Here's an example I found of a 1920s bathroom.

I think it would be alright to use something from a different period, as long as it's from an earlier period. Who's to say that the thrifty folk who built post war, didn't use salvaged fixtures? Or, just updated the things that needed to be replaced, and kept the functional parts?

mama goose, I never thought of it that way. Why wouldn't someone living in the 20s update their bathroom and retain some of the original features? I happen to love the look in crl's image. I like square tiles set on a grid and I don't think they look esp. modern. The house I grew up in was built in 1948 and it was rather mid-century in architecture, but the bathrooms were more like the above image.

I like single handle faucets, but I think I prefer the Moen for looks.

Thank you!

The logic I usually hear is that it is okay to use more recent things because the house would have been updated along the way as things broke, but that it is generally less acceptable to use things that are older than the house. I get that logic, but taken to its extreme that would mean I could do a full-on slick modern bathroom and I wouldn't like that in my old house.

It also seems to me like a lot of what is now viewed as vintage is not necessarily period correct, if that makes any sense. So it's a bit hard for me to sort out what's currently fashionable as "vintage" as opposed to what is actually period correct.

I guess I'd just like to make educated choices as much as I can.

I think you would be okay with subway as well. The 20s homes in my neighborhood do tend to have the 4x4 and 6x6 squares. Color is predominant but I think you are right that you are on the cusp of that trend. Black and white is also popular but sometimes I think that is the result of the later renovations. Strangely all of our hardware is Art Deco influenced so I've been putting in design clues all the time.

In the 20's, the houses that were being salvaged were probably not the ones with indoor plumbing. Further, I doubt there would have been much of a demand for wood-paneled copper bathing tubs or wood-tanked toilets lacking the bowl-rinsing feature. The first one-piece "tankless" style WC's were introduced around 1920, they were more modern than we realize.
Casey

Surely faucets like the first one only showed up in the 1990s? I've never seen an actual old faucet that had that funky water pump (?) style spout, except for actual water pumps. To me, it's a fairly modern look, but vintage inspired.

The Moen is probably more correct (even though it is pretty fancy with a mixer for hot and cold), but ya know, it's just a faucet. You can swap that out any time with a short period of discomfort under the sink. It's not a permanent commitment like the tile is. Or the number of holes. :)

In other words, I think that if you like that first one, you should go for it. It's a vintagey feel, and that ought to be good enough (because authentic vintage is not all that practical). It doesn't have to be in forever so you can give yourself a little freedom.

Our first house had the original classic black and white bathroom. It was built in 1939. Loved that bathroom.

We did subway in our master bathroom remodel. And we are doing more or less subways (2 x 6 heath tiles found in their seconds room for $6 a square foot instead of the full price $22.50) for our kitchen backsplash. So I'd actually kind of like to do something a little different in this bathroom. The more images I see the more it's clear that square tiles were usually set on a grid in the 1920s. So I think I should do that rather than stagger them as I was originally thinking.

The toilet is another area where I'm going with function over period correctness. I really wanted a wall mount toilet for ease of cleaning, but it was out of budget. So I'm going for skirted. And we dislike comfort height (we have one so this is based on experience). Not a lot of choices with that combination. I have settled on the toto aquia.

Fori, I think you are right overall. I should get what I want. It's just a bathroom. And it's not a historically important house by any stretch of the imagination.

But I actually like both. The brizio has a bit of an edge in function in that a single hole is easier to clean. And the higher spout has advantages for filling a humidifier or getting a drink without a cup. But those are pretty minor--it's a bathroom faucet, not a kitchen faucet. So I'm more willing to go form over function. And I think the moen may be better on the form front given what I'd like to have the overall end effect be.

(I think switching from a single hole faucet to a three hole faucet isn't really all that easy? We are planning on a remnant for the countertop, most likely engineered quartz, so it would require drilling new holes. Possible, but not diy for us. )

I think the Moen is a better fit.

Technically I would consider the Brizo a very contemporary faucet because it doesn't look like anything historical. (I don't think current "contemporary" is very clean-lined).

One reason to not go with 3x6 subway is that it will date the bathroom less to the 2000s-2010s. Appropriate to the house or not, subway would still tend to place the bathroom "now" than it would in 1926. I'd probably go with the square.

Here is a tour I did of the 1926 semi-italian-y/somewhat Versailles-y Ringling Mansion, I focused particularly on the bathrooms in case you're interested in any of the details.

Those are great pictures.

Actually I looked at a large colonial revival house (large as in kitchen for staff to cook in and maids rooms/service stairs) that was built in the 1920s and it had a cobalt blue and black bathroom, a mauve/rose bathroom and an emerald green bathroom, all square tiles, all colored fixtures.

Thank you both!

Robo, I love those colors. I'm planning to have the vanity painted bright blue, not quite as cool as the colored tile maybe, but a way to be able to change the color more easily in the future.

Squar tiles for sure and I'm going with the grid instead of staggered for the wainscoting. The moen instead of the brizio. Need to think some more about medicine cabinet and vanity lighting. There is not room for sconces on the sides of the medicine cabinet, so that's a limitation.

Must pay attention to small children now. Back later. :-)

Palimpsest, apparently kohler started making colored fixtures in 1927--I think I have that right. So one year after our house was built. It looks to me like I could do colored tile and it would be right. But I think I can also do white, as this place seems to have been built right on the cusp of the switch. Maybe I have the timeline wrong though.

Now I really have to go play with my five year old--who is excited to be getting a fancy bathroom like mine.

I think you are on the right track with the grid. If you go with white it was usually paired with a strong contrasting trim.

I love square tiles set on a grid.

I noticed that a lot of the mirrors in the gallery I posted a picture from have interesting shapes.

Maybe this Broan medicine cabinet would be a good fit?

Thanks for indulging my obsessing over this bathroom everyone!

Unless the house is an historically important house, or that you want to make it so in your renovation, I wouldn't worry about these details a bit. Choose any style you like that doesn't look too modern, and it will be beautiful.

I toured Stan Hewitt, the Seiberling Mansion, a couple of years ago. It was built 1912-15, and has square grid tile in the bathrooms. It also has the type of sinks and faucets shown in the illustration you posted. If you scroll down in the linked blog, there are several pics of bathrooms. The kitchen has large subways in 1-over-2 pattern. Oh, the kitchen! I kept circling back to look at it and the pantry. I could have spent hours there, but the tour guide wasn't into it.

Lol, I think I look at style more as someone who loves to use salvaged vintage materials, but I agree wholeheartedly with vedazu--use what you like.

Big Old Houses

Thanks everyone. I think the problem with just choosing what I like for each individual element is that I might not end up with a cohesive looking room.

I decided to try making a mood board for the first time ever.

There's nothing wrong with finding an accessory line that includes paper holder, towel holder, grab bars, etc. and using a whole series that matches. It's not cheating.

Okay. What series has all these pieces?

Slider bar that is rated as a grab bar--so far all I have found are jaclo and delta. The delta has a bad review from someone on the bathrooms forum for the chrome finish turning brown in under a year, so I pictured a jaclo above because mine in my master bathroom is nearly two years old and in perfect condition.

Train rack--I haven't found either a delta or a jaclo. I pictured the gatco above.

Toilet paper holder that rated as a grab bar--none from jaclo or gatco. I pictured a delta above. Moen seems to the the main other choice and it is fairly modern in appearance.

Towel ring-- pretty much everyone makes these. I pictured a gatco above because it will physically be closest to the train rack.

So, what am I missing? Which line has all of these pieces?

I think Ginger has many of these bath accessories and quite a few Ginger products can be found on build.com (or Amazon.com). For the grab bar slider, did you mean a slider for a hand shower? If so does it make sense to get one from your shower plumbing maker?

BTW, your bath sound like it will be lovely!

Ginger does not seem to make a train rack. Hansgrohe does not make a slider bar that is also rated as a grab bar.

Thanks!

Oh sorry, I was thinking of the Ginger metal shelves with towel bars (we have one) -- look under "hotel shelves" rather than towel bars. Did you want something with 2+ additional rods?

Ah, I see them. Thank you! Yes, my first choice would be to have two towel bars, but I would be willing to consider foregoing that.

I'm not seeing a Ginger toilet paper holder that is also rated as a grab bar?

So I could match the towel ring and the train rack in either gatco or ginger, but I would still need to look elsewhere for the slider bar rated as a grab bar and the toilet paper holder rated as a grab bar. End result seems to be the same?