I adore my vintage pink and black bathroom
My vintage pink and black bathroom is a time machine back to when slippers had heels and feathers, and cigarette holders reigned. I absolutely adore it, even though pink is far from my favorite color.
This retro loo is the only room in my apartment that’s bigger than my last place. Indeed, after twelve and a half years with a borderline closet, my tiny bathroom with a full-size tub feels like a frilly pink palace.
Popular from the mid-1940s through the 1960s, pink and black tiled bathrooms fell out of favor, many getting renovated. But not mine, and I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t because of this clever campaign to save them.
Original fixtures & storage issues
Apart from the toilet and the hot water faucet in the tub, everything in my bathroom, from the floor to the vanity to the ceiling fixture is original. Unlike some vintage loos, my sink and tub are white. Layers of white paint mark the passage time (errant flecks add a touch of character), as does generous caulking.
I’ve covered the bottom of the sink with a skirt, as it’s just naked plumbing. Someday I plan on replacing the rather basic (and slightly too long) skirt with something a little more funky, but it does the trick (and gives me a little more storage).
For additional storage, I have a small, gray wheeled cart, similar to the ubiquitous one from Ikea (I have one of those in my kitchen), but a little less bulky. A basic shower caddy holds my shampoo and such.
The square patterned floor, which I absolutely adore, is a slightly different shade of pink to the tile on the walls. The bathmat is from Target and is super soft.
Look at that shower curtain!
Don’t you just love this shower curtain? It’s from Society6, which partners with artists to combine unique designs with practical products (like shower curtains). This pink poppies design is by Dawn Leblanc, and it fills me with happiness. You can save $15 off an $75 order with Society6 if you’re a new customer with this link (affiliate link—I get a discount if you use it).
Yes, that’s a giant window (facing the street). Thankfully, the privacy glass below protects against any real blunders. My lease has some fairly strict provisions about how that window is to be covered (vinyl shower curtain liners are not optional. An additional pink shower curtain provides privacy.
Décor
For décor, I just went with the pink and black theme but didn’t worry too much about matching. I love the look of the vintage soap and toothbrush holders, but, alas they are impractical. I still use the soap dish to save space on the sink (the soap is Pre de Provence, which made about the only pink soap that didn’t smell like roses), but it requires constant mopping, as the soap has nowhere to drain. In addition to modern toothbrushes just not fitting vintage holders, it’s also close enough to the toilet that keeping a toothbrush there did not seem sanitary. So, I keep it in the medicine cabinet and have a pink and black floral tin balanced on the holder.
For the walls, I have some additional Mixtiles ordered at the same time as the ones for my hallway gallery, a vintage Vogue print that I got from my office when they were getting rid of leftover artwork, and some pinkish records, hung up with plate hangers (they aren’t quite the right size, but since they aren’t heirlooms, I’m not worried about the damage done to them).
Last, but not least, the toilet paper. Who Gives a Crap is a B corporation, which means that they use 50% of their profits to do some good in the world, in this case, building toilets in less developed nations. They have environmentally friendlier paper products, in this case bamboo, and they specialize in beautiful toilet paper wrappers, like these black and white numbers. And, they deliver! (Not an an affiliate link; I just really like them.)
Who else has a vintage bathroom?
Do you have a vintage loo? Wish you did? Let me know if the comments.
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