For the first time ever, I see two of my favorite, ubiquitous (generally unappreciated) features of mid century homes come together as one: Pink Bathrooms and Knotty Pine. Woot! Reader Lynne recently moved into a house with a knotty pine pink bathroom upstairs — and rather than diss them both, she embraced them. Turns out that Lynne also has a thing for Marilyn Monroe, so she’s in the mix too. I love it — including that gorgeous vintage Homart sink and toilet! Read on for Lynne’s story and a slide show of 16 photos from her charming space:
Lynne writes:
Pam, you are my new hero! Luckily I moved into this house with the pink sink and toilet half bath upstairs (and didn’t have to search every where like some do) in a finished attic of knotty pine.
This house was built in 1942. It’s a bungalow style with a finished “attic/2nd floor” with a total of 4 bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 bath in a suburb of Cleveland. From what I hear from the neighbor, the couple that we bought this place from lived here for years and years, but I’m not sure if they were the original owners. It was on the market for a year and in our price range when we looked at it. It was kept in perfect shape with hardly any repairs to be done, and it still had a vintage feel to the entire house.
The upstairs, finished in knotty pine with 2 bedrooms and a half bath, sold me on the place, not to mention the bath had a pink sink and toilet and two vintage white dressers that came with the place! I painted the one wall pink. Honestly I wasn’t sure that the pink fictures were actually vintage until I did research on them and found out that they aren’t made any more, and that’s when I stumbled upon Retro Renovation! I’ve always had a love for retro decor, but now I know I actually have original appliances, so I am totally obsessed. I also have a bit of an obsession with Marilyn too…
Thank you so much for making your website. It gave me the courage to give myself an aqua-ish kitchen which I’ve been painting this weekend. You really should have a reality show!!! I’ll send pics of my kitchen when done.
Tips to use slide show: Click on a thumbnail… it will enlarge… use the arrows below the image to move forward, or back…. you can stop or start at any images:
Thank you for sharing, Lynne — and for appreciating the little jewel box bathroom that the Retro Decorating Gods delivered unto you. By the way, we have seen that sink before: It is a vintage Homart design. Homart was a brand sold by Sears, likely very common across America. You pink toilet is surely from the same suite. That sink is one of my favorites. I also received your kitchen photos and will check them out for posting soon. Great job — keep spreading the retro love — you go, girl!
Rhonda says
What a wonderful feeling! It is like going back to my childhood days. I just love the warm fuzzy and coziness. Awwww, wish I could come and sit a spell
charity erickson says
Im new to this sight. The pink sink here, caught my eye and Im wondering if anyone can direct me where to take my concern. I am from the city of Minot, ND, that was recently wiped out from a very bad flood. Thousands of homes were destroyed and therefore, many are going to be torn down. The problem (for me) is that there are tons of vintage fixtures, lighting, tubs, toilets, sinks, tile, etc. many of which are still in perfect condition, that are going to be…..put to death along with the rest of the house. I have a friend that had an awesome 50’s pink bathroom. The sink was absolutely divine, but I cannot use it in my house. The tub, toilet and tile in that bathroom are also pink and still in tact. I have dug out so much stuff out of trash piles already and I just cant possibly use it all. Can anyone tell me if there is a place to call that might come and salvage some of these things? It might be worth the drive if they could round up enough stuff? It kills me everytime I drive down the street and see the all of the retro greens, blues and pinks sitting out on the curb for the trash. HELP!
Lindsey says
lynne-
the pictures look awesome! i can’t wait for everyone to see your kitchen pictures. your kitchen looks fantastic! i am so happy for you hon! now when i buy a house i’m paying you to be my interior designer =)
Joe Felice says
Lynne is correct. So much of the wood panelling in the ’50s, ’60s & ’70s was dark, and made the rooms look small and, sometimes, dreary. Today, I think we use that panelling in limited amounts, just to give us the feeling of yesteryear. I want to do 1 wall in my dining room with ’50s knotty pine.