellow visionaries. Many more pics will be forthright, promise! OMG, wait till you see…
Lori Duckworthsays
What a totally cute retro bathroom! I like the hudee ring around the sink–I have a turquoise double kitchen sink with the original ring. Love the custom vanity–it’s marvelous.
Jeansays
Thank you sop much! We knew the vanity would be a show stopper when we found the Wilsonite formica. I was not budging on the hudee ring either. The chrome is the thing, no? Turquoise? drool…
rhoda ciraolosays
Retro and modern all at the same time. Looks like no detail was overlooked. I’m sure you could have a successful business building funky vanities.
Jean Benfantesays
Rhoda, you’re right about the details. Thats where the devil is! Funny thing about the vanity- we hired a pro to build it and after waiting 4 months for him to start- he bailed. Steve said, “I got this…” and got to work. He never says no! I was the materials hunter and finisher. I like that idea of building funky vanities. Those doors slide- and they’re spectacular…
Jaysays
Thanks for sharing!
Very nice. Always in awe of those who have the vision for what the finished area should look like and then be capable of carrying it out themselves.
Jeansays
Jay- It took Steve and I two years to slowly rework, inch by inch, step by mind numbing step to get to this point. Nice thing about doing the basement is that it can be a mess and all we have to do is come upstairs and close the door. What mess? The basement was reworked in the 70’s to an all out tavern complete with pachinko games, upright piano and drop ceiling with yellow plastic light shades over the fluorescents. It HAD to go. The colors are all an echo of whats upstairs and I pretty much knew what I always wanted. It was just an up hill battle finding the materials and figuring the sequence. Thanks for commenting!
Perhaps the next best thing to a well-maintained time capsule bathroom is a … blank canvas? Setting that annoying issue of money aside, don’t we all dream about creating new retro bathrooms — from scratch? Jean had pretty much this opportunity — the old shower was made of cinder blocks — so she took the whole thing down and designed and installed a new “super groovy” bathroom into the “basement bunker” in her 1951 house. Let’s take a look inside the new, wee loo — and like all wonderful Retro Renovators, Jean shares her complete list of resources, too >> 
Mary Elizabeth says
The vanity and the flower-power laminate make a bit of mid-century happiness! Great job!
Jean says
Mary Elizabeth, absolutely! How can you NOT feel cheery in there? Crisp, bright, shiny, happy! Sometimes I just hang out in there for the groovy vibes to invigorate me for the next project. Thanks for commenting!
Kathy says
Love it and the subway tile color inserts look great with the black grout and trim. I am too timid to try something like that on my own, but it totally works.
It is a real accomplishment to blend modern with retro and you did it beautifully. A great inspiration for others!
Jean says
Kathy, I created a block by block plan of every tile and what color goes where. The hardest part was getting the randomness to look right. Picking your favorite colors and pairing them with the right neutrals always works. The possibilities are endless. I always start with what I love and worry about finding the materials later. Thank you so much for commenting!
Kathryn Nowosielski says
Very nice!!!!
I too googled the #4144 house plan. Found this awesome site!
http://www.midcenturyhomestyle.com/plans/weyerhauser/index.htm
Pam Kueber says
Very cool, here’s 4144 directly — http://www.midcenturyhomestyle.com/plans/weyerhauser/1961/61wyrhsr-4144.htm
Jean says
Kathryn, thats the site I spent many hours searching and drooling! And then- there it was. MY HOUSE! Knowing the maker and # gave me such thrill! I printed and framed the advertisements as art for my studio.
CarolK says
Jean,
Where did you find your laminate? The laminates I saw on Saturday at Lowe’s and Home Depot were all faux granite-looking. If I’m going to put something in that looks sorta like stone, I’d put in real stone. If I use laminate, I want something that looks like good old mid-century laminate, darnit!
Pam Kueber says
CarolK, the laminate is linked — look for the blue text, it’s clickable.
One of the things I work particularly hard at, is to follow the availability of retro laminates — see all my research here
CarolK says
Thanks, Pam! I’ll have to check out that link. It’s really disappointing that the only laminates that the big box home improvement stores had was faux stone or faux wood in appearance.
Pam Kueber says
Home Depot can get you lots of laminates that aren’t necessarily in their brick & mortar stores — for example, our Retro Renovation by Wilsonart boomerang laminate designs https://retrorenovation.com/?s=wilsonart+retro+renovation
Jean says
Right, Pam! Its all about searching for what you want on the web and THEN finding out how to order it. I rarely start at the big box stores but I often end up there, happily putting in a special order that gets delivered for free!
Jeff H says
Outstanding work on everything, but I particularly like that vanity.
Jean says
Thanks, Jeff! It’s the BOMB! Lots of storage space inside and it fits the tiny space like a glove. There is something to be said for custom building to the perfect size. It can be scary and slow going but in the end you get what you want and it looks like it was born there!
Lynne says
Very nicely done! I really like your choice of paint colors for the vanity doors. Will you share the names and brands?
Jean says
Lynne- thanks! I should just go buy gallons and gallons of these colors and put them in a vault. The house, upstairs and down, is tied together with them. The lighter teal is Behr Marquee in “Cascade Green, and the green is the same brand in “Pistachio”.
Tess says
I adore what you’ve created here! And in a *basement* bathroom, no less! I can fully imagine the original, having been forced to use similar in the past. Nothing like having a camel cricket leap into your drawers while you’re sitting on the throne. Gets your pulse right up there!
This one, I’d make a trip down the basement stairs solely to bask in its happiness. While I may have chosen 4×4 rather than subway tile (not a criticism, just a personal preference!), I do like the subway tile here, as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the original cinderblock shower– while looking and functioning only about a quadzillion percent better!
I especially like the vanity. You could absolutely start a profitable sideline selling plans for it somewhere like Etsy. I’d buy a set to tuck away for the someday when I can use them.
Speaking of plans, I googled Weyerhaeuser 4144, and was instantly charmed by it and all the others. I’ve never run across these homes before on paper, but I certainly recognize the style.
Which sparked another thought. These homes are so simple in their basic design, I wonder if it would be possible to take one of their exterior images and the floor plan to an architect and have a home drawn up to meet modern structural codes that would look and function much the same as these vintage little beauties?
Again, bravo on your brilliant basement bathroom, and YES, PLEASE share the rest of your lovely home when you’re ready!
Pam Kueber says
Hi Tess, there are some original vintage home plans still available today here, including some that look like the Weyerhausers e.g. the class #9500: https://retrorenovation.com/2018/10/16/84-original-retro-midcentury-house-plans-still-buy-today/
Jean says
Tess, Holy moly- the CAMEL CRICKETS!! We have a “dead zone” where we find a myriad of bugs who have come to call it quits.
I love coming down the basement now- we call it the Atomic Bunker and its our hideout on the weekends. Each section was plotted and schemed, took 2 years and many many weekends, but we love the problem solving and design give and take. The house upstairs was pretty much untouched, and not in a good way. I’m a firm believer in comfort and usability combined with a killer design. It should look like it has always been there BUT I have to have the infrastructure be solid and dependable. I love looking at MCM design and figuring out how to capture the look without living in a museum (I spill stuff). I do have a side by side of the Weyerhauser advertisement for my house and a current pic . I even found an original materials list for the house but sadly the blueprints are missing. You guys have me intrigued with the idea of vanity plans. Most people thought I was nuts when I explained what I wanted. Its nice to be amongst fellow visionaries. Many more pics will be forthright, promise! OMG, wait till you see…
Lori Duckworth says
What a totally cute retro bathroom! I like the hudee ring around the sink–I have a turquoise double kitchen sink with the original ring. Love the custom vanity–it’s marvelous.
Jean says
Thank you sop much! We knew the vanity would be a show stopper when we found the Wilsonite formica. I was not budging on the hudee ring either. The chrome is the thing, no? Turquoise? drool…
rhoda ciraolo says
Retro and modern all at the same time. Looks like no detail was overlooked. I’m sure you could have a successful business building funky vanities.
Jean Benfante says
Rhoda, you’re right about the details. Thats where the devil is! Funny thing about the vanity- we hired a pro to build it and after waiting 4 months for him to start- he bailed. Steve said, “I got this…” and got to work. He never says no! I was the materials hunter and finisher. I like that idea of building funky vanities. Those doors slide- and they’re spectacular…
Jay says
Thanks for sharing!
Very nice. Always in awe of those who have the vision for what the finished area should look like and then be capable of carrying it out themselves.
Jean says
Jay- It took Steve and I two years to slowly rework, inch by inch, step by mind numbing step to get to this point. Nice thing about doing the basement is that it can be a mess and all we have to do is come upstairs and close the door. What mess? The basement was reworked in the 70’s to an all out tavern complete with pachinko games, upright piano and drop ceiling with yellow plastic light shades over the fluorescents. It HAD to go. The colors are all an echo of whats upstairs and I pretty much knew what I always wanted. It was just an up hill battle finding the materials and figuring the sequence. Thanks for commenting!