Bringing the best out of a 1960s bathroom in Canadian home

last year

Hello,
We just bought a 1960s home and are looking to make the best out of the main bathroom which is next to the bedrooms. We are building 2 new full baths in the house so we are only looking to work with what we have in our blue bathroom.
Some considerations:the current vanity looks like it's built into the wall and that the tiles are around it so we have to be careful removing it and need a vanity of the same size.we don't want to replace the bathtubwe like the floor tiles and want to highlight themwe will keep the wall tiles toowe will keep the mirror
What are some ideas for wall colour and light fixtures?
Here are some options:

Keep the bathtub as blue, replace the toilet (white), get a white vanity.
Resurface the bathtub in white, replace the toilet (white), get a vanity that is blue to bring out the blue in the tiles.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

Featured Answer

beeboo22

last year

I love vintage bathrooms and this one looks like it’s in excellent shape so I would keep all of it. A better paint color or wall paper plus art and accessories and it will be adorable.

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Comments (14)

btydrvn
last year
Look at Retro bathrooms on Pinterest ..for a start
houssaon
last year
last modified: last year
I would get a new high efficiency toilet in white to save water. I would not replace the vanity or paint it. It looks cool the way it is. Maybe be a new top, sink and faucet.
EL LA thanked houssaon
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PRO
AiFL
last year
I think the current wall color pulls away too much attention from the floor and tub, so I’d find a white that looked good with the wall tile, and then pull up some blues (just small splashes of) in a piece of art, or trim on the window covering or trim on a hand towel, etc.
EL LA thanked AiFL
Tachch
last year
last modified: last year
I suggest considering printed wallpaper for the walls above the tiles. You can either light or dark - depending on the desired atmosphere. Geometric or floral print (tropical for example).
The toilet is white. Table - I support the proposal to leave it + partial upgrade. It is worth thinking about window design, but this is after choosing the wall decoration.
It would be good if you showed all the walls/angles of the bathroom completely - from floor to ceiling)
EL LA thanked Tachch
beeboo22
last year
Colored fixtures are trendy again. Please don’t paint the tub!

https://www.kohler.com/en/products/kohler-collections/memoirs-collection/shop-memoirs-collection?Color/Finish=150th Spring Green
EL LA thanked beeboo22
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
IMO either just leave it slone or gut ist . Those old tubs are too shallow to even bathe in and I don't know where colored bathroom main fixtures are coming back in colors . You never choose to refinish a tub if you plan to use it . I own a MCM home in Canada and the first spaces that got gutted were the bathrooms and kitchen We live differently now and those spaces IMO need to be brought to thei century . The only thing in that space worth keeping would be the floor and of course probably not where it would be needed in a redo.. I am confused why you mention Canada when posting and why when you are doing a huge remodel you would now skimp on this small space
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Valinta
last year
New vanity with more drawer space. I like the aforementioned idea of wall paper to compliment floor tile and tub color. A new white toilet and full length shower curtain will pull all together. New LED lights will help. Oh, and regrout the tub/tile area. That being said, when replacing the toilet, check for water damage under the flootle in that area. A home built in the 60’s may not have the waterproofing floor underlay and cement board behind the tile tub surround. (Been there, done that).
EL LA thanked Valinta
la_la Girl
last year
Ohh that tub is so fabulous - I agree with the chorus of “keep it’” and would get a terrific wallpaper for above the tile -

if you start to (or need to) change elements in the bath, I would want to be careful that the new element will jibe - there are a lot of baths posted on here that started vintage and someone ”updated” it by adding some faux home depot stone in it and the result is a sad mish mash :(
EL LA thanked la_la Girl
Lorraine Leroux
last year
Work with the tub and flooring since they match I would keep them. Replace the toilet. For the vanity I would replace it with a dresser looking vanity. Paper the walls would be great OR paint them white and add art. With retro bathrooms if they are in good shape keep them if at all possible.
EL LA thanked Lorraine Leroux
amystoller
last year
You will find lots of good ideas here: https://retrorenovation.com/category/bathroom-categories/. Personally I'm in favor of keeping the tub and the toilet, and the floor tile if it's in good condition. The wall tile, if original, will be very hard to remove; they built things to last back then. You can do a lot on the rest of the walls with paint or wall paper, and once you add a shower curtain, window curtain, towels and a tub mat, you can have a wonderfully harmonious bathroom.

You might look into refinishing or replacing just the very top row of tiles to give it a more finished look.

To save you some time, here are some ideas for blue and green—on my monitor, your fixture colors seem to fall somewhere within that range.

https://retrorenovation.com/2016/06/03/vintage-blue-bathroom-colors-1927-1962/

https://retrorenovation.com/2015/11/16/green-kitchens-bathrooms-1928-62/
EL LA thanked amystoller
Katie B.
last year
New faucets, light and outlet plates. Toilet, sure. This bathroom is amazing.
EL LA thanked Katie B.
Katie B.
last year
You should absolutely keep the vanity so don’t let this photo sway you about that but you could do a new counter, sink, faucet.. you could do nothing except accessorize and it would be darling. Up to you on the scope.
EL LA thanked Katie B.
EL LA
Original Author
last year
Thank you everyone, in particular for the positivity in your messages!

Based on your input, we will keep the tub as is, replace the toilet (white), keep all tiles, regrout the tub/tile area, check for water damage when replacing toilet, paint walls white, complement with wall accessories, keep the vanity but change its top, replace outlets, install glass panel for tub instead of curtain. Still thinking about directions to take with light fixtures.

Thanks again!

Bringing the best out of a 1960s bathroom in Canadian home

beeboo22

Comments (14)

btydrvn

houssaon

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Bringing the best out of a 1960s bathroom in Canadian home

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