Pink Bathroom Update

Wow - the question on the pink bathroom certainly got a lot of response!  I heard feedback from all over the world and really appreciated all your thoughts and suggestions.

The 'no pink bathroom' vote came in at 67%.  Most people felt that it wasn't a selling point and would make the house look dated - in a bad way.  Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the men responded with a very strong NO.  They don't seem to share Mamie Eisenhower's ideas about pink.

1920's ad from what is now American Standard

However, there were many supporters, who considered it from a historic integrity perspective.  But here's the thing.  This is not the original bathroom to the house.  This was a renovation that was done in the 50's or 60's.  So by removing it, we're not impacting the integrity of the original design.  In fact, the original design was probably a Sanitary Bathroom (click here for link on history in a previous blog post).  A bathroom that gives a nod to the original should have clean, easy to clean white finishes.  They wanted it to be 'healthful'!


















So I decided to do a bit of investigation and removed a few of the tiles.  Guess what, there was a different kind of tile behind the pink.  But, it's not real tile..... it's some sort of tile wallboard, with indentations pressed into it to mimic tile.  Is it original to the house?  It's hard to tell, but I don't think so.

And this shade of green???  Well, I swear I have found this shade of green in every single house I've ever renovated.  It must have been very popular at some point in time!!!

Tile motif is pressed into the wallboard

So we will be bidding farewell to the pink tile.  And the toilet has to go - it won't pass code inspection because it uses too much water.  The sink might be staying.  There is a very tight fit between the sink and the door when it swings open - someone spent a lot of time finding the perfect shape to fit in that space.  And I'm still on the fence about the bathtub.  So many details to iron out!

But I do appreciate all your input!  Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and send me links with more information.  Stay tuned as we continue moving forward!!

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