11 Retro Bathrooms Owners Kept, From a 1923 ‘Pigs Will Fly’ Promise to a 1931 Pink Tub

“Before and after DYI update in Pink German Bathroom”

My husband and I recently sold our house in California and relocated to Hessen Germany. We are settling in well, but our only guest bathroom has been bothering me! We are in a rental until we build in a couple years, and I wanted to elevate the space in a way that could be reversed when we move out. This meant leaning into the pink, and no perminent adhesives. I’m very happy with it. It’s not perfect, but I think it works well with the pink, and makes it look intentional and sophisticated! I’m no longer embarrassed to have guests use the bathroom.

The owners came over yesterday and they gasped. 😆 asked if they can give me money to keep when we leave.

A before and after of my vintage pink bathroom. Wanted to freshen it up without having to spend $$ on a full demo.

Came out great!

My first thought was to rip them out. But after research I decided to keep them. And I’m so glad I did.

It saved $$$ and they’re also a really quality built product. Adds character.

we just got a new home and were quoted too much for a full bathroom reno. So we chose to fix essentially half of it and lean into the existing tile work!

But we’re happy we got it to work!

Honestly I had to do some tile work to fix up the lighting..... nightmare! These tiles were put in so well. And the limitation of not being able to break it.... Forget it!

“My 1931 bathroom, original.”

The tub is a funky pink-lavender. I love it because it is mine, but camera sensors struggle to recreate it.

I used to call it Gramaw style. I think people craved color and they hadn’t discovered the color theory wheel that we all know today. And every tile has a true crackle effect that I don’t think is possible today.

my wife wants me to rip down all and only keep the tub.

“Just bought a house with a classic pink bathroom. I kind of hate it — but should I lean into it anyway?”

I’m going to take my time and think hard, but I think I will lean in. I’ll keep the floor and the tiles, but likely get a different sink and vanity, and aim for gold rather than silver fixtures. I like the idea of bold wallpaper — maybe a green and pink design. A different shower curtain and towels and bathmat. Plants! And art.

Much of it goes back to Mamie Eisenhower. The White House Historical Association notes that her love of pink, in accessories, clothing and décor, was well known, and that she brought “Mamie pink” to the master bedroom and to the family’s Gettysburg home.

Pam Kueber, who wrote about midcentury homes for years, estimated on her site Retro Renovation that some 5 million pink bathrooms went into the 20 million+ homes built in the US from 1946 to 1966. In 2009 she started a campaign called Save the Pink Bathrooms to stop owners from ripping them out too hastily.

“Before and afters of my teenie pink bathroom.”

Yes they are original from 1923 :)

Pigs will fly before my pink tiles come down. 🐷💗

We just bought a house with two of these pink tile bathrooms! 😍 I’d like the one upstairs to be a bit more simple, probably a white shower curtain. But the one downstairs that people will see — I want to lean into it! Like 50s and 60s Palm Beach.

This house is 1956! And has been taken really well care of, thankfully.

Wife and I just purchased a 1933 Tudor revival. A lot of finishes seem to be original/not many updates over the course of its life.

In the living/dining/bed rooms this is great! We don’t need to touch much—preservation is the name of the game. But the bathroom is a bit worse for wear and functionally could be better. I’ve included some details of the aging tile work for reference.

We’ve mostly been convinced to “save the pink bathroom,” but would still like to clean things up/potentially add in some modern touches. (Would also be nice to put electrical in the wall).

I think we’re pretty committed to keeping the lilac tile. I just get overwhelmed when I look at the cracked/dirty grout/damaged tiles. I’m okay with a restoration project, but this is daunting.

It would be great to have more storage/counter space, but we understand the character/quirks of historical spaces and don’t want to ruin that.

My 1900 built house has 1 single 60s? 70s? pink bathroom done during a major addition to the house that decade. The whole house is a hodgepodge of decades honestly.

Anyway, I still want to respect this bathroom’s original materials even though it feels off to the rest of the home‘s age. It’s actually the only 1 of 3 bathrooms in the home that isn’t modernized to all 2010’s materials. It looks there‘s pink paint hiding beneath the blue walls.

Our 1955 house has this near original bathroom. When we moved in, the original lighting had become an electrical hazard, the vinyl permanent shower curtain had disintegrated, and the wall paper was about one layer every 10 years from mid 90s back. We removed the wallpaper, painted it white, and tried to stay as true to the era stylistically as we could manage.

I did have to do some scavenging to rebuild the original fixtures in the shower, but it was 100% worth it.