Vintage Bathrooms, aka the pink palace

I'm an odd duck.  And I know it. 

I love old bathrooms.  (And old kitchens, vintage furniture, old quilts/beds).

I think I'd peg anything from the early 1900s through the 1950s as livable. 

I am not a fan of more modern archtecture.  I can live with a 1950s house if it has the classic pink (or blue) tiled bathroom.  Much of the 1960s to the present just make me shudder.  This  probably explains the lost hours spent over at retro renovation (you know, like the side trip I just took to look at pink bathrooms, like this one )

But more modern colors like avocado or that other, darker blue are no-nos. 

So are brown bathrooms, even though I ended up with two of those in my new home.  More on that later.

There's something about the distinctive tile of years gone by. 

A little part of me dies whenever I watch HGTV or any other DIY show where a vintage bathroom is being killed in favor of some boring brown monstrosity.

When I was a very little girl my grandparents lived in a house that had been built in the 1920s.  Sweet bungalow with a walk-up attic.  Their bathroom was tiled in yellow.  Sunshine and happiness.

A very good friend of the family lived in a house built in the late 1950s.  I adored their bathroom.  It was pink tile and chrome.  I remember my last visit to their home, after her funeral.  I tried to take pictures in my mind of the whole house; a time warp with the vintage bathroom and the ultra-cool fireplace along with all her nick-nacks.

The house I grew up in was built in the early 1940s.  We had classic baby blue tile.  One day it will have to be re-done.   Since it no longer serves as the main bathroom for showers, they are holding off on it though.  Thank goodness.  Not sure how I'll handle losing that little piece of my childhood.  I was disappointed enough when they replaced the vanity!

When we bought our first house (built in 1954) the bathroom had pink and burgundy tile.  Unfortunately it was plastic tile and it had seen better days.  When we re-did that bathroom I insisted I wanted it to be re-done in keeping with the style of era it was built in.  So we (I use that term loosely because it really means "my hubby") got white tiles--4 inch squares.  It took forever to get it tiled.   (Funny side note, when we built our house I told the builder that I really like the 4 inch tiles.  He told me he liked me and all but not that much--pick a bigger tile.  It made me laugh.   And then I choose some bigger tiles).

I don't know why the fascination for vintage colored tile bathrooms.  Maybe because they remind me of being a kid?  Maybe because I'm a sucker for character homes with their arched doorways and unique storage solutions?  Maybe because these bathrooms aren't cookie-cutter?

I'm planning my basement, remember?  We still have several boxes of 4 inch white tiles.  I wonder if I am up for the task of tiling a couple of walls with them?  I need to get a better picture in my head here.  I already have visions of a penny tile floor (yes, real pennies) and I have a 1940s china hutch that I might use for towels and soap in that bathroom.  But this might work.  White tile walls, white fixtures, penny flooring and either green or "copper haze" on the walls.  Hmmm.  Much to think about.